De expugnacione castri Lethowie dicti Bisene.
The Storming of Bisene
Brother Conrad leads a winter assault across the frozen Memel, captures and burns the castle of Bisene, and returns with great spoil, though some Christians are wounded and others drown when the ice gives way.
Brother Conrad of Tirberg, the aforementioned master of the land of Prussia, and many brothers with a large army crossed the ice of the Memel in wintertime, and entering the land of Lethowia they fiercely attacked the castle called Bisene from morning until midday — so fiercely did they press the assault that after many had been killed and fatally wounded from inside the castle, they at last forced their way in, taking some captive and slaughtering others, and reduced the place to ashes. The remainder of the army entered the territory of the aforementioned castle and, after a great fire, returned with the greatest spoil. In this assault several Christians were seriously wounded, and those brothers and one servant drowned in the Memel with their horses and arms because the ice was too thin.1
Read the original Latin
Frater Conradus de Tirbergk magister terre Prussie predictus, et multi fratres cum magno exercitu tempore hyemali transierunt glaciem Memele, et intrantes terram Lethowie castrum dictum Bisenam a mane usque ad meridiem fortiter impugnayerunt, tamque infesti erant in dicta impugnacione, quod occisis multis de Castro et letaliter vulneratis tandem potenter intraverunt, quibusdam captis, aliis trucidatis, in cinerem redegerunt. Reliqua pars exercitus intravit dicti castri territorium et post magnum incendium cum maximo spolio est reversa. In hac impugnacione plures Cristiani sunt graviter vulnerati, et ini fratres et unus famulus cum equis et armis in Memela submersi propter teneritudinem glaciei.
Notes
- 1 ↩The source reads 'ini' which is likely a scribal error for 'ii' (those) or 'illi'; translated as 'those brothers' following the candidate gloss.
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