De vastacione terre Polonie.
The Prussians' Savage Invasion of Poland
The Prussians, unchecked by the duke, invaded Poland with great force, burning buildings, slaughtering men, enslaving women and children, killing pregnant women, and impaling infants on stakes.
And because the same duke did not resist the Prussians at the outset, nor dared to apply a suitable remedy against their violence and attacks as things proceeded to further and worse acts, they invaded the land of Poland with a great force of warriors on so many occasions, and inflicted such great damage on it that — with buildings burned — they struck down men of adult age with the sword, and led away women and children into perpetual servitude; and if by chance some pregnant matron in childbirth could not follow them, they killed her; and snatching infants from the arms of their mothers, they impaled them on hedge-stakes and slaughtered them.
The Duke's Kingdom Reduced to One Castle
The devastation was so complete that of all the duke's fortifications only the castle of Plock above the Vistula remained.
And so they devastated the land so greatly that of all the fortifications and castles of his duchy, not one remained to him except a single castle situated above the Vistula river, which was called Plock.
The Burning of Churches and Religious Houses
The Prussians destroyed 250 parish churches by fire, along with monasteries, chapels, monks' cloisters, and nuns' convents.
Moreover, they destroyed by fire 250 parish churches — not counting the monasteries of regular canons and secular clerics — along with chapels, monks' cloisters, and nuns' convents.
Martyrdom of Clergy and Desecration of the Eucharist
Priests and clerics were slaughtered at the altar while handling the Body and Blood of Christ, and the sacraments were thrown to the ground and trampled.
Priests and other clerics — both religious and secular — they slaughtered, some outside the church precincts, others within, and many at the altar itself, while they were handling the most sacred ministrations of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; and in contempt of God they threw those very sacraments irreverently onto the ground and trampled them with their feet.
Plunder of Sacred Vessels and Violation of Consecrated Virgins
Sacred vessels, vestments, and altar cloths were carried off for profane uses, and virgins dedicated to God were dragged from their cloisters and violated.
Chalices, ampules, and other church vessels, corporals, and sacred vestments dedicated to divine worship they carried off for unlawful uses, dragging them away — while from their own cloisters virgins dedicated to God were violently dragged out, and they practiced their shameful acts upon them.
The Incompleteness of the Record
The chronicler concludes that no one could fully record the enormity of the evils inflicted upon the faith and the faithful.
And so that I may conclude briefly, no one would suffice to write in full how great the evils and detestable deeds were that they inflicted upon the faith and upon the faithful.
Read the original Latin
Et quia idem dux principiis non obstitit nec contra violentes ipsorum' ausus et conamina remedium adhibuit oportunum ad ulteriora, etdeteriora procedentes invaserunt terram Polonie cum magna potencia pugnatorum tot vicibus, et tanta dainna intulerunt ei, quod combustis edificiis homines etatis adulte percusserunt gladio, et mulieres et parvulos in servitutem perpetuam deduxeruntb; et si forte aliqua matrona gravidac in partu ipsos sequi non poterat, eam occiderunt; rapientes eciamd infantes de bracbiis matrum infigendo in sudes sepium interfecerunt. Sicque terram adeo vastaverunt, quod de omnibus municionibus et castris ducatus sui non remansit ei nisi unum castrum situm suprae fluvium Wisele, quod Ploczkof dicebatur. Insuper ccl ecclesias parochiales preter monasteria regularium et secularium clericorum, capellas, cenobia monachorum et claustra sanctimonialium incendio destruxerunt. Sacerdotes et alios clericos tarn religiosos quam seculares, quosdam extra septa ecclesie, alios intra, plures in altari, dum sacrosancta corporis et sanguinis domini nostri Jesu Cristi tractarent ministeria, trucidantes, ipsa sacramenta in contemptum dei irreverenter in terram proicientes, pedibus conculcabant. Calices, ampulas et alia vasa ecclesie corporalia vestesqueh sacras ad divinum cultum dedicata deferentes ad illicitos usus pertrahebant, cum virginibus deo dicatis de claustris suis violenter extractis impudice sua ludibria exercentes. Et ut breviter concludam, nullus sufficeret ad plenum scribere, quanta mala et facta detestabilia fidei et fidelibus irrogarunt.
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