The Popes and the Baltic Crusades 1147-1254

292 Pages·2007·1.486 MB·English

by  Fonnesberg-Schmidt, I.M

THE POPES AND
THE BALTIC CRUSADES
1147-1254
BY
IBEN FONNESBERG-SCHMIDT
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2007
Cover illustration: Reg. Vat. 5, f. 72r. This is a detail of the first page of Innocent’s register for
his sixth year. The image in the margin forms the initial “I” of the word “Inter,” the first
word of Reg. Inn. 6:1 (24 February 1203), addressed to the monks at Subiaco. Innocent is
portrayed as the central figure, with a Cardinal John and two clerks in subordinate posi-
tions. The banner in the pope’s hands reads, “Children, may our blessing so profit you in
bearing fruit in this life that it may be a source of help to you [in the next].” The illumi-
nated initial was added probably a year or two after the text of the letter was entered, in the
space left by the scribe. (See Reg. 6:1, p. 3, n. 1.) Photograph reproduced by kind permis-
sion of the Prefect, Archivio Segreto Vaticano.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fonnesberg-Schmidt, Iben.
The popes and the Baltic Crusades, 1147-1254 / by Iben Fonnesberg-Schmidt.
p. cm. — (The northern world, ISSN 1569-1462 ; v. 26)
Based on the author’s thesis (Ph. D.)—University of Cambridge.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 90-04-15502-3 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Baltic States—Church history. 2. Papacy—History. 3. Catholic Church—
Foreign relations—Baltic States. 4. Baltic States—Foreign relations—Catholic
Church. I. Title.
BX1263.F66 2006
274.79’04—dc22 2006049271
ISSN 1569–1462
ISBN-13:978 90 04 15502 2
ISBN-10:90 04 15502 3
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ...................................................................... ix
Abbreviations .............................................................................. xi
Note on Names .......................................................................... xiii
Maps ............................................................................................ xv
Introduction ................................................................................ 1
Sources and literature ................................................................ 13
Chapter One Papal policy on the Baltic crusades to 1198 .... 23
The pontificate of Eugenius III (1145–53) .......................... 27
Mission and crusade in the Baltic region during the
pontificate of Alexander III (1159–81) .............................. 52
The later twelfth century ...................................................... 65
Conclusions .............................................................................. 75
Chapter Two Innocent III (1198–1216) and the
crusades in the Baltic region .................................................. 79
Innocent III and the Baltic crusades .................................... 91
Innocent III and mission among non-Christians ................ 113
Innocent III and the care for the newly converted ............ 117
Conclusions .............................................................................. 128
Chapter Three Honorius III (1216–27) and the
crusades in the Baltic region .................................................. 133
Honorius III and the Baltic crusades .................................... 136
Honorius III and the Dominicans ........................................ 153
Honorius III and mission among non-Christians ................ 162
Honorius III and the new Church in the Baltic
region .................................................................................. 179
Conclusions .............................................................................. 183
Chapter Four Papal policy on the Baltic crusades during
the pontificates of Gregory IX (1227–41) and Innocent IV
(1243–54) .................................................................................. 187
viii contents
Crusades in Prussia during the pontificate of Gregory IX .... 192
Gregory IX and the crusades in Livonia, Estonia and
Finland ................................................................................ 206
Gregory IX, the mendicant orders and the conversion of
non-Christians .................................................................... 210
The curia and the campaigns against the Russians ............ 215
Innocent IV and the Prussian crusades ................................ 224
Innocent IV and the royal Danish crusades in the Baltic .... 235
Innocent IV and mission among non-Christians ................ 239
The Baltic crusades after Innocent IV ................................ 240
Conclusions .............................................................................. 246
Chapter Five The popes and the Baltic crusades:
conclusions and reflections .................................................... 249
Bibliography ................................................................................ 257
Index ............................................................................................ 277
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the Danish Research Council for the Humanities
(Statens Humanistiske Forskningsråd, now Forskningsrådet for Kultur
og Kommunikation) and Carlsbergfondet for vital economic support
during my PhD studies and postdoctoral research. I would also like
to thank Clare College and Clare Hall, University of Cambridge,
where this study in its original form was accepted for the degree
of PhD.
In particular, I would like to thank my thesis supervisor, Professor
Jonathan Riley-Smith, for his kindness, encouragement and advice
during my time in Cambridge. Generously sharing both his time
and invaluable knowledge, he was a remarkable supervisor—far bet-
ter than I could ever have hoped for. As part of this environment
it is important to acknowledge the crucial role played by the other
PhD students working with Riley-Smith. They provided me with
friendship, good times and inspiration. A special mention must be
given to Caroline Smith who kindly proofread the final draft of my
thesis.
I have been very grateful for the stimulating discussions I have
had with Kurt Villads Jensen, Carsten Selch Jensen, John H. Lind,
Ane L. Bysted and Barbara Bombi on the ideas presented in this
study. I would especially like to thank John for his highly useful
comments on the manuscript. I would also like to thank my friend
and colleague at the Department of History at Aalborg University,
Torben K. Nielsen, for many valuable discussions over the years.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents and my sister, Vibeke, for
their unfailing support—in so many things.
ABBREVIATIONS
DD Diplomatarium Danicum, edited by A. Afzelius et al. In progress.
Copenhagen, 1938ff.
FMU Finlands Medeltidsurkunder, edited by R. Hausen. 8 vols. Helsinki,
1910–35.
LEC Liv-, Esth- und Curländisches Urkundenbuch nebst Regesten, edited
by F. G. von Bunge. 12 vols. Tallinn, 1853–1910.
PL Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina, edited by J.-P. Migne.
221 vols. Paris, 1844–65.
PUB Preußisches Urkundenbuch. Politische Abtheilung, edited by R. Philippi
et al. 6 vols. Königsberg, 1882–2000.
NOTE ON NAMES
Due to the political history of the Baltic region there is a plethora
of names for many of its locations. Following what appears to be
common practice in the field, I have chosen to use English forms
of the various place names and, if no English form exists, to employ
the form used in the language of the power which held the loca-
tion in medieval times. Corresponding modern forms are added in
parentheses in the index. Similarly, for the names of people I have
used the forms most commonly used in English publications on the
subject which therefore often is the Anglicised form.
MAPS
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INTRODUCTION
The expansion of Latin Christendom into north-east Europe entered
a new phase when in 1147 Pope Eugenius III proclaimed a crusade
against the pagan Slavs living in the lands along the western part
of the Baltic Sea. In the following decades the peoples living further
east, in Livonia, Estonia, Finland and Prussia, were targeted in a
series of new missions and campaigns undertaken by the archbish-
ops, bishops and princes of the neighbouring lands which were them-
selves often only recently converted to Christianity. Although the
conquest and conversion of the Baltic lands often met with consid-
erable local resistance, these ventures eventually succeeded in incor-
porating the eastern Baltic region into the Latin Christian Church
and western European society.
This study shows how papal crusading policy in the Baltic region
was formed and how it developed in its first century, from Eugenius
III’s proclamation of the crusade against the pagan Slavs in 1147
to the end of Pope Innocent IV’s pontificate in 1254. Highlighting
the interplay between canon law and theology, politics and the
Church’s pastoral concerns, it analyses the papal stand and the causes
and impetus behind the changes that occurred. It examines the
papacy’s perception of the campaigns, the intentions stated,
the rewards granted as well as the extent of papal involvement in
the organization and implementation of the campaigns. It also dis-
cusses the character and importance the popes ascribed to the Baltic
expeditions and whether the various popes considered them to be
on a par with the crusades undertaken in aid of the Holy Land.
The formation of papal policy on the Baltic crusades was strongly
influenced by the curia’s interaction with the princes and bishops of
north-eastern Europe who were involved in the expansion of Latin
Christendom. The extension of the crusade concept from the Holy
Land to the Baltic region was a result of pressure from these local
ecclesiastical and secular leaders. At first the pressure came from
members of the Church hierarchy, but from the early thirteenth cen-
tury the Christian princes often approached the curia to obtain autho-
rization of their campaigns in the region.