The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical RomanceSienkiewicz, Henryk
History
The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical Romance
Sienkiewicz, Henryk
Poland -- History -- Jagellons, 1386-1572 -- Fiction; Teutonic Knights -- History -- Fiction
The rumor of the occurrence in Szczytno arrived in Warsaw however before
Brother Rotgier, and there excited amazement and concern. Neither the
king himself, nor anybody else at the court, could understand what had
happened. Shortly before, just when Mikolaj of Dlugolas was starting for
Malborg with the prince's letter, in which he bitterly complained of the
capture of Danusia by turbulent border counts and almost threateningly
demanded her instant restoration, a letter had arrived from the owner of
Spychow stating that his daughter was not captured by the Teutons, but by
ordinary border bandits, and that she would be soon released for a
ransom. On that account the messenger did not leave; nobody ever dreamed
of the Teutons extorting such a letter from Jurand by the threat of his
daughter's death. It was difficult to understand what had happened,
because the border chiefs, who were subjects of the prince as well as of
the Order, attacked one another in the summer, but not in the winter when
the snows betrayed their trail. They also usually attacked merchants, or
perpetrated robberies in the villages, capturing people and seizing their
herds, but to dare to attack the prince himself and to capture his
protégée, who was at the same time the daughter of a powerful and
universally feared knight, this seemed entirely to exceed human belief.
This, as well as other doubts, was answered by Jurand's letter under his
own seal, brought this time by a man who was known to come from Spychow;
under such circumstances all suspicions became impossible; the prince
only became more enraged than he had ever been seen before, and he
ordered a pursuit of the ravishers throughout the border of his
principality, at the same time ordering the prince of Plock to do the
same and not fail to punish the insolent fellows.
Just then arrived the news of what had happened at Szczytno.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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