Schism

Name: Schism
Rating: 4.5 (994 reviews)

by Peter Darman Book 5 in the Crusader Chronicles series.

First published 2015

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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 Army of the Wolf, leading to a series of events that threatens to rip apart the crusader state in the Baltic.
For Conrad these are strange times as former enemies become allies and erstwhile allies seek to take advantage of Livonia’s weaknesses to further their own ends.

By the later 1220s the crusader state in Livonia had become powerful enough for disputes over jurisdiction, taxation and military conduct to threaten its cohesion. Papal representatives attempted to control the competing ambitions of bishops and the Sword Brothers. The resulting uncertainty makes former enemies useful allies and old allies dangerous rivals, while warfare on the frontier continues regardless of church politics.