This army and monastic purchase starred in the Holy Land at times of the next crusade but it concentrated its task into the colonization of Eastern Prussia, Poland and Baltic countries, bringing Catholicism within the East. In 1199 Pope Innocent 3rd offered them the white surcoats with a black cross that became the insignia associated with the order. In 1242, the knights for the purchase were beaten in the battle of Lake Peipus by Alexander Nevsky, prince of Novgorod.
