De eodem.
The Burning of the Rebuilt Suburb
In autumn, the Teutonic commander returns to burn the rebuilt suburb and slay all who had taken shelter there.
That same autumn, after the suburb mentioned earlier had already been rebuilt and all the grain and crops had been stored in it, the same commander came with his brothers and horsemen and burned down the said suburb again, capturing and killing everyone found there.
The Death of the Lethowini
A brief record of the death of eighty-two Lethowini.
Concerning the death of eighty-two Lethowini.
The Custom of Rotating Guard Duty
The Lethowini practice a rotating system in which armored men serve set terms guarding their fortresses.
This custom among the Lethowini for guarding their fortresses, which are boundless, is observed as if it were common practice. Their king appoints some armored men to guard a given fortress for a month or longer; when that term is completed, they withdraw, and others come in turn to take up the guard duty.
The Ambush at Calsheim
Teutonic brothers attack and kill eighty-five Lethowini as they withdraw from their guard duty at Bisene.
Whence it happened that eighty-five Lethowini men, having completed their week of their turn, while they ought to withdraw from the guard of the fortress of Bisene, Brother Fridericus of Libencele, vice-commander of Raganita, Brother Albertus of Ora, and Brother Theodoricus of Aldenburgk, with nineteen brothers and sixty men, manfully attacked them in the field of Calsheim, and killed all of them, except three who, however, severely wounded, escaped.
Read the original Latin
Eodem anno in autumno reedificato jam preurbio predicto cum omnia blada et segetes recondite essent in eo, idem commendator cum suis fratribus et equitibus venit, et dictum preurbium iterum concremavit, captis et occisis omnibus, qui ibidem sunt reperti. 30 0 (293) De morte lxxxii Lethowinorum. Consuetudo ista apudLethowinos in custodia castrorum, que sunt interminis constituta, quasi communiter observatur. Rex eorum ordinat aliquos armigeros ad custodiam alicujus castri ad terminum unius mensis vel amplius, quo completo recedunt, et alii superveniunt ad custodiam supradictam. Unde factum est, quod lxxxv viri Lethowini completa hebdomada vicis sue, dum de custodia castri Bisene deberent recedere, frater Fridericus de Libencele vicecommendator de Raganita, frater Albertus de Ora, et frater Theodoricus de Aldenburgk cum xix fratribus et lx viris ipsos in campo Calsheim viriliter sunt aggressi, et omnes interfecerunt, preter tres, qui tarnen graviter vulnerati evaserunt.
Chronicon Terrae Prussiae (Chronicle of the Prussian Land) companion
Keep reading the sources for yourself
The full 428-chapter chronicle — and 78+ other historic works — readable daily in the free Chosen Portion iOS app
The knights kept fixed daily hours of prayer alongside their campaigns; Chosen Portion keeps the fixed daily reading and drops the campaigning.
- The complete chronicle in modern English, in portions under 5 minutes
- Pericope headings that let you navigate 428 chapters by theme
- A daily reading habit that outlasts the 5-week course