De expugnacione cujusdam castri et de Castro Cristburgk.
The Master's Resolve Against the Apostates
Brother Henry the Master, upon learning of the evils committed by the apostate Swantepolcus and his followers, resolves wholeheartedly to destroy them and exalt the faith.
This Brother Henry, the master, after the brothers had briefed him on how many evils Swantepolcus and his accomplices — apostate new converts from the land of Prussia — had inflicted on the faith and on the faithful, began with his whole heart's desire to work toward their destruction and the exaltation of the faith.12
The Night Assault and the Naming of Christburg
On Christmas Eve the brothers storm the Pomesanian castle by night, and the place receives the divinely ordained name Christburg, meaning 'castle of Christ,' revealed by the angel of the covenant before any human conceived it.
Having gathered the brothers and the pilgrims, he set out for war, and on the eve of the Lord's birth, in the middle of the night while the men were resting, he came to the castle of the Pomesanians — which was then located in the place now called Christburg the Old — and with ladders placed against the walls they entered secretly, and having captured and killed everyone, they stormed the castle, stationing brothers and many men-at-arms there as a garrison for the said castle.345 The name of this place also comes from the fact that on that very night of Christ's birth it was stormed by the faithful, and it was called Christburg, which means 'castle of Christ' — a name that was given by the angel of the covenant before it was conceived in the mind of the master or of the other brothers.✦678
The Transfer of Kulm by the Prince of Anlaute
The noble prince of Anlaute arrives with a great force and, among his deeds strengthening the faith, transfers the city of Kulm from its old castle to its present mountain slope, thereby saving the land.
The transfer of the city of Kulm. At that time, the noble and illustrious prince from Anlaute came to the land of Prussia with a large military force, and besides the many good deeds he performed there for the strengthening of the faith and of the faithful, he transferred the city of Kulm from the old castle to the slope of the mountain on which it now stands, and by that transfer the land of Kulm was saved.910
Read the original Latin
Hic frater Henricus magister postquam instructus fuisset a fratribus, quot mala Swantepolcus et sui complices neophiti apostate terre Prussie fidei et fidelibus intulissent, incepit toto cordis desiderio ad ipsorum destructionem et exaltacionem fidei laborare. Congregatis ergob fratribus et peregrinis, profectus est ad bellum, et in vigilia nativitatis dominice noctis medio quiescentibus hominibus venit ad castrum Pomesanorumc, cjuod situm tune fuit in loco, quinunc dicitur Cristburgk antiquum, et applicatis scalis ad menia occulte intraverunt, captisque et occisis omnibus expugnaverunt, ponentes ibi fratres et armigeros multos pro custodia dicti castri. Hujus eciam nomen quia in ipsad nocte nati vitatis Cristi fuit a fidelibus expugnatum, vocatum est Cristburgk, quod interpretatur castrum Cristi, quod vocatum est ab angelo testamenti, priusquam in mente magistri aut aliorum fratrum conciperetur. De translacione civitatis Colmensis. »9(5S) Hoc tempore nobilis ille et illustris princeps de Anlaute 6 cum multa milicia venit ad terram Prussie, et preter multa bona, que ibidem gessit ad corroboracionem fidei et fidelium, civitatem Colmensem de Castro antiquo transtulit ad clivum montis, in quo nunc sita est, per quam translacionem terra Colmensis salvata fuit.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Mal.3.1 — And See, I am sending my messenger, and he will clear the way before me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight will come, says the LORD of Armies.
Notes
- 1 ↩'quot' here introduces an indirect question: 'how many evils' the brothers reported to Henry before he acted.
- 2 ↩'complices neophiti apostate' is a dense appositive chain: Swantepolcus's associates are described simultaneously as accomplices, new converts, and apostates — converts who had renounced the faith.
- 3 ↩'ergob' is a variant spelling of 'ergo' (therefore); translated as a discourse particle linking the gathering to the departure.
- 4 ↩'cjuod' is a scribal variant of 'quod'; 'tune' is a variant of 'tunc'; 'quinunc' = 'qui nunc' (which now). All normalized in translation.
- 5 ↩The attack is timed to the vigil/night of Christmas — 'vigilia nativitatis dominice' — giving the military action a liturgical frame.
- 6 ↩'ipsad' is a variant of 'ipsa' (abl. sg. fem.); 'nati vitatis' is a garbled form of 'nativitatis'. Both corrected in normalized reading and reflected in translation.
- 7 ↩'angelus testamenti' — 'angel of the covenant' — is an unusual epithet; it may echo the angel who names places or announces births in Scripture (cf. Luke 1:19, Gabriel as messenger). The name Christburg is thus presented as divinely given before any human planning.
- 8 ↩The phrase 'angel of the covenant' may allude to Malachi 3:1 or to Gabriel's annunciation role; candidate allusion, not confirmed.
- 9 ↩'»9(5S)' appears to be a scribal or editorial marginal mark and is not translated. '6' after 'Anlaute' is likely a scribal numeral or note and is omitted as non-textual.
- 10 ↩'Anlaute' is a place name, likely a locality in the region; identification uncertain.
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