The christianization of Central and Northern Europe, fundamental for the formation of the unity of our civilization was considered by earlier scholarship only in terms of what took place but not in terms of the official norms of the medieval church.

On the other hand, the spiritual starting point of so-called 'missionary objects' was left largely out of view. Consequently, anachronistic terms came in to use and actual facts became distorted. 26 Studies, published over more than 50 years in four different countries, discuss these problems especially against the background of Carolingian Saxony, and the Slavonic tribes between Germany and Poland, -most of whom may also be seen as the ancestors of modern-day Germans-, with special reference to the strange "Wendenkreuzzug" (Wendish crusade) of 1147.

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