De persecucione Swantepolci contra fidem et fideles in Prussia.
The Treachery of Swantepolc
Duke Swantepolc, described as a son of perdition, deceives the recently converted Prussians with peaceful words while secretly conspiring to expel the Teutonic brethren from Prussia.
In the land of Pomerania there was a certain duke named Swantepolc, a son of iniquity and a son of perdition, so that Scripture might be fulfilled, having a heart full of every deceit and fraud. He approached the Prussian people, recently converted to the faith of Christ, speaking peaceful words while harboring treachery, and allied himself with them under this agreement: that they would violently drive the brethren of the Teutonic house and other Christian faithful from the borders of Prussia. His message seemed good in their eyes, and many went over to him, and nearly all gave their consent.12
Fortresses of Ambush
Swantepolc fortifies his coastal strongholds near Wysele and garrisons them with wicked men who become a deadly snare to the brethren.
Once this was done, the same duke fortified his forts along the shore near Wysele and placed in them a sinful people, wicked and criminal men, who became a great snare to the brethren.3
Blood Upon the Land
From their fortified positions, Swantepolc's men launch repeated raids on the brethren's subjects, killing, capturing, and plundering until no one dares bring provisions to the Order's strongholds.
For they came out from the aforementioned forts, and whenever they saw any of the brethren's subjects passing by ship, they rushed suddenly upon them and struck them with a great blow, carrying off much plunder. They captured some and killed others miserably, and so they poured out the blood of Christians throughout the region. This was done so often that from then on no one presumed to conduct the brethren's business or to bring provisions to the brethren from Elbing and Balga and from other places, under the utmost necessity.45
Enduring as Christ Endured
Rather than retaliate with violence, the brethren choose to suffer all things with gentleness and patience, refusing to lay hands upon Christ the Lord.
The brethren wished to endure all these things with every gentleness and patience, rather than to defend themselves by laying their own hands upon Christ the Lord.6
Read the original Latin
Fuit in terra Pomeranie dux quidam nomine Swantepolcus, filius iniquitatis et filius perdicionis, ut scriptura impleatur, habens cor plenum omni dolo et fallacia, qui cepit cum Pruthenorum gente jama noviter conversa ad fidem Cristi habere verba pacifica in dolo, confederans se cum ipsis sub hoc pacto, quod ipsi fratres domus Theutonice et alios cristifideles a terminis Prussie eicerent violenter, bonusque visus est sermo in oculis eorum, et abierunt multi et quasi omnes consenserunt ei. Hoc facto, idem dux firmavit castra sua circa litus Wysele sita, et posuit in eis gentem peccatricem, viros iniquos et sceleratos, qui facti sunt fratribus in laqueum magnum. Exierunt enim de dictis castris, et quoscunque fratrum subditos viderant navigio preterire, irruerunt su per eos repente, et percusserunt eos plaga magna, deducentesque spolia multa, alios ceperunt, quosdam miserabiliter occiderunt, sicque Cristianorum sanguinem per circuitum effuderunt, et tociens hoc factum fuit, quod nullus de cetero negocia fratrum agere, aut victualia fratribus de Elbingo et Balga et de locis aliis in summa necessitate constitutis ducere presumebat. Hec omnia fratres cum omni mansuetudine et paciencia voluerunt pocius sustinere, quam defendendo se, mittere in cristum domini manus suas.
Notes
- 1 ↩'Son of perdition' echoes 2 Thess 2:3 and Jn 17:12; 'heart full of deceit' may allude to Jer 17:9 or similar prophetic language. Final resolution deferred to Moses stage.
- 2 ↩'jama' (token 28) is a medieval Latin adverb of uncertain etymology, glossed here as 'recently/already'; the reading is tentative.
- 3 ↩'Wysele' is a place name of uncertain modern identification; the case is ambiguous in the manuscript.
- 4 ↩'su' (token 13) is uncertain; the manuscript may read 'subito' or 'sursum.' The translation assumes an adverb of suddenness parallel to 'repente' that follows.
- 5 ↩'quod' (token 41) introduces a result clause: 'so often…that no one presumed.'
- 6 ↩The phrase 'to lay hands upon Christ the Lord' (mittere in Christum domini manus suas) is a deliberate echo of the passion narrative — the brethren choose not to use violence, identifying their suffering with Christ's.
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