Northern Europe (Modern day Mecklenburg, in Dobin am See, Demmin and Malchow)
Result
Crusader military victory, successful partial conversion of West Slavs and Niklot and Pribislav agreed to accept Catholicism
Territorial changes
March of Brandenburg reconquers Havelberg, County of Holstein expels its Wends
Belligerents
Crusaders
Holy Roman Empire
Bishopric of Havelberg
March of Meissen
March of Brandenburg
Duchy of Saxony
Archbishopric of Bremen
Archbishopric of Mainz
Bishopric of Halberstadt
County of Holstein
Bishopric of Münster
Bishopric of Olmütz
Bishopric of Brandenburg
Bishopric of Merseburg
Jutland-Kingdom of Denmark
Zealand/Scania-Kingdom of Denmark
Kingdom of Poland
Wends
Obotrite Confederacy
Obotrites
Wagrians
Liutizian Confederacy
Wendish allies:
Duchy of Pomerania
Commanders and leaders
Anselm of Havelberg
Conrad, Margrave of Meissen
Albert the Bear
Henry the Lion
Canute V of Denmark
Sweyn III of Denmark
Frederick Barbarossa
Adalbert II of Bremen
Henry I of Mainz
Rudolf I of Halberstadt
Werner of Münster
Reinhard of Merseburg
Wiggar of Brandenburg
Henry of Olmütz
Adolf II of Holstein
Unknown Polish Captain
Niklot
Pribislav of Wagria
Ratibor I of Pomerania
v
t
e
Crusades
Ideology and institutions
Crusading movement
In the Holy Land (1095–1291)
First
1101
Norwegian
Venetian
1129
Second
Third
1197
Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
Barons'
Seventh
1267
Catalan
Eighth
Lord Edward's
Fall of Outremer
Later Crusades (1291–1717)
Crusades after Acre, 1291–1399
Aragonese
Smyrniote
Alexandrian
Savoyard
Barbary
1390
1398
1399
Nicopolis
Varna
Holy Leagues
1332
1495
1511
1526
1535
1538
1571
1594
1684
1717
Northern (1147–1410)
Kalmar
Wendish
Swedish
1150
1249
1293
Livonian
Prussian
Lithuanian
Russian
Against heretics (1209–1485)
Albigensian
Drenther
Stedinger
Bosnian
Bohemian
Despenser's
Hussite
Popular (1096–1320)
People's (1096)
Children's
Shepherds' (1251)
Crusade of the Poor
Shepherds' (1320)
Reconquista (722–1492)
The Wendish Crusade (German: Wendenkreuzzug) was a military campaign in 1147, one of the Northern Crusades, led primarily by the Kingdom of Germany within the Holy Roman Empire and directed against the Polabian Slavs (or "Wends"). The Wends were made up of the Slavic tribes of Abrotrites, Rani, Liutizians, Wagarians, and Pomeranians who lived east of the River Elbe in present-day northeast Germany and Poland.[1]
The lands inhabited by the Wends were rich in resources, which played a factor in the motivations of those who participated in the crusade. The mild climate of the Baltic area allowed for the cultivation of land and livestock. Animals of this region were also thickly furred, supporting the dependence on fur trading. Access to the coastline also developed fishing and trade networks.[2] The land was attractive for the resources it boasted, and the crusade offered an opportunity for noble families to gain part of it.
By the early 12th century, the German archbishoprics of Bremen and Magdeburg sought the conversion to Christianity of neighboring pagan West Slavs through peaceful means.[3] During the preparation of the Second Crusade to the Holy Land, a papal bull was issued supporting a crusade against these Slavs. The Slavic leader Niklot preemptively invaded Wagria in June 1147, leading to the march of the crusaders later that summer. They achieved an ostensible forced baptism of Slavs at Dobin but were repulsed from Demmin. Another crusading army marched on the already Christian city of Szczecin (Stettin), whereupon the crusaders dispersed upon arrival (see below).
The Christian army, composed primarily of Saxons and Danes, forced tribute from the pagan Slavs and affirmed German control of Wagria and Polabia through colonization, but failed to convert the bulk of the population immediately.
^Phillips, Johnathan. The Second Crusade: Extending the Frontiers of Christendom. p. 228.
^Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Medley, D. J., The church and the empire, Kessinger Publishing, 2004, p.152, ISBN 1-4191-5673-X
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money", and criticizing the WendishCrusades. He said that among the troops of Henry the Lion during the WendishCrusade, there was "only talk of money...
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