Norse Crusader State

I just think Viking crusaders are so cool...

Okay is it possible in a more successful Crusades TL for the Norse kingdoms to set up their own realms in the Levant?

If so how and where? If not why not?
 

Deleted member 97083

Norse Crusader states already happened, at least in the Baltic. There was a Danish conquest of Pomerania and Estonia, and the Swedish conquest of Finland. Also the Teutonic Order's creation of an explicit crusader state.
 
In Levent Scandinavian Crusaders was severely outnumbered by specially French crusaders... And the tactical acumen (in terms of countering Saracens specially) of the Scandinavian armies was quite a bit lower than central Europe up till early 1400s (qua their late acquisition of cavalry tactics) ... certainly until Crusading was a semi-mythic history of the past ... the Pagans on the Baltic might not have been quite as prestigious (hence being less sought after), but neither was they anyway as tactically or technologically competent, meaning that the Scandinavian lack of tactical/technological know-how in relation to central Europe wasn't relevant
 
It's difficult for me to imagine a Norse-dominated crusader state being set up anywhere in the Levant. None of the Scandinavian kingdoms really had the manpower to manage it, and this combined with the distance means that reinforcing this state with new arrivals from Scandinavia would be pretty much impossible. In any case, IOTL Sigurd "the Crusader" only launched his crusade because of the success of the Franks, and thus the KoJ was already established with no more room on the Levantine coast for a Norse principality. As for the Norwegians themselves, IIRC they were more interested in entering the service of the Byzantine Emperor than in remaining in the Levant, an obvious choice given the legacy of the Varangians.

A Norse lord under the KoJ, however, is easy to imagine. Sidon would be the obvious choice, as it was the city captured by Baldwin and Sigurd - just have Sigurd convince Baldwin to give it to one of Sigurd's kinsmen/nobles who desired to remain in the Holy Land instead of giving it to Eustace Grenier. That would hardly be a "Norse realm," however.
 
I don't know how well it would have gone, but if Alexios had sent a letter to the Swedes/Danes/Rus at the same time as the Pope, having a Catholic/Orthodox Northern Crusade could be awesome. If both the Northern Crusade and the First Crusade arrive, having them work side by side may ensure Alexios doesn't feel like he ought to retreat (which is a whole other kettle of fish), but inevitably, the territories of the Crusader states would not be enough. - Egypt would be the next target. I wouldn't guarantee the division, but a possibility is the Northern Crusade takes over the Nile Delta, whilst the First Crusade takes over OTL Crusader States.

It isn't 'Norse', but their descendants. But I think it'd be a fun TL.
 
I just think Viking crusaders are so cool...

Okay is it possible in a more successful Crusades TL for the Norse kingdoms to set up their own realms in the Levant?

If so how and where? If not why not?

The Norwegian King Sigurd´s crusade against pagan Småland in 1123. That was a crusade in the name of the church against remnant pagan Scandinavians.
 
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Art

Monthly Donor
I remember this AAR called
Æthellan
, a Tale of Kings, in which Edgar the Atheling, the last descendant of the House of Wessex becomes king of a crusader state that takes over the Levant, part of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Egypt, and a descendant of Edgar's takes back the English throne. But that is not a "Norse" crusader state, rather a Germanic one.
 
In Levent Scandinavian Crusaders was severely outnumbered by specially French crusaders... And the tactical acumen (in terms of countering Saracens specially) of the Scandinavian armies was quite a bit lower than central Europe up till early 1400s (qua their late acquisition of cavalry tactics) ... certainly until Crusading was a semi-mythic history of the past ... the Pagans on the Baltic might not have been quite as prestigious (hence being less sought after), but neither was they anyway as tactically or technologically competent, meaning that the Scandinavian lack of tactical/technological know-how in relation to central Europe wasn't relevant
Well there was a Norman crusader state (the Duchy of Edessa). Does it counts?
 
Well there was a Norman crusader state (the Duchy of Edessa). Does it counts?

By this point in time 'Normandy Normans' had been culturally part of France for some 200 years ... while still not quite French, they were more French than they were anything else

Even with all that, don't you mean the Principality of Antioch ... IIRC (and from what i can glance at Wikipedia) that was the primary Norman hub, and it was dominantly Normans from Southern Italy
 
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