Transforming frontiers into heartlands: The immediate and long-term environmental impact of the crusades in NE Europe

Summary

In the 13th century, crusading armies unleashed a relentless holy war against indigenous non-Christian societies in the eastern Baltic region. Tribal territories were replaced with new Christian states run by the Teutonic Order and individual bishops, who constructed castles, encouraged colonists, developed towns and introduced Christianity. At a time of deteriorating climate, their impact on the local environment, especially plants and animals, would have been profound. Furthermore, since many aspects of the natural world were sacred to the Baltic tribes, this impact would be synonymous with the cultural changes that created a new world - a European world - at this frontier of Christendom. The Ecology of Crusading project has been investigating this impact from diverse perspectives with interdisciplinary objectives. Focusing on a suite of environmental data associated with castles built by the conquering theocratic elite in Prussia and Livonia - the centres of landscape re-organisation following the crusades – the project has contextualised the role of the crusades within the ecological history of NE Europe. It has been possible to trace intensities in environmental exploitation associated with multiple waves of colonisation, as well as uses of the landscape tailored to the practical and ideological requirements of the conquerors.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• IHOPE (Integrated History and Future of People on Earth) - International and interdisciplinary projects working to make the past better serve the future.   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage