Claim: Bartians, together with the Warmians only, were conquered by the Teutonic nights from 1238 to 1240 and the knights in Barta built major castles inBartenstein and Rößel.
Evidence: The Bartians (also Barthi, Barthoni, Bartens, or Barti) were an Old Prussian tribe who were among the last natives following a pre-Christian religion before the Northern Crusades forced their conversion to Christianity at the cost of a high percentage of the native population. Before the wars with the Teutonic Knights, the population was estimated to be at 17,000. The Bartians, together with the Warmians and the Natangians, were conquered by the Teutonic Knights 1238-1240. In Barta the Knights built major castles in Bartenstein and Rößel.