Christianization

=== Northern crusades ===
[[File:Baltic Tribes c 1200.svg|thumb|Baltic Tribes c 1200|alt=map of Baltic tribes around the year 1200]]
[[File:Bishop Absalon topples the god Svantevit at Arkona.PNG|thumb|right|[[Absalon|Danish Bishop Absalon]] destroys the idol of [[Slavic mythology|Slavic]] god [[Svantevit]] at [[Cape Arkona|Arkona]] in a painting by Laurits Tuxen|alt= photo of painting by Laurits Tuxen depicting the Bishop Absalon toppling the god Svantevit at Arkona]]
From before the days of [[Charlemagne]] (747–814), the fierce pagan tribes east of the [[Baltic Sea]] lived on the physical frontiers of Christendom in what has today become [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]] and the [[Kaliningrad Oblast|Kaliningrad oblast (Prussia)]]. They survived largely by raiding – stealing crucial resources, killing, and enslaving captives – from the countries that surrounded them including Denmark, Prussia, Germany and Poland.{{sfn|Fonnesberg-Schmidt|2007|p=23}}{{sfn|Mazeika|2017|p=abstract}}

When the [[Blessed Eugenius III|Pope Eugene III]] (1145–1153) called for a [[Second Crusade]] in response to the [[Siege of Edessa (1144)|fall of Edessa in 1144]], the Germanic, Danish and Polish nobles refused to go. {{sfn|Fonnesberg-Schmidt|2007|p=65}} They did not see crusading as a moral, faith based duty. They saw it as a tool for territorial expansion, alliance building, wealth, and empowerment. In fact, one result of these wars according to historian Aiden Lilienfeld was that, "The conquering forces of the Northern Crusades brought more territory under German control than nearly any other concerted expansion in the history of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]".{{sfn|Lilienfeld|2022}} 

Combining their personal priorities with a need to permanently stop the raiding, they requested permission to subdue the Baltic instead.{{sfn|Firlej|2021–2022|pp=120, 121, 133}}{{sfn|Fonnesberg-Schmidt|2007|p=23, 64-65}} In 1147, Eugenius' ''Divini dispensatione,'' gave the eastern nobles full crusade indulgences to do so.{{sfn|Fonnesberg-Schmidt|2007|p=65}}{{sfn|Christiansen|1997|p=71}}{{sfn|Fonnesberg-Schmidt|2009|p=119}} The Northern, (or Baltic), Crusades followed, taking place, off and on, with and without papal support, from 1147 to 1316.{{sfn|Christiansen|1997|p=287}}{{sfn|Hunyadi|Laszlovszky|2001|p=606}}{{sfn|Fonnesberg-Schmidt|2007|pp=65, 75–77}}

Since, as law professor [[Eric Christiansen]] indicates, the primary motivation for these wars was the noble's desire for territorial expansion and wealth, taking the time for peaceful conversion did not fit in with these plans.{{sfn|Fonnesberg-Schmidt|2007|pp=23–24, 29}}{{sfn|Christiansen|1997|pp=10–15}}{{sfn|Dragnea|2020|pp=5–6}} Conversion by these princes was almost always a result of conquest.{{sfn|Fonnesberg-Schmidt|2007|pp=23, 24}} According to Fonnesberg-Schmidt, "While the theologians maintained that conversion should be voluntary, there was a widespread pragmatic acceptance of conversion obtained through political pressure or military coercion".{{sfn|Fonnesberg-Schmidt|2007|p=24}} There were often severe consequences for populations that chose to resist.{{sfn|Dollinger|1999|p=34}}{{sfn|Forstreuter|1938|p=9}}{{sfn|Christiansen|1997|pp=14–15}}
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