Crusades in the Holy Roman Empire (Late 1220s to the Early 1250s)

Starting from the second quarter of the thirteenth century, the regions of the Holy Roman Empire north of the Alps became the theatre of crusades. These campaigns were launched against Christians and varied considerably in their causes, characteristics, and results. This chapter highlights four campaigns fought within a 30-year period. It first focuses on the campaign initiated by the bishop of Utrecht in the 1220s against the rural population in Drenthe, which involved the high nobility from a wider region. Then, the crusade arising from the conflict between the bishop of Bremen and the Stedinger on the Lower Weser is considered: in the late 1220s and early 1230s, it involved the high clergy of northern Germany and crusading noblemen like the duke of Brabant. Subsequently, the chapter discusses the activity of the inquisitor Conrad of Marburg, who took action against nobles from the Rhineland; although the cross was preached, this conflict did not lead to a crusade but was fought by means of diplomacy and before synodal courts. Finally, the famous conflict between the papacy and the Hohenstaufen is examined. Although the crusade against the emperor was proclaimed in 1239, in the German lands the papal call to action remained unanswered at first, and only took off as a crusading expedition in 1246. The chapter outlines the arguments invoked, the people and resources involved, the areas of conflict, and the development and outcomes of these four crusading campaigns.