Pogesanians were a Prussian tribe, which lived in the region of Pogesania (; ; ; ), a small territory stretched between the

Elbląg Elbląg (; ; ) is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 127,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. Elbląg is one of the ol ...

and Pasłęka rivers, now located in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, northern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Pogesanians, as the rest of the Prussians, were conquered by the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

and became Germanized or Polonized. The

old Prussian Old Prussian is an extinct West Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to av ...

language became extinct sometime in the 17th century.

History

In 1237, the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

, who had received papal and imperial orders to conquer, Christianize the 'still heathen' Prussians, invaded the region by sea. Elbing (now

) at the (Ilfing) Elbing River (now Elbląg River) had already been founded by

Hanseatic The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

tradesmen from Lübeck. The arrival of the Teutonic Order marked the beginning of the

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

for Pogesanians, as the Knights sought to fulfill the contracts to convert the Prussians to Christianity and to govern the region of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, which was given to them as their property. Pogesanians soon destroyed the city, but the Knights rebuilt it. Elbing remained as one of the Teutonic strongholds and grew to become a port and center of commerce. The city served as the base for further incursions into the Prussian territory. Pogesanians joined other Prussian clans in the First Prussian Uprising (1242–1249). However, they did not sign the

Treaty of Christburg The Treaty of Christburg (modern Dzierzgoń in Poland) was a peace treaty signed on 2 February 1249 between the pagan Prussian clans, represented by a papal legate, and the Teutonic Knights. It is often cited as the end of the First Prussian Up ...

and the fighting continued until 1251 or 1252. The Pogesanians were forced to surrender to strong Teutonic reinforcements from German states. During the Great Prussian Uprising (1260–1274), the Pogesanians elected Auktume as their leader and joined the fights. They were able to capture some smaller Teutonic castles, but the stronghold at Elbing remained a serious threat. A major battle occurred in 1271, when joint forces of Bartians led by Diwanus and Pogesanians led by Linka organized a raid into the

Chełmno Land Chełmno land (, or Kulmerland) is a part of the historical region of Pomerelia, located in central-northern Poland. Chełmno land is named after the city of Chełmno. The largest city in the region is Toruń; another bigger city is Grudziąd ...

. The Battle of Pagastin saw twelve knights and 500 other Teutonic soldiers killed. The Prussians immediately assaulted Christburg (now Dzierzgoń) and almost captured it. However, soon cavalry from Elbing arrived and the Prussians were forced to escape. Pogesanians were the last clan standing in the uprising. They made a surprise raid into Elbing and ambushed its garrison. In 1274 the Knights made a great expedition to revenge this raid. They captured a stronghold at Heilsberg (

Lidzbark Warmiński Lidzbark Warmiński (; , ), often shortened to Lidzbark, is a historical town located within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It is the capital of Lidzbark County. Lidzbark Warmiński was once the capital of Warmia and fo ...

), the rebel headquarters, and the uprising ended. Pogesanians soon rose again. In 1276 news spread that Skomantas, leader of Sudovians, successfully raided Teutonic lands and, with help from

Lithuanians Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

, collected 4,000 for a raid into the Chełmno Land. However, other Prussian clans did not join the Third Uprising. Pogesanians were soon suppressed, and some of their survivors relocated to the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

. The last attempt at freedom was made in 1286, when Pogesanians and Bartians conspired to invite Duke of

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic ci ...

, grandson of Świętopełk II of Pomerania, to free them from the Knights. Many of the natives were turned into

serfs Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed dur ...

and the Knights invited German colonists to repopulate the land. As time passed Germans and

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

outnumbered the Prussians, and after centuries of assimilation Prussian identity ceased to exist. In 1454, the region along with the city of

was incorporated by King

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...

to the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

, which was confirmed after the subsequent Thirteen Years' War, the longest of all Polish–Teutonic wars, in 1466.

Etymology

According to Georg Gerullis, the name of the clan is derive from the Prussian word ''Pagudian'': ''pa'', meaning ''near'', and ''gudde'', meaning ''bush''. The Latin name, also widely used today in English, is derived from Polish name ''pogedzańe''. In

Prussian mythology The Prussian mythology was a polytheistic religion of the Old Prussians, indigenous peoples of Prussia before the Prussian Crusade waged by the Teutonic Knights. It was closely related to other Baltic faiths, the Lithuanian and Latvian mytho ...

, each of the ten original lands of Prussia is named after one of the sons of King

Widewuto Widewuto or Videvutis (also ''Viduutus'', ''Vidvutus'', ''Witowudi'', ''Waidewut'', ''Vaidevutis'') was a legendary king of the Prussian mythology, pagan Baltic Prussians who ruled along with his elder brother, the high priest (''Kriwe-Kriwajto'') ...

; but only a few of the sons' names are actually given. Thus, the Germans created

folk etymology Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a mo ...

for the land (in German commonly called ''Hockerland'' or ''Hoggerland'') traced to a King Hoggo. Pogesania was said to trace to his daughter, Pogesana. His other daughter, Cadina, lent her name to the town of Cadinen (now Kadyny).

References

{{prussian clans Historical Baltic peoples Old Prussians People from Prussia proper History of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship