De strage infidelium et destructione castri Partegal et propugnaculi. •.
The Stalemate and the Brothers' Counsel
The Prussian forces blocked every approach of the brothers, who gathered in anxious counsel seeking a remedy.
From the aforementioned camps of the Prussians, so many armed men went forth daily to war, because the way of approaching the enemies had been blocked to the brothers, and every means of attacking them had been removed. Troubled by this, the brothers gathered together often, seeking a suitable remedy in their deliberations.1
Pomanda's Conversion and Divine Providence
Christ stirred the heart of Pomanda, a recently converted Prussian noble, to champion the cause of the faithful.
At last Christ himself, who never ceases to mercifully comfort his devout ones placed in tribulations, stirred up by the grace of his Spirit a certain man called Pomanda, a noble who had once been among the Prussians of great reputation, but had recently converted to the faith of Christ and to the brothers, so that he might take up for himself the cause of the faith and of the faithful in this way.2
Pomanda's Deception and the Prussian Siege of Balga
Pomanda feigned apostasy to deceive the Prussians, who gathered their forces to besiege Balga, only to be foreknown and utterly destroyed by the brothers.
This same Pomanda returned from the castle of Balga to his fellow countrymen the Prussians, pretending himself an enemy of the faith and of the faithful. When he was seen, the Prussians rejoiced with great joy, because they hoped to weaken all the strength of the brothers through this man's skill.3 Therefore, by the counsel of this Pomanda, all the more powerful men of Warmia, Natangia, and Barthe, and others fit for war, gathered together and pitched camps in the siege of Balga. But the brothers, who had long before foreknown this deed and arrangement, having already gathered with the retinue of the said prince from Brunswick and of the other pilgrims, went out armed against them in battle and killed them to the point of total destruction, so that not one of them remained who might report such an outcome to posterity.4
The Destruction of Partegal and Sustained Warfare
The brothers stormed and burned the castle of Partegal, then waged relentless war from Balga, giving the Prussians no respite.
This having been done, the same leader and the brothers advanced with their army to the castle of Partegal and to the fortress, and stormed them. Having captured and killed everyone, they reduced both to ashes. The same prince waged many other wars over the space of one year, during which he stood in the said castle of Balga and harassed the Prussians so often that they could not catch their breath.
The Prince's Pilgrimage Fulfilled
Having completed his year of pilgrimage, the prince returned home with joy.
And with the year completed and the vow of his pilgrimage fulfilled, he returned home with joy.5
Colophon
The chapter closes with the title of the chronicle and the designation of its third part.
Chronicle of the Land of Prussia. Part Three.
Read the original Latin
De castris Pruthenorum predictis cotidie tot armati processerunt ad bel lum, quod preclusa fuit fratribus via adeundi hostes, et sublata omnis materia impugnandi eos. Super quo fratres perturbati convenerunt sepius, querentes in tractatibus suis remedium oporlunum. Tandem ipse Cristus, qui devotos suos in tribulacionibus constitutos non desinit misericorditer consolari, provocavit gracia sui Spiritus quendam dictum Pomandam virum nobilem, qui inter Pruthenos quondam fuerat magneb reputacionis, noviter autem conversus ad fidem Cristi et ad fratres, ut sibi negocium fidei et fidelium assumeret in hunc modum. Idem Pomanda de Castro Balga rediit ad suos compatriotas Pruthenos, simulans se hostem fidei et fidelium, quo viso Prutheni gavisi sunt gaudio magno, quia sperabant omnem virtutem fratrum per hujus viri indugtriam enervare. De consilio itaque hujus Pomande, omnes pociores Warmie, Nattangie et Barthe et alii ad bellum apti convenerunt, castraque metati sunt in obsidione Balge, sed fratres, qui hujusmodi factum et ordinacionem diu ante presciverant, jam cum dicti principis de Brunswich et aliorum peregrinorum comitiva congregati, in armis exierunt ad eos in prelium, et occiderunt ipsos usque ad internecionem, ita quod unus ex eis non remansit, qui eventum talem posteris nunciaret. Hoc facto processerunt idem dux et fratres cum exercitu suo ad castrum Partegal et ad propugnaculum, et expugnaverunt ea, captis et occisis omnibus, ulrumque in cinerem redigentes. Multa alia idem princeps bella gessit per spacium unius anni, quo stetit in dicto Castro de Balga et tociens vexabat Pruthenos, quod non poterant respirare. Completoque anno et voto peregrinacionis sue cum gaudio ad propria est reversusc.
CRONICA TERRE PRESSTE. PARS III.
Notes
- 1 ↩The word 'oporluncum' is an uncertain reading, possibly 'oportunum' (suitable/fitting). The translation assumes the intended sense is 'suitable.'
- 2 ↩The reading 'magneb' is uncertain, likely a corruption of 'magnae' (great). The translation renders it as 'great reputation.'
- 3 ↩The reading 'indugtriam' is uncertain, likely a corruption of 'industriae' (skill, diligence). The translation renders it as 'skill.'
- 4 ↩The reading 'pociores' is uncertain, likely a corruption of 'potiores' (more powerful). The translation renders it as 'more powerful.'
- 5 ↩The form 'reversusc' is an unusual medieval form, likely equivalent to 'reversus est' (he returned). The translation renders it accordingly.
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