Chapter Eleven

Attempts to Reverse the Trend: 1261–73

1. Against the (1261–65)

On 13 July 1260, the united forces of the Teutonic Knights, German cru- saders, Charles the Swedish duke and the Prussian bishops were beaten by the Prussian Samogitians in a battle on the Lake Durbe in Curonia. This defeat turned out to be the spark which ignited a universal rebellion against the in . This broke out in September 1260, and gradually spread over all of the area of Prussian territory previously conquered by the order, with the exception of Pomezania. Teutonic units managed to survive in the more strongly-fortified strongholds, but in view of the fact that the rebels held rest of the area, the situation in the besieged strongholds, cut off as they were from the outside world and their sup- plies, became disastrous. The crisis was deepened by the spreading of the revolt to other Baltic peoples (including the Jatvings), and by the adher- ence to the rebel movement, in the first months of 1261, of the Lithuanian ruler Mindaugas, who had previously been an ally of the Order. Now he broke with Christianity and stood at the head of the rebellious Balts. The Teutonic state was faced with collapse for the second time.1 In the face of such a serious problem, the order began intensive diplo- matic efforts to increase crusading propaganda in Prussia and . As noted in the previous chapter, the bulls of Alexander dated to August and September of 1260, concerning the establishment of a crusade against the Mongols in defence of Poland, contained a clause (no doubt placed there under the influence of the Teutonic Order) forbidding activities which would in any way hinder the Knights’ campaign to seek help for their initia- tives. It is not difficult to conclude that such directions could, as interpreted

1 See Ewald, Die Eroberung Preussens, 3, pp. 142–5; ibid., 4: Die große Erhebung der Preußen und die Eroberung der östlichen Landschaften (Halle, 1886), pp. 4ff.; H. Łowmiański, Agresja zakonu krzyżackiego na Litwę w wiekach XII–XV, PH 45 (1954), 345–6; Urban, The Baltic Crusade, pp. 208ff.; Powierski, “Wybuch II powstania”, pp. 303ff.; idem, “Rola Jaćwieży”, pp. 101ff.; idem, “Stanowisko polityczne książąt polskich wobec ludów bałtyjskich i Zakonu Krzyżackiego w okresie nasilenia najazdów litewskich (1261–1263)”, Acta Baltico-Slavica 15 (1983), 9ff.; Labuda, in Dzieje państwa krzyżackiego, pp. 179ff.; Białuński, Studia, pp. 109ff. 334 chapter eleven by the Order’s political supporters, be used to block any rival crusading initiative. This however left the Order’s diplomats still unsatisfied, to the point that by November 1260 further calls for the undertaking of a crusade in support of the lands threatened by the Mongols were already being issued by the Roman curia.2 Only in the winter of 1260–61 was it possible for the emissaries of the Order to the Apostolic See to obtain a more une- quivocal confirmation of the Order’s monopoly over the territory encom- passed by the 1260 proclamation of a crusade against the Mongols. This is shown by the bull of Alexander IV of 11 January 1261 addressed to the bish- ops of Warmia, Olomouc, the German episcopate and the Franciscans of Bohemia, Moravia, Poland and Pomerania.3 In this document we find the phrase, which will be repeated in later texts, that these areas are specifi- cally defined as “selected by the Apostolic See to help the crusaders in the defence of Prussia and Livonia”, and a ban associated with this on drawing men away from the Baltic crusade or in any other manner hindering the Order’s enterprise. We may agree with Powierski’s opinion that the docu- ment of 11 January was above all intended to block possible attempts to continue preaching crusade against the Mongols.4 It cannot be excluded that despite the previous papal commands some promoters of this project were still active, which the Teutonic Knights perceived as a threat to the recruitment of collaborators with the Order. This is indirectly confirmed by the next disposition of Alexander IV, on 25th January 1261, in which he again reserves to the Teutonic Order the matter of financial recompense to be paid for the cancelling of crusader’s vows to join the campaign in Prussia.5 The repetition of this privilege may again indicate the fear of the activities of the propagators of a rival crusade. Then, on 4 February 1261, Alexander IV renewed the bulls of 15 July 1258 and 9 September 1260 for a third time, on this occasion addressing them to the mendicant orders preaching the crusade to Prussia and Livonia, forbidding them to inter- fere with the Baltic campaign under the pretext of aiding the anti-Mongol crusade.6 The most interesting however is the document of 8 April 1261, in which the Pope appoints the bishops of Kujavia and Chełmno to lead the anti-Mongol crusaders to the aid of the Order in Prussia and Livonia, as a

2 Grünhagen, 1060; Potthast, 17,964; SUB, 3, 328, p. 216. 3 See CDPr, 1, 134, pp. 136–7; RBM, pp. 2, 293, p. 111; CDWarm, 1, 40, pp. 77–8; PrUB, 1, 2, 125–8, pp. 107–8; Potthast, 18,007; SUB, 3, 342, p. 225. 4 Powierski, “Wybuch II powstania”, pp. 312–13. 5 PrUB, 1, 2, 129, pp. 108–9. 6 Ibid., 131, p. 110; Potthast, 18,029.