The Baltic Crusades were an important factor in the colonization of Eastern Europe. Large numbers of German immigrants, driven by economic interests, followed the Crusaders and migrated to the area east of the Elbe.
The immigrants established immigrant villages and towns under German law, and copied the German national organization, and Eastern Europe was gradually colonized. Due to the backwardness of the eastward colonization area, the original ethnic group was gradually Germanized under the influence of German immigrants, and lost its own personality.
Eastward colonization and migration
1st ear eastward movement
In the 11th and 13th centuries, a great frontier movement began in Europe. Some European countries, such as England and France, began to colonize the vast frontiers of Europe. "Eastern Germany was another frontier in medieval Europe." The Germanic colonization of eastern Germany on a large scale.
Compared to the frontier colonization of the rest of Europe, the Germanic colonization movement was larger and more noticeable. The German Eastward Colonization Movement, which began in the 12th century, was a large-scale expansion of migration to the area east of the Elbe under the leadership of the German aristocracy.
As the eastward march continued, the crusaders pushed the conquest further east of the Elbe and even extended to Pomerania, Prussia, Livonia, Estonia, and Lithuania on the Baltic coast.
"The Baltic Crusades contributed to the expansion of Germany into the region between the Elbe and Oder rivers and Pomerania in the twelfth century." As early as the middle of the 12th century, the Wende crusaders occupied a vast territory between the Elbe and Oder rivers by initiating conquests of the Slavs.
More importantly, the later phase of Germany's eastward march was preceded by the Teutonic Knights, the main force of the Baltic Crusades, who actively participated in and extended the colonization movement deep into Prussia and Lithuania in the South Baltic Sea, and more distant Livonia, northern Estonia, and even attempted to launch conquests against Rus.
2 Mass influx of immigrants
The eastward colonization movement was accompanied by a large-scale migration of Germans to the east. In Germany, all classes, including noble servants, clergy, merchants, and monks, were involved in emigration. In general, life in the West was very difficult for Germans. The surplus population in western Germany, the increasingly scarce arable land, and the excessive dispersion of farms combined to trigger the migration movement in the west.
For Germans, it was only through immigration that they could gain more freedom, more living space and more wealth. The main territory for German immigration was Eastern Europe. There is plenty of land, but there is a shortage of cultivators and settlers. In addition, the princes of Eastern Europe welcomed the arrival of German immigrants.
The Slavic princes of Pomerania, for example, welcomed more efficient and hardworking German immigrants. They also offered very favorable conditions to immigrants, which attracted German immigrants to the wilderness of the East. "From the 13th century, the Polish feudal lords continued to recruit German immigrants and also granted them rent-free periods of 8 to 24 years."
An old Flemish song by the German peasants, who attracted such favorable conditions, expressed the feelings of German settlers in the face of such favorable conditions: "Let us ride on horseback to the land of the East, where conditions are better."
A passage from the "Slavic Chronicles" of the Champek historian Arnold vividly depicts the urgent journey of the Germans to the East: "For this land is rich in grain, pastures are abundant, forests and seas are reckless, and rivers full of fat fish are irrigated ... Inspired by the sermon of Burnseld, the abbot of Rockum, many rich and nobles embarked on a journey of emigration in order to crush the pagan power and establish the kingdom of Christ.
They were mighty, there were Saxons, Westphalians, Frisians, high priests and ordinary clergy, soldiers, merchants, rich and poor. They reached Lübeck, boarded ships laden with weapons and supplies, and headed for Livonia".
This shows how eager the German immigrants were to go to the new world. After the Went-German Crusade in 1147, German immigrants flowed almost "like a tidal wave" to the border. They went to the land of the Wende with cattle, horses and ploughs, and the Wende had no choice but to accept their arrival."
Around 1280, after the final conquest of Prussia, German peasants also began systematic migration to Prussia. However, the emigration of the German aristocracy was more noticeable. "One notable aspect of the expansion movement in the 10th and 13th centuries was the migration of the aristocracy of Western Europe from their homelands to new settlements. The migration of the nobility during this period coincided with the Great Crusades, and for many emigration began with the wearing of crosses".
The German aristocracy settled in the vast expanses of Eastern Europe, and Saxon knights could be found in Prussia, Poland, Estonia and Livonia. The immigrant nobility acquired a large amount of property in the conquered areas. The von Wydel, von Gunterberg and von Leyberau families all held large estates in Brandenburg and Pomerania. Among them, the von Wedel family has gained a lot of real estate.
Between 1374 and 1375, they owned 7 towns and 15 castles in Landenburg, as well as nearby villages. In addition, "the Wedels family holds 500 hufu land in the open land along the Drage River and vast lands in Pomerania.
In Prue, in the early years of the Teutonic Order's rule, the Order and the Prussian bishops also granted large estates to the German nobility and their families, "the most acquired at that time were the Stanges, who held the city of Marinville and 1200 beards".
In addition to the spontaneous migration of Germans to new settlements, the German feudal lords also actively recruited immigrants. German lords who wanted to colonize sparsely populated border areas or newly occupied areas often launched immigration campaigns in more densely populated areas of western Germany.
"As early as the twelfth century, the German princes on the right bank of the Elbe began to call on German immigrants to go from the west to the eastern countryside to expand their arable land and obtain a good harvest in accordance with their most personal interests in forming the borders of the states." In order to recruit enough immigrants, lords often offered generous conditions to lure German farmers, craftsmen, and citizens.
And if some migrants master practical techniques such as dredging canals and draining swamps, they will be more popular. Wiprecht is a prime example of active immigration recruitment. He was actively involved in recruiting immigrants, and in order to recruit enough immigrants, "he went to Franconia to recruit immigrants, and when he returned, he brought back many Franconian peasants." Wieprecht instructed the settlers on how to develop the land, and when the Franconian settlers cleared the forest, they were granted hereditary rights to the area.
In the following decades, other German lords adopted the same policy. Albert the Brandenburg the Great Bear is one of them.
The chronicler Helmd once described: "Immediately after the conquest of Brandenburg, Albert the Great the Bear traveled to Utrecht and the vast area on the Rhine. He brought back many immigrants from these places and settled them in the villages and fortresses of the Slavs."
Count Adolf also appealed in Westphalia, Holstein, etc.: "The lands of the East are uninhabited, and those who do not have land should take their families to the East." There you will get the best land full of fruit, fish and meat."
The recruitment of Count Adolf was fruitful. After Adolf's call, a large crowd sprang up in the area where he was advocating, and they went to the Wagrians region with their families and all their possessions to receive the land promised to them by Count Adolf.
Due to spontaneous immigration from all strata of Germany and active recruitment by the upper classes, a large number of immigrants poured into the areas where they had been colonized eastward.
Countless Saxons crossed the Elbe and Saale rivers to the Slavs lived, and in some places German immigrants had completely replaced the Slavs, and the mass migration of immigrants profoundly changed the conquered areas.
Establishment of migrant settlements
1. The emergence of the village of Rier
When German settlers came to unfamiliar lands with hope, their first task was to establish settlements. In Eastern Europe, free villages designed to attract settlers were everywhere, especially east of the Elbe, which were open to large numbers of immigrants during this period.
More than 750 German villages appeared in West Prussia, while the Germanic villages of East Pomerelia and East Prussia each accounted for half of West Prussia. Thus, east of the Elbe "a total of 1400 Germanic villages arose, which totaled 60.000 hufus", and in just a few decades, Teutonic knights and bishops established hundreds of Germanic villages.
It is estimated that in Prussia "about 1,000 villages were established under the protection of the Teutonic Knights." "Most German villages were built on uncultivated land. By cutting down trees and eradicating thorns, migrant farmers transformed areas that had previously been without villages into agricultural areas.
In Rügen, about 140 Hagen villages were established; Many similar villages were also established on the Baltic coast as far as East Pomerania. Brandenburg also established 60 Hagen villages in the bush.
Compared to the original Slavic villages, many of the newly established Germanic villages were very large, measuring about 50 or 64 hufu. When immigrants arrive in new settlements, the first few years can be harder. Because the new settlements were completely alien to them, and arable land could only be cultivated by clearing land and draining swamps.
Therefore, the lords had to give up some power and income in the previous years, and give certain preferential conditions to the pioneer peasants, in order to ensure that the settlement could be carried out smoothly and profitably. "When a new village is established by clearing land, the lord of the village grants permanent leases to the emigrant peasants, even though they were not born in the village."
In the new mark, if new settlers are granted a certain period of "tax exemption years", this implies that they are settled on uncleared land. In tax-free years, farmers do not have to pay taxes. A demarcation concession in Pomerania also granted settled farmers a "tax exemption year" of up to ten years. In order to develop the countryside, the Teutonic Knights also offered preferential policies to the German immigrant peasants under their rule.
Due to the limited number of migrant German farmers, there was often a shortage of manpower to cultivate. In view of this situation, the German lords began to use Slavic peasants soon after the establishment of the villages, who were often taken to work in Germanic villages.
In this way, as more and more locals entered Germanic villages, Germanic villages were not only inhabited by Germans, but also mixed with Germanic immigrants.
It is estimated that the village of Hagen was originally inhabited only by Germans, but by 1327 the three farmers of Stoltenhagen were considered Slavs. By the fourteenth century, "the Slavs of the Brandenburg region lived in Germanic villages".
Although it is not known exactly how often Slavs and Germans mixed, it is certain that "many Germanic villages are inhabited by at least half of the Germanized Slavs." This situation of mixed people living in the ear village also occurs.
At the end of the 14th century in Prussia, due to the cessation of German population migration, the Teutonic knights, who had rarely placed Prussians in the new Germanic villages, were forced to use Prussian peasants and other non-Germanic people more because of the need for land cultivation, so "more and more Prussians settled in Germanic villages".
Usually, the task of establishing new villages is carried out by the "boundary". The Demagogues were very important figures in the colonial process in Eastern Europe. Generally, boundary surveyors are contractors and intermediaries between those eager to develop new land and new settlers.
"Boundary surveyors" bring settlers from old settlements to new settlements, and distribute land among migrants and demarcate villages. In return, the "realmists" became hereditary village chiefs and could acquire a piece of land with hereditary privileges in the new settlement.