As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate disclosure.

Home / Series / Crusader Chronicles

Series

Crusader Chronicles

by Peter Darman 6 books in this series

The Crusader Chronicles are set in Livonia and the eastern Baltic during the first decades of the thirteenth century. Conrad Wolff, a young German exile, becomes entangled with Bishop Albert of Riga and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword as crusaders seek to conquer and convert the peoples of Livonia, Estonia and neighbouring lands.

Over six novels the conflict expands from local campaigning into rivalry with Denmark, Lithuania, Novgorod and papal authorities. The series follows the attempt to turn crusading conquest into a functioning state, showing how religious ideals, land hunger, military necessity and institutional ambition repeatedly pull the Sword Brothers in different directions.

Reading order

Books in this series (6 books)

The Sword Brothers cover

1. The Sword Brothers

Peter Darman

First published 2013

4.2(1,300)

Livonia, early thirteenth century. Conrad Wolff leaves Lübeck after a family injustice and seeks a new life in the crusader state being built around Riga. There he becomes associated with the Brothers of the Sword, the military order created to defend Bishop Albert’s expanding Christian settlements…

Read more
Amazon
Army of the Wolf cover

2. Army of the Wolf

Peter Darman

First published 2014

4.2(1,225)

In the 1210s the Sword Brothers have helped expand the crusader state in Livonia, but success creates a new problem: many German crusaders are ready to return home while Estonia remains unconquered. The Bishop of Riga turns to King Valdemar II of Denmark for military support,…

Read more
Amazon
Castellan cover

3. Castellan

Peter Darman

First published 2014

4.3(1,191)

Set in Livonia and Danish Estonia in the early 1220s, amid rivalry between the Sword Brothers and King Valdemar II, outraged by the behaviour of the Sword Brothers, King Valdemar has placed a blockade on the whole of Livonia. With the Danes having a stranglehold over…

Read more
Amazon
Master of Mayhem cover

4. Master of Mayhem

Peter Darman

First published 2015

4.4(989)

Livonia and Estonia in the 1220s are formally more secure, but Conrad Wolff's position as a master of the Sword Brothers places him inside a struggle involving bishops, papal representatives, Danish interests and the military order itself. A personal grievance quickly becomes entangled with wider disputes…

Read more
Amazon
Schism cover

5. Schism

Peter Darman

First published 2015

4.5(994)

Set in Livonia in the later 1220s, when papal intervention and internal division threaten the crusader state, a new Papal Legate has come to Livonia but he is no friend of Conrad Wolff or the Sword Brothers. Grave charges are levelled against the commander of the…

Read more
Amazon
As Dust to the Wind cover

6. As Dust to the Wind

Peter Darman

First published 2016

4.5(1,113)

By the 1230s Conrad Wolff and the Sword Brothers have created a powerful crusader state in the eastern Baltic, but peace proves temporary. The Mongol destruction of Rus principalities alters the regional balance, and church leaders see weakened Novgorod as an opportunity for a new western…

Read more
Amazon