History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 252, the Baltic, the Baltic Crusades, the Prussian Crusade, Part 18, the Third Pr. Insurection.

Hello again.

Last week we saw our two crusades merge,

as the death of Master Ernest of Livonia on the battlefield at the hands of the Lithuanians

caused Grandmaster Hartman to appoint a single master to administer both Lovonia and Prussia, that master being master Conrad.

Master Conrad seemed initially energized and enthusiastic about his new appointment, but reports of setbacks in

Samagalia appeared to dull his enthusiasm, and by the summer of 1280 he seemed to be frozen into inaction, seemingly

unwilling to venture far from his residence at Elbing.

But this episode won't be spent seeing whether Master Conrad can be prodd

into action.

No, we will leave Master Conrad safely inside the Master's

headquarters at Elbing because we need to go back in time to Prussia and move events along the timeline until they catch up with the appointment

of Master Conrad.

Now when we last left Prussia in episode 249 the second Prussian insurrection had finally come to an end.

The war, which had lasted 15 years, had been fought to the point of exhaustion by both

sides. The depleted ranks of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and the fact that there were no Crusaders coming in to assist them

meant that the Order was forced to fight using guerrilla warfare type tactics, using their castles as bases for

knights to ride out in small groups, attack some pagans, then wheel around and head back to the safety of the castle.

The uprisings of the pagans of Prussia officially ended with the death of the leader of the Netangians, Hercus Monter, in 1273.

The situation at the end of 1273 was that the Nittangians, the Barshans and the Varmians had all

surrendered. The only Prussian pagans who remained to be defeated were the Sudovians who had allied themselves with the

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