Ep. 130: The Teutonic Knights (1190-1525) - The Conquest of Prussia (Part I)
History of the Germans from the Middle Ages to Reunification
Dirk Hoffmann-Becking
4.9 • 551 Ratings
🗓️ 14 December 2023
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Last week we heard about Konrad of Masovia’s offer of the Kulmer Land to the Teutonic knight. This week we will talk about what they did once they had accepted the offer. The first knights arrived in 1226 but it would take almost 6o years before their new principality of Prussia was fully established.
The Prussians, despite initially being lightly armed and disunited were no pushover. Rarely successful in open battle they disappeared into the dense forest or swampy marches before they could be routed. Again and again they rose up, reclaiming their freedom and again and again did the Teutonic Knights and the German and Polish crusaders pushed them back into submission.
Do not worry, this will not be an endless litany of battles and raids, but we will look at the relative military strength, the political structure they established and as you would expect, the economic underpinnings of the effort.....
Episode Website with transcript, maps and lots more: EPISODE 130 – The Conquest of Prussia (Part I) • History of the Germans Podcast
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The translation of Nicolaus of Jeroschin is here: Jeroschin N. The Chronicle of Prussia (2016), OCR.pdf
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the History of the Germans, episode 130. |
| 0:10.0 | The Conquest of Prussia, Part 1. |
| 0:13.8 | Now, last week we heard about Conrad of Mesovia's offer of the Kulmer Land to the Teutonic Knights. |
| 0:20.0 | This week, we'll talk about what they did once they had accepted the offer. |
| 0:24.6 | The first knights arrived in 1226, but it would take almost 60 years before the new |
| 0:30.6 | principality of Prussia was fully established. |
| 0:34.6 | The old Prussians, despite initially being lightly armed and disunited, were no pushover. |
| 0:42.0 | Rarely successful in open battle, they disappeared into the dense forest or swampy marches |
| 0:46.6 | before they could be routed. |
| 0:49.5 | Again and again they rose up, reclaiming their freedom and again and again, |
| 0:54.6 | did the Tutonic Knights and the German and Polish Crusaders push them back into submission? |
| 1:00.3 | Do not worry. This will not be an endless litany of battles and raids, |
| 1:04.2 | but we will look at the relative military strength, the political structure they established, |
| 1:09.1 | and as you would expect, the economic underpinnings |
| 1:11.6 | of the effort. |
| 1:13.1 | So, let's dive in. |
| 1:17.2 | Before we start, just a reminder, the History of the Germans podcast is advertising free |
| 1:21.5 | thanks to the generous support from patrons. |
| 1:24.0 | And you can become a patron too and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes and other privileges |
| 1:28.2 | from the price of a latte per month. |
| 1:31.1 | All you have to do is sign up at patreon.com slash History of the Germans or on my website |
| 1:36.2 | historyof the Germans.com slash support. |
... |
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