The Battle of Krücken was a medieval battle fought in 1249 during the Prussian Crusades between the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

and Prussians, one of the

Baltic tribes The Balts or Baltic peoples ( lt, baltai, lv, balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. One of the features of Baltic languages is the number ...

. In terms of knights killed, it was the fourth largest defeat of the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century. Marshal Heinrich Botel gathered men from Kulm, Elbing, and

Balga Balga (russian: замок Бальга; german: Burg Balga; lt, Balga; pl, Balga) was a medieval castle of the Teutonic Knights in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. The castle ruins are located on the shore of the Vistula Lagoon, north of Mamonovo ...

for an expeditionary attack deeper into Prussia. They traveled into the lands of the

Natangians Natangians or Notangians (Prussian: ''Notangi''; pl, Natangowie; lt, Notangai; german: Natanger) was a Prussian clan, which lived in the region of Natangia, an area that is now mostly part of the Russian exclave Kaliningrad Oblast, whereas the ...

and pillaged the region. On their way back, they were in turn attacked by an army of Natangians. The knights retreated to the nearby village of Krücken south of Kreuzburg (now south of Slavskoye), where Prussians hesitated to attack. The Prussian army was growing as fresh troops arrived from more distant territories, and the Order did not have enough supplies to withstand a siege. Therefore, the Teutonic Order bargained for surrender: the marshal and three other knights were to remain as

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or refr ...

s while the others were to lay down their weapons. The Natangians broke the agreement and massacred 54 knights and a number of their followers. Some knights were executed in religious ceremonies or tortured to death. The severed head of Johann, vice-

komtur Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mili ...

of Balga, was mockingly displayed on a spear. Others were ransomed or exchanged, including Marshal Botel. Such barbarity gave the Teutonic Order an excuse not to treat the Prussians as civilized and honorable people. Never again did the knights surrender to pagans. The Natangians did not exploit their victory and did not make offensive moves into the lands of the Teutonic Order. It took two years for the crusading military order to recover and avenge the massacre.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Krucken 1249 in Europe Krucken Conflicts in 1249 Prussian Crusade