Just read Amazons summary of that book. Seems to be written from a very polish perspective. The knights built some quite impressive buildings over the clay huts they found there - hope that’s mentioned in the book.
True. It's fiction, not history.
I realize that my upbringing makes me biased against them. Poles have romanticized their victory over the knights in 1410. In addition, the knights' evil has also been exaggerated in the Polish mind, though I don't think there is any denying that they were evil.
Instances of conversion by the sword are a major blot on Christendom, and there were few religious orders that were more notorious in this regard than the knights. Some of the Polish dukes in the North were complicit in it, too, I realize, but the knights were the main culprits in the extermination of the Old Prussians.
I am actually surprised to see someone defending the knights. Are they romanticized in German culture?
reading summaries will get you far...
duh!
Building stone mansions over clay huts is fine unless you don’t kill villagers first. (!!!) At the beginning Teutonic Knights seemed like a fine priory of God, I agree, But when Lithuania got baptised, TK. influence over that part of Europe decreased. (They have been raiding Lithuania, as it wasa pagan land.) They couldn’t bear it... And they have started a war against Polish (yes, capital here) and Lithuanian forces... Now tell me, If they were really Christians, why would they start a war with other Christian country? What was a case here? Religion? Faith? Believes?... Not really. Justmoney... Finally they got their asses whooped on 15.VII.1410 and never regained strenght... Thank You God!