"Barta" redirects here. For the Romanian-French Trotskyist activist, see David Korner

David Korner

David Korner was a Romanian and French communist militant, trade unionist, and journalist...

. For other uses of "Bartians", see Bartians (disambiguation)

Bartians (disambiguation)

Bartians may refer to one of the following.*Bartians, an extinct Prussian tribe.*Inhabitants of St. Barts .*Inhbitants of Bartlesville, Oklahoma....

.

The Bartians (also Barthi, Barthoni, Bartens, or Barti) were an Old Prussian

Old Prussians

The Old Prussians or Baltic Prussians were an ethnic group, autochthonous Baltic tribes that inhabited Prussia, the lands of the southeastern Baltic Sea in the area around the Vistula and Curonian Lagoons...

 tribe who were among the last pagans of Europe before the Northern Crusades forced their conversion to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

. They lived in Bartia (also Bartenland or Barthonia), a territory that stretched from the middle and lower flow of Łyna river, by the Świna

Swina

The Świna is a river in Poland flowing from the Oder Lagoon to the Baltic Sea, between the islands of Usedom and Wolin. It is a part of the Oder River estuary, and carries about 75% of that river's waterflow . It has a length of about 16 km...

 river, and Lake Mamry

Lake Mamry

Mamry is a lake in the Masurian Lake District of Poland's Warmia-Mazury Province. It is the second largest lake in Poland, with an area of 104 km.² Maximum depth is 44 m, average is 11 m....

, up to the Galindian woods. The territory is quite precisely known from description in Chronicon terrae Prussiae

Chronicon terrae Prussiae

Chronicon terrae Prussiae is a chronicle of the Teutonic Knights, by Peter of Dusburg, finished in 1326. The manuscript is the first major chronicle of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, completed some 100 years after the conquest of the crusaders into the Baltic region...

, dated 1326.

The same description mentions two provinces, the Major Barta and the Minor Barta. The territory was quite densely populated, as confirmed by abundant archeological findings. Before the wars with the Teutonic Knights

Teutonic Knights

The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...

, the population was estimated to be at 17,000.

The Bartians, along with the other Prussians, were conquered by the Teutonic Knights, who Christianized them, brought in newcomers, and built many towns and cities. The Prussians assimilated

Cultural assimilation

Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...

 with the newcomers and the Old Prussian language

Old Prussian language

Prussian is an extinct Baltic language, once spoken by the inhabitants of the original territory of Prussia in an area of what later became East Prussia and eastern parts of...

 became extinct by the end of the 17th century.

History

Several years of conquest attempts by Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, aided by a number of crusades by the popes and by Konrad of Masovia, had been fairly successfully repelled by the Prussians. Then Konrad of Masovia called for further crusades and invited the Teutonic Knights, an Order of the Catholic Church, to settled in Kulmerland

Chełmno Land

Chełmno land or Chełmno region is a historical region of Poland, located in central Poland, bounded by the Vistula and Drwęca rivers....

 in 1226. Receiving support from the rest of Christian Europe, the military order

Military order

A military order is a Christian society of knights that was founded for crusading, i.e. propagating or defending the faith , either in the Holy Land or against Islam or pagans in Europe...

 was able to expand their territory northwest. Their strategy was to conquer a territory and built a castle — a stronghold that would serve as the basis for further expansion. Castles at that time in Europe were built around towns to give their residents protection.

The Bartians, together with the Warmians

Warmians

Warmians were one of the Prussian clans. They lived in Warmia , a territory since 1945 largely in Poland. It was situated between the Vistula Lagoon, Łyna and Pasłęka Rivers....

 and the Natangians, were conquered by the Teutonic Knights 1238-1240. In Barta the Knights built major castles in Bartenstein

Bartoszyce

Bartoszyce is a town on the Łyna River in northeastern Poland with 25,621 inhabitants . It is the capital of Bartoszyce County within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.-History:...

 and Rößel

Reszel

Reszel is a town in Poland in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. The population is about 5,700.Reszel was originally a settlement built by the Bartian tribe of Old Prussians and conquered by the Teutonic Knights in 1241. The native Prussians later recaptured the settlement and held it for five...

. In 1242, just two years after their conquest, Bartians rebelled and managed to resist until 1252. During the Great Prussian Uprising (1260-1274), that started after the Knights suffered a major loss in the Battle of Durbe

Battle of Durbe

-External links:**...

, Bartians chose Diwane

Diwanus

Diwanus was the leader of Bartians, one of the Prussian clans, during the Great Prussian Uprising against the Teutonic Knights. He was son of Kleckis and therefore is sometimes referred to by a nickname derived from the word bear...

 as their leader. The rebels managed to capture a few castles, including Bartenstein in 1264. With help from other Prussian tribes, Diwane attacked Kulm, Marienburg

Malbork

Malbork is a town in northern Poland in the Żuławy region , with 38,478 inhabitants . Situated in the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, it was previously assigned to Elbląg Voivodeship...

, and Christburg. However, the Prussians could not win a war of attrition

Attrition warfare

Attrition warfare is a military strategy in which a belligerent side attempts to win a war by wearing down its enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and matériel....

 against the Knights, who could draw resources from the western Europe. In 1273 Diwane sieged another castle but was fatally wounded. Within a year, the uprising was over. Some of the rebels escaped to Hrodna

Hrodna

Grodno or Hrodna , is a city in Belarus. It is located on the Neman River , close to the borders of Poland and Lithuania . It has 327,540 inhabitants...

 and other Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

n territories,.

Despite heavy losses during the uprising, Barta did not become an uninhabited land and the Bartians continued to resist. Two more attempts were made, in 1286 and 1293, to fight against the Teutonic Knights. In 1286 Bartians asked help from Duke of Rügen

Rügen

Rügen is Germany's largest island. Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of the Vorpommern-Rügen district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.- Geography :Rügen is located off the north-eastern coast of Germany in the Baltic Sea...

, and in 1293 from Vytenis

Vytenis

Vytenis was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from c. 1295 to c. 1316. He became the first of the Gediminid dynasty to rule for a considerable amount of time. In the early 14th century his reputation outshone that of Gediminas, who is regarded by modern historians as one of the greatest Lithuanian rulers...

, Grand Duke of Lithuania

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...

. The Bartians were assimilated by the Germans in the 16th or 17th century.

They are most likely the Bartove mentioned in the Hypatian Codex

Hypatian Codex

The Hypatian Codex is a compendium of three chronicles: the Primary Chronicle, Kiev Chronicle, and Galician-Volhynian Chronicle. It is the most important source of historical data for southern Rus'...

 (together with the Prussians

Old Prussians

The Old Prussians or Baltic Prussians were an ethnic group, autochthonous Baltic tribes that inhabited Prussia, the lands of the southeastern Baltic Sea in the area around the Vistula and Curonian Lagoons...

: "Prousi i Bartove").