De fratre Lodewico de Libencele, et bello ipsius contra Lethowinos.
Brother Ludwig's Campaigns Against the Lithuanians
Brother Ludwig of Liebenthal, commander of Raganita, waged many wars against the Lithuanians, including a naval campaign in which he destroyed the sacred village of Romene, during which Brother Conrad Tuschevelt was killed.
At the same time, Brother Ludwig of Liebenthal was commander of Raganita, who together with his brothers and men-at-arms waged many wars gloriously against the Lithuanians. He waged many naval campaigns — one toward Austechiama, territory of the king of Lithuania, in which he burned down a village called Romene, which according to their rites was sacred, after capturing and killing everyone.1 There Brother Conrad, called Tuschevelt, was killed.
Ambushes in Sametia and Devastation of Pograuda
Ludwig set ambushes in the territory of Pograudamc in Sametia, killing nearly all pursuing horsemen, and so weakened the men of Pograuda that they could not recover their cavalry strength for many years.
He waged other campaigns against the territory of Sametia called Pograudamc, where, having set ambushes and with a few men plundering ahead of him, he killed all the horsemen in pursuit except six. And in this battle the men of Pograuda were so badly weakened that for many years they were unable to recover their former strength in cavalry.
The Unwritten Wars and Tribute of the Memel Shore
Ludwig also killed many nobles through ambuses in Wayken, waged countless unwritten wars, and within six years compelled all Lithuanians along the Memel shore from Narew to Lamotinam to pay an annual tribute under a forced peace.
The same man advanced against the territory called Wayken, where he also killed many nobles through ambushes.2 It would not be possible to write in full how many wars he waged against them.3 But to conclude briefly, he was so hostile to them that within the six years during which he commanded the aforesaid castle, he compelled all the Lithuanians who lived along the shore of the Memel, from the river Narew all the way to the land of Lamotinam, to make peace with the Christians under these terms: that they would pay a fixed tribute to him each year.4
A Paradox of Love and War
Despite the wrongs Ludwig inflicted, the Samethian nobles loved him and stirred their people against the Lethowini king, causing repeated battles with heavy casualties, and the king of Lethowia could never ally with the Samethians against the Teutonic brothers.
Here is a remarkable thing: no matter what great wrongs he did to them, they loved him so much that even the nobles through whom Samethia was then governed stirred up the common people against the king of the Lethowini, so that on many occasions they gathered against the king for war, where at times in a single battle a hundred or two hundred or more fell slain on each side.56 Nor could the king of Lethowia ever in his time reach an agreement with the Samethians, so that they might proceed together in war against the brothers.789
Read the original Latin
Eodem tempore frater Lodewicus de Libencele 2 fuit commendator de Raga- — nita, qui cum suis fratribus et armigeris multa bella gloriose gessit contra Le thowinos. Navale bellum multiplex habuit, unum versus Austechiama terram regis Lethowie, in qua villam dictam Romene 4 5 6 7, que secundum ritus eorum sacra fuit, combussit, captis omnibus et occisis. Ubi frater Conradus dictus Tuschevelt occisus fuit. Alia bella habuit contra territorium Samethie1' dictum Pograudamc, ubi positis insidiis, et paucis depredantibus ipsum, omnes equites sequentes preter sex interfecit. Et in hoc bello hii de Pograuda adeo debilitati fuerunt, quod multis annis non poterant in equitibus resumere vires primas. Idem processit contra territorium dictum Wayken, Ubi eciamd per insidias multos nobiles interfecit. Non posset ad plenum scribi, quanta bella gesserite contra eos. Sed ut breviter concludam, adeo infestus fuit eis, quod infra sex annos, quibus dicto Castro prefuit, coegit omnes Lethowinos, qui supra litus Memele habitabant, a fluvio Naref usque ad terram Lamotinam, ut pacem cum Cristianis haberent sub hiis pactis, ut certum censum annis singulis darent ei.
Ecce mira res, quantacunque mala fecit eis, tarnen diligebant eum in tantum, ut eciam nobiles per quos Samethia tune regebatur, populum communem contra regem Lethowinorum provocarent, sic quod pluribus vicibus convenerunt contra regem ad bellum, ubi aliquando in uno conflictu centum vel cc vel plures ex utraque parte caderent interfecti. Nec unquam temporibus suis rex Lethowie cum Samethis poterat concorclare, ut simul in bello procederent con tra fratres.
Notes
- 1 ↩Numbers 4 5 6 7 appear in the source text but were omitted from tokenization; their significance is unclear.
- 2 ↩'eciamd' is a scribal abbreviation for 'etiam', rendered as 'also'.
- 3 ↩'gesserite' is an unusual form, likely a scribal error for 'gesserit' or 'gesserint'; translated as 'he waged' to convey the intended perfect sense.
- 4 ↩The passage describes coercive peacemaking and tribute extraction; the chronicler presents this as a positive outcome for Christendom.
- 5 ↩'tarnen' is a scribal variant of 'tamen' (nevertheless); translated as 'no matter what' to capture the concessive force in natural English.
- 6 ↩'eciam' normalized from variant spelling of 'etiam' (even); 'tune' normalized from variant of 'tunc' (then).
- 7 ↩'concorclare' is likely a scribal error for 'concordare' (to agree, to come to terms); translated as 'reach an agreement.'
- 8 ↩'con tra' in the source is a line-break split of 'contra' (against); normalized and rendered as 'against.'
- 9 ↩'fratres' (brothers) here refers to the Teutonic Knights, not biological siblings.
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