The forgotten Crusades launched against Europe

Following the surprising success of the First Crusade in capturing Jerusalem, Europe was shocked when Muslim forces took back the region of Edessa in the Holy Land in AD 1144. 

In response, Pope Eugene III called for a new crusade in AD 1145. This Second Crusade began in AD 1147, with soldiers from across Europe taking part.

However, the northern German Saxons were reluctant to join the campaign to the Holy Land, and expressed their desire to crusade against the nearby Wends instead.

The Wends was a collective term for a number of West Slavic tribes that lived along the southern Baltic Sea coast (primarily in what is now modern-day northern Germany and Poland).

These peoples were pagans, which meant that they worshipped many gods, and they had consistently resisted the expansions of the Christian states of Germany and Denmark over many decades.

Pope Eugene III approved this plan and granted the same spiritual rewards for fighting the Slavic tribes known as the Wends as for participating in the Second Crusade in the Holy Land.

It was endorsed by notable religious figures like Bernard of Clairvaux, who saw the mission as a way to redirect the aggressive energies of the European nobility towards a 'worthy' cause.

As a result, the Wendish Crusade took place in AD 1147. While the crusade was considered to be mainly focused on religious conversion, it was also about securing the northeastern frontier of the Holy Roman Empire.

This is because the Wendish territories were seen as a buffer zone, and their incorporation was deemed essential for the stability and growth of the Christian states.

The crusaders primarily came from the German states and were led by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, and Albert the Bear, Margrave of Brandenburg.

However, the campaign lacked unity and clear objectives from the start. While some sought outright conquest, others aimed for tributary relationships or the establishment of Christian settlements.

As a result, the success of the Wendish Crusade was mixed. While the crusaders managed to capture of the stronghold of Dobin and the establishment of Christian bishoprics in the region, the overall objective of converting the Wends en masse and integrating their territories into the Christian fold was not fully realized.

In fact, the Wends resisted fiercely, and many of the newly established Christian settlements were frequently attacked.

Moreover, the vast and challenging terrain of the Wendish lands made sustained campaigns difficult.

The crusade only officially lasted for one year, but the fighting continued for several decades.

The last of the significant Wendish resistance ended in AD 1187.

In the aftermath of the Wendish Crusade, the process of Christianization and Germanization of the region continued, although at a slower pace.

Over the next few centuries, a combination of missionary activities, colonization, and military campaigns gradually absorbed the Wendish territories into the Christian world. 

The crusade against the Wends was seen as a success by the Catholic Church and it would be the first a series of 'Northen Crusades', which took place in northern Europe.

The next Northern Crusade would also target the Baltic region. Again, the main aim would be to convert the pagan tribes in that area.

The Livonian Crusade Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and parts of Russia, which were inhabited by pagan tribes such as the Old Prussians, Livonians, and Lithuanians.

Initial peaceful attempts at converting them to Christianity by missionaries like Meinhard of Segeberg in 1184, failed, as they fiercely maintained their ancestral beliefs.

This led to calls for military action by nearby Christian territories. As a result, Pope Innocent III issued a crusade bull after the death of Bishop Berthold of Hanover in 1198, which urged a crusade against the Livonians to protect Christian interests and secure German trade routes.

When Albert von Buxthoeven was appointed as bishop in 1199, he assembled a military large force and established the settlement of Riga as the center of Christian operations in 1201.

Then, in 1202, the same bishop founded the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, which was a Catholic military order.

It was composed of warrior monks, primarily drawn from northern Germany, who swore an oath to conquer and convert the pagan populations in the Baltic region.

The Brothers of the Sword became the main military force that led a series of successful military invasions into the Baltic territories for the next 30 years.

However, after suffering a crushing defeat at the Battle of Saule in 1236, the order merged with the Teutonic Knights and becoming the Livonian Order.

The Teutonic Knights were a German military-monastic order that had initially been founded in AD 1198 in the city of Acre during the Third Crusade.

They had quickly grown to be a powerful force in their homelands of Germany as well.

Now, under the leadership of the Teutonic Knights, the Livonian Crusade intensified, leading to the establishment of the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights.

During the course of the Livonian Crusade, which lasted until 1290, some pagan tribes were forcefully converted, while others chose to adopt Christianity to forge alliances and ensure their long-term survival.

The Lithuanians, for instance, constantly resisted the Teutonic Knights. It was only in 1387, under the reign of Grand Duke Jogaila, that Lithuania officially adopted Christianity.

This was primarily a political move to counter the Teutonic threat by forming a union with Poland called the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

However, military conflict between the new alliance and the Teutonic Knights continued into the 15th century.

At the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, the Teutonic Knights were soundly defeated by the Polish-Lithuanian forces, which led to the signing of the Treaty of Toruń in 1411.

This finally brought an end to the fighting between the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania.

The Teutonic Knights were also involved in another Northern Crusade, known as the Prussian Crusade.

This one was against the Old Prussians who lived in what is now modern-day northern Poland and the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia.

The Old Prussians, unrelated to the later German state of Prussia, were a Baltic tribe known for their dogged resistance to Christian influence.

Their strategic location along the Baltic coast made them a target for both Christian missionaries and neighboring powers seeking to expand their territories.

By the 13th century, the increasing incursions by Christian missionaries and settlers into Prussian lands led to tensions and skirmishes.

The Teutonic Knights were invited to the region by the Polish duke Konrad I of Masovia to assist in the Christianization of the Prussians.

With papal blessings and privileges, the Knights launched a series of campaigns against them, starting in the 1230s.

Their approach combined military conquest with the establishment of fortified settlements and bishoprics, which ensured both spiritual and temporal control over the conquered territories.

However, the Old Prussians resisted fiercely. They employed guerrilla tactics and took advantage of the challenging terrains of forests and swamps.

The crusade was a frustrating endeavour, which experienced cycles of both successful Teutonic conquests followed by brutal Prussian uprisings.

The most significant of these was the Great Prussian Uprising, from 1260 to 1274.

However, it was eventually crushed, which was the beginning of the end of Prussian paganism.

It took several decades for the Teutonic Knights to establish firm control over the region.

Ultimately, it was the organizational strength, military prowess, and persistence of the Teutonic Knights that eventually prevailed.

By the end of the 13th century, the Old Prussian territories were largely under the control of the Teutonic Order.

To enforce their control, the Knights built large fortresses and established the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights.

The end of the Prussian Crusade came with the Treaty of Melno, signed in 1422, which establishing a border that remained largely unchanged until World War I.

However, not all European Crusades were part of the Northern Crusades in the Baltic region.

Perhaps the most famous of all of the crusades in Europe took place in the western country of France.

It was known as the Albigensian Crusade. Unlike other crusades that targeted distant lands or non-Christian populations, this campaign was directed against the Cathars, a Christian sect which had grown in popularity in the heart of southern France.

The Cathars, often referred to as Albigensians, due to their strong presence in the city of Albi, held beliefs that were deemed heretical by the Catholic Church.

Central to Catharism was a dualistic view of the world, which believed in the existence of two gods: a 'good god' of the spiritual realm and an 'evil god' of the physical world.

This belief system starkly contrasted with the orthodox Catholic doctrine.

By the late 12th century, Catharism had gained such a significant following in the Languedoc region of southern France that the Catholic establishment decided to act.

The immediate spark for the Albigensian Crusade was the murder of the papal legate, Pierre de Castelnau, in 1208, an act blamed on the supporters of the Cathar cause.

Pope Innocent III, already concerned about the spread of Catharism, responded by calling for a crusade against the Albigensians.

The northern French nobles saw this as an opportunity to expand their territories and influence in the south.

The crusade officially began in 1209 and quickly became know for its extreme violence and brutality.

Cities like Béziers and Carcassonne faced devastating sieges, with large numbers of inhabitants being massacred.

In particular, at the Massacre at Béziers on July 22, 1209, an estimated 20,000 people, both Cathar and Catholic, were killed indiscriminately.

The infamous words, "Kill them all, God will know His own," allegedly uttered during the sack of Béziers, typify the ferocity of the campaign.

Over the next two decades, the crusaders, led by figures like Simon de Montfort, systematically targeted Cathar strongholds, communities, and leaders, aiming to eradicate the heresy.

By the mid-1220s, the military campaigns of the Albigensian Crusade had largely crushed the Cathar political and military resistance.

However, the heresy persisted in more clandestine forms. In response, the Church established the Inquisition, a formal mechanism to identify, try, and punish heretics.

Over the subsequent decades, the Inquisition played a key role in the final suppression of Catharism.

In the aftermath of the Albigensian Crusade, the Languedoc region was brought firmly under the control of the French crown.

The Crusade of Varna, which culminated in 1444, was one of the final attempts by European powers to halt the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into the Balkans.

By the 15th century, the Ottoman Turks had established themselves as a dominant force in the eastern Mediterranean, having already captured vast territories in Asia Minor, the Balkans, and even parts of southeastern Europe.

Their rapid expansion posed a direct threat to Christendom, prompting calls for collective action to counter the Ottoman advance.

The genesis of the Crusade of Varna can be traced back to the uneasy truce between the Ottomans and the Kingdom of Hungary following the Ottoman victory at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389.

As the 15th century progressed, the Ottomans, under Sultan Murad II, continued their campaigns in the Balkans, capturing the crucial city of Thessalonica and exerting pressure on the Byzantine capital, Constantinople.

In 1443, a Christian alliance was formed, primarily driven by Janos Hunyadi, the governor of Hungary, and Władysław III, the King of Poland and Hungary.

This coalition, which also included forces from the Papal States, the Holy Roman Empire, and Wallachia, launched a campaign known as the 'Long Campaign' or the 'Crusade of the Long March'.

Initially, the Christian forces achieved some successes, pushing deep into Ottoman territories and prompting Sultan Murad II to propose a peace treaty in 1444.

The ten-year truce, however, was short-lived. Encouraged by the Pope and believing in the possibility of a decisive victory, the Christian alliance decided to break the truce and confront the Ottomans once more.

This decision led to the climactic Battle of Varna on November 10, 1444.

The Christian forces, confident and eager to exploit the perceived weakness of the Ottomans, were met by a well-prepared and strategically positioned Ottoman army.

The battle was fierce, but the tide turned decisively against the Christians when King Władysław III was killed, leading to a collapse in their morale.

The Ottomans emerged victorious, and the Crusade of Varna ended in a catastrophic defeat for the Christian alliance.

The defeat severely weakened the position of European powers in the Balkans and bolstered the confidence of the Ottoman Empire.

The way was paved for the Ottomans to continue their campaigns in southeastern Europe, culminating in the momentous capture of Constantinople in 1453 and the final collapse of the Byzantine Empire.

The fall of Constantinople just nine years after the Crusade of Varna was seen as the final failure of European crusading efforts.