De tribulacione fratrum post conftictum.
The Enemy's Treachery and the Community's Secret Lament
Swantepolcus, rejoicing in the brothers' slaughter, attempts to corrupt their people through bribes and prayers, but divine providence thwarts him, prompting him to ravage the land of Colmen, where the brothers and citizens cry out to God in anguish.
Because of this slaughter of the brothers, Swantepolcus rejoiced with exceedingly great joy, and piling iniquity upon his own iniquity, and adding grief upon the grief of the brothers' wounds, he strove by every means he could to tear away from them the people who had been placed under their care in the direst need. and to bend them to his treacherous will with prayers and bribes. And although some had been corrupted by him and had secretly inclined to his will, it was provided for by the providence of God and the prudence of the brothers that no one dared to display such things openly. And so, with his schemes brought to nothing, Swantepolcus — the aforementioned duke of Pomerania — made no headway in his wicked purpose by this crafty temptation. Since he gained nothing from it, he devised another, more severe stratagem, judging with certainty that the right moment, long desired, had now arrived — a moment in which he could, without any opposition, utterly extinguish and destroy that small remnant of the faithful in Christ which had survived after the last battle. And he gathered two thousand picked men in arms, and crossing the Wysel by boat he entered the land of Colmen, and in two days and two nights he carried off everything that had been left, and turned the rest to ashes and cinders. During the time these things were happening, the brothers from Colmine, gathered with their nobles and fellow citizens from the city of Colmen, seeing the evils that Swantepolcus had done with his army, groaned in anguish, and beating their breasts with tears they begged God, saying: 'Spare, Lord, spare your people, and do not give your inheritance over to destruction.'✦
The Dilemma of Faith and Honor
The brothers weigh the risk of losing Prussia and the faith against the nobles' resolve to die honorably rather than waste away in misery.
The brothers were mindful that if they were to attack that army again and lose the victory, they would lose the land of Prussia without any hope of recovery, and the faith of Christ would be destroyed there as a consequence. But the nobles and citizens of Colmine said they would rather die honorably in battle than, living this way, waste away miserably day after day.
The Spirit's Rush and the Father of Mercies
The spirit of the Lord rushes upon the brothers, who despite being vastly outnumbered boldly attack, and the God of all consolation strengthens them so that Swantepolc flees in terror.
The spirit of the Lord rushed upon the brothers and everyone who was present, and though they were far too few compared with their enemies, they trusted in the Lord and boldly attacked the enemies in hostile fashion before the city of Kolm, and a great battle broke out between them, with many falling on each side.✦ At last the father of mercies and God of all consolation, who comforts his own in every trial, strengthened the brothers to such a degree that Swantepolc, terrified by this, fled with all his people and turned toward the place where he had left his ships, hoping to escape by them.✦1
Like Dust Before the Wind
Swantepolc's hoped-for escape is shattered, likened to dust cast forth by the wind.
But not so — not like that — but like dust that the wind casts forth from the face of the earth!✦2
The Ships Lost, the Foe Drowned
A strong wind drives Swantepolc's ships far from shore, recalling the fate of the Saracen king before Charles, and those who enter the river to escape are all drowned except Swantepolc and a few companions.
So a strong wind came and carried all those ships far from the shore, and it turned out for them with those ships just as it happened to the pagans — to the king of the Saracens, who lost the victory from the presence of Charles as he fled.3 And when they could not find the ships, they entered the Wysela, and all were drowned except Swantepolc and the few who had withdrawn with him — everyone who had previously escaped the sword.4
The Lord Comforts His People
The Lord comforts his people who were placed in the greatest necessity.
And so the Lord comforted his people, placed in the greatest necessity.5
Read the original Latin
Propter hanc stragem fratrum Swantepolcus gavisus est gaudio magno valde, et apponens iniquitatem super iniquitatem suam, addensque dolorem supera do lorem vulnerum fratrum, nitebatur modis, quibus potuit, qualiter populum eis subjectum in summa necessitate constitutum ab ipsisb aver. teret, et ad voluntatem suam perfidam precibus et muneribus inclinaret. Et licet aliqui ab eo corrupti essent, et ad ipsius beneplacitum occulte inclinati, tarnen dei providencia et fratrum discrecione provisum fuit, quod nullus audebat talia publice ostentare. Et sic ejus machinacionibus in nihilum redactis, in malo suo proposito non profecit E _' — — — — _2 44 Swantepolcus dux Pomeranie predictus, cum in hac callida temptacione non proficeret, invenit aliam graviorem, estimans indubitanter, tune tempus aptum et diu desideratum advenisse, in quo posset sine alicujus resistencia illam modicam scintillam cristifidelium, que residua mansit post ultimum conflictum, extinguere penitus et delere. Et congregavit duo milia virorum preelectorum in armis, et transiens Wyselam navigio intravit terram Colmensem, duobusque diebus et duabus noctibus sustulit, quiequid relictum fuit, aliud convertit in cinerem et favillam. Medio tempore quo hec agerentur, fratres de Colmine cum nobilibus et civibus suis de civitate Colmensi congregati, videntes mala, que fecerat Swantepolcus cum exercitu suo ingemuerunt, et tundentes pectora sua cum lacrimis, rogaverunt deum, dicentes: parce domine, parce populo tuo, et ne des hereditatem tuam in perdicionem. Fratres attendebantc, quod si iterum invaderent exercitum illum et perderent victoriam, sine spe recuperacionis amitterent terram Prussie, et fides Cristi ibi per consequens deleretur. Nobiles vero et cives de Colmine dicebant, quod pocius vellent honeste mori in bello, quam sic vivendo miserabiliter deficere de die in diem.
Et irruit spiritus domini in fratres et omnes, qui aderant, et licet essent nimis pauci respectu inimicorum, confisi tarnen in domino aggressi sunt hostes hostiliter et audacter ante civitatem Colmensem, et factum est prelium magnum inter eos pluribus cadentibus ex utraque parte. Tandem pater misericordiarum et deus tocius consolacionis, qui suos in omni tribulacione consolatur, confortavit fratres in tantum, quod Swantepolcus de hoc perterritus cum omni populo suo fugit et inclinavit se versus locum, ubi naves reliquerat, sperans per easdem evadere. Sed non sic impri, non sic, sed tanquam pulvis, quem projecit ventus a facie terre! Sic venit ventus validus et omnes naves illas longe a litore removit, et factum fuit eis cum istis navibus, sicut accidit paganoa regi Sarracenorum perdita victoria a facie Karoli fugienti. Et cum non invenirent naves, intraverunl Wyselam, et submersi sunt preter Swantepolcum et paucos, qui cum eo recesserant, omnes, qui prius gladium evaserant. Sicque consolatus est dominus po~ pulum suum in necessitate maxima constitutum.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Jer.7.16 — And you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, and do not intercede with me, for I am not listening to you.
- ↩Judg.3.10;1Sam.16.13;Isa.11.2 — And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into his hand, and his hand prevailed against Cushan-Rishathaim. 1Sam.16.13 — Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah. Isa.11.2 — And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
- ↩2Cor.1.3 — Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
- ↩Ps.1.4;Ps.35.16 — Not so the wicked; but they are like chaff that the wind drives away. Ps.35.16 — Among the godless mockers at feasting, they gnash their teeth at me.
Notes
- 1 ↩'Pater misericordiarum et Deus totius consolationis' is a liturgical/devotional title drawn from 2 Corinthians 1:3; rendered here as 'the father of mercies and God of all consolation' to preserve the biblical cadence.
- 2 ↩'impri' is uncertain in the source; possibly a scribal error for 'impetu' (with force/with a rush). The translation follows the most plausible intended sense: Swantepolc's flight was not the orderly retreat he hoped for, but like dust scattered by the wind.
- 3 ↩'paganoa' is uncertain in the source; likely a scribal error for 'paganis' (to the pagans, dative plural). The translation renders it as 'to the pagans' to preserve the comparative sense of the passage.
- 4 ↩'intraverunl' is a scribal error for 'intraverunt' (they entered). The translation corrects this silently per source-text correction policy.
- 5 ↩'po~ pulum' is an abbreviated form of 'populum' (people), with tilde indicating the omitted letters. Expanded silently per normalization policy.
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