The Stedinger Crusade: War, Remembrance, and Absence in Thirteenth-Century Germany

This article explores the creation and communication of memory during and immediately after the Stedinger crusade (1232-1234). Remembrance of the crusade is shown to be manifested in the creation of special memorial liturgies, in the foundation and patronage of local monasteries around Bremen and in the writing of chronicles and annals in northern Germany and Friesland. The article illuminates the complex relationships between local powerbrokers and peasant farmers, and demonstrates how the category of “holy war” was used to support the colonization of Stedinger land. The article also argues that control of the memory of this crusade was an important act of legitimizing the war against the Stedinger farmers. This article thus reveals both the possibilities and limitations of investigating the difficult and various processes of war memorialization in the thirteenth century.