History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 200, how did that happen? The Baltic Crusades, the Livonian Crusade Part 6, Polotsk.

Hello again. Last week we saw a large number of crusaders travel to

Livonia which bit by bit is becoming Christianized.

Now, as we've seen so far in the Baltic Crusades,

Crusading and trading seem to go hand in hand, and while some German's primary aim seemed to be the Christianization

of pagans in the Baltic region, for many others the opening up of new trade routes and commercial opportunities was the main

goal. The establishment and resounding success of Lubeck as a trading port was the starting point for German commercial expansion

into both the Baltic region and further afield into Russia. Prior to the establishment of Lubeck, Baltic Trade was dominated by the

Scandinavians, who used the island of Gotland as their base to trade mainly with Russia.

Consequently, as Philip Dolyger reported in his book the German Hansa,

right from the get-go, the Germans needed to come to an understanding

with the people of Gotland.

Henry the Lyon negotiated an agreement with the Gotlanders, granting privileges to traders from

Gotland and ensuring that German merchants were welcome in Gotland.

Eventually, enough actions were of trading opportunities in the Baltic region that they formed an association, which had the catchy title of, and I quote, the community of German merchants regularly visiting Gotland."

The association had its own seal and just as Lubeck was exploding in popularity, Gotland also enjoyed a parallel success.

As we've just mentioned, before Lubeck was established and before German traders came onto the scene,

Scandinavian merchants had been busy plying trade routes, establishing trading

outposts and connections and setting up trading relationships with

merchants as far away as Russia. With the arrival in Gotland of the Germans, the Scandinavians were able to share this knowledge

with their new German trading partners.

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