Natangians

Natangians

Natangians and other Prussian clans during the 13th century
Total population
Extinct in 17th-18th century
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Old Prussian, later also German
Religion
Prussian mythology (Paganism)
Related ethnic groups
Other Prussians and Balts

Natangians or Notangians (Prussian: Notangi; Lithuanian: Notangai; German: Natanger) was one of the eleven clans of Prussian people, who lived in Natangia, an area that is now mostly in the Russian exclave Kaliningrad Oblast (East Prussia before 1945).

In the 13th century when the Teutonic Knights began their crusade against the Prussians, some 15,000 people might have lived in the area between the rivers identified by the Knights as Pregel (now Pregolya) and Alle (now Łyna). The Natangian lands bordered with Sambia in the north and with Warmia in the south. They likely spoke a West Baltic language, now extinct, similar to Old Prussian language.

Natangians are first mentioned in a 1238 treaty between the Knights and Zwantepolc De Danceke (Świętopełk II of Pomerania). The Treaty of Christburg of early 1249, which assured personal freedom to newly converted Christians, included Natangians. However, the treaty failed to address the underlying causes of the conflict, and Natangians massacred 54 knights in the Battle of Krücken in November 1249. But the victory was short-lived, the Knights regained their strength in just two years and continued their crusade. In 1255 they built Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) at the mouth of Pregel river, right on the border between Natangia and Sambia.