ABSTRACT
The Roman Catholic and German Drang nach Osten, albeit slower and less flamboyant, brought the peoples of the eastern Baltic littoral permanently into the fold of Western European civilization. The Church certainly must have viewed the continued existence of a large block of pagans in Europe as a blemish on its record, and the Christian merchants as a possible medium that could eradicate this stain. The expedition was led by several German princes and bishops and joined by contingents of Danes and Poles. In spite of papal precautions to maintain control of the venture, its direction was soon taken over by the secular nobility, who turned the mission into a war of conquest and pillage. Denmark and its rulers had, since the early twelfth century been preoccupied with the military and political situation on the north German coast between the Elbe and the Oder.
