Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Philosophischen Fakultät der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.
The Limes Saxoniae remained a stable cultural frontier zone until the year 1147, when Danish and German princes managed to subdue the Slavic lands east of the Elbe lastingly in a joint maritime-terrestrial campaign. It was the first papally authorised crusading campaign "contra Sclavos ceterosque paganos habitantes versus Aquilonem" – the last pagans of northern Europe. This 'expeditio' was a precedent, followed by many more campaigns against the Slavs, Prussians, Lithuanians, Livs, Estonians and other pagan nations of the Baltic Rim; a time frame spanning over four centuries, colloquially captured by the umbrella term 'Northern Crusades'.
Most of these campaigns required seaborne transport, which is studied here with an interdisciplinary historical-archaeological approach. The diachronic theme is examined by a number of case studies, which involve different angles: On the one hand, questions of navigation and orientation are addressed, as exemplified by a re-evaluation of a 13th-century Danish itinerary to Estonia. On the other hand, the capabilities and use of ships are assessed, which supplied the Catholic enclaves in the pagan East with crusaders, settlers and goods. Numerous shipwrecks are re-visited to verify the claims of contemporary chroniclers, with discussions on technical aspects of ship-construction, but also with a focus on early trade links. Another major focus lies on timber trade across the Baltic Sea, shedding light on an often overlooked aspect: The Teutonic Order as economic rather than solely militaristic power. This study is concluded by assessing the local maritime transport geography of a Teutonic Order castle and a nearby appertaining shipwreck from a period of political instability and the imminent collapse of the Livonian Confederation.
Author(s): Daniel Zwick
Publisher: University of Kiel
Year: 2017
Language: English
Pages: VI+294
1. Introduction 2
2. The Baltic Sea as a maritime landscape 11
3. Organising maritime expeditions into uncharted waters: The communication networks of the Baltic Crusades (1198-1290) 44
4. Ships in frontier zones of the north-eastern Baltic rim (13th century) 70
5. Woodland exploitation in the wake of the Prussian and Baltic crusades: Assessing maritime timber trade and its impact on shipbuilding (14th - 15th century) 95
6. Wrecked in the Rubbles of the Livonian Confederation: Evaluating the transport geographical context of a shipwreck and a castle (16th century) 114
7. General Conclusions 137
8. Summary 138
9. Zusammenfassung 139
10. Bibliography 144
11. Appendix 162
11.1. Transcription of King Valdemar's Itinerary (Utlängan-Tallinn) 162
11.2. Naval warfare in the Chronicles of Henry of Livonia 163
11.3. Caulking material from the Kuggmaren wreck 165
12. Curriculum Vitae 168
13. Cumulative Papers 169
Dynamics for Cultural Change in the Baltic Sea Region in the Age of the Northern Crusades – a maritime archaeological perspective 171
Conceptual Evolution in Ancient Shipbuilding: An Attempt to Reinvigorate a Shunned Theoretical Framework 201
A 15th-century shipwreck with Scandinavian features from Bremen, Germany 225
Interpreting a Scandinavian-built shipwreck from Bremen in the context of late medieval clinker constructions and northern European timber trade 237
Bayonese cogs, Genoese carracks, English dromons and Iberian carvels: Tracing technology transfer in late medieval Atlantic shipbuilding 261
