The medieval history of the Baltic Sea region and Scandinavia is an entanglement of Germanic, Scandinavian, Finnic, Baltic and Slavic peoples who interacted through crusades and conversions, commerce and marriage, and the formation of new policies. In Nordic historiography, the East has often been the enemy and the other, and perhaps more often simply forgotten. The thematic issue "Fighting for the East" brings new perspectives to the history of north-eastern Europe from the 12th to the 16th century. The articles aim to look at the ethnicities, individuals, culture and politics of the Middle Ages in their contemporary context, challenging the still dominant romantic and nation-oriented interpretations.