The sacred aspect of the social organization of the Balts provokes us to think about the early Middle Ages, the Ravenna of Theodoric the Great and his letter to the Aesti king. Thus, should this imply that the organization of the sacred sphere in the social life of the Balts was a result of some unknown historical problems?In order to understand the course and organization of the Northern Crusades, we must comprehend the principles of the structure of the sacral, social, and geographical realms in Prussia.Published by the Centre for Medieval Studies at Nicolas Copernicus University inToruń, the second volume of the Sacra Bella Septentrionalia series is meant to realize the goals set in the Foreword to the first volume. Our aim was to arouse a discussion of the crusades in the Baltic Sea Region.

Foreword, Jarosław Wenta