Rating: 5 out of 5
I have long been enchanted by organizations and states of which we know little. The short-lived order of the Knights of Christ of Prussia is one such element, commonly known in historiography as the Order of Dobrin or the Order of Dobrzyń. It was therefore a pleasure to be able to focus on this military religious order, for whom nearly all of what is generally written, as passing mentions in histories of the Teutonic Order, is wrong or misleading. The truth, as much as can be uncovered by academic research, is more interesting than those biased mentions.
Credit goes to Prof. Dorna, who rigorously avoided stepping into too much speculation. In my view, let’s say that two steps removed from sources is probably okay: i.e., if we know that orders A, B, and C were military orders, and military orders B and C both had an official in their ranks, it makes it probable—though not by any means certain—that the same office also existed in order A. The author of this title however chose to remain steadfast in only keeping to what is known about the subject of this title: the Knights of Christ of Prussia. In truth, this rigorous standard has heretofore been missing in this historiography of this order, which makes this a pleasant and very welcome addition.
It was also a joy to be able to focus on maps that try to highlight the areas in which the Knights of Christ were active. It was possible to update Benninghoven’s work of 1960’s regarding the origin of the knights of the order, and it was also possible to update the work done by Polish historians of the early 20th century, including Wanda Polkowska-Markowska, regarding the boundaries of the order’s territory in Dobrzyń Land. This means that the reader has an overview of the Grant of Dobrzyń by Duke Konrad as well as all the information that we can give on the region of Drohiczyn, as it was granted to the order.
Overall, I am very happy with how this turned out, and I think this title takes an important step forward on accessible research regarding this military religious order.