Swedish–Novgorodian Wars

The Swedish–Novgorodian Wars were a series of armed conflicts in the 12th and 13th centuries between the Novgorod Republic and medieval Sweden over control of the Gulf of Finland. The area formed part of the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks and was strategically important for commerce, later becoming significant to the Hanseatic League. The clashes between Catholic Swedes and Orthodox Novgorodians carried religious overtones, although no evidence exists of official crusade bulls being issued by the Pope before the 14th century.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.