History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 297, the Baltic Crusades, the Lithuanian conflict part two, rebellion and war.

Hello again.

Last week we followed the Teutonic Order to the island of Gotland, where the order

attacked not a bunch of pagans but a bunch of pirates, the

victual's brethren who had taken over the

was all very fabulous and I guess everyone had a good time but instead of looking

outwards beyond its shores the Teutonic Order should have been focusing more attention on what was

going on in its own backyard, because by the time the calendar had clicked over into the early months of the year 1401, it became

apparent that the Samagetsians were revolting. Now really the Teutonic order should have seen this coming. Yes

Samagetia was on paper defeated and hostages had been taken from Samagetia to Prussia to

ensure that the region stayed subdued but the Order seems to have underestimated the degree to which the Samagetians hated being

governed by a foreign power. The Order should have recalled that the Samagetsians hated being ruled by Lithuania, and they

should have realized that if Samagetsia hated being ruled by Lithuania, then they were really, really going to

hate being ruled by a bunch of Latin Christian, Prussian Germans.

The Tutonic Order had been distracted by other events, and with its manpower at a low point following V. Tortoise's disastrous Russian campaign and with its regional ally,

Queen Yadviga having recently died, I guess it's understandable that the Teutonic Order sort of patted Samagizia on its head, then

turned around and forgot about it.

The Samagizian Revolt began in March of the year 1401, and by April, only a matter of weeks later, it was widespread and seemingly unstoppable. The Samagitsians seized the

stronghold at Frida Borg then took the members of the Teutonic Garrison Prisoner, intending to use them in a

prisoner swap in exchange for some of the Samagetsian hostages being held in Prussia.

In his book The Last Years of the Teutonic Knights,

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