ABSTRACT
When we consider the Baltic Crusades from the perspective of the attitudes of the parties involved, they emerge as a clash between two opposing identities and a watershed in the transformation of the local one. As such they have been the focus of much controversy and have served as a tool for different ideologies to substantiate or legitimate their territorial claims. They have also been greatly misinterpreted by the projection of modern values and ways of thought onto a medieval context and the judgement of these events on the basis of modern criteria.
