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Chronicon Terrae Prussiae (Chronicle of the Prussian Land)/Book 4 · Tercia pars: De bellis fratrum domus Theutonice contra Pruthenos
Chapter 48ChrP.4.48

57De fratre Henrico magistro in.

Brother Henry's Arrival in Prussia

Brother Henry of Wida assumes the mastership of Prussia and arrives with a distinguished company of warriors and pilgrims.

Brother Henry of Wida, the third master of the land of Prussia, held office for five years. He brought with him Mobilem, a nobleman, a lord of Wida and his own blood relative, along with fifty men most experienced in war — so courageous were they, q. — as public report testified about them: their spear had never turned away, nor had their arrow gone backward — and he led many noble pilgrims from Germany to the land of Prussia with him.

A Master's Vocation and End

Henry and his wife embrace religious life, and after years of faithful service he is summoned to the chapter, falls ill, and dies.

This Brother Henry, with his wife's permission, received the habit of the brothers of the Teutonic Order, and she herself entered the cloister of nuns at Cronswicza — a cloister he himself had established, founded, and endowed with magnificent gifts. In which office he also, after the many wars he had waged gloriously in that role — as will appear further below — having been summoned by the master general to the chapter, fell ill on the journey and died and was buried.

Read the original Latin

Frater Henricus de Widae magister terre Prussie tercius prefuit vm annis. Hic Mobilem virum dominum de Wida consanguineum suum cum quinquaginta viris expertissimis in bello (adeo viriles fuerunt, q. uod fama publica de ipsis testabatur, quod hasta eorum nunquam fuerit aversa, nec sagitta ipsorum abiit retrorsum), et multos nobiles de Alemania peregrinos ad terram Prussie secum duxit. Hic frater Henricus de licencia uxoris sue habitum fratrum domus Theutonice suscepit, et ipsa claustrum sanctimonialium in Cronswicza intravit, quod claustrum ipse instituit et fundavit, et donis magnificis dotavit. In quo eciam ipse post multa bella, que gloriose in dicto officio gessit, ut inferius apparebit, vocatus a magistro generali ad capitulum, in itinere infirmatus, mortuus est et sepultus.

Scripture echoes

  1. Isa.49.2;Job.6.13He has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he has hidden me, and he has made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he has concealed me. Job.6.13 — Is there no help in me, and has sound wisdom been driven from me?

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