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Chronicon Terrae Prussiae (Chronicle of the Prussian Land)/Book 4 · Tercia pars: De bellis fratrum domus Theutonice contra Pruthenos
Chapter 173ChrP.4.173

De desolacione castri Potterbergk et edificacione castri Gymewe.

The Four Sons of Swantepolcus

Swantepolcus, former duke of Pomerania, had four sons: Mestowinus, Samborius, Warceslaus, and a fourth unnamed son.

Swantepolcus, the former duke of Pomerania mentioned above, had four sons: Mestowinus the firstborn, who was given as a hostage (as has been said), Samborius, Warceslaus, and a certain other son.

Three Brothers Give Their Portions to the Order

Warceslaus, Samborius, and the fourth brother each surrendered their portions of the Pomeranian duchy to the Teutonic Order, renouncing all legal claims with sealed charters.

This Warceslaus became a brother of the Order of the House of the Teutonic Knights, and he gave the portion of the aforesaid duchy that fell to him to the brothers of the Teutonic House in Prussia as an act of charity. Samborius, seeing that he could not live honorably from his portion according to the dignity of his rank, handed it over to the aforesaid brothers, so that they would provide for him and his household in their necessities. The fourth brother did the same. And so that this donation would be firm and hold in perpetuity, these three renounced every legal claim or right of action that pertained to them or their successors in the said duchy, giving their letters to the brothers, confirmed by the authority of their seals.

Mestowinus Seizes the Duchy by Force

Mestowinus violently seized the three parts of the duchy and held them against the will of the Teutonic brothers for many years.

Mestowinus, however, hearing of this, violently seized the three parts of the duchy of Pomerania and held them for many years against the brothers' will.

Papal Legate Arbitrates the Dispute

The papal legate Philip heard the Teutonic master's complaint against Mestowinus and arranged a settlement granting the Order the territory of Wancekeb, ending the dispute.

At last Lord Philip, bishop of Firmaniusa, a legate sent from the Apostolic See to the land of Poland, arrived. Before him, Brother Conrad of Tirbergk, the master, lodged a complaint about the violence that the said Mestowinus had done to the brothers of Prussia concerning these three parts of the aforesaid duchy. And to prove that he and the brothers had full legal right to them, he offered the aforementioned privileges. Having heard, therefore, the arguments of both sides, and the privileges having been surrendered by the three brothers along with whatever legal claim they had to these properties, the same legate arranged a settlement between them in this way: that the brothers of the Teutonic House would hold the territory called Wancekeb in the said duchy of Pomerania, where the castle of Gymewa now stands, and so all dispute between them would cease.

The Building of Castle Gymewa

In 1283, the brothers dismantled Castle Potterbergk and used its materials to build Castle Gymewa on the Vistula, to the glory of Christ.

And so in the year of our Lord 1283, the brothers transferred the castle of Potterbergk from the land of Culm, and with its buildings they built the castle of Gymewa in that place on the Vistula, where it now stands, to the praise and glory of Jesus Christ.

Read the original Latin

Swantepolcus quondam dux Pomeranie, de quo superius est premissum, quatuor habuit filios: Mestowinum primogenitum, quem ut dictum est dedit in obsidem, Samborium, Warceslaum et quendam alium. Iste AVarceslaus factus fuit frater ordinis domus Theutonice, et partem ducatus predicti, que ipsum contingebat, dedit fratribus domus Theutonice in Prussia in elemosinam. Samborius videns, quod de parte sua non posset honeste secundum Status sui dignitatem vivere, tradidit eam predictis fratribus, ut ipsi et familie sue in necessariis providerent. Idem fecit quartus frater, et ut hec donacio firma esset, et in perpetuum valitura, hii tres renunciaverunt omni actioni juris vel facti, que ipsis vel eorum successoribus in dicto ducatu competebat, dantes super hoc literas suas fratribus sigillorum suorum munimine roboratas. Mestowinus autem audiens hec, violenter has tres partes ducatus Pomeranie occupavit et invitis fratribus detinuit multis annis. Tandem venit dominus Philippus episcopus Firmaniusa legatus a sede apostolica missus ad terram Polonie, coram quo frater Conradus de Tirbergk magister conquestus fuit de violencia, quam dictus Mestowinus fecit fratribus de Prussia, in hiis tribus partibus ducatus predicti, et ad probandum, se et fratres habere merum jus in illis, obtulit privilegia memorata. Audita ergo utriusque partis allegacione, et resignatis privilegiis predictis a fra tribus et quicquid habebant juris in hiis bonis, idem legatus ordinavit composicionem inter eos hoc modo: quod fratres domus Theutonice haberent territorium dictum Wancekeb in dicto ducatu Pomeranie, ubi nunc situm est castrum Gymewa, et sic cessaret omnis discordia inter eos. Unde fratres anno domini mcclxxxiii transtulerunt de terra Culmensi castrum Potterbergk, et cum edificiis ejus castrum Gymewam edificaverunt in eum locum super Wiselam, ubi nunc situm est ad landein et gloriam Jesu Cristi.

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