The Knights of the Cross, Volume I

At the end of the fourteenth century, the young Polish knight Zbyszko of Bogdaniec returns from war in Lithuania with his uncle Maćko. He meets Danusia, a courtier in the household of Duchess Anna Danuta, and rashly vows to avenge the death of her mother by taking the crests of Teutonic knights. When he attacks the envoy Kuno von Lichtenstein, Zbyszko is condemned for violating diplomatic protection and can be saved only through Danusia’s public intervention.

The opening volume establishes a frontier society in which private vows, courtly ritual and armed conflict overlap. The Teutonic Order presents itself as a Christian military power while Polish and Lithuanian characters describe coercion, raiding and disputed jurisdiction beneath that claim. Zbyszko’s growing devotion to Danusia is therefore tied from the beginning to the political struggle that will eventually bring Poland and Lithuania into open war with the Order.