A Crusader-flag falling from the sky - a view from Denmark

Pope Urban II’s call for a Crusade to the Holy Land in 1095 was shared across Latin Christendom. This call also reached the Danish kingdom, which had been officially Christianized in the 960s. By the late 12th and early 13th centuries, a new series of Danish, Swedish and German Crusades targeted the non-Christian lands in the easternmost part of the Baltic region. These received papal support and spiritual privileges for the participants were granted. Danes thus took part in both Crusades to the Holy Land and the Baltic region. However, Danish crusading activity has not played a major role in the construction of modern Danish identity, although it has made an impact through its association with the Danish flag. The Danish contribution to the Second Crusade and the Danish Crusades in the eastern Baltic region around 1200 received somewhat more attention, in so far as they were included, however briefly, in most general works on Danish history.