Several years of conquest attempts by
Poland, 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 settle in
Chełmno Land in 1226. Receiving support from the rest of Christian Europe, the
military order was able to expand their territory northeast. 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 to serve as bases for colonial expansion. The Bartians, together with the
Warmians and the
Natangians, were conquered by the Teutonic Knights 1238–1240. In Bartia the Knights built major castles in
Bartoszyce and
Reszel. In 1242, just two years after their conquest, Bartians rebelled and managed to resist until 1252. However, the Prussians could not win a
war of attrition 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
Grodno and other
Lithuanian territories. After the subsequent
Thirteen Years' War, the longest of all Polish–Teutonic wars, since 1466, it formed part of Poland as a
fief held by the Teutonic Order, and after 1525 held by secular
Ducal Prussia. The Bartians were forcibly assimilated by the Germans in the 16th or 17th century. They are most likely the
Bartove mentioned in the
Hypatian Codex (together with the
Prussians: "
Prousi i Bartove"). ==References==