Teutonic Knights by William Urban

Author:William Urban [Urban, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: History, Non-Fiction, Medieval, Germany, Baltic States
ISBN: 9781783031009
Google: knkfKQEACAAJ
Amazon: 1848326203
Barnesnoble: 1848326203
Goodreads: 1882613
Publisher: Frontline Books
Published: 2003-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The International Crusade

Prussia was easy to reach by either land or sea, but it lay at sufficient distance to escape the turmoil of Western political struggles. Neither the Hundred Years’ War, the vicissitudes of the empire, the advance of the Turks, nor the troubles of the papacy disturbed it. It was an island of peace with a war on one coast (Samogitia), and it was winning that war with the help of the constant stream of crusaders from the West.

No longer was this just a German crusade, as it had been after the mid-thirteenth century when armies of Polish knights ceased to participate. Many Englishmen came, as did an Orsini duke from Naples and numerous French princes. Although the kings of Poland abstained, Poles from Silesia and Masovia came, as did Bohemians, some Hungarians, and a few Scots. It was indeed an international crusade.

The ceremony of knighthood lay near the heart of this crusading ardour. Each expedition into Samogitian forests and swamps was an opportunity for poor squires to win their spurs honourably and cheaply, and for rich nobles to earn respect by lavish hospitality and courage. The Austrian poet Peter von Suchenwirt described one expedition to seek knighthood in 1377. He concluded his narrative with this exhortation: ‘One counsel I give to noble folk: he who will become a good knight, let him take as companion Lady Honour and St George. “Better knight than squire!” Let him bear that word in his heart, with will and with good deeds; so shall he defy slander, and his name shall be spoken with honour.’

Many squires took that admonition to heart. So did experienced campaigners. Prussia became a major showplace for fourteenth-century chivalry, visited by knights from Scotland, England, France, and Italy, men who had seen every monarch and tournament champion. Such knights came back for a second, third, and fourth crusade.

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