Download PDF | (East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450, 63) Kersti Markus - Visual Culture and Politics in the Baltic Sea Region, 1100-1250-Brill (2020).
432 Pages
Preface and Acknowledgements
The idea of writing this book dates back to the beginning of this century, when — after defending my PhD — I joined a group of Swedish and Norwegian doctorands for a tour of Norwegian wooden churches. While travelling in a bus across a snowy mountain ridge, the idea to write a book about the Romanesque art of the Nordic countries was born. With time, the focus of the work has shifted somewhat, and the Baltic Sea with its surrounding countries has become the central topic, with the main focus on the eastern Baltics, but also Denmark and Sweden — but the notion of the region seen as an integral whole has prevailed.
Considering the above, one might well ask why a book with Scandinavian orientation should be published in the series addressing the history of East and Central Europe in the Middle Ages. Although the existing historiography strongly relates the history of the east coast of the Baltic Sea with North Germany, Estonia and Latvia were rather more in the Scandinavian and Russian sphere of influence during the period of 1100-1250, and this left its mark also on the Baltic crusades. Therefore, the subject of this book does not fit into a single series. It could rather be viewed as a counterpart to the monograph Livonia, Rus’ and the Baltic Crusades in the Thirteenth Century, Brill 2015, by Anti Selart, Professor at Tartu University, which addresses the relations of the eastern Baltics with Russia in the 13th century. This comparison serves to demonstrate the manifold nature of the history of the region treated as a part of Eastern Europe, and will hopefully open up fresh and wider prospects for future research.
The courage for this cross-border undertaking came from my studies in Sweden and participation in the extensive Scandinavian network of researchers of visual culture. Many of the ideas appraised in this book were first tested on conferences or in articles. My special gratitude for advice and constructive criticism goes to Ebbe Nyborg, Jes Wienberg, Ann Catherine Bonnier, Carsten Selch Jensen, Oystein Ekroll, Martin Wangsgaard Jiirgensen, and Marika Magi.
As this book is written by an art historian, the visual element is equal to the text in proportion and importance. I am very grateful to Anu Printsmann and Marika Magi for the maps helpful for visualising the landscape of the past, and to Henri Papson and Tiia Taevere for the graphic design of the figures and images. I wish to thank Aet Varik, a fellow traveller on this long journey, for the clear and fluent English.
Writing this book was made financially possible by institutional research funding IUT18-8 of the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, the Hildebrand Foundation of Sweden, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the Estonian Society of Art Historians and Curators.
My warmest gratitude goes to Tanel Tuulse, the companion of all my research expeditions who never lost faith that this book one day will be complete!
Visual Sources and the Danish Crusades
Visual culture and politics in the Baltic Sea region during the High Middle Ages is a topic that finds its roots in the 21st century. The first attempt to open the perspectives the topic offers was a PhD thesis defended by the author in 2000 at the Stockholm University ‘From Gotland to Estonia. Ecclesiastical art and politics in the 13th century’ (written in Swedish)! which analysed the ecclesiastical art of Gotland in the context of crusades. Being an island located at the crossroads of European, Scandinavian and Russian trade routes, the society of Gotland was consequently open to different political and cultural influences. In the 12th century, Gotland was the last stronghold of the Roman Catholic Church in North-eastern Europe. For the first time, the thesis pointed to the impact of Danish art on the ecclesiastical architecture of Gotland in connection with the ambitions of the King and the Archbishop of Denmark to strengthen their power on the island in order to prepare a crusade to Livonia (the current Estonia and Northern Latvia). Proceeding from the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia,” the earlier historiography had associated the island only with the German crusades.
The articles of the Danish archaeologist, Jes Wienberg, ‘Fortresses, Storehouses and Symbols — ambiguous churches of the Baltic Sea’ (in Danish)? and ‘The Golden Ages of Gotland —- Churches, Trends and Crusades’ (in Swedish)* were published the same year. In these publications, he associated the megalomania of the Gotlanders in building churches with the proceeds gained from the crusades. He suggested that the Golden Age of Gotland in the 13th Century was a war-economy created by the crusades in the Baltic. Gotland was both supporting the crusaders while also selling weapons to the heathens. As a building archaeologist, Wienberg paid attention to the material culture, the building chronology of the churches as well as different functions and ways in which the ecclesiastical space was utilized.
However, based on the research so far, it is possible to assert that the visual sources do not only complement our current understanding of the political history of the Baltic Sea region in the 12th and early 13th centuries, but also bring forth aspects which the research based on written sources may have either disregarded or, in some cases, clearly exaggerated.° The key objective of this book is, therefore, to synthesize the visual and historical sources to offer a fresh and comprehensive perspective on the history of the Baltic Sea region in the period of the Crusades. The chronological boundaries are set by the end of the First Crusade in 1099, and thenceforth can we speak of the first Danish crusaders until the Treaty of Stensby in 1238. This treaty ended the Danish campaigns in Livonia. The year 1250 mentioned in the title has symbolic value, in this context, for it signifies the transition from the Romanesque to the Gothic period in the Baltic Sea region. For Livonia, this marked the beginning of a new era, with an established presence of foreign powers.
On the theoretical level, the monograph is based on the principle of so-called “critical art history’, which claims that for the purposes of a valid interpretation of artistic works, it is essential to view them as representations, ie., to proceed from the concept that the work “stands for something”.® Such an approach enables us to understand the origins of the representations, but not the functions. Therefore, we also need to address the studies of visual culture, which do not see merely the “work of art” but the entire visual environment as the object of research. The present study goes even further, for it also views landscape as part of the visual environment,’ i.e. the subject of research is the entire visually perceivable living environment.
One of the tasks of the historian of visual culture is to pose a question about how the visual representations appear, how the stereotypes of interacting with them (i.e. viewing them) have been shaped and constructed, and how practicing and communicating them occurs.® The modern studies of visual culture, therefore, view the design and furnishings of a building as visual symbolic representations of political, social and cultural communication, as well as the means by which people’s ideas and values are summarised, conveyed and shaped. Visual representations are significant historical documents, which enhance our understanding of the past, especially when written sources are scarce.
The Development of Church Studies in Estonia, Latvia and Scandinavia
The medieval art of the Baltic Sea region emerged as a topical object of research in the period between the two world wars. In the 1920s Johnny Roosval, a professor of Stockholm University, coined the term Northern Baltic region of art, which embraced the period from the u1th to the 16th century and geographically included Scandinavia, the Baltic region and Northern Germany.? Roosval recognised neither political nor national borders, claiming that these rarely coincided with the boundaries of the spreading of art. He was determinedly opposed to the German view of Liibeck’s monopolised status in the Baltic Sea region through the Middle Ages. Undoubtedly, Liibeck held a central position in the 15th century, however, Scania (Denmark) and Gotland dominated the Baltic region in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Owing to Roosval, the topic of the art of the Baltic Sea region entered the international debate in the 1930s with clearly polarised views presented by the Germans and the Scandinavians.!° The research methods of the pre-war period included stylistic analysis, identifying the handwriting of single masters, history of different art schools and regions. Art was separated from history.
The aforementioned debate played a crucial role in the development of Estonian art history since the first professors in the field at the University of Tartu were Swedish — Helge Kjellin (1922-24) and Sten Karling (1933-1941). While earlier the Baltic German and German art historians treated Estonian art as German colonial art,!* the Swedish art historians came to view it as part of the art of the Baltic Sea region, possessing its individual characteristics. The parallels in art pertaining to the ecclesiastical architecture and sculpture in the 13th century between Gotland and Estonia arose as significant topics.
Under the supervision of the Swedes, the first generation of Estonian art historians emerged at the University of Tartu (Voldemar Vaga, Armin Tuulse, Villem Raam).'* In Latvia, however, the Baltic German researchers still dominated (Wilhelm Neumann);!§ and no school of native researchers of medieval art emerged. This is the reason why both before and after the war it was Swedes and Estonians who researched the medieval Latvian art.!® Historically it was a single region — Livonia. Since Lithuania was Christianised only in the 15th century, the area was not a part of the Northern Baltic region of art.
The occupation of the Baltic countries by the Soviet troops left the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea in isolation. Having emigrated to Stockholm, Karling and Tuulse were the only ties with the outer world for the Estonian scholars in the 1950s and 60s, supplying them with literature and keeping them updated about the latest problems of research. Due to these new circumstances, research then focused on Livonia. Vaga was interested in the spatial form of the churches, the so-called “conflict between the hall church and the basilica’, however, his method was limited to the analysis of form.!” Raam put together the analysis of form with building archaeology. This became his method during the following decades!® and also influenced researchers of the younger generation, such as Kaur Alttoa.!® Raam included the historical context, ie. the political division of Livonia between the Teutonic Order, the bishops and the king of Denmark in his research. However, the bearers of political power did not have a pivotal role in the development of ecclesiastical architecture; it was rather determined by stone masters from different regions, such as Westphalia, the Rhineland, Gotland, and others.
In the 1970s, Mai Lumiste and Rasmus Kangropool, who had both been educated in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), brought social history into the studies of medieval art and, together with it, shifted attention to the functions of the objects. Such a change was aided by the increasingly wider use of the sources of the City Archives of Tallinn. Of the art historians, Karling had used archive sources; however, Lumiste and Kangropool connected the information from the written sources with thorough building archaeological research and analysis of style, laying down the lines of development of the ecclesiastical architecture in Tallinn in the Late Middle Ages.?°
The 1970s and 80s brought opportunities for a few trips abroad, bringing the search for stylistic parallels in the German and Swedish art of building back into the studies of medieval architecture. Instead of individual travelling masters, the Cistercian and Dominican Orders were viewed as having had an impact on the architecture since they founded convents in Livonia with the purpose of spreading Christianity and commissioned the lay brothers for the building of parish churches. Pilgrims’ architecture emerged as a new topic, i.e. the pilgrimage route from Gotland to Saaremaa (Osel) also had an impact on the art of building”!
In the early 1990s, Estonia became independent and that created a gap in the research traditions — the younger generation went to study at universities abroad, adopted the latest research methods, primarily interdisciplinary studies emphasising the significance of the historical context,?? while the older generation carried on with the analysis of form.?? After the difficult transition years of the 1990s, Estonian art studies once again moved in step with the developments in contemporary art studies, and started an active participation in international medieval studies. In 2005, the interdisciplinary Centre for Medieval Studies was established at Tallinn University. The variety of both research topics and methods has increased.
Combining various sources has become a customary method, and research into building archaeology continues (Villu Kadakas),?4 major progress in technical art history has been made (Hilkka Hiiop, Anneli Randla)*5 in co-operation with (natural) scientists and conservationists. Besides the building masters and donators, focus has also been on the historical and social processes, including power and trade relations that may have affected the creation of a work of art. The spatial design and works of art in churches have been associated with the representational needs of different social strata, as well as means for manifestation of power and status. After the atheist outlook of the Soviet period, studies of liturgy, cult of saints, and popular devotion, in addition to new topics of memorial culture and relations between art and rituals have emerged (Anu Mand).?6
The research on Latvian medieval architecture was carried out primarily by archaeologists (Janis Graudonis, Andris Caune, Evalds Mugurévi¢s) and architects (Paul Campe, Gunars Jansons, Dace Pukite). Art historians Ieva Ose and Elita Grosmane have also brought new aspects into the medieval architectural research in Latvia, but did not shift the focus from object analysis to more complex approach.’ It is, therefore, understandable that the 2010 book ‘Latvijas viduslaiku mura baznicas. 12. gs. beigas — 16. gs. sakums’ about the churches in Latvia is primarily a compilation of reports on objects, presenting descriptions of churches and points of views of different researchers. There is, however, a summary in German at the end of the book attempting, for the first time, to generalise the development of stone churches in Latvia, although sadly lacking international context.?® The article by the German scholar Holger Kempkens about the influential Lippe family in Westphalia, their role in the crusade and constructing churches?’ is a significant contribution to the research on Latvian churches in the broader context, and so is the doctoral thesis by the Latvian scholar, Agnese Bergholde-Wolf, concerning the medieval architecture and sculptural décor of the Riga Cathedral in the context of European analogies.°°
The rich medieval cultural heritage of Gotland was discovered by Johnny Roosval and researching it became his life’s work,*! influencing art historical writing even today. The international influence of the Gotlandic art made him look differently upon the development of art in the entire Baltic Sea region and brought about the launch of the idea of Northern Baltic art region. As was characteristic of the period between the two world wars, art was viewed separately from the historical context. Roosval studied individual masters; however, his works possess international scope.
After Roosval’s death in 1965, art historians Gunnar Svahnstr6m,?? Armin Tuulse®? and Erland Lagerléf* carried on with the research on Gotland. The research materials primarily appear in the publications of the series The Churches of Sweden (Sveriges Kyrkor), meaning that more emphasis was placed on the study of an object than the studies focusing on a problem. Analysis of style and building archaeology were used as methodological frameworks.
The 1960s and 70s symposiums held in Visby brought to Gotland both Scandinavian and German researchers of the Middle Ages, who were interested in broader interdisciplinary studies of the churches of the island.*> During the following decades, however, research on the churches of Gotland “encapsulated” into a local phenomenon. Among the few exceptions are two PhD theses, defended at the Stockholm University: one by a Polish scholar Joanna Wolska, which viewed the evolution of the Gotlandic sculpture in the greater context of the Baltic Sea region*® and the thesis of the author, which studied the development of churches in the context of the crusades. In addition, there are two studies on Byzantine art: the Swedish scholar Erland Lagerlof compared the Gotlandic and Byzantine art of building;?” and the article of the Russian researcher Svetlana Vasilyeva (Svensson), which contributed new insights into the interpretation of Byzantine art in the churches of Gotland.*® The latest contribution to the debate on Gotlandic medieval art is Evert Lindkvist’s PhD thesis on the Romanesque stone sculpture of Gotland, but he does not see the Gotlandic art in the wider context.39
On a broader scale, we can see two main research trends in church studies in Scandinavia: there are both object-centred and interdisciplinary approaches. Considering the extraordinary abundance of medieval heritage (in Denmark and Sweden, there are more than 4500 medieval churches), research material has been sufficient also for studies concentrating on specific parts of edifices (e.g. Romanesque church towers*®) or, even more particularly, on the ironwork of medieval church doors.*! The object-centred approach was fostered also by publication of the abovementioned series The Churches of Sweden (the first book of the series published in 1912), which unfortunately has come to an end, as well as the series on Danish churches (Danmarks kirker), for which the National Museum in Copenhagen established a special department with the same name in 1927. The work of that department continues and all their publications are also available online.*? At first, the series mostly was intended for publication of the results of church inventories, but the volumes from recent decades also include several thorough source-based studies. In the course of preparations for both series, a topical and topographical database of medieval wall paintings, stained glass windows, altar paintings and sculptures was compiled both in Denmark and in Sweden.*? This in turn inspired the emergence of an entire constellation of researchers of iconography in Christian art, such as Ulla Haastrup, Mereth Lindgren, Anna Nilsén, Anne Lidén, and others.44 A connecting link between the two trends — object-centred and interdisciplinary — can be seen in the work of scholars trying to link the analysis of the significance of a work of art to changes in the society, i.e. to apply the iconological method of Erwin Panofsky, demonstrated by the works of Soren Kaspersen and Jan Svanberg.*5
Interdisciplinary research reached its peak in Scandinavia in the 1980s—1990s, propelled by rewarding co-operation between archaeologists, historians and cultural geographers. Research into the development of settlements and evolution of parishes was started, drawing on historical maps, building on archaeology and inventory comparisons (Ebbe Nyborg, Ann Catherine Bonnier, Markus Dahlberg).*6 The topography of churches was employed in the analysis of development of cities (Anders Andrén),*” and changes in their construction in the light of processes in the society (Jes Wienberg).** Interdisciplinary research papers conducted within one region are available in comprehensive collections of articles, allowing an excellent insight into the medieval life of a particular region.*9
Scandinavian research employs the term church archaeology (kyrkoarkeologi), denoting not only building archaeology focusing on the study of churches, but encompassing also analysis of building materials, memorial art, numismatics and analysis of cultural landscapes in a broader sense. The Nordic countries had a common forum in the symposiums on church archaeology initiated in 1981, and the topical issues of the magazine Hikuin.*° This is a good example of integration between the Nordic countries and their similar methods employed in church studies. In Denmark, I would especially like to highlight the approach of studying works of art in the context of medieval spirituality (theology, liturgy) and regarding the church space in its entirety, including the interactions between works of art and architecture examples of which can be found in the work of Seren Kaspersen, Otto Norn, Ulla Haastrup, and Harriet Sonne de Torrens.5! The variety of methods and high relevance of relations between objects and the society is characteristic of Scandinavian church studies also today.
On the opposite coast of the Baltic Sea — in the Baltic States, this kind of integration has not occurred in church studies, although individual researchers are pursuing a similar approach. Language is one of the isolating factors, as studies are mostly published in the local languages, which in Scandinavia are mutually intelligible, but not so much in the Baltics. In Estonia also publications in English and German are quite numerous, but insufficient for a more comprehensive insight into the local research, and in Latvia, publications about medieval churches are mostly in Latvian. In fact, even mutual interest is lacking. Johnny Roosval launched the concept of Northern Baltic region of art nearly 100 years ago; however, even after the fall of political barriers, we have not come far in the cultivation of this idea, especially when it comes to earlier periods, including the period of crusades.
1.2 Danish Historiography on the Crusades
The history of the Baltic Sea region in the late 12th and the 13th centuries has been presented primarily in the context of the German crusades. The crusades of the Danes have neither fitted into the self-image of the post-Reformation Denmark, nor into the canons of the Danish national historical writing.5? Therefore, Danish art historians have not been involved in the research on the Baltic Sea region. In the course of the last decades, however, the impact of the works of several Anglo-American historians (first and foremost Jonathan Riley-Smith5?) has widened both the concept of crusades as well as the chronological and geographical boundaries, making it possible to regard many events taking place on the fringes of Europe, including the Baltic crusades, as crusades. This brought along explosive increase in the research on crusades, notably the works of William Urban, Eric Christiansen, Christopher Tyerman, and Alan Murray. In the Nordic countries, the topic was researched primarily by the Danes who, since 1990, have been in the forefront of studies of the crusades in the area. The research of the aforementioned archaeologist Jes Wienberg on the churches of Gotland should also be viewed in this context. In 2004 a monograph in Danish was published about the Danish crusades by John H. Lind, Carsten Selch Jensen, Kurt Villads Jensen and Ane L. Bysted, and in 2012 the revised English version ‘Jerusalem in the North. Denmark and the Baltic Crusades, n00-1522’.* In the last decade the number of publications has decreased and there are no indications that the growth rate will turn in the near future.5”
I would like to highlight especially the collection Crusading and Chronicle Writing on the Medieval Baltic Frontier (eds. Marek Tamm, Linda Kaljundi, Carsten Selch Jensen),°® published as a result of Estonian-Danish co-operation in 20u, as well as Danish theologian Carsten Selch Jensen's habilitation thesis on the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, defended in Danish in 2017.59 Jensen summarizes the state of existing research on the Baltic crusades, and looks with fresh eyes upon several long-established opinions. The Chronicle is certainly the most important source in the earlier history of Estonia and Latvia, covering the period between the early 180s and 1227, when Saaremaa was conquered. Henry came from northern Germany and stayed in Livonia from 1205; from three years after his ordination until his death he acted as priest of the Latgals in present-day Rubene in northern Latvia. Earlier historiography believed that it was Bishop Albert of Riga who commissioned the Chronicle, but Jensen suggests that it was Bishop Philip of Ratzeburg (d. 1215);®° this suggestion in turn widens the research perspective of art historians, as there is an unexpected change in the construction of the Riga Cathedral, and the new model is indeed the Ratzeburg Cathedral. Estonian archaeologists have considered Henry’s account of the events to be accurate,®! although this is certainly not applicable to information concerning the Danes.®? As the Chronicle was composed at the time when the Danish King was already in captivity (1223), and the Germans had succeeded with their mission in Livonia, the account can above all be regarded as an apology of the conquests of the Church of Riga and the Germans. The information about the Danes is often distorting, or their existence not even mentioned. Compared to earlier studies addressing the conquest of Livonia, the Danish scholars have introduced several Danish sources into wider circulation, and placed the Baltic crusades into the context of crusades in the Holy Land, opening up a broader view of the events in Livonia than has been available before.
For the 800th anniversary of the Danish national flag, two Danish and two Estonian researchers wrote a joint paper on the Danish crusade in Estonia, published in May 2019 simultaneously in Danish and in Estonian.®? For the first time, different nations were creating a common narrative of their history on the same pages, and the assembling of parts into a whole proved not to be an easy task. International publications traditionally enable the contributors to focus on various aspects of the topic, while leaving the assembling of a larger frame to the compiler or editor of the work. This time, the writings of different authors representing different areas of research — an archaeologist, an art historian, a theologist and a historian — were expected to fit together into a whole. Even when the co-operation between researchers is a true success and every participant's mind is open to meet a different perspective, the different national traditions of historiography still play a significant role, as well as the different research methods and ways of posing a question in different disciplines. Also, the importance of knowing local languages became obvious, because — as mentioned above — part of the relevant research is written in the local languages. Having participated in this process, I have to admit that the result was not a perfect integral whole, whereas the process as such carried the research of Baltic Sea crusades to a new level, especially considering the existing Danish and Estonian historiography. This opinion is confirmed by several reviewers in the media. The outcome points to a welcome opportunity for extended research co-operation in the future.
1.3 Prospects of Visual Sources in the Study of Baltic Crusades
Considering the brief historiographical survey provided above, one might wonder about the necessity of resorting to visual sources at all when there seem to be plenty of written records, sufficient to sustain the centuries-long debate on the Livonian conquests. The truth is, however, that the existing written sources are but fragments, which have to be arranged into a whole, and therefore the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia is bound to remain the narrative shaping our understanding of the events that took place around 1200. Yet as an art historian, one would like to ask — why have we not turned to visual sources? From the period in question, the number of preserved visual sources is considerably larger than that of remaining written records. The main reason seems to be the question of reliability. For historians, visual sources qualify as illustrations, not as a basis for history writing. The unreliability is a result of the art historians’
own uncertainty when looking for corroboration of ideas in written sources torn out of their context, as well as inconsistency of methods.
As we saw in the survey of church studies, scholarly traditions around the Baltic Sea tend to vary. Moreover, different stages of preservation affect the scholarship, as the earlier architectural heritage of Livonia has suffered considerable damage when compared to Scandinavia. Therefore, studies conducted within a single region are not reasonable in the context of church studies. A supra-regional approach could open up an entirely new perspective. This presumes, however, that in the stage of conceptualisation, basic research should encompass the whole region, and the entire earlier historiography necessary for solving the task should be studied. Unfortunately, we cannot base our research on the conclusions of our colleagues, as they have proceeded from different propositions in their research — which of course does not exclude the possibility of coincidence in final conclusions.
As it was stated at the beginning of this introduction, this work proceeds from the notion that art and architecture reflect the representational needs of different social classes, and are instruments for manifestation of power and status.
In history and art history writing, 12th-century Scandinavia is seen as Early Middle Ages, which may lead us to think that Christianity by that time was deeply rooted there already, and the hierarchical social order fully established. The reality was quite different. The old system still prevailed, and important offices were elective. The use of motives from Viking art in church decorations shows that the old, familiar visual world still continued to exist. Obviously, the local mentality was still predominantly rooted in the old and traditional, and it was attempted to bring the new stone churches closer to the people by the use of the familiar symbols. The exterior form of the wooden churches was reminiscent of both the Viking halls and the Viking ships. The first few stone churches in rural areas were remarkable for their new material, while their external form still preserved the visual resemblance to the wooden churches.
It is first in the second half of the 12th century we can see a principal change in architecture, with stately western towers appearing in the landscape, as well as round churches striving to imitate the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This period coincides with the self-assertion of the dynasty of Valdemar in the Danish society (1157-1241). Their intent is to establish divine right and hereditary royalty instead of the existing system with elected rulers. How to bring this message to the people and change the existing mentality? We have to keep in mind the abundance of the visual world of the Viking period, requiring at least equal eloquence from any replacement. Proceeding from that we propose a hypothesis that visual propaganda is used as an instrument in establishing the new hierarchical social order. This principal change in the functioning of society coincides with the period of crusades in Europe. As the ruling circles of Denmark were copying the behaviour patterns of European courts, and the clergy was communicating with the papal curia, we may assume that European notions and rules of behaviour also reached Scandinavia one way or another, and are reflected in the visual material. How should the idea of fighting for invisible God, ensuring one’s journey to Paradise, be served to noblemen expected to support the king in his campaign? Presumably, also here visual propaganda was used.
While Denmark tried to walk in step with the events of the Continent, the Swedes were holding on even faster to the old society.®* In fact, the pagan customs still persevered, although there were some isolated territories of established Christianity. The Swedish rulers had to find a balance between local noblemen (both Christian and pagan), as well as territorial ambitions of the Danes and the strong impact of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Therefore, it would be interesting to see how the building of new society and the Danish preparations for crusades were reflected in the visual material in Sweden.
Moreover, the Baltic Sea islands covered by the crusade routes — Bornholm, Oland, and Gotland — constitute a separate topic. One of them belonged to Denmark, the other was fought over by Denmark and Sweden, and the third remained independent, although in the Swedish sphere of influence. (Fig. 1.1) Written sources wield little here in the context of the crusades, most of the information about these societies comes from archaeological material and visual sources. Therefore, studies written by historians tend to leave these territories alone. Nils Blomkvist’s monograph The Discovery of the Baltic: The Reception of a Catholic World-System in the European North (A.D. 1075-1225), published in the Brill publishing house series The Northern World is a clear exception.®© Blomkvist proceeds from both written sources and archaeological data. On the other hand, the three islands were clearly affected by all the major changes in the Baltic Sea region owing to their location at the maritime routes. Anyone striving to control the waterways must have gained some control also over the islands. Could this be reflected in visual material?
The last subject to be addressed is the Christianisation of Livonia seen through visual sources. I have discussed this subject in some previous articles, with sufficiently promising results to pursue the research further. As mentioned above, the main source for research on the conquest and Christianisation of Latvia and Estonia is the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, a scanty and biased record when it comes to the Danes. Therefore, the proposed task in the present study is to consider whether visual sources could render additional information about that turbulent period. The problem with my previous articles may have been that for a reader unfamiliar with the Scandinavian context, it is difficult to grasp the conceptualisation of individual objects. Compared to our earlier historiography, clearly following the Baltic German tradition, the change of mentality is dramatic. Therefore, the aim of this book is to view the Baltic Sea region in its entirety.
In my analysis of visual sources, I take advantage of the whole arsenal of methods used in art history, combining them with observations of the contemporary cultural landscape. The written sources are used for comment and confirmation, not as a guide to the visual sources. For me, a method is viable if the results are confirmed for the entire region. There must have been shared notions in the mental world of those who commissioned the buildings and works of art in the period of crusades, and those notions in turn must have been reflected in the visual material. Thus, if the written sources are not sufficient, visual sources ought to replace them. It will be interesting to see if visual sources can fill some gaps left by the written material, or perhaps open up some still untrodden paths for history writing.
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