History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 264. Episode 265, the Baltic Crusades, the Livonian Crusade Part 44, the Civil War rolls on.

Hello again.

Last time we saw the Crusade on the Prussian side of the equation

switch from a focus on Lithuania to a focus on Samagetsia. Following the death of the possibly overconfident, Heinrich von Polertzka in an ambush deep in the heart of Lithuania.

A large crusading army ended up campaigning in Samagizia, a campaign which was so successful

that it managed to destroy just about all the Samagizian settlements and

strongholds along the lower reaches of the Namunas River and in the

central regions of Samagetia.

The Crusaders intended to follow up on their successes the next winter, but the weather was unusually cold, prompting Master Friedrich of Prussia to call off the expedition.

The Samagitsians took full advantage of this,

realizing that the cold-averse Latin Christians were staying in front of their firesides in Prussia,

the Samagitsians struck at a number of isolated Latin Christian strongholds and settlements across curland, samland and semagalia,

defeating the city of Mimal and causing upwards of 20,000 Latin Christian deaths.

We left the region reeling from this Samagitian onslaught in the year 1323. Now we will return to

Lovonia to advance the timeline a little further there.

Now you might remember back in episode 263 that in a shock move

the Teutonic order managed to block what seemed to have been a foregone legal

determination against them by delaying, bribing, and generally creating legal confusion and bewilderment in the halls of Avignon.

In the end, Pope Clement attempted to put an end to the dispute by declaring that the warring

parties were both to sign a truce, an event which duly took place in the year 1313. This effectively restored the status quo and feeling

back in control of the situation, Master Gerhard of the Livonian chapter of the Teutonic Order,

...