Poles hope deadly knights will now bring some good

[July 31, 2010]  KWIDZYN, Poland (AP) -- They were bloody medieval warriors who spread Catholicism by the sword and seized Polish lands with great cruelty. But that's not stopping the Polish city of Kwidzyn from capitalizing on the aura surrounding the Teutonic Knights.

The city, where the knights once had a fortress, is consecrating a church crypt and displaying the newly discovered skeletons of three of the order's 14th- and 15th-century military leaders. The aim is to promote tourism.

The ceremony began Saturday with a Roman Catholic Mass celebrated by local priests and modern-day representatives of the Teutonic order. Today it is a religious order based in Austria devoted to charity.

The remains were discovered in Kwidzyn (pronounced KVID-zin) in 2008.

[Associated Press]

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