The conversion of the lands on the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic Sea by Germans, Danes and Swedes in the period from 1150 to 1400 represented the last great struggle between Christianity and paganism on the European continent, but for the indigenous peoples of Finland, Livonia, Prussia, Lithuania and Pomerania, it was also a period of wider cultural conflict and transformation. This collection explores the theme of clash of cultures from a variety of perspectives, discussing the nature and ideology of crusading in the medieval Baltic region, the struggle between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and the cultural confrontation that accompanied the process of conversion.

Contents: Introduction, Alan V. Murray; Part I Culture and Identity: A new world into old words: the Eastern Baltic region and the cultural geography of medieval Europe, Marek Tamm; The Baltic crusades: a clash of 2 identities, Eva Eihmane; The emergence of Livonia: the transformations of the social and political structures in the territory of Latvia during the 12th and 13th centuries, Andris Šne; Sweden's conquest of Finland: a clash of cultures?, Philip Line. Part II Crusade and Mission: Pope Honorius III and mission and crusades in the Baltic region, Iben Fonnesberg-Schmidt; Violent victims? Surprising aspects of the just war theory in the Chronicle of Peter von Dusburg, Rasa Mazeika. Part III Converting Landscapes, Converting Peoples: Sacralization of the landscape: converting trees and measuring land in the Danish crusades against the Wends, Kurt Villads Jensen; How to convert a landscape: Henry of Livonia and the Chronicon Livoniae, Carsten Selch Jensen; Rural society and religious innovation: acceptance and rejection of Catholicism among the native inhabitants of medieval Livonia, Tiina Kala; Saints' cults in medieval Livonia, Anu Mÿnd. Part IV Catholicism and Orthodoxy: Sterile monsters? Russians and the Orthodox Church in the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, Torben K. Nielsen; Archbishop Vasilii Kalika of Novgorod, the fortress of Orekhov and the defence of orthodoxy, Michael C. Paul; Orthodox churches in medieval Livonia, Anti Selart. Part V Warfare on the Baltic Frontier: Music and cultural conflict in the Christianization of Livonia, 1190-1290, Alan V. Murray; Crossbows or catapults? The identification of siege weaponry and techniques in the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, Stephen Turnbull; The significance of the local Baltic peoples in the defence of Livonia (late 13th-16th centuries), Kaspars Klavinš; The Eastern Baltic lands in the age of the Crusades: a select bibliography of publications in English, Alan V. Murray; Index.