History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 191 the Baltic Crusades, the Wendish

Crusade the Wendish Crusade part two wrong bird. Hello again, before we get started a small clarification from last week's episode,

I repeatedly referred to Conrad the 3rd as Emperor Conrad but this is actually incorrect.

Conrad was crowned Conrad the 3rd King of Germany but was never crowned emperor. So he wasn't one. So sorry

about that. Everyone clear. Goodio. Last week we looked at the Holy Roman Empire in general and the Duke of Saxony, Henry the

Lion in particular. This week we are going to pop over the fence and take a look at the neighbours, the people who live to the east of the Saxons.

Now, back in the first half of the 12th century the eastern border of Saxony was pretty much

Deliniated by the River Elba

In fact it was not only the duke of Saxony which stopped at the River Elba, the Holy Roman Empire,

and Western Christendom itself ended at the river.

Today the River Elba starts in the Czech Republic and winds its way

through a goodly chunk of northeastern Germany with cities such as Dresden,

Magdeborg and Hamburg situated along its banks.

The current capital city of Germany, Berlin, is situated firmly to the east of the Elba, meaning that back in the early

12th century it was firmly outside Western Christendom in the land of the pagans. As is so often the case, however,

despite the fact that we have a border marked by the river Elba, it wasn't quite that simple. During the first few decades of the 12th century,

intrepid settlers and adventurers from Saxony would venture across the Elba and form settlements on the other side of the river.

In his book The Northern Crusades, Eric Christensen points out that while the Saxons had developed a reputation for, and I quote,

bigness, bravery and brutishness, end quote, the frontiersmen who moved across the river into the region they named

Hulsatia were acknowledged by the Saxons themselves to be even more fearless,

lawless and ferocious than your average Saxon.

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