In the Holy Land (1095–1291) Later Crusades (1291–1717) Northern (1147–1410) Against Christians (1204–1588) Popular (1096–1320) Wulfstan of Hedeby, an agent of Alfred of Wessex, recorded the seafaring and cattle-herding Prussians as a strong and independent nation.

[2] Bolesław I of Poland, son of Mieszko I, greatly expanded his land conquests and used Adalbert of Prague for his aim of conquering the Prussians in 997, but the missionary was killed by the natives.

In 1206, the Cistercian bishop Christian of Oliva, with the support of the King of Denmark and Polish dukes, found colonization of the natives in a better state than expected upon his arrival in the war-torn Chełmno Land.

[13] Because of the growing intensity of reciprocal attacks,[14] Pope Honorius III sent a papal bull to Christian in March 1217 allowing him to begin preaching a crusade against the resisting Prussians.

[16] By 1223, however, most of the crusaders had left the region, and the Prussians devastated Chełmno Land and Masovia yet again, forcing Duke Conrad to seek refuge in the castle of Płock.

Hermann met with Frederick II at Rimini and suggested that the subjugation of the Prussians would make the Holy Roman Empire's borders easier to defend against invaders, presumably referring to Lithuanian counterattacks against Christian crusades.

[22] The Holy Roman Emperor gave his approval of the enterprise in the Golden Bull of Rimini of 1226, granting them Chełmno Land, or Culmerland, and any future conquests.

[25] The Golden Bull of Rieti issued by Pope Gregory IX in 1234 reaffirmed the Order's control of conquered lands, placing them only under the authority of the Holy See.

The 14th century chronicler Peter von Dusburg mentioned eleven districts in Prussia: Bartia, Culmerland (formerly under Polish control), Galindia, Nadrovia, Natangia, Pogesania, Pomesania, Samland, Scalovia, Sudovia, and Ermland.

Most of the secular crusaders would return to their homes after the end of the campaigns, leaving the monastic Teutonic Knights the task of consolidating the gains and garrisoning the newly built forts, most of which were small and made of timber.

After a close battle, the pagan Pogesanians were routed on the frozen Sirgune River by the arrival of the ducal cavalry,[36] and the battlefield was subsequently known as the "Field of the Dead".

A small force of crusading knights were slaughtered besieging the Warmian fort of Honeida,[40] leading Marshal Dietrich von Berheim to return with a larger army.

When the Warmian commander Kodrune advised that the pagans should surrender and convert, Honeida's own garrison killed him, leading Dietrich to order a successful capture of the fort.

[32] In a bull of 1 October 1243, Pope Innocent IV and William of Modena divided Prussia into the Dioceses of Culm, Pomesania, Ermeland, and Samland, although the territory of the last had not yet been conquered.

The Poles sought the Pomerellian prince's territory along the Vistula, while the papal legate, the future Pope Urban IV, wanted the Christians to direct their energies against pagans instead of each other.

After the western Prussians were forcibly colonized by the early 1250s, the Teutonic Knights continued their advance north and east, next facing the Sambians of thickly-populated Samland.

In 1253 Poppo and the Provincial Master, Dietrich von Grüningen, as well as the Margrave of Meissen, reduced the resisting Galindians but spared too much further violence; the Order was concerned that the Prussians would seek to join Poland if they were pressed too greatly.

[44] With the resisting tribes decimated, Pope Innocent IV directed Dominican friars to preach the crusade, and the Order sent embassies to the Kings of Hungary, Bohemia, and the princes of the Holy Roman Empire.

While the Order waited for the crusaders to arrive in Prussia, the Livonian branch "founded" Memel (Klaipėda) along the Curonian Lagoon to prevent the Samogitians from assisting the Sambians.

As the chronicles attest, the "founding" was accomplished by burning an existing native city to the ground and exterminating the entire population that seems to have lived there, according to contiguous archeological finds, for several millennia.

The 60,000-strong crusading army which gathered for the campaign included Bohemians and Austrians under the command of King Ottokar II of Bohemia, Moravians under Bishop Bruno of Olmütz, Saxons under Margrave Otto III of Brandenburg, and a contingent brought by Rudolph of Habsburg.

The crusaders then advanced against Quedenau, Waldau, Caimen, and Tapiau (Gvardeysk); the Sambians who accepted baptism were left alive, but those who resisted were exterminated en masse.

The Knights built the castle Wehlau (Znamensk) at the junction of the Alle and Pregel Rivers to guard against and be able to continue the colonization of the native Sudovian, Nadrovian, and Scalovian.

[49] Despite their territorial gains in Prussia, the primary emphasis of the Teutonic Knights was still the Holy Land, and few reinforcements could be spared to complete the Christianization of what was then known as Sarmatia Europea.

The German princes of the Holy Roman Empire were distracted by the imperial succession, and few seasonal (summer) crusaders came to the assistance of the Prussian Brothers; the first reinforcements were defeated at Pokarwis in 1261.

[50] The crusaders gradually killed or forced the surrender of each Prussian tribes' war leader while exterminating the native population en masse if it refused to convert to Christianity.

The tribal chiefs who remained in Prussia became vassals of the Teutonic Knights, who began rebuilding their castles in stone or brick to provide greater protection against the restive colonized population.

The Bartians, Natangians, and Warmians had converted to Christianity, but the Sudovians and Lithuanians to their east remained pagan and continued their border warfare with the Teutonic Knights.

The Christian Natangians clans gathered in 1274 and killed 2,000 of the Sudovian raiders; Grand Master Anno von Sangershausen recruited Thuringians and Meisseners to complete the Teutonic recovery of Natangia.

In summer 1283, Conrad von Thierberg the Younger was named Provincial Master of Prussia and led a large army into Sudovia, finding little resistance.