“死亡或受洗”——12世纪文德十字军与德意志东扩运动

Death or Baptism:The Wendish Crusade and German East Settling in the 12th Century

公元1144年埃德萨伯国被穆斯林占领,威胁到第一次十字军东征时建立的基督教政权,耶路撒冷王国向教廷求助。受十字军布道和第一次东征的鼓舞,德意志人踊跃参加第二次十字军行动,“消灭异教徒”成为战斗目标。易北河—奥得河流域的斯拉夫地区与德意志矛盾已久,第二次十字军行动期间,由萨克森领主带领的文德十字军于公元1147年对其进行了史上最大的讨伐行动,为基督教向东传教提供了稳定环境,巩固了德意志在东北边境地区的领主地位,同时也为12世纪后期东北德沿海城市兴起和贸易繁荣创造了条件。

In 1144 the crusader state of Edessa was besieged by Muslims,and therefore the Kingdom of Jerusalem asked the Western Church for help.Through crusade sermons and encouragement from the First Crusade,German people enthusiastically participated in the Second Crusade.“Eliminating heathens”became the goal of war for the first time in history.The Slavic settlement in the Elbe-Oder river basins had long been in conflict with the Holy Roman Empire.The Wendish Crusade in 1147 led by Saxon rulers is considered the largest crusade against the Elbe Slavs,and had consolidated the German dominion in northeastern Germany and created the conditions for the rise of northern German cities in the late 12th century and the Christian missions in Wendish area.