The Northern or Baltic Crusades were military campaigns organised by popes and western rulers to convert pagans to Christianity in the 12th to 15th century. Unlike in the Holy Land, where military campaigns were aimed at liberating former Christian lands from Muslim rule, the crusades in Prussia, Livonia (modern Estonia) and Lithuania were aimed at converting the local pagan population.
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Definition
Timeline
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1147 - 1148Campaigns against pagans in the Baltic are led by Germanic and Danish nobles during the Second Crusade.
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Jun 1147 - Sep 1147Dobin and Malchow in northeast Germany are captured during the Second Crusade.
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1242An army of Teutonic knights is defeated by the Russians at Lake Peipus.
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1308The Teutonic Order acquires Danzig and eastern Pomerania.
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1309The headquarters of the Teutonic Order is moved to a fortified convent at Marienburg in Prussia.
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1346The Teutonic Order acquires control of northern Estonia.
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15 Jul 1410At the battle of Tannenburg an army of Teutonic knights is wiped out.
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1457The headquarters of the Teutonic Order is relocated to Konigsberg.
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1525The Teutonic Order is secularized in Prussia.
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1562The Teutonic Order is secularized in Livonia.
