Page "Warmia" Paragraph 5

In the 13th century the area became a battleground in the Northern Crusades.

Having failed to gather an expedition against Palestine, Pope Innocent III resolved in 1207 to organize a new crusade ; beginning in 1209, he called for crusades against the Albigenses, against the Almohad dynasty of Spain ( 1213 ), and, also around that time, against the pagans of Prussia.

The first Bishop of Prussia, Christian of Oliva, was commissioned in 1209 to convert the Prussians, at the request of Konrad I of Masovia ( duke from 1194 to 1247 ).