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62-676: Reszel was originally a settlement built by the Bartian tribe of Old Prussians and conquered by the Teutonic Knights in 1241. The native Prussians later recaptured the settlement and held it for five years, but were eventually defeated by the German crusaders . Reszel received its town privileges in 1337 under Chełmno Law . After the Polish victory in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410,

124-425: A Baroque church and Late Medieval shrine augmented in the 17th century. Since its beginning it has attracted pilgrims , Poles , Germans and Lithuanians . The local football team is Orlęta Reszel  [ pl ] . It competes in the lower leagues. Bartians The Bartians (also Barthi , Barthoni , Bartens , or Barti ) were an Old Prussian tribe who were among the last natives following

186-636: A Prussian tribe) to the east and south-east, the Skalvians to the north, and the Lithuanians to the northeast. The smallest social unit in Baltic lands was the laūks , a word attested in Old Prussian as "field", which were small family oriented settlements, households and the surrounding fields, only separated from one another by uninhabited areas of forest, swamp and marsh. The word appears as

248-534: A dozen or so laukses. Because the Baltic tribes inhabiting Prussia never formed a common political and territorial organisation, they had no reason to adopt a common ethnic or national name. Instead they used the name of the region from which they came – Galindians , Sambians , Bartians , Nadruvians , Natangians , Scalovians , Sudovians , etc. It is not known when and how the first general names came into being. This lack of unity weakened them severely, similar to

310-516: A few castles, including Bartenstein (Bartoszyce) in 1264. With help from other Prussian tribes, Diwane attacked Kulm ( Chełmno ), Marienburg ( Malbork ), and Christburg ( Dzierzgoń ). However, the Prussians could not win a war of attrition against the Knights, who could draw resources from the western Europe. In 1273 Diwane sieged another castle but was fatally wounded. Within a year, the uprising

372-685: A geographical basis. These were: The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan (in Anglo-Saxon ) ( English translation ) describes a ninth century voyage by traveller and trader Wulfstan of Hedeby to the land of the Old Prussians. He observed their funeral customs. Characterized as a humble people, who dressed plainly, the Old Prussians were distinguished for their valor and great bodily strength . They generally rejected luxury, yet were very hospitable, and enjoyed celebrating and drinking excessively, usually mead . Wulfstan of Hedeby , who visited

434-576: A household was the buttataws (literally, the house father , from buttan , meaning home , and taws , meaning father ). Larger political and territorial organisations, called terrula in Latin (a small land), existed in the early 13th century in the territories which later comprised Prussia, Latvia and Lithuania and centred on strongholds or hill forts. Such a political territorial unit covered up to 300 km (120 sq mi) and could have up to 2,000 inhabitants. They were known as pulka , comprising

496-405: A lack of confirmation about their original location and context, all subsequent questions on their age, the chronology of the objects, an exact definition of their function, their provenance, pointing to which cultural influence have not been addressed until the late 19th century. A majority of past and present researchers agree the babas were created between the 8th and 13th centuries as a "result of

558-421: A long cultural process among the population of early Iron Age area of the south-eastern Baltic coast, which was affected by both the early traditions of the local craft and inspirations from countries already under Christian influence." Because they did not know God, therefore, in their error, they worshipped every creature as divine, namely the sun, moon and stars, thunder, birds, even four-legged animals, even

620-598: A major rebellion in 1286, were defeated by the Teutonic Knights. In 1283, according to the chronicler of the Teutonic Knights, Peter of Dusburg, the conquest of the Prussians ended and the war with the Lithuanians began. In 1243, papal legate William of Modena divided Prussia into four bishoprics – Culm , Pomesania , Ermland , and Samland – under the Bishopric of Riga . Prussians were baptised at

682-443: A male head of the family and centred on strongholds or hill forts. The supreme power resided in general gatherings of all adult males, who discussed important matters concerning the community and elected the leader and chief; the leader was responsible for the supervision of the everyday matters, while the chief (the rikīs ) was in charge of the road and watchtower building, and border defense, undertaken by Vidivarii . The head of

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744-789: A pre-Christian religion before the Northern Crusades forced their conversion to Christianity at the cost of a high percentage of the native population. They lived in Bartia (also Bartenland or Barthonia ), a territory that stretched from the middle and lower flow of Łyna river , by the Liwna river, and Lake Mamry , up to the Galindian woods. The territory is quite precisely known from description in Chronicon terrae Prussiae , dated 1326. The same description mentions two provinces,

806-575: A segment in Baltic settlement names, especially in Curonian , and is found in Old Prussian placenames such as in Stablack , from stabs (stone) + laūks (field, thus stone field ). The plural is not attested in Old Prussian, but the Lithuanian plural of laukas ("field") is laukai . A laūks was also formed by a group of farms, that shared economic interests and a desire for safety, ruled by

868-468: A soul and an afterlife, and practiced ancestor worship . Some authors, by contrast, have argued for a well developed, sophisticated Old Prussian polytheism with a clearly defined pantheon of gods. The highest priest Kriwe-Kriwajto was to be in permanent connection with the spirits of the dead ancestors. He lived in a sacred grove, the Romove , a place off limit for anyone but elite clergy. Each district

930-625: Is found in the Bavarian Geographer . In Tacitus' Germania , the Lugii Buri are mentioned living within the eastern range of the Germans. Lugi may descend from Pokorny's *leug- (2), "black, swamp" (Page 686), while Buri is perhaps the root on which the toponym "Prussia" is based. The name of Pameddi , the ( Pomesania ) tribe, is derived from the words pa ("by" or "near") and median ("forest"), which can be traced to

992-597: The Archbishopric of Magdeburg , while Germans and Dutch settlers colonized the lands of the native Prussians; Poles and Lithuanians also settled in southern and eastern Prussia, respectively. Significant pockets of Old Prussians were left in a matrix of Germans throughout Prussia and in what is now the Kaliningrad Oblast . The monks and scholars of the Teutonic Order took an interest in

1054-534: The Baltic branch now known as Old Prussian and worshipped pre-Christian deities . Their ethnonym was later adopted by predominantly Low German -speaking inhabitants of the region. The duchy of the Polans under Mieszko I , which was the predecessor of the Kingdom of Poland , first attempted to conquer and baptize the Baltic tribes during the 10th century, but repeatedly encountered strong resistance. Not until

1116-788: The Bartove mentioned in the Hypatian Codex (together with the Prussians : " Prousi i Bartove "). Old Prussians Old Prussians , Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians were a Baltic people that inhabited the region of Prussia , on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea between the Vistula Lagoon to the west and the Curonian Lagoon to the east. As Balts, they spoke an Indo-European language of

1178-447: The Bavarian Geographer in the ninth century. More extensive mention of the Old Prussians in historical sources is in connection with Adalbert of Prague , who was sent by Bolesław I of Poland . Adalbert was slain in 997 during a missionary effort to Christianize the Prussians. As soon as the first Polish dukes had been established with Mieszko I in 966, they undertook a number of conquests and crusades not only against Prussians and

1240-680: The Potsdam Conference of 1945, just after the Second World War , the town was transferred from Germany back to Poland. The main tourist attraction is the Gothic Episcopal castle. It was built 1350−1401 on a steep hill side above the right bank of the river Sajna by the Teutonic Order . The Gothic St Peter's Church dating back to the 14th century boasts the painting of the church's patron dating back to

1302-701: The Proto-Indo-European adjective *médʰyos 'middle'. Nadruvia may be a compound of the words na ("by" or "on") and drawē ("wood"). The name of the Bartians , a Prussian tribe, and the name of the Bārta river in Latvia are possibly cognates . In the second century AD, the geographer Claudius Ptolemy listed some Borusci living in European Sarmatia (in his Eighth Map of Europe ), which

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1364-646: The Sirgune River and the Prussians suffered a decisive defeat. The Prussians took the Christian bishop and imprisoned him for several years. Numerous knights from throughout Catholic Europe joined in the Prussian Crusades , which lasted sixty years. Many of the native Prussians from Sudovia who survived were resettled in Samland ; Sudauer Winkel was named after them. Frequent revolts , including

1426-469: The 13th century were the Old Prussians subjugated and their lands conquered by the Teutonic Order . The remaining Old Prussians were assimilated during the following two centuries. The Old Prussian language , documented only in a limited way, was effectively extinct by the 18th century. The original territory of the Old Prussians prior to the first clashes with the Polans consisted of central and southern West and East Prussia , equivalent to parts of

1488-583: The Duchy of Prussia and unofficially in the Polish province of Royal Prussia , while Catholicism survived in the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia , the territory of secular rule comprising a third of the then Diocese of Warmia . With Protestantism came the use of the vernacular in church services instead of Latin , so Albert had the Catechisms translated into Old Prussian. Because of the conquest of

1550-514: The Iron Age (5th century BC – 1st century AD), the western Baltic kurgan and barrow culture was widespread among the Old Prussians. It was then that cremation in urns appeared. Grave mounds were raised over stone cells for up to 30 urns, or stone boxes for the urns were buried in Bronze Age style barrows. During the early phase of imperial Rome, shallow graves appeared in which the corpse

1612-573: The Just invaded Prussia, this time along the river Drewenz ( Drwęca ). He forced some of the Prussian tribes to pay tribute and then withdrew. Several attacks by Konrad of Masovia in the early 13th century were also successfully repelled by the Prussians. In 1209 Pope Innocent III commissioned the Cistercian monk Christian of Oliva with the conversion of the pagan Prussians. In 1215, Christian

1674-532: The Major Barta and the Minor Barta. The territory was quite densely populated, as confirmed by abundant archeological findings. Before the wars with the Teutonic Knights , the population was estimated to be at 17,000. The Bartians, along with the other Prussians, were conquered by the Teutonic Knights, who Christianized them under duress, brought in settlers. The Prussians were forcibly assimilated by

1736-718: The Popes, but also under the control of the empire, took control of much of the Baltic, establishing their own monastic state in Prussia. In 1230, following the Golden Bull of Rimini , Grand Master Hermann von Salza and Duke Konrad I of Masovia launched the Prussian Crusade , a joint invasion of Prussia to Christianise the Baltic Old Prussians. The Order then created the independent Monastic State of

1798-577: The Prussians. In 1224, Emperor Frederick II proclaimed that he himself and the Empire took the population of Prussia and the neighboring provinces under their direct protection; the inhabitants were declared to be Reichsfreie , to be subordinated directly to the Church and the Empire only, and exempted from service to and the jurisdiction of other dukes. The Teutonic Order , officially subject directly to

1860-536: The Teutonic Knights 1238–1240. In Bartia the Knights built major castles in Bartoszyce and Reszel . In 1242, just two years after their conquest, Bartians rebelled and managed to resist until 1252. During the Great Prussian Uprising (1260–1274), that started after the Knights suffered a major loss in the Battle of Durbe , Bartians chose Diwane as their leader. The rebels managed to capture

1922-652: The Teutonic Knights and received help from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the 13th century in their quest to free themselves of the military order. In 1525 Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach secularized the Order's Prussian territories into the Protestant Duchy of Prussia , a vassal of the crown of Poland. During the Reformation , Lutheranism spread throughout the territories, officially in

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1984-504: The Teutonic Knights in the conquered territory and subsequently conquered Courland, Livonia, and Estonia. The Dukes of Poland accused the Order of holding lands illegally. During an attack on Prussia in 1233, over 21,000 crusaders took part, of which the burggrave of Magdeburg brought 5,000 warriors, Duke Henry of Silesia 3,000, Duke Konrad of Masovia 4,000, Duke Casimir of Kuyavia 2,000, Duke Wladyslaw of Greater Poland 2,200 and Dukes of Pomerania 5,000 warriors. The main battle took place at

2046-778: The Warmian bishop, who once more in 1464 recognized the Polish King as the rightful ruler of Warmia with Reszel. The incorporation of Reszel to the Kingdom of Poland was confirmed in a peace treaty signed in Toruń in 1466. In the 17th century, the Jesuits came to Reszel and established a college in 1632 and the Polish King John II Casimir Vasa created a scholarship fund for its students. In 1772 Reszel

2108-453: The area around the lagoon had links with the Aesti . The original settlers tended to name their assets after surrounding localities (streams, lakes, seas, forests, etc.). The clan or tribal entity into which their descendants later were organized continued to use the names. This source is perhaps the one used in the very name of Prusa (Prussia), for which an earlier Latin-language word Bruzi

2170-578: The castle alight in 1807. The trial is sometimes described as the last burning of witches in Europe. From 1871 the town was part of Germany and as a result of the treaty of Versailles on 11 July 1920 the 1920 East Prussian plebiscite was organized under the control of the League of Nations , which resulted in 3,260 votes to remain in Germany and none for Poland, which just regained independence. Following

2232-604: The closely related Sudovians , but against the Pomeranians and Wends as well. Beginning in 1147, the Polish duke Bolesław IV the Curly (securing the help of Ruthenian troops) tried to subdue Prussia, supposedly as punishment for the close cooperation of Prussians with Władysław II the Exile . The only source is unclear about the results of his attempts, vaguely only mentioning that the Prussians were defeated. Whatever were

2294-465: The condition of Germany during the Middle Ages . According to Jan Długosz , the Prussians, Samogitians , and Lithuanians were the same tribe. The Prussian tribal structure is well attested in the Chronicon terrae Prussiae of contemporary author Peter of Dusburg , a chronicler of the Teutonic Order . The work is dated to 1326. He lists eleven lands and ten tribes, which were named on

2356-514: The context of the Reformation . Cassiodorus ' Variae , published in 537, contains a letter written by Cassiodorus in the name of Theodoric the Great , addressed to the Aesti : It is gratifying to us to know that you have heard of our fame, and have sent ambassadors who have passed through so many strange nations to seek our friendship. We have received the amber which you have sent us. You say that you gather this lightest of all substances from

2418-522: The eastern Balts, was much larger than in historical times. The archaeological documentation and associated finds confirm uninterrupted presence from the Iron Age (fifth century BC) to the successive conquest by Slavic tribes, beginning in the Migration Period . Permanent recorded Baltic history begins in the 10th century with the failed Christianisation by Adalbert of Prague (997 AD),

2480-587: The end of the 18th century. Other worthy of note buildings are the Jesuit complex, St John's Church and the church and convent of the nuns of the Order of St Catherine − all from the 15th and the 16th century. Large fragments of preserved defensive walls and the Classicist town hall in the market square dating back to the 19th century are also worth visiting. Near Reszel is the Catholic shrine of Święta Lipka ,

2542-648: The first conquest attempts at the expense of the Old Prussians by the duchy of the Polans under Mieszko I and the Duchy of Greater Poland under his son Bolesław , as a number of border areas were eventually lost. Around the year 1,000 AD, the Kashubians and Pomeranians lived to the west of the Old Prussians, the Poles to the south, the Sudovians (sometimes considered a separate people, other times regarded as

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2604-414: The husband's table. Commercial marriage was widespread and after the husband's death, the widow fell to the son, like other inheritance. Polygyny, up to three wives, was widespread. Adultery was a serious crime, punishable with death. After the submission, commercial marriage and polygyny were forbidden. According to archaeological evidence, pre-Christian burial customs changed over the centuries. During

2666-446: The invaders and the Old Prussian language became extinct by the end of the 17th century. Several years of conquest attempts by Poland , aided by a number of crusades by the popes and by Konrad of Masovia , had been fairly successfully repelled by the Prussians. Then Konrad of Masovia called for further crusades and invited the Teutonic Knights, an Order of the Catholic Church, to settle in Chełmno Land in 1226. Receiving support from

2728-428: The language spoken by the Prussians and tried to record it. In addition, missionaries needed to communicate with the Prussians in order to convert them. Records of the Old Prussian language therefore survive; along with little-known Galindian and better-known Sudovian , these records are all that remain of the West Baltic language group. As might be expected, it is a very archaic Baltic language. Old Prussians resisted

2790-481: The margin of sea, and further purified by the rolling of the tides, it is at length transported to your shores to be cast upon them. We have thought it better to point this out to you, lest you should imagine that your supposed secrets have escaped our knowledge . We sent you some presents by our ambassadors, and shall be glad to receive further visits from you by the road which you have thus opened up , and to show you future favors. The Old Prussians are called Brus by

2852-467: The modern areas of the Pomeranian Voivodeship and Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in Poland , the Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia and the southern Klaipėda Region in Lithuania . The territory was also inhabited by Scalovians , a tribe related to the Prussians, Curonians and Eastern Balts. "Prussians" is an exonym for these peoples, i.e., they did not refer to themselves with this word. The words "Prussians/Prussia" may originate from toponymy , as

2914-404: The old paganism lived on cannot be inferred from the sources. Pagan customs are said to have lasted the longest with the remote Sudauers . In the 16th century, the so-called Sudovian Book ( Sudauerbüchlein ) was created, which described a list of gods, "pagan" festivals and goat sanctification. However, researchers argue that this little book misinterpreted traditional folk customs as 'pagan' in

2976-464: The pagan Aesti who lived somewhere by the Baltic Sea coast and east of the Vistula estuary. It has been suggested that the name Aesti could be etymologically related to the modern toponym Estonia . On the other hand, the Old Prussian and modern Lithuanian names for localities, such as the Vistula Lagoon , Aīstinmari and Aistmarės , respectively, also appear to derive from Aesti and mari (" lagoon " or "fresh-water bay"), which suggests that

3038-405: The region was incorporated by King Casimir IV Jagiellon to the Kingdom of Poland . After the subsequent Thirteen Years' War , the longest of all Polish–Teutonic wars, since 1466, it formed part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Order, and after 1525 held by secular Ducal Prussia . The Bartians were forcibly assimilated by the Germans in the 16th or 17th century. They are most likely

3100-400: The rest of Christian Europe, the military order was able to expand their territory northeast. Their strategy was to conquer a territory and built a castle — a stronghold that would serve as the basis for further expansion. Castles at that time in Europe were built to serve as bases for colonial expansion. The Bartians, together with the Warmians and the Natangians , were conquered by

3162-484: The results, in 1157 some Prussian troops supported the Polish army in their fight against Emperor Frederick Barbarossa . In 1166, two Polish dukes, Bolesław IV and his younger brother Henry , came into Prussia, again over the Ossa River. The prepared Prussians led the Polish army, under the leadership of Henry, into an area of marshy morass. Whoever did not drown was felled by an arrow or by throwing clubs, and nearly all Polish troops perished. From 1191 to 1193 Casimir II

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3224-460: The shores of ocean, but how it comes thither you know not. But as an author named Cornelius (Tacitus) informs us, it is gathered in the innermost islands of the ocean, being formed originally of the juice of a tree (whence its name succinum), and gradually hardened by the heat of the sun. Thus it becomes an exuded metal, a transparent softness, sometimes blushing with the color of saffron, sometimes glowing with flame-like clearness. Then, gliding down to

3286-448: The toad. They also had forests, fields and bodies of water, which they held so sacred that they neither chopped wood nor dared to cultivate fields or fish in them. Baltic paganism has been described as a form of polydoxy , a belief in the sacredness of all natural forces and phenomena, not personified but possessing their own spirits and magical powers. They thought the world inhabited by a limitless number of spirits and demons, believed in

3348-416: The town was briefly captured by Poles led by King Władysław II Jagiełło . In 1440 the town joined the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation , and upon its request in 1454 Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed the act of incorporation of the region along with Reszel to Poland , an event that sparked the Thirteen Years' War . In 1455, the Teutonic Knights captured the town and in 1462 ceded their power to

3410-427: The trading town of Truso at the Vistula Lagoon , observed that wealthy people drank fermented mare's milk kumis instead of mead . According to Adam of Bremen, the Sambians are said to have consumed horse blood as well as horse milk. He also mentions that horse meat was eaten. Women held no powerful positions among the Old Prussians and, according to Peter von Dusburg, were treated like servants, forbidden to share

3472-440: The word Prūsas (a Prussian) can be derived from the term for a body of water, an understandable convention in a coastal region dotted with thousands of lakes, streams and swamps ( Masuria ). To the south, the terrain runs into the vast wetlands of the Pripet Marshes at the headwaters of the Dnieper River , which has been an effective natural barrier throughout the millennia. Writing in 98 CE, Roman historian Tacitus described

3534-407: Was annexed by Prussia in the First Partition of Poland , and became part of the Prussian Partition of Poland. In the late 18th century the local parish priest was Marcin Krasicki, and he was often visited by his brother Ignacy Krasicki , leading Polish Enlightenment poet and prince-bishop of Warmia. In 1811 Barbara Zdunk was sentenced by the Prussian court to death for witchcraft and setting

3596-498: Was buried in tree coffins. Cremation with urns spread from the third century onwards. Except for the Samians and Sudauers, where shallow grave fields existed until Christianization, cremation pits without urns increasingly became the only form of burials among the Prussians. However, different forms of burial could occur side by side at the same time. The Stone babas , found all over Old Prussia, have for centuries caused considerable speculation and dissent among scholars. Beginning with

3658-426: Was headed by its Kriwe , who also served as lawgiver and judge. The Kriwe-Kriwajto's next in rank, the Siggonen were expected to maintain the healthy spiritual connection with natural sacred sites, like springs and trees. The Wurskaiten – priests of lower rank – were supposed to superintend rites and ceremonies. With the submission to the Teutonic Order in 1231, the Old Prussians were Christianised . How long

3720-401: Was installed as the first bishop of Prussia. The Duchy of Masovia, and especially the region of Culmerland , become the object of constant Prussian counter-raids. In response, Konrad I of Masovia called on the Pope for aid several times, and founded a military order (the Order of Dobrzyń ) before calling on the Teutonic Order . The results were edicts calling for Northern Crusades against

3782-410: Was over. Some of the rebels escaped to Grodno and other Lithuanian territories. Despite heavy losses during the uprising, Bartia did not become an uninhabited land and the Bartians continued to resist. Two more attempts were made, in 1286 and 1293, to fight against the Teutonic Knights. In 1286 Bartians asked help from Duke of Rügen , and in 1293 from Vytenis , Grand Duke of Lithuania . In 1454,

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3844-429: Was separated from Germania by the Vistula Flumen . His map is very confusing in that region, but the Borusci seem further east than the Prussians, which would have been under the Gythones ( Goths ) at the mouth of the Vistula. The Aesti recorded by Tacitus , were 450 years later recorded by Jordanes as part of the Gothic Empire. The original Old Prussian settlement area in the western Baltics, as well as that of

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