Wulfstan of Hedeby

Long before the Prussian Crusades of later centuries, Alfred the Great of England sent his emissary, Wulfstan of Hedeby, to Prussia in 890. Alfred was interested in opening up trade with other countries, and also wanted to spread Christianity. Wulfstan's trip is described in the Anglo-Saxon work "The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan." It contains the earliest English record of Old Prussian culture.

Wulfstan may have been Anglo-Saxon, or may have been from Hedeby originally, which was Danish at the time, although now in northern Germany. The account that he shared with Alfred tells of his travel from Hedeby to Truso, a Scandinavian trading port along the Amber Road. Alfred included Wulfstan's account when he translated Orosius' Histories. He names his itinerary:

Wulfstan said that he went from Haethum to Truso in seven days and nights, and that the ship was running under sail all the way. Weonodland was on his right, and Langland, Laeland, Falster, and Sconey, on his left, all which land is subject to Denmark. Then on our left we had the land of the Burgundians, who have a king to themselves. Then, after the land of the Burgundians, we had on our left the lands that have been called from the earliest times Blekingey, and Meore, and Eowland, and Gotland, all which territory is subject to the Sweons; and Weonodland (the land of the Wends) was all the way on our right, as far as the Vistula estuary.

Wulfstan was the first to use the word "Prussian" to describe the people he met, although they were also known as "Aesti." He describes their social structure as having rulers (cyning), nobles (ricostan), paupers (unspedigan), and slaves (þeowan).

Wulfstan also reported their funeral customs:

The Aesti have the following custom: when someone dies, their body lies unburnt in their house for a month or sometimes two; kings and nobles lie even longer, proportionally to their affluence […] While the deceased is lying in the house, the family and friends drink and celebrate until he or she is burnt.

The Aesti have the custom that every deceased person, irrespective of their social position, is burnt. If they do not burn a part of the body, they have to offer great propitiatory prayers and sacrifices.

But enough about Prussia for now. What about the reference above to the Amber Road? Was it something like the Silk Road? Let's find out tomorrow.

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.