De conflictu in terra Curonie ubi cl fratres et multi de populo Cristiano.
The Letts' Devastation and the March to Courland
The brothers of Livonia and Prussia march to relieve the castle of Saint George, only to learn that a thousand Letts have ravaged Courland with fire, plunder, and the slaughter of Christians.
They were slain and fell. In the year of the Lord 1260, the brothers from Livonia and Prussia gathered with strong armies to bring provisions to the brothers at the castle of Saint George. As they were approaching the castle, a messenger arrived saying that about a thousand of the Letts had laid waste to a certain part of the land of Courland through fire and plunder and the shedding of much Christian blood, and were leading away captive women and children along with much other booty.
Counsel Before Battle: To Fight on Foot
Matto of Pomesania urges the army to abandon their horses and attack on foot so that no one can flee, and the Prussian force in Courland acts on this counsel.
When this had been heard, the brothers and the whole army prepared themselves for battle — so that they might free the souls of Christ, redeemed by his blood, from the hands of the enemies. A certain nobleman from Pomesania, called Matto, son of Pipin, when the brother Henry the Marshal asked him how the enemies should be attacked, said: "Let us leave our horses far behind us, so that we have no hope of returning to them, and let us go on foot against them. That way, the people, deprived of the help of horses, will stand and fight; otherwise they will without doubt turn to flight." By the counsel of Gui, the military force of the land of Prussia in Courland.
Objection of the Danes and the Courlanders' Plea
The Danish men of Reval object to fighting on foot, while the Courlanders humbly beg for the return of their captive women and children—a request the Prussian and Livonian common people refuse by appeal to the custom of war.
Part III. The men of the king of Denmark from Reval, and several others, objected, saying that on account of the weight of their weapons they could not hold out in battle without horses. When this had been done, the people of Courland came asking humbly that, if God would grant victory to the Christians, from that point their women and children would be returned to them free. Although the brothers had been sufficiently inclined to grant their prayers, the common people of Prussia and Livonia nevertheless objected, saying that concerning their captives, it should be done according to the custom in war observed up to that point.
The Courlanders' Apostasy and the Christians' Rout
The Courlanders, enraged by the refusal to free their captives, turn apostate and attack the Christians from behind while the Lithuanians press from the front, causing a general flight.
Because of this, the people of Courland conceived such great indignation against the faith and the company of the faithful that when the brothers began to attack the Lithuanians, the Courlanders themselves—like apostates—fell upon the Christians from behind with hostile force; and with the Lithuanians striking from the front and the Courlanders from behind, virtually the entire population of both lands abandoned the brothers and their supporters there and fled.
Sclodo's Maccabean Exhortation
The Prussian noble Sclodo rallies his kinsmen with a speech evoking the Maccabean martyrs, urging them to stain their bodies with wounds in confession of the faith, and they fight bravely like a second Maccabees.
From that point certain nobles of Prussia loyally stood by the brothers. One of them, Sclodo of Quedenow in Sambia, the father of Nalubi, gathered his kinsmen and friends and spoke: 'Today call to mind the beauty of the garments that have been offered to you so many times by the brothers, and in place of their pleasing color, let today the garment of your body be stained red with the blood of wounds; and in place of the sweetness of mead or honeyed drink that you have so often received from their hands, drink today the bitterness of a harsh death in confession of the true faith of the eternal Trinity.' After this speech they entered the battle bravely and fought like a second Maccabees, and a great engagement took place there, with many falling on both sides.
The Defeat, the Massacre, and the Enemy's Boast
The brothers are defeated on the feast of Blessed Margaret; Master Burgardus, Marshal Henry Botel, 150 brothers, and countless Christians fall, after which the enemies pursue the terrified fugitives and boast over their plunder.
At last, after a long struggle between them, the brothers, with the Lord granting victory, lost it—because the entire strength of their army had been sapped by the flight of the common people. And so in that battle, on the feast day of Blessed Margaret, in the land of Courland, in the field of JuU near the river Durbin, Brother Burgardus, Master of Livonia, and Brother Henry Botel, Marshal of Prussia, fell, together with 150 brothers and so great a multitude of God's people that I cannot record their number. After this slaughter the enemies pursued the fleeing people, who had become so terrified that three or four of the foe would kill a hundred Christians, or put them to flight with great shame. ***** See how our enemies have been strengthened by the abundance of plunder—horses and arms that they seized from the hands of so many thousands of the slain—and now they boast in their own power.✦
A Prayer Against the Enemy
The chapter closes with an imprecatory prayer echoing the Psalms, begging God to crush and scatter the enemies of His people.
Crush, O God, their strength, and scatter them, that they may know—✦
Read the original Latin
interfecti ceciderunt. Anno domini mcclx fratres de Lyvonia et Prussia cum validis exercitibus ad deferenda victualia fratribus de Castro sancti Georgii convenerunt, et dum appropinquarent huic Castro, venit nuncius, qui dixit, quod im milia Lethovinorum vastassent quandam partem terre Curonie per incendium et rapinam et effusionem multi sanguinis Cristiani, et mulieres et parvulos captos cum multa alia preda deducerent. Quo audito, dum fratres et totus exercitus se prepararent ad pugnam, ut animas Cristi sanguine redemptas de manibus hostium liberarent, quidam de Pomesania nobilis dictus Matto1', filius Pipini, dum ab eo frater Henricus Marscalcus quereret, quomodo aggrediendi essent hostes, ait: relinquamus equos nostros longe a nobis, ut non sit nobis spes redeundi ad eos, et accedamus pedestres ad ipsos, sieque populus destitutus auxilio equorum, manebit in prelio, aliter in fugam sine dubio convertetur. Gui consilio milicia CRONlCA TERRE PRUSSIE. PARS III. regis Dacie de Revalia, et plures alii contradixerunt, asserentes, quod propter gravedinem armorum non possent durare in bello sine equis. Quo facto venerunt Curonienses petentes humiliter, quod si deus daret Cristianis victoriam, extunc eis mulieres et parvuli liberi redderentur. Quorum precibus licet fratres satis fuerant inclinati, communis tarnen populus Prussie et Lyvonie contradixit, asserens, quod de captivis eorum fieret secundum consuetudinem in bello hactenus observatam.
Ex qua re Curonienses tantam conceperunt indignacionema contra fidem et fidelium turbam, quod dum fratres inciperent Lethowinos impugnare, ipsi tanquam apostate a tergo Cristianos hostiliter invaserunt, et percucientibus Lethowinis anteb, Curoniensibus retro, totus quasi populus utriusquec terre, derelictis ibi fratribus et eorum fidelibus, recessit. Extunc quidam nobiles de Prussia fideliter fratribus adheserunt, quorum unus de Quedenow Sambita Sclodo pater Nalubi, convocans suos consanguineos et amicos, ait: hodie reducite ad memoriam venustatem vestium, que vobis per fratres sepius sunt oblate, et pro ameno ipsarum colore permittatis hodie vestem corporis vestri sanguine vulnerum rubricari, et pro dulcedine medonis seu mellicrati, quem de manu ipsorum sepius sumpsistis, bibite hodie amaritudinem dire mor tis in confessione vere fidei eterne trinitatis. Hoc facto intraveruntd viriliter conflictum, et tanquam alteri Machabei pugnaverunt, factumque est ibi grande bellum, ex utraque parte pluribus cadentibus. Tandem post longam altercacionem habitam inter eos fratres permittente domino victoriam perdiderunt, quia tota virtus exercitus sui per fugam communis populi fuerate enervata, cecideruntque in illo conflictu in die beate Margarethe in terra Curoniensi in campo 13JuU juxta flixvium Durbin fraler Burgardus magister Lyvonie et frater Henricus Botel marscalcus Prussie, et cum eis cl fratres, et de populo dei tanta multitudo, quod eorum numerum non auclivi. Post hanc stragem hostes secuti sunt populum fugientem, qui adeo meticulosus factus fuit, quod tres vel quatuor hostes centum Cristianos occiderent, aut cum magna verecundia fugarent * * * * *. Ecce quomodo confortati sunt inimici nostri in multitudine spoliorum, equorum et armo rum, que de manibus tot milium occisorum rapuerunt, et nunc gloriantur in virtute sua. Contere ergo deusf fortitudinem illorum, et disperge illos, ut cog-
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.13.2 — How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
- ↩Ps.83.10-Ps.83.11;Ps.69.1-Ps.69.2 — Deal with them as with Midian, as with Sisera, as with Jabin, at the Wadi Kishon. Ps.83.11 — Let them be destroyed at En-dor; let them become dung for the ground. Ps.69.1 — To the choirmaster. According to Shoshannim. Of David. Ps.69.2 — Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
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