De combustione hospitalis TJioruniensis et impugnacione civitatis Colmensis.
The Sudovian Onslaught Begins
The Sudovians invade the land of Lublin with an unprecedented army and utterly destroy both the castle and the city.
And the destruction of the castle and city of Lublin. At this same time the Sudovians, with a larger army than had ever been seen in Prussia, entered the land of Lublin and completely destroyed both the castle and the city of the same name.1
Advance into Colmensis and the Burning of Toruń
The divided Sudovian army seizes fortified positions in Colmensis and then burns the hospital and outskirts of Toruń.
Then, advancing toward the castle of Straisberg and entering the land of Colmensis with their army divided, they seized several fortified positions ahead of the people, in order to kill and capture those who had fled to them.2 After this they came to Toruń, and burned the hospital and everything that was outside the walls that could be consumed by fire.
The Siege of Colmensis and the Spoils of War
The Sudovians fail to take Colmensis due to brave defense, then withdraw after four days of devastation with vast plunder.
At last, coming to the city of Colmensis, they attacked it fiercely by day and by night, though they accomplished nothing, since the citizens defended themselves bravely in return.3 And so, while they had laid waste to the said land for four days, they withdrew with incalculable plunder — people, horses, cattle, and other goods.
A Woman's Courage in the Marsh
A Sudovian warrior pursues a Christian woman into a marsh, but she resists with such ferocity that she chokes him with mud after he bites off her thumb.
From this army, a certain warrior from Sudovia pursued a Christian woman who had fled to a marsh at that time, and when he tried to kill her, she forgot the weakness of her sex and resisted him with courage. Enraged at this, he bit off her thumb with his teeth; she, provoked in return to anger, filled his mouth and ears with mud and choked him completely.
Read the original Latin
et destructione castri et civitatis Lubovie. Hoc eciam tempore Sudowite cum majori exercitu, quame unquam visus fuit in Prussia, intraverunt terram Lubovie, et castrum et civitatem ejusdem nominis funditus destruxerunt. Deinde circa castrum Straisbergk intrantes ter ram Colmensem diviso exercitu, preoccupaverunt plura castra, ut populum ad ea confugientem occiderent et captivarent. Posthec venerunt Thorun, et hospitale et quicquid fuit extra muros, quod igne consumi potuit, cremaverunt. Tan dem venientes ad civitatem Colmensem ipsam per diem et noctem fortissime impugnaverunt, licet nihil proficerent, civibus se viriliter defendentibus ex adverso. Sic dum dictam terram per dies quatuor devastassent, cum inestimabili spolio hominum, equorum, pecorum et aliarum rerum recesserunt. De hoc exercitu quidam vir fortis de Sudowia mulierem cristianam, que hoc tempore confugerat ad paludem, secutus fuit, et dum eam vellet occidere, illa fragilitate sexus sui oblita viriliter restitit. De quo ipse indignatus pollicem ei cum dentibus precidit, illa e contra provocata in iram cum luto os ejus et aures implens penitus suffocavit.
Notes
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