Et primo de bello contra habitatores terre Colmensis.
The Founding of Toruń Castle
Brother Hermannus Balke leads the Teutonic Order across the Vistula, builds the fortified castle of Toruń in 1331, and over time a city grows around it before being relocated due to flooding.
Brother Hermannus Balke, master of Prussia, aspiring to the task of advancing the faith, having taken the aforementioned leader to himself and with the strength of his own army, crossed over to Wisła and into the land of Kolm, and on the shore at the river's descent he built the castle of Toruń in the year of the Lord 1331. This building was made in a certain oak tree, in which battlements and walls had been arranged for defense on all sides; they fortified themselves with palisades; there was no approach open to the castle except one. These seven brothers continuously kept ships around themselves on account of the Prussians' attacks, so that they could return by ship to Nessovia, if the moment of necessity should demand it. In the course of time, however, they established a city around the aforementioned castle, which afterward — the castle remaining — was transferred on account of the continual flooding of waters to that place where both the castle and the city of Toruń are now situated.
The Boundaries of Prussia
The land of Prussia is defined by its natural borders: the Vistula, the Baltic Sea, the Memel, Russia, Mazovia, and Dobrzyń, with detailed descriptions of how the Vistula and Memel rivers divide Prussia from its neighbors.
2. Description of the land of Prussia. The land of Prussia, by its boundaries within which it is established, has the Vistula, the salt sea, the Memel, the land of Russia, the duchy of Mazovia, and the duchy of Dobrzyń. The Vistula is a flowing water from Kraków into the land of Pomerania, near the castle of Gdańsk, entering the sea, dividing Poland and Pomerania from Prussia. The Memel also is a flowing water, descending from the kingdom of Russia near the castle and city of Memelburg, entering the sea, dividing that same Russia, Lithuania, and Courland also from Prussia.
Read the original Latin
Frater Hermannus Balke magister Prussie aspirans ad negocium fidei prosequendum, assumpto sibi duce predicto et virtute exercitus sui transivit Wise- ' lam ad terram Coimensem et in littore in descensu fluminis edificavit anno domini mccxxxi castrum Thorun. Hec edificacioa facta fuit in quadam arbore quercina, in qua propugnacula et menia fuerant ordinata ad defensionem; undique indaginibus se vallabant; non patebat nisi unus aditus ad castrum. Continue hii septem fratres babebant naves circa se propter impetum Pruthenorum, ut possent navigio redire Nessoviam, si necessitatis articulus hoc suaderet. In successu vero temporis instituerunt circa dictum castrum civitatem, que postea, manente Castro, translata fuit propter continuam aquarum inundanciam, ad eum locum, ubi nunc sita sunt et castrum et civitas Thorunensisb. 2, Descriptio terre Prussie. Terra Prussie pro terminis suis, infra quos constituta est, habet Wiselam, mare salsum, Memelam, terram Russie,c ducatum Masovie et ducatum Dobrinensem. Wisela est aqua fluens de Gracovia in terram Pomeranie, circa castrum Danczke" intrans mare, dividens Poloniam et Pomeraniam a Prussia. Memela eciam est fluens aqua, descendens de regno Russie circa castrum et civitatem Memelburgk intrans mare, ipsam Russiam, Lethowiam et Curoniam dividens eciam a Prussia.
Chronicon Terrae Prussiae (Chronicle of the Prussian Land) companion
Keep reading the sources for yourself
The full 428-chapter chronicle — and 78+ other historic works — readable daily in the free Chosen Portion iOS app
The knights kept fixed daily hours of prayer alongside their campaigns; Chosen Portion keeps the fixed daily reading and drops the campaigning.
- The complete chronicle in modern English, in portions under 5 minutes
- Pericope headings that let you navigate 428 chapters by theme
- A daily reading habit that outlasts the 5-week course