The Prussian Crusade

The Prussians of the 13th century (and before) inhabited a region on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, speaking what is called Old Prussian and worshipping pagan deities. Peter of Duisburg, a Teutonic Knight who flourished in the late-13th/early-14th century, wrote in a history of Prussia:

Because they did not know God, therefore, in their error, they worshipped every creature as divine, namely the sun, moon and stars, thunder, birds, even four-legged animals, even the toad. They also had forests, fields and bodies of water, which they held so sacred that they neither chopped wood nor dared to cultivate fields or fish in them. [Chronicon terrae Prussiae III,5 ,53]

This did not suit their Christian neighbors, and several campaigns were undertaken to convert the region. Pope Innocent IV declared, in October 1243, that Prussia was divided into four dioceses (of Culm, Pomesania, Ermeland, and Samland). This was premature, since Prussia had not yet been subdued and converted. Around this time, the major force attempting that conversion was the Teutonic Knights.

The Knights had campaigned from 1238 to 1240. Earlier, in 1233, the Knights and an army of 10,000 made inroads into Prussian territory, building fortresses. Their later campaign, however, had less success: they were slaughtered trying to lay siege to a Prussian fortress. A larger contingent of Knights then arrived at the fortress. The leader of the fortress, worried that they would be overtaken by the Knights, suggested to his people that they should surrender and convert, but his own people killed him. The fortress was captured by the Knights and strengthened to become one of their strongholds. A Prussian attempt to retake the fortress failed.

In 1254, a major Crusade that included King Ottokar II of Bohemia and Rudolph I of Hapsburg contained an army of 60,000 men. They made great progress, conquering lands and building castles, and even cities. Modern Kaliningrad was founded by this Crusade as Königsberg ("King's Mountain"), named in honor of King Ottokar.

Significant Prussian uprisings took place between 1260 and 1274, forcing the Christian occupiers to seek reinforcements from Europe. Crusaders made progress only through killing tribal leaders and forcing conversion on pain of death. Prussians fled to Lithuania or Sudovia; those who stayed lost rights and became serfs.

Attempts to convert Prussians had been attempted centuries earlier, from places as far removed as England, which I'll talk about tomorrow.

Rudolph I

The Second Council of Lyon decided the ending the Interregnum was best done by selecting Rudolph I as King of Germany (and therefore Holy Roman Emperor. The position had been vacant for nearly two decades since there was no individual with sufficient power and backing to rise above other claimants.

Rudolph was born 1 May 1218 to the Hapsburgs, son of Count Albert IV of Habsburg and Hedwig of Kyburg. Albert died when Rudolph was 21, and Rudolph inherited large estates. His power was considered potentially threatening to others around him, and in 1242 Hugh of Tuffenstein antagonized him. Rudolph invaded Hugh's domain, bribed his sentinels, captured Hugh's castle, and killed Hugh.

In 1245, Rudolph married Gertrude of Hohenburg (daughter of the Count of Hohenburg), by whose dowry he received several castles and lands. Over time he received other grants of land from Conrad IV, King of Germany (until 1254).

Rudolph fell afoul of Pope Innocent IV when he invaded the suburbs of Basle and burned down a nunnery in a conflict against the bishop of Basel. Innocent excommunicated him, after which he joined the Prussian Crusade of 1254 with King Ottokar II of Bohemia as penance. (The city of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia) was founded at that time in Ottokar's honor.)

Ottokar had been excommunicated by Innocent IV himself prior to this. As a second son, he had originally been intended for an ecclesiastical career, but the death of his older brother Vladislaus made him the heir of his father, Wenceslaus I. He had been persuaded before he was even king to rebel against Wenceslaus, even expelling him from Prague Castle temporarily. Father and son were eventually reconciled, and Ottokar became king at his father's death in 1253.

During the Interregnum, Ottokar continued to exercise ambition and did his best to take over other areas, occupying an area of northwest Bohemia, fighting and defeating Hungarians, and making deals to take over other lands. 

When it came to electing a new King of Germany/Holy Roman Emperor, the Second Council of Lyons considered Ottokar to be too violent and unpredictable, compared to Rudolph. (Another claimant, Alfonso X of Castile, had never set foot in Germany.) The pope also never considered ottar to be a legitimate heir to the throne of Bohemia. So Rudolph got the title, and Ottokat was confined to Bohemia.

Rudolph and Ottokar were on the same page at least once, however, during that Prussian crusade. Why there was a Prussian Crusade will be a topic for tomorrow.

The Interregnum

There was more than one period of time called an Interregnum ("between reigns") when a ruler for a specific area was lacking. The Holy Roman Empire had two, one of which was called the Great Interregnum because it was more than a generation (924 - 962 CE). We're going to talk about the adjective-less Interregnum mentioned yesterday, when the Second Council of Lyons appointed Rudolf I to be King of the Romans. To understand the importance of Rudolf's appointment, however, we have to go back before him, to Richard of Cornwall.

Richard of Cornwall (1209 - 2 April 1272) was the second son of King John. When Richard was eight years old, he was made High Sheriff of Berkshire; eight years later he was Count of Poitou, and also made Count of Cornwall as a birthday present from his older brother, King Henry III. As seemed to happen often in English royal families, relatives rebelled against the king, and Richard rebelled three times against Henry.

Skipping a bit (quite a bit, like three wives, rebellions, building a castle at Tintagel, a Crusade, and several legitimate and illegitimate children), we come to 1257, when four of the seven German Electoral Princes (those who had the privilege of choosing the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire) chose him to be King of Germany (see a 1341 illustration of the seven above). There was opposition: three of the electors voted for Alfonso X of Castile (a successful and respected ruler, but one who had never set foot in Germany), who was also supported by King Louis IX "the Saint" of France and Pope Alexander IV. Louis and Alexander were eventually won over by Richard's sister-in-law, Eleanor of Provence, and by Eleanor's sister, Richard's second wife. She was Sanchia of Provence, daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence, and Beatrice of Savoy. Sanchia's and Eleanor's sister Margaret was married to Louis IX.

One of the seven electors was Ottokar II of Bohemia, who voted for Richard, changed his support to Alfonso, then changed his vote to Richard after being bribed, giving Richard the majority. In all, the position cost Richard 28,000 marks to gain support of the four electors needed for a simple majority.

Richard treated the position as honorary. King of Germany at this point was equivalent to Holy Roman Emperor, and also called "King of the Romans." Richard only made four brief visits to Germany, spending most of his time in England, supporting his brother Henry in the Second Barons War. At the Battle of Lewes, he hid in a windmill, but was discovered and imprisoned until September 1265.

In December 1271 he had a stroke that paralyzed his right side and cost him the ability to speak. He died on 2 April 1272 and was buried next to Sanchia at Hailes Abbey, which he founded.

The powerful families in and around Germany had spread and splintered, and no powerful and obvious candidates for King of the Romans stood out. Ottokar II of Bohemia sought the position, as did Rudolf I of Habsburg, but neither prevailed for almost 20 years, until the Second Council of Lyon selected Rudolf.

Tomorrow we'll see if we can figure out why Rudolf was chosen over Ottokar. It will be Christmas Day, but the quest for knowledge doesn't take a holiday.