De vaslacione territorii et preurbii castri Garthe.
The Raid on Gartham and the Blood Trail
Brother Syfridus leads a winter raid toward Gartham, where Brother Waltherus tracks and kills a fleeing enemy who had gravely wounded Brother Henricus, and the brothers then cross the frozen Memele to devastate the territory of Garthe and carry off two hundred captives.
In the year of our Lord 1296, in winter, Brother Syfridus of Reibergk, commander of Balga, set out with many brothers and knights from Nattangia toward Lethowia, and when he came near the castle at Gartham he found fresh tracks of men. Following these tracks, Brother Waltherus called Goldinc, with a small company of men-at-arms, killed all of them except one, who fled and came to Brother Henricus of Wedere and gravely wounded him — though not without resistance, because Brother Henricus struck him a mortal blow. Having taken Brother Henricus's horse, the same Ru thenus withdrew. But Brother Waltherus, following the trail of blood that flowed from Henricus's wounds, tracked him down and killed him. The next day the brothers crossed the ice of the Memele and entered the territory and outskirts of the castle of Garthe, laying waste with fire and plunder, and besides those killed they led away two hundred men as captives.
Manuscript Headings and Continuation
The chronicle inserts its running title, part division, and a brief section heading indicating continuation of the same subject.
CHRONICLE OF THE LAND OF PRUSSIA. PART III. Likewise, concerning the same.
The King's Diversion and the Failed Assault on Gartham
King Vithenus invades Livonia, prompting Brother Bertoldus to dispatch an army under Brother Henricus Zutswert to ravage Lethowia; but the commander inexplicably retreats from the king's territory and instead attacks the fortress of Gartham, where fierce resistance from the garrison forces a withdrawal with many Christians wounded.
In the same year and season when kings usually march to war, King Vithenus with a great multitude of the Lethowini, ready to fight against the brothers, entered the land of Lyvonie. Therefore Brother Bertoldus, commander of Kunigsbergk, who had long desired such an outcome with the greatest eagerness — namely, that when the king himself should leave his land in this way, the brothers' army would move in — gathered a large force and appointed Brother Henricus Zutswert, commander of Balga, as its captain, so that he would advance with this army toward Lethowia to lay waste to the said king's territory. When he had come already not far from the king's territory — led by I do not know what spirit — he retreated, and attacking the fortress of Gartham, he found so great a resistance from the garrison soldiers through their constant javelins that, with many Christians severely wounded, he turned back, the business left undone.
Read the original Latin
Anno domini mccxcvi tempore hyemali, frater Syfridusb de Reibergk commendator de Balga cum multis fratribus et equitibus de Nattangia profectus est versus Lethowiam, et cum venisset circa castrum Gartham, invenit vestigia hominum recencia, quos sequens frater Waltherus dictus Goldinc cum paucisd armigeris omnes occidit, preter unum, qui fugiens venit ad fratrem Henricum de Wedere, et ipsum graviter vulneravit, non tarnen sine defensione, quia frater Henricus ipsum letaliter plagavit. Accepto ergo equo fratris Henrici idem Ru thenus 5 recessit: sed frater Waltherus sequens cruoris, qui de vulneribus ejus manavit, vestigia, invenit eum et occidit. Sequenti die fratres transiverunt glaciem Memele et intraverunt territorium et preurbium dicli castri Garthe, incendio vexarunt et rapina, et pretere occisos captivos cc homines deduxerunt. CRONICA TERRE PRUSS1E. PARS III. Item de eodem. ' 207 (2eo) Eodem anno et tempore, quo reges solent procedere ad bella, rex Vithenus cum multitudine copiosa Lethowinorum pugnaturus contra fratres, intravit terram Lyvonie. Unde frater Bertoldus commendator de Kunigsbergk, qui hujusmodi eventum a multoa retroacto tempore summo desiderio optavit, scili— cet cum ipse rex terram suam sic exiret, fratrum exercitus subintraret, congregato magnob exercitu capitaneum fecit fratrem Henricum Zutswert commenda— torem de Balga, ut cum dicto exercitu procederet versus Lethowiam, dicti regis terram vastaturus.
Qui cum venisset jam non longe a terra regis 5 6 *, nescio quo ductus spiritu retrocessit, impugnansque castrum Gartham tantam castrensium per crebra jacula invenit resistenciam, quod, multis Cristianisc graviter vulneratis, infecto negocio est reversus.
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