The Clash of Cultures on the Medieval Baltic Frontier

While books and films have glorified and vilified the crusades to the Near East, the almost simultaneous crusades in the Baltic have received little attention. Murray (medieval studies, University of Leeds, UK) follows up on the 2001 collection on the Baltic Crusades with this group of essays that stress the cultural conflict in the newly-conquered lands. The first two essays in the section on culture and identity put these crusades within the larger picture of Europe and the crusading movement. The next section discusses the religious motivation for the invasion of Prussia and the Baltic lands by the Danes, Swedes and Germans, including papal indulgences as an incentive to join the crusade. The third part is on both religious changes and the ways in which the occupied country itself was changed through Western buildings, especially churches, and the establishment of towns. The depth of the (forced) conversion is explored along with the saints to whom the new churches were dedicated. The views of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox leaders in contemporary writing are recounted, along with data that suggests that the two religions coexisted more often than expected. Only the last section deals with the crusade from a military standpoint. Murray concludes the volume with a bibliography for further study in English but footnotes give sources and articles in other languages. This is an excellent companion to the previous volume. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Alan V. Murray is Senior Lecturer in Medieval Studies at the University of Leeds, UK.