CHAPTER II.
Prince and Princess Janusz had left with part of the court for the springfishing at Czerska, of which sport he was extremely fond, and loved itabove all others. The Bohemian got much important information fromMikolaj of Dlugolas, treating of private affairs as well as of the war.First he learned that Macko had apparently given up his intended route toZmudz, the "Prussian enclosure," that a few days ago he had left forWarsaw where he found the princely pair. As to the war, old Mikolajinformed him all that he had already heard in Szczytno. All Zmudz, as oneman, had risen in arms against the Germans, and Prince Witold not onlyhad refused to help the Order against the unhappy Zmudzians, but had notyet declared war against them, and was negotiating with them; butmeanwhile he supplied the Zmudzians with money, men, horses and corn.Meanwhile, he, as well as the Knights of the Cross, sent ambassadors tothe pope, to the emperor, and to other Christian lords, accusing eachother of breach of faith, and treachery. The ambassador carrying theletters of the prince was the clever Mikolaj of Rzeniewa, a man of greatability who could unravel the thread which was woven by the artifice ofthe Knights of the Cross, convincingly demonstrating the great wrongsdone to the lands of Lithuania and Zmudz.
Meantime when at the diet in Wilno the ties between the Poles andLithuanians were strengthened, it acted like poison in the hearts of theKnights of the Cross. It was easy to foresee that Jagiello as the supremelord of all the lands under the command of Prince Witold, would stand athis side in time of war. Count Jan Sayn, the _comthur_ of Grudzia, andCount Schwartzburg of Danzig, went, at the request of the grand master,to see the king and asked him what might be expected from him. Althoughthey brought him falcons and costly presents, he told them nothing. Thenthey threatened him with war, without really intending it, because theywell knew that the grand master and the chapter were terribly afraid ofJagiello's forces, and were anxious to avert the day of wrath andcalamity.
All their schemes were broken like cobwebs, especially with PrinceWitold. The evening after Hlawa's arrival, fresh news reached Warsaw.Bronisz of Ciasnoc, courtier of Prince Janusz, whom the prince hadpreviously sent for information from Lithuania, arrived, and with himwere two important Lithuanian princes. They brought letters from Witoldand the Zmudzians. It was terrible news. The Order was preparing for war.The fortresses were being strengthened, ammunition manufactured,soldiers, (knechts) and knights were gathering at the frontier, and thelighter bodies of cavalry and infantry had already crossed the frontiernear Ragnety, Gotteswerder and other border strongholds. The din of warwas already heard in the forests, fields and villages, and during thenight the woods were seen on fire along the dark sea. Witold finallyreceived Zmudz under his overt protection. He sent his governors, andwagons with armed people he placed under the most famous warriorSkirwoillo. He broke into Prussia, burned, destroyed and devastated. Theprince himself approached with his army toward Zmudz. Some fortresses heprovisioned; others, Kowno, for instance, he destroyed, so that theKnights of the Cross might find no support. It was no more a secret, thatat the advent of winter, when the swamps should be frozen, or evenearlier than that, if the season was dry, a great war would break out,which would embrace all the lands of Lithuania, Zmudz, and Prussia. Butshould the king rush to the assistance of Witold then a day must followin which the flood would inundate the German or the other half of theworld, or would be forced back for long ages into its original river-bed.
But that was not to happen yet. Meanwhile, the sighs of the Zmudzians,their despairing complaints of the wrongs done to them, and their appealsfor justice were heard everywhere. They also read letters concerning theunfortunate people in Krakow, Prague, in the pope's court and in otherwestern countries. The nobleman brought an open letter to Prince Janusz,from Bronisz of Ciasnoc. Many a Mazovian involuntarily laid his hand onhis sword at his side and considered seriously whether voluntarily toenroll under the standard of Witold. It was known that the great princewould be glad to have with him the valiant Polish nobles, who were asvalorous in battle as the Lithuanian and Zmudzian nobility, and betterdisciplined and equipped than they. Others were also impelled by theirhatred toward the old enemies of the Polish race, whilst others wanted togo out of compassion.
"Listen! Oh listen!" They appealed to the kings, princes and to the wholeZmudzian nation. "We are people of noble blood and free, but the Orderwants to enslave us! They do not care for our souls, but they covet ourlands and wealth. Our need is already such that nothing remains for usbut to gather together, or kill ourselves! How can they wash us withChristian water when they themselves have unclean hands. We wish to bebaptized, but not with blood and the sword. We want religion, but onlysuch as upright monarchs shall teach,--Jagiello and Witold.
"Listen to us and help us, for we perish! The Order does not wish tochristen us for our enlightenment. They do not send us priests, butexecutioners. Our beehives, our flocks, and all the products of our landthey have already carried away. We are not even allowed to fish or huntin the wilds.
"We pray you: Listen to us! They are just bending our necks under theyoke and force us to work during the night in the castles. They havecarried off our children as hostages; our wives and daughters they ravishin our presence. It behooves us to groan, but not to speak. Our fathersthey have burned at the stake; our lords have been carried off toPrussia. Our great men, Korkucia, Wasigina, Swolka and Songajle, theyhave destroyed."
"Oh listen! for we are not wild beasts but human beings. We earnestlycall upon the Holy Father to send us Polish bishops to baptize us, for wethirst for baptism from the very depth of our heart. But baptism isperformed with water and not with shedding of human living blood."
This was the kind of complaint the Zmudzians made against the Knights ofthe Cross, so that when they were heard by the Mazovian court, severalknights and courtiers immediately presented themselves ready to go andhelp them; they understood that it was not even necessary to ask forpermission from Prince Janusz, even if only for the reason that theprincess was the sister of Prince Witold. They were specially enragedwhen they learned from Bronisz and the noblemen, that many noble Zmudzianyoung ladies, who were hostages in Prussia, but could not endure dishonorand cruelty, had taken their own lives when the Knights of the Cross wereabout to attack their honor.
Hlawa was very glad to learn of the desire of the Mazovian knights,because he thought that the more men from Poland that joined PrinceWitold, the more intense would be the war, and the affair against theKnights of the Cross would be more potent. He was also glad of hischances of meeting Zbyszko, and the old knight Macko, to whom he was muchattached and whom, he believed, he was worthy to meet, and together seenew wild countries, hitherto unknown cities, and see knights and soldiersnever seen before, and, finally, that Prince Witold whose great fameresounded then throughout the world.
Those thoughts decided him to undertake the long and hurried journey--notstopping upon the road more than was necessary for the horses to rest.
The noblemen who arrived with Bronisz of Ciasnoc and other Lithuanianswho were present at the prince's court, and who were acquainted with theroads and all passes, were to guide him and the Mazovian knights, fromhamlet to hamlet, from city to city and through the silent, immense, deepwilderness which covered the greater part of Mazovia, Lithuania andZmudz.
The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical Romance Page 48
