Herkus Monte
Herkus Monte (also Hercus;
History
The
As a young boy, Herkus was
Partially because of his victories, the Prussians were able to retake control over some of their lands. After 1263, the chronicles do not mention Herkus again until 1272. In the 1260s, the Knights, receiving support from the Pope and Western Europe, were more successful in their fight against the Prussians. The Prussian rebels, unable to capture cities and lay sieges to their enemy's castles, started losing the fight. By 1272, Herkus, with a small group of his followers, was forced to withdraw to the forests of southern Prussia. Within a year, he was captured and hanged. In 1274, the rebellion ended and the Knights proceeded to attempt to conquer the rest of the Baltic tribes.
Legacy
The Prussian hero Herkus Monte was taken by Lithuanians under the Communist Soviet regime as their symbol to regain freedom as well. The northern Prussian region, which was severed from Germany as
His life and dramatic resistance to the more powerful enemy became the basis for several artistic works.
Monte has also been honoured in Poland, where a primary school in Kamińsk bears his name as a patron.[2] There's a song titled "Herkus Monte" in the 2015 album Senprūsija (Old Prussia) by the Latvian folk metal band Skyforger. He is also mentioned in the song Tagad vai nekad (Now or Never) of the same album as one of the leaders who fought the Teutonic Order during the Great Prussian Uprising.[3] Furthermore, Herkus Monte has been featured in the videogame Ancestors Legacy as the protagonist of one of the game's campaigns, History of the Teutonic Order.[4]
References
- General
- Simas Sužiedėlis, ed. (1970–1978). "Mantas, Herkus". LCCN 74-114275.
- Jasas, Rimantas (1986). "Herkus Mantas". In Jonas Zinkus; et al. (eds.). Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Vol. II. Vilnius, Lithuania: Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija. pp. 24–5.
- In-line
External links
- "The Prussians" – an opera by the Klaipėda Music Theatre.
- Henry Monte and the Prussian Rising of 1260