Dominion: People, Animals and Environments in Medieval Europe

In recent years, archaeologists have become increasingly interested in the material culture of the crusades, a movement dominating European societies from the late-11th through to the 16th century. Whether territorial expansion as a result of crusading activity was organic or planned, it resulted in the selective appropriation of existing infrastructure and the establishment of new settlements, fortifications, religious and administrative centres, with an implanted population and ruling hierarchy.

Exploitation of local environments became tailored to the economic but also social and cultural requirements of the settled incomers, and therefore the crusading movement represented a new ecological force; superseding, complementing, perhaps even accentuating existing human impact on animals, plants and landscapes at the frontiers of Christendom. But this fundamental aspect of the crusades has received little attention, and the proposed project aims to investigate the ecological impact of crusading by focusing on the contexts of colonialism, migration, religious conversion and diversity, cultural exchange, landscape transformation and endemic warfare in the Baltic region. This inter-regional case study will then be compared to other crusading frontiers: the Middle East, Iberia, Romania and the Balkans.

In 2007 I was awarded a British Academy grant to look at the ecological impact of castles built by the Teutonic Order in Prussia (modern north Poland). The main focus of this project was the castle at Malbork (formerly Marienburg), the headquarters of the Order from 1309 (left and below, showing coring in the outer moat in 2008).

In 2008 we also started work at Karksi castle in Estonia involving environmental sampling and magnetometer surveying (see below right), with the aim of excavating in the future (depending on funding). In 2009 I successfully convened a European Science Foundation exploratory workshop entitled "The Ecology of Crusading", which took place at Malbork Castle. This brought together 24 archaeologists and historians from eight different countries to present case studies of sites, discuss methodology, logistics and funding strategies for this research programme. I am currently applying for funding to develop this into a major international research project.

Relevant publications

Maltby, M. Pluskowski, A. G. and Seetah, K. (2009) ‘Animal Bones from an Industrial Quarter at Malbork, Poland: towards an ecology of a castle built in Prussia by the Teutonic Order’, Crusades, 8:191-212.(in press, also submitted in Polish for site report).

Pluskowski, A. G. Seetah, K. and Maltby, M. (2009) 'Potential osteoarchaeological evidence for riding and the military use of horses at the castle in Malbork, Poland', International Journal of Osteoarchaeology (in press).

Valk, H. Pluskowski, A. G. Thornley, D. Brown, A. and Summerfield, C. (in press). 'Fluxgate gradiometry survey in the ruins of Karksi Castle and palaeoenvironmental analysis in its hinterlands', Archaeological Field Work in Estonia.

Pluskowski, A. G. (in press). 'The ecology of medieval crusading: reflections on a new research agenda' (in J. Laszlovszky (ed.) Colonisation and the Military Orders).

In preparation

Pluskowski, A. G. Gerrard, C. and Boas, A. ‘The environmental impact of crusading at the frontiers of Europe’ (to be submitted to Medieval Archaeology in 4/2010).

Brown, A. and Pluskowski, A. G. ‘Landscape transformation during the crusading era: pollen analysis at Malbork castle’ (to be submitted to The Journal of Scientific Archaeology in 3/2010).

Pluskowski, A. G. Brown, A. and Sawicki, Z. ‘An ecological watershed: the impact of castle building in the Baltic’ (short research paper to be submitted to Antiquity in 3/2010).

Pluskowski, A. G. Holy War and Colonisation: The Archaeology of the Prussian Crusade.

Relevant presentations

6th March 2006. 'Exploiting animals and environments at the castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork, north Poland: a preliminary report and directions for future research', Seminar with Krish Seetah, Cambridge Medieval Archaeology Group, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge.

19th-24th September 2006. '“Ecological Imperialism?” Investigating the Environmental Impact of Crusading and Colonisation at the Frontiers of Medieval Europe', part of session entitled 'Crusade, colonisation and conversion: material traces at the frontiers of medieval Christendom', organised by A. G. Pluskowski, at the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) 12th Annual Meeting in Kraków.

6th December 2006. 'Exploiting animals at Malbork Castle, Poland: towards an environmental archaeology of crusading', Seminar at Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest.

May, 2008. 'The Ecology of Crusading Project', lecture to the Graduate Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Reading.

7th-10th July, 2008. 'Hunting Lions and Breeding Warhorses: Investigating the Impact of Crusading on Animal Exploitation at the Frontiers of Christendom', part of session entitled 'Diaspora and the Natural World', organised by N. Sykes; Leeds IMC session sponsored by the Society for Medieval Archaeology.

18th July, 2008. 'Colonisation and the Military Orders: Interdisciplinary Perspectives', From Holy War to Peaceful Co-habitation. Diversity of Crusading and the Military Orders, International Conference at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

18th September, 2008. 'How Much Religion is there in the Archaeology of Holy War?', introduction to session entitled 'Crusade, colonisation and conversion III', organised by A. G. Pluskowski and K. Seetah, at the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) 14th Annual Meeting in Valletta, Malta.

5th September, 2009. "Introduction: The Ecology of Crusading, Colonisation and Religious Conversion in the Medieval Eastern Baltic", ESF workshop on "The Ecology of Crusading" convened by A. G. Pluskowski, Malbork Castle, Poland.

Forthcoming presentations

5th February, 2010. 'Driving out gods: The environmental impact of crusading, colonization and religious conversion on Baltic pagan societies', Lansdowne Fellowship, Faculty of Humanities, University of Victoria, Canada.

18th March, 2010. 'Transforming a sacred frontier landscape: Exploring the environmental impact of crusading and colonisation in medieval Prussia', with Alex Brown, Department of Archaeology, University of Reading.

13th-16th May, 2010. 'Castles as “top predators” re-visited: the ecological impact of constructing and maintaining castles in medieval Prussia and Livonia', part of session entitled 'New Directions in European Castle Research', organised by O. Creighton; Kalamazoo ICMS session sponsored by the Society for Medieval Archaeology.