tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83831036255706016472024-03-13T07:41:36.951-04:00The Knights of the Cross.
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<b>The Teutonic Knights</b>Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09288700547485932472noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383103625570601647.post-19099577185707346422021-01-31T22:31:00.002-05:002021-01-31T22:31:11.333-05:0001.007<p> "Then I will bow before him, because I have served enough, and if there is another war, I shall go again.</p><p>We have taken some booty and got rewarded by Duke Witold, so we are not poor, but I am getting old, and with old age and the strength is gone, one would be pleased to have a quiet corner somewhere."</p><p>"The king was glad to see those who returned from Lithuania with Jasko of Olesnica, and they feast well now."</p><p>"I did not return by then yet - I was still fighting. You need to know that the reconciliation between the king and Duke Witold was at the Germans' expense. The duke resolved all disputes and then rushed against the Germans! He destroyed and burned the castles, slaughtered the knights and a great many simple folks. The Germans wanted revenge, as also did Swidrygello, who escaped to them. There was again a great expedition. The grandmaster Kondrat himself joined it to lead a huge army. They besieged Vilnius; they tried using their great siege towers to destroy castles; they also tried to capture them by treachery — but they failed! While retreating, they lost so many that not even half of them came back. We also fought Ulrich von Jungingen, the grand master's brother, a mayor in Samland. But the mayor was afraid of the duke and ran away. From that day, there is peace, and they are rebuilding the city. One pious monk, who could walk barefooted on hot iron, has prophesied that from that time, as long as the world exists, no German soldier will be seen under the walls of Vilnius. And if that is so, then whose hands have done it?"</p><p>Having said that, Macko of Bogdaniec extended his palms, broad and huge - the others began to nod with approval saying:</p><p>"Yes, yes! It's true what he says!"</p><p>But the further conversation was interrupted by a noise coming from outside. From afar, they could hear singing, laughing, and the snorting of horses. They were surprised because it was quite late. The innkeeper rushed outside, and before the guests were able to drink their beer to the last drop, he returned, shouting:</p><p>"Some kind of court is coming!"</p><p>A moment later, in the doorway appeared a footman dressed in a blue jacket and wearing a red folding cap. He stopped, glanced at the guests, and then having perceived the host, he said:</p><p>"Prepare the tables and bring more lights; Duchess Anna Danuta will stop here for a rest."</p><p>Having said that, he withdrew. A great commotion began; the host called his servants, and the guests looked at one another with surprise.</p><p>"Duchess Anna Danuta," said one of the townsmen, "that's Duke Janusz of Masovia's wife. She was in Krakow for two weeks before she went to Zator to visit Duke Waclaw, and now she is coming back."</p><p>"Uncle Gamroth," said the other townsman, "let us go to the barn; the company is too high for us."</p><p>"I am not surprised that they are traveling during the night," said Macko, "because the days are hot, but why do they come to the inn when the monastery is so close?"</p><p>Here he turned toward Zbyszko:</p><p>"This is beautiful Ryngalla's sister?!"</p><p>And Zbyszko answered:</p><p>"There must be many Masovian ladies with her!"</p>Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09288700547485932472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383103625570601647.post-82937743581807027862021-01-31T22:28:00.008-05:002021-01-31T22:29:02.941-05:0001.006<p> "Yes!" suddenly interrupted Zbyszko, "it's true. But afterward, the people said that Ryngalla regretted being the wife of the bishop (because he, although married, did not want to resign from the priesthood) and, feeling that God's blessing could not be over such a marriage, poisoned her husband. When I heard that, I asked a pious hermit to absolve me from that vow."</p><p>"He was a hermit," answered Macko, laughing, "but was he pious? I don't know; we went to him on Friday, and he was splitting bear's bones with an ax, and loudly sucking the marrow."</p><p>"But he said that the marrow was not meat, and besides, he had received permission to do it, because after sucking marrow, he used to have marvelous visions during his sleep and the next day he could prophesize until noontime."</p><p>"Well, well!" answered Macko. "And the beautiful Ryngalla is a widow now, and she may call you to her service."</p><p>"It would be in vain, because I am going to choose another lady, whom I will serve till death, and then I will find a wife."</p><p>"First, you must attain a knighthood."</p><p>"There will be plenty of tournaments. And before that, the king will not dub a single knight. I can measure myself against any. The duke could not have thrown me down if my horse had not reared."</p><p>"There will be fighters far better than you are."</p><p>Here the noblemen began to shout:</p><p>"For God's sake! Here, in the presence of the queen, will fight not people like you, but only the most famous knights in the world. Here will fight Zawisza of Garbow, Dobko of Olesnica, Powala of Taczew, Paszko of Biskupice, Jasko Naszan, and Abdank of Gora. Andrzej of Brochocice, Krystyn of Ostrow, and Jakob of Kobylany! Can you measure your sword against the swords of those, with whom neither the knights here, nor of the Bohemian court, nor of the Hungarian court can compete? What are you talking about? Are you better than them? How old are you?"</p><p>"Eighteen," answered Zbyszko.</p><p>"Every one of them could crush you between his fingers."</p><div><div>"Will see."</div><div><br /></div><div>But Macko said:</div><div><br /></div><div>"I have heard that the king rewards handsomely those knights who are returning from the Lithuanian war. You live here, is it true?"</div><div><br /></div><div>"Yes, it is true!" answered one of the nobles. "King's generosity is well known, but it will be difficult to get near him now because the guests are swarming to Krakow. They are coming for the queen's child delivery and then christening, wishing to show reverence to our lord or pay homage to him. The king of Hungary is coming. They say that the Roman emperor will be here also, with plenty of dukes, counts, and knights, and neither of them expects to leave empty-handed. They even say that Pope Boniface himself will arrive because he also needs a favor and help from our lord against Avignon's adversary. Therefore, with so many dignitaries, it will be difficult to be seen by a king; but if one could pay his respects and deserves a reward, he will get one."</div></div><div><br /></div>Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09288700547485932472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383103625570601647.post-26950537484427374242021-01-31T22:25:00.008-05:002021-01-31T22:26:10.782-05:0001.005<p> "I have seen many great wonders over there because everything there is peculiar. They are shaggy, and hardly any warlord combs his hair; they live on baked turnips, which they prefer to any other food because supposedly bravery comes from eating them. They live in dwellings with their cattle and snakes; they eat and drink excessively. They don't respect married women but greatly respect unmarried ones to whom they attribute a great power. They say that if a girl rubs a man with dried herbs, it will stop colic."</p><p>"It may be worth to have colic if the women are beautiful!" exclaimed Eyertreter.</p><p>"Ask Zbyszko about it," said Macko.</p><p>Zbyszko laughed at that so heartily that the bench began to shake beneath him.</p><p>"There are some beautiful ones," he said. "Wasn't Ryngalla beautiful?"</p><p>"Quickly! Who is Ryngalla?"</p><p>"What? You haven't heard about Ryngalla?" asked Macko.</p><p>"We have not heard a word."</p><p>"But she was Duke Witold's sister, and the wife of Henryk, Duke of Masovia."</p><p>"You don't say! Which Duke Henryk? The only a Duke of Masovia by that name was a bishop of Plock, and he died."</p><p>"That's the same one. He expected a dispensation from Rome, but death gave him his dispensation because evidently, he did not please God with his actions.</p><p>I was sent with a letter to Duke Witold when the king also sent Duke Henryk, Bishop of Plock. By that time, Witold was tired of the war, probably because he could not capture Vilnius, and our king was tired of his own brothers and their vices. The king had noticed that Witold was shrewder and smarter than his brothers, sent the bishop to him to persuade him to leave the Knights and return to his allegiance, for which he promised to make him ruler over Lithuania. Witold, always fond of changes, listened with pleasure to the emissary. There were also a feast and tournaments. Although the other bishops did not approve of it, the emissary joined the lists and showed his knightly strength. All the dukes of Masovia are powerful. It is well known that even the girls of that blood can easily break horseshoes.</p><div><div>In the beginning, the duke threw three knights from their saddles. The second time he threw five of them. He threw me from my saddle, and at the beginning of the encounter, Zbyszko's horse reared, and he was thrown.</div><div><br /></div><div>The duke took all the prizes from the hands of the beautiful Ryngalla, before whom he kneeled in full armor. They fell so much in love with each other that during the feasts, the clerics had to pull him away from her by his sleeves. And her brother, Duke Witold, had to restrain her. The bishop said: 'I will give myself a dispensation, and the pope, if not the one in Rome, then the one in Avignon, will confirm it, but I must marry her immediately. Otherwise, I will burn up!' It was a great offense against God, but Witold did not dare to oppose him because he did not want to displease the emissary, and so there was a wedding. Then they went to Suraz, and afterward to Sluck, to the great sorrow of Zbyszko, who, according to the German Knightly custom, had selected the Duchess Ryngalla to be the lady of his heart and had promised her eternal fidelity."</div></div><div><br /></div>Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09288700547485932472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383103625570601647.post-61164523030021210652021-01-31T22:19:00.008-05:002021-01-31T22:22:34.903-05:0001.004<p> Here the curiosity so increased among the noblemen and merchants that they stretched their necks in the direction of Macko and asked:</p><p>"And who are the best from our side? Speak quickly!" Macko raised the mug to his mouth, drank, and then answered:</p><p>"Don't worry about them. Jan of Wloszczowa, governor of Dobrzyn castle, Mikolaj of Waszmuntow, Jasko of Zdakow, and Jarosz of Czechow glorious knights and tough guys. No matter which weapons, spears, swords, or axes, nothing is new to them! It will be worthy for human eyes to see it and ears to hear it - because, as I said, even if you press Frenchman's throat with your foot, he will still reply with knightly words. Therefore so help me, God, and Holy Cross. They may out talk us, but our guys will beat them."</p><p>"There will be glory if God will bless us," said one of the nobles.</p><p>"And Saint Stanislaw!" added another. Then turning toward Macko:</p><p>"Well! Tell us! You praised the Germans and other knights because they are valiant and beat Lithuania easily. Was it harder for them with you? Did they go against you readily? How did it go? Praise our knights.!"</p><p>But evidently, Macko of Bogdaniec was not a bragger, because he answered modestly:</p><p>"Those who had just arrived from foreign lands attacked us readily; but after they tried once or twice, they attacked us with less assurance, because our people are hardened, and they reproached us for that hardness: 'You are not afraid to die' they used to say, 'but you help the Saracens, and you will be damned for it.' And we fought even harder because it is not true! The king and the queen have christened Lithuania, and everyone there worships the Lord Christ, although not everyone knows how. And it is also known that our gracious lord, when in the cathedral of Plock they threw down the devil, ordered them to put a candle before him until the priests were forced to tell him that he ought not to do it. No wonder then about an ordinary man! Many of them say to themselves: "The prince ordered us to be baptized, so I did; he ordered us to bow before the Christ, and I do; but why shouldn't I throw a little piece of cheese to the old heathen devils, or why shouldn't I throw them some turnips or pour them foam off of the beer? If I don't, my horses will die, or my cows will get sick, or their milk will have blood in it, or there will be trouble with the harvest.'</p><div><div>And many of them do this and become suspect. But they are doing it because of their ignorance and their fear of the devils. Those devils were better off in times now gone. They used to have their own sacred groves and their own tithes. But today, the groves are cut down, and they have nothing to eat. The town's bells ring, therefore the devils are hiding in the thickest forest, and they howl from loneliness. If a Lithuanian goes to the forest, they pull him by his overcoat, and they say: 'Give!' Some of them give, but there are also courageous guys who won't give them anything. They will even catch some devils. One guy put some beans in an ox bladder, and immediately thirteen devils entered there. He plugged the bag with wooden pegs, brought them to Wilno, and sold them to Franciscan priests, who paid him well to destroy the enemies of Christ's name. I have seen that bladder with my own eyes; a dreadful stench came from it, that's the way those dirty spirits manifested their fear before the holy water."</div><div><br /></div><div>And who counted that there were thirteen devils?" asked the merchant Gamroth, smartly.</div><div><br /></div><div>"The Lithuanian counted them when he saw them entering the bladder. It was evident that they were there because of the stench, and nobody dared to take out the peg."</div><div><br /></div><div>"What wonders, what wonders!" exclaimed one of the nobles.</div></div><div><br /></div>Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09288700547485932472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383103625570601647.post-77604550784935981932021-01-31T22:13:00.013-05:002021-01-31T22:22:55.454-05:0001.003<p> When he was twelve, he used to rest a crossbow on the ground, pressed it against his chest, and turn the crank. None of the English, whom I have seen in Wilno, could do better."</p><p>"Was he that strong?"</p><p>"He used to carry my helmet, and when he passed thirteen winters, he could carry my shield too."</p><p>"You must have had plenty of fighting there!"</p><p>"Because of prince Witold. The prince was allied with the Teutonic Knights, and every year they used to make an expedition against Lithuania, as far as Wilno. Different people went with them: Germans, French, English, who are the best bowmen, Czechs, Swiss and Burgundians. They cut down the forests, built their own castles on their way. Finally, they devastated Lithuania by fire and sword so badly that the people who lived there wanted to leave and search for another land, even to the end of the world, even among Belial's children, as long as it was very far from the Germans."</p><p>"We have heard that the Lithuanians wanted to go away with their wives and children, but we did not believe it."</p><p>"And I looked at it. Hey! If not for Mikolaj of Moskorzowo, Jasko of Olesnica, and without any boasting, if not for us, there would be no Wilno now."</p><p>"We know. You did not surrender the castle."</p><p>"We did not. And now notice what I am going to say because I have experience in military matters. The elders used to say: 'tough Lithuania'--and it's true! They fight well, but they cannot compare to the knights in the open field. When German horses are stuck in the marshes, or when there is a thick forest--that's a different story."</p><p>"The Germans are good fighters!" exclaimed the burghers.</p><p>"They stay like a wall, man beside the man, in their iron armor so completely covered that you can barely see their eyes. They advance in one compact body. Sometimes, when they strike, the Lithuanians are scattered like sand, and if not, they will ride thru and trample them down. There are not only Germans among them because men from all nations serve with the Knights of the Cross. And they are brave! Often before a battle, a knight stoops, stretches his lance, and rushes alone against the whole army."</p><div><div>"Christ!" exclaimed Gamroth. "And who among them are the best?"</div><div><br /></div><div>"It depends. For the crossbow, the best is the English, who can pierce a suit of armor, and at a hundred paces, will not miss a dove. Czechs cut dreadfully with their axes. For a two-handed sword, the German is the best. The Swiss are glad to strike the helmets with an iron flail, but the greatest knights come from French soil.</div><div><br /></div><div>These will fight on horseback and on foot while speaking brave words, which you will not understand because it is such a strange language. But they are pious people. They criticized us through the Germans that we are defending pagans and the Saracens against the Cross, and they wanted to prove it by a knightly duel. And such God's judgment is scheduled to be held between their four, and our four knights of the court of Waclaw, the Roman and Bohemian king."</div></div>Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09288700547485932472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383103625570601647.post-59204171552453429782021-01-22T22:34:00.010-05:002021-01-31T22:23:12.279-05:0001.002<p> "Uncle Gamroth, don't interrupt the knight," said the second merchant.</p><p>"I'm not. I just think that he will be glad to know what people are talking about because I am sure he is going to Krakow. We cannot return to the city today at any rate because they will shut the gates by the time we get there."</p><p>"And you say twenty words, in reply to one. You are getting old, Uncle Gamroth!"</p><p>"But I can carry a whole bale of wet broadcloth just the same."</p><p>"Big deal! The cloth through which one can see, as through a sieve."</p><p>But the knight interrupted further dispute. "Yes, I will stay in Krakow because I have heard about the tournaments, and I will be glad to try my strength on the field; and my nephew, who, although young and smooth-faced, has already seen more than on armor on the ground at his feet."</p><p>The guests glanced at the youth, who smiled and, putting his long hair behind his ears, raised the mug of beer to his mouth.</p><p>The older knight added: "Even if we wanted to, we have no place to return to."</p><p>"How is that?" asked one of the nobles. "Where are you from, and what do they call you?"</p><p>"I am Macko of Bogdaniec, and this lad, the son of my brother, calls himself Zbyszko. Our coat of arms is Dull Horseshoe, and our battle cry is Grady!"</p><p>"Where is Bogdaniec?"</p><p>"Hah! You better ask, my friend, where it was, because it is no more. During the last war, Bogdaniec was burned to the ground, we were robbed of everything, and the servants ran away. Only the bare soil remained because even the farmers who were in the neighborhood fled into the forests. We, me and my brother, the father of this lad, rebuilt it; but next year, a flood took everything. Then my brother died, and after his death, I remained with the orphan. Then I thought: 'I can't stay!' I heard about the war for which King Vladislaus sent Jasko of Olesnica to recruit knights and foot soldiers in Poland while Mikolaj of Moskorzowo was sent to Vilnius for the same purpose. I knew a worthy abbot, Janko of Tulcza, to whom I gave my land as security for the money I needed to buy armor and horses, necessary for a war expedition. I put the boy, twelve years old at that time, on a young horse, and we went to find Jasko of Olesnica."</p><p>"With the teenager?"</p><p>"He was not even a teen then, but he has been strong since childhood.</p>Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09288700547485932472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383103625570601647.post-81406762993889463522021-01-22T22:30:00.003-05:002021-01-31T22:23:29.418-05:0001.001<p><b>CHAPTER 1</b></p><p> In Tyniec, a village near Poland's capital, Krakow, in the inn "Under Dreadful Urus," several people were sitting and listening to a soldier and his adventures from the last war. The bearded man was middle-aged, tall, muscular, lean, with broad shoulders. He wore his hair in a net ornamented with beads, was dressed in a leather jacket marked by the cuirass, and wore a belt composed of brass buckles. In the belt, he had a knife in a horn scabbard, and at his side, a short traveling sword.</p><p>Right next to him, at the table, sat a young man with long hair and a cheerful gaze, apparently his companion, or perhaps his squire, because he was also dressed in the same leather jacket made from armor. The rest of the company consisted of two landowners from Krakow's vicinity and three townspeople in red folded hats, whose thin ends hung on their sides up to the elbows.</p><p>The innkeeper, a German, dressed in a faded hood and serrated collar, served them a beer. He was pouring it from a bucket into earthenware mugs while listening with great interest.</p><p>The burghers were listening intently. The hatred under the previous king had separated the middle class, and the knighthood had been very much passed. Now, one would often see the merchants drinking with the knights like brothers. The burghers were always welcome, because having money easily available, they usually paid for those who had coats of arms.</p><p>They were sitting there and talking, from time to time winking at the host to fill up the mugs.</p><p>"Noble knight, you have seen a good piece of the world," said one of the merchants.</p><p>"Not many in the city have seen as much," replied the knight. "There will be plenty of them now," said the merchant. "There is to be a great feast for the king and the queen! The king has ordered the queen's chamber to be upholstered with golden brocade, embroidered with pearls, and a canopy of the same material over her. There will be such entertainments and tournaments, as we have never seen before."</p>Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09288700547485932472noreply@blogger.com