Brothers of Dobrin
The Brothers of Dobrin ( Dobrzyń nad Wisłą ) ( lat.fratres militiae Christi in Prussia ) was a religious knightly order following the Augustinian rule , which went back to an initiative of the Polish Duke Conrad of Mazovia in 1213 and the protection of the Mazovian heartland from raids should still serve pagan Prussians . Duke Konrad gave German knights an estate district where they should build a border fortress. Their number soon rose from 14 to 30.
After the Prussians in 1224, despite brave resistance from the Pomeranian Prince Suantipolk III. († 1266), had devastated Pomerania and in 1225 undertook a renewed incursion into the Kulmerland , the knights of Dobrin and Konrad's army marched against them unitedly, but suffered a complete defeat on the Drewenz near Strasburg in a two-day battle, after which only five Drobinic Knights were alive. In this emergency, Duke Konrad asked the Teutonic Order for help. Bishop Christian von Oliva , a Pomeranian, founded the special order of the Brothers of Dobrin in 1225 . In 1228, Duke Konrad left Dobrin Castle with all the lands belonging to it to the Teutonic Order.
In literature, the brothers von Dobrin are also knightly association of the order of the knights of Christ and its members, also knights of Christ, or brothers of the knight service of Christ in Prussia, or just knights of Prussia and often also brothers knights of Dobrin, but more complete orders of the Knight brothers of Dobrin called.
The knights, who mostly came from Germany, were able to secure Mazovia, but not gain power over Prussia. In 1234 the remaining knights of the Crusader Order , which comprised no more than 35 brothers, were incorporated into the Teutonic Order , which in 1237 also accepted the Order of the Brothers of the Sword . In 1237, Duke Conrad I assigned the former Dobrin brothers to the border castle located on the eastern side of the Bug , southeast of Pułtusk in Drohiczyn . Dobrin Castle was probably destroyed or changed hands before 1237.
Order robe
On their white cloaks, the brothers wore a vertical red sword and a six-pointed red star on the left side of their chest as a sign of their order. The star was intended to distinguish them from the knights of the spiritual order of the Brothers of the Sword in Livonia, who wore similar emblems.
literature
in order of appearance
- Johannes Voigt : History of Prussia. From the oldest times to the fall of the rule of the German order. Gebr. Bornträger, Königsberg 1827, pp. 187–190.
- Dobrin (lexicon entry). In: Pierer's Universal Lexicon . Volume 5, Altenburg 1858, p. 206.
- Prussia (encyclopedia entry). In: Pierer's Universal Lexicon . Volume 13, Altenburg 1861, pp. 519-563.
- Prussia, history (encyclopedia entry). In: Conversations Lexicon . 11th edition, Volume 12, Brockhaus, Leipzig 1867, p. 53 ff.
- Prussia ( encyclopedia entry): In: Meyers Großes Universal-Lexikon . Volume 16, Leipzig and Vienna 1908, pp. 292–294.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Friedrich August Voßberg : History of the Prussian coins and seals from the earliest times to the end of the rule of the Teutonic Order . Berlin 1843, p. 5.
- ^ Gustav Adolf Harald Stenzel : History of the Prussian State . Volume 1: From the years 1191 to 1640 , Hamburg 1830, p. 41 .
- ↑ Conradus Dux Masoviae gives the German Order the Dobrin Castle with the land belonging to it between the Camniz and Colmeniz as far as Prussia (1228). In: Friedrich von Dreger : Codex Pomeraniae diplomaticus. I. Volume up to the year 1269 including Haude and Spener, Berlin 1768, p. 129130, no. LXXII.
- ↑ See Johannes Voigt: History of Prussia. From the oldest times to the fall of the rule of the German order. Gebr. Bornträger, Königsberg 1827.
- ^ Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Hasselbach , Johann Gottfried Ludwig Kosegarten : and Friedrich Ludwig von Medem : Codex Pomeraniae Diplomaticus . Volume 1, Greifswald 1843, pp. 556-558.