De reedificacione castri Brandenburgk et laudabili vita cujusdam fratris.
The Rebuilding of Brandenburg Castle
The margrave of Brandenburg, grieving the destruction of his castle by the Prussians, gathers an army and rebuilds a new castle of the same name on the same site with the counsel of the Teutonic brothers.
In the same place. The margrave of Brandenburg, realizing that the castle he had built had been destroyed by the Prussians, was deeply troubled, and after gathering a large army once again he returned to Prussia, and by the counsel of the master and the brothers he rebuilt another castle of the same name on the same site.
The Noble Brother and His Hidden Penance
Brother Ilermannus of Lichtenburg, a man of noble birth, practiced extraordinary self-discipline, notably wearing a bare iron breastplate against his skin in place of an undershirt.
In this castle there was a certain brother, Ilermannus of Lichtenburg, a man of noble birth, who beyond other disciplines of self-correction… and acts of abstinence with which he continually afflicted himself — he wore a bare breastplate against his body in place of an undershirt.1
Wounds of Devotion in Battle
When Brother Ilermannus rode to war wearing his hidden breastplate beneath his armor, the iron gnawed and corroded his flesh so severely that it appeared as though scorpions had torn him open.
As a result, it happened that when he had put on his other armor and was riding out to war — behaving as impetuously as is customary in such an undertaking — the flesh of his body was gnawed and corroded to such a degree23 that it was as if his flesh had been cut open by scorpions.
Defiant Obedience and Marian Healing
When his confessor Brother Peter rebuked him and urged him to set aside the breastplate in wartime, Ilermannus refused, declaring he would never remove it while alive; but the blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him that night and healed him so completely that no mark of corruption remained.
Because of this, when Brother Peter, a priest and his confessor, rebuked him, insisting that in time of war he should set aside the breastplate on account of the weight of the other arms, he answered that no necessity could compel him to do so — that he would not lay it aside while he was still alive. But on the very next night the blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him, and by the gentle touch of her hand she healed him, so that when Brother Peter, mentioned above, saw him again, no mark of any corruption was visible on his skin.
Read the original Latin
ibidem. Marchio de Brandenburgk intelligens, quod castrum per eum edificatum esset a Pruthenis destructum, turbatus est, et collecto iterum magno exercitu rediit Prussiamc, et de magistri et fratrum consilio ad eundem locum castrum aliud ejusdem nominis instauravit. In hoc Castro fuit quidam frater Ilermannus de Lichtenburgk nobilis, qui preter alias castigaciones." et abstinencias, quibus se afflixit, continue circa corpus suum nudum lorica pro camisia utebatur. Unde accidit, quod superindutis aliis armis, dum ad bellum proficiscens impetuose se haberet, sicut in tali negocio est consuetum, in tantum caro ejus corrosa fu. it, ac si fuisset scorpionibus cesa. Pro quo dum frater Petrus sacerdos, confessor ipsius, eum redargueret, asserens, quod tempore belli deberet loricam deponere, propter armorum gravedinem aliorum, respondit, quod nulla necessitas ad hoc eum posset artare, quod vivus eam deponeret. Sed in ipsa nocte sequenti apparuit ei beata virgo Maria, que tactu placide manus sue ipsum sanavit, sic quod dum eum frater Petrus predictus iterum videret, nulla corrupcionis alicujus in cute ipsius macula comparebat.
Notes
- 1 ↩lorica: rendered as 'breastplate' (a metal cuirass) to convey the penitential harshness; the image is of a knight's armor worn directly on bare skin.
- 2 ↩corrosa: 'gnawed/corroded' — the cuirass, worn directly on bare skin and pressed by the weight of additional armor, ate into his flesh.
- 3 ↩fu: truncated form of fuit, rendered as 'was'.
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