The Terra Sacra Books
Two books exploring the long-term environmental impacts of conquest, migration and religious transformation that defined the Baltic Crusades
In the thirteenth century, crusading armies unleashed a relentless holy war against the pagan societies of the Eastern Baltic, whose territories were conquered and reorganized into Catholic states run by the Teutonic Order, bishops, and their cathedral chapters. Castles were built, towns established, and colonists encouraged to settle under the leadership of the new Christian theocracy. But the changes introduced alongside Christianity not only transformed the culture of eastern Baltic societies, but also had a profound and — for the conquered indigenous populations, who regarded many aspects of the natural world as sacred — deeply significant impact on the local environment.
These two books are the outcome of a major ERC-funded research programme, ‘The Ecology of Crusading’, directed by Aleks Pluskowski, which share the aim of changing our understanding of this seminal period in the history of northeastern Europe.
The first of book Environment, Colonization and the Baltic Crusader States provides a detailed inter-disciplinary comparison of the environmental transformations associated with the emergence of the crusader states of Livonia and Prussia. It draws on and integrates a range of archaeological, paleoenvironmental, historical, and cartographic sources in order to highlight the diverse impact of colonisation and landscape reorganisation that followed in the wake of the Baltic Crusades.
This second companion volume Ecologies of Crusading, Colonization, and Religious Conversion in the Medieval Baltic draws together a series of case-studies on Livonia and Prussia. These provide a unique snapshot of state of the art research into environmental change during the Baltic Crusades, and also explore long-term trends in landscape organisation and environmental exploitation. The book covers six key themes: building-construction in the conquered territories; food supply to the houses of the Teutonic Order; life in the multi-cultural towns of the eastern Baltic; transforming the physical landscape; transforming the spiritual landscape; and the Baltic crusader states in their regional context
Published by Brepols in 2019.
What have people said about these books?
“there is simply no parallel for this project’s outstanding work, at least not in the medieval archaeology of Eastern Europe, in terms of scale and detail….Terra Sacra I and II mark a substantial step forward in explaining the socio-economic and ecological context of the crusades; and as project lead and editor Pluskowski has set a new standard of excellence.” — Florin Curta, Medieval Archaeology
“Both volumes provide an in-depth and formidable investigation into the various ways that crusading in the Baltic impacted the landscape, as well as its inhabitants… Moreover, these volumes are the first to address, in English, both regions administered by the Teutonic Order: Livonia and Prussia.” — Gregory Leighton, Crusades.
“This is an important step beyond traditional archaeology… It will have significant value for scholars writing political and social history and serve as a model for similar studies elsewhere.” — William Urban, The Medieval Review
“This work will be read with interest by archaeologists and historians working across diverse disciplines and periods and hopefully encourage more medievalists to integrate high and late medieval north-eastern Europe into their research and teaching activities.” — Mark Whelan, Nottingham Medieval Studies
