Thirteen Years War (145466)

This article is about the 145466 war. For other conicts Prussian Confederation and Poland and in the Second
termed Thirteen Years War, see Thirteen Years War.
Peace of Thorn (1466). This was soon followed by the
The Thirteen Years War (German: Dreizehnjhriger War of the Priests (146779), a drawn-out dispute with
Poland over the independence of the Prussian PrinceBishopric of Warmia (Ermland).

1 Preliminaries
1.1 Reasons behind the war

Prussian Confederation oered to incorporate Prussia into the

Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, 1454, Central Archives of Historical Records, Warsaw

Teutonic state in 1410

Dispute between Poland and the Teutonic Order over

the control of Gdask Pomerania lasted since the 1308
Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdask) when that territory was taken from Poland and annexed by the Teutonic
Order. This event resulted in a series of PolishTeutonic
Wars throughout 14th and 15th centuries. In the 15th
century, the towns of Prussia rapidly grew economically.
However, this was not followed by an increase in their
political inuence. The rule of the Teutonic Knights was
seen as more and more anachronistic taxes (customs)
and the system of grain licenses (every trader had to pay
large fees for the privilege of trading grain) were hindering economic development in the province. At the same
time the nobility wanted a larger say in the running of
the country, and were looking enviously at neighbouring
Poland, where the Polish nobility enjoyed wider privileges. The Knights were also accused of violating the few
existing privileges of the nobility and the cities. Craftsmen were discontented because of competition from socalled partacze, or artisans settled by the Knights near

Polish infantry, 144792

Krieg; Polish: wojna trzynastoletnia), also called the War

of the Cities, was a conict that was fought in 1454
66 between the Prussian Confederation, allied with the
Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, and the State of the
Teutonic Order.
The war began as an uprising by Prussian cities and local
nobility to win independence from the Teutonic Knights.
The Prussian Confederation asked Polands King Casimir
IV Jagiellon for help and oered to incorporate Prussia
into the Kingdom of Poland. When the King assented,
war broke out between Poland, supporting the Prussian
Confederation, and backers of government by the Teutonic Knights.
The Thirteen Years War ended in the victory of the
1

INTERNATIONAL SITUATION

their castles. Kashubians, Poles, Germans, and Prussians

were slowly melting into one nation, and as national differences disappeared, the common goals of all the ethnic
and social groups of Prussia became more prominent, and
the Prussian estates leaned increasingly towards Poland.

of disobedience to the Grand Master. Two days later the

confederacy started its rebellion and soon almost all Prussia, except for Marienburg, Stuhm (Sztum), and Konitz
(Chojnice), were free from Teutonic rule. Most of the
captured Ordensburg castles were immediately destroyed.

In 1397 Prussian knights had founded a secret organisation called the Eidechsenbund (English translation:
Lizard Union), more or less against the Teutonic Knights,
but that organization had failed as it was not supported
by the urban population. After the victory by the Polish and Lithuanian forces at Grnfelde near Tannenberg
(the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg)) during the Polish
LithuanianTeutonic War (14091411), the Prussian estates eagerly pledged allegiance to King Wadysaw II
Jagieo (Jogaila) of Poland, but they quickly returned
to the orders rule after the Poles were unable to conquer Marienburg (Malbork). A clause in the peace treaty
stated that it was guaranteed by the Prussian states, which
would gain the right to defy the Teutonic Order if it broke
the treaty. In the succeeding wars the Prussian estates opposed any conict, and pushed the Grand Masters of the
Teutonic Knights to make peace.

On 10 February 1454, the confederacy sent an ocial

delegation to Poland, headed by Johannes von Baysen.
By 20 February, the delegates were in Krakw and asked
Casimir to bring Prussia into the Polish kingdom. After negotiating the exact conditions of incorporation, the
king agreed and delegates of the Prussian Confederation
pledged allegiance to Casimir on 6 March 1454.

Faced with that situation the Prussians sent envoys to

Polandalthough the Prussian Confederation, under the
inuence of Thorn and the Pomeranian and Culmerland
nobility, had already sought contact with the Poles. They
received support, especially from Greater Poland and
from the party of Queen Sophia of Halshany, mother
of King Casimir IV Jagiellon of Poland. The Bishop of
Krakw, Zbigniew Olenicki, opposed this support and
tried to prevent war.

problems was not able to directly intervene in the conict.

Although the Hanseatic League sympathized with the
Prussian cities, the league backed the Teutonic Knights
because the order granted them extra privileges. The
Livonian Order had problems with Denmark and was unable to help the Teutonic Knights in Prussia. Because of
conict between Sweden and Denmark both sides stayed
more or less neutral in the upcoming conict.

On the same day, the king agreed to all the conditions of

the Prussian delegates for instance Thorn demanded
the destruction of the Polish city of Nieszawa giving
wide privileges to the Prussian cities and nobility. Three
days later, Johannes von Baysen was named as the rst
governor of Prussia. After 15 April, most of the Prussian estates, with the exception of the Prince-Bishopric
of Warmia, pledged allegiance to their new ruler.

Poland sent the Grand Master a declaration of war, predated to 22 February. Both sides expected the war to end
On February 21, 1440, a group made up of individu- quickly.
als from the Prussian cities, nobility and clergy, formed
the Prussian Confederation. The main contributors were
from the nobility of Culmerland (Chemno Land), Thorn,
Culm (Chemno), and from the Hanseatic cities of Elbing
2 International situation
(Elblg) and Danzig. Grand Master Paul von Rusdorf
was seen to approve the existence of the confederacy, but
his successor, Konrad von Erlichshausen, opposed it. His In 1454 Poland was in conict with the Grand Duchy
non-compromising policy was followed and intensied by of Lithuania, which meant that although Casimir IV was
Ludwig von Erlichshausen who took that oce in 1449 Grand Duke of Lithuania as well as King of Poland,
Lithuania sent no aid during the war to Poland, and aside
or 1450.
from a few ineective raids, did not participate during
the conict. There was also the threat of attack by the
Grand Duchy of Moscow and by the Ottoman Empire,
1.2 1452-1454 negotiations
which sacked Constantinople in 1453.
In 1452, the Prussian Confederation asked Emperor Elsewhere, the international situation was quite good for
Frederick III for mediation in their conict with the TeuPoland, as no outside states were likely to intervene. The
tonic Order. Disagreeing with the confederacy, Frederick southern border of Poland was more or less secure bebanned it and ordered it to obey the Teutonic Order on 5
cause of the weakness of the Bohemian lands, which reDecember 1453.
sulted from the Hussite Wars. Because of its internal

In January 1454, the year, when Casimir IV was married to Elisabeth Habsburg, the Prussian faction asked
Casimir IV to incorporate Prussia into the Kingdom of
Poland. Casimir asked the Prussian Confederation for a
more formal petition. On 4 February 1454, the Secret
Council of the Prussian Confederation sent a formal act

France and England were too weakened after the

Hundred Years War; England was embroiled in civil war,
the Wars of the Roses. The Duke of Burgundy, Flanders,
and the Netherlands, Philip the Good, was more interested in creating an independent Kingdom of Burgundy.
Pope Nicholas V's primary concern was dealing with the
Ottoman Turks.

4.1

First phase

The forces of the belligerents

3
second half of March 1454, from the direction of the
Neumark. It was able to take the highly important strategic city of Konitz, which was situated on the important
route from Poland to the mouth of the Vistula. Johannes
von Baysen moved conscript and mercenary forces there,
and they were soon followed by Mikoaj Szarlejski of the
Clan of Ostoja, who was the representative of the Polish
kingdom and received the title of Supreme Commander
of Forces in Prussia.

The main part of the Polish army of that period was conscripted. All noblemen, when called by the king, had to
appear accompanied by their village-mayors and villageadministrators. Cities gave wagons with horses, food, and
service to them (including escorts). Units were divided
into choragwie (standards) of two kinds: family, which
were made by very large clans, and land which were from
nobles from particular territory. Peasants also partici- In 1454 and 1455, the Teutonic Knights rst pawned,
pated as infantrymen. The highest command belonged to then sold the Neumark back to the Margraviate of Branthe king. The total army could amount to 30,000 cavalry. denburg in the Treaties of Clln and Mewe.
From the beginning of the 15th century, the Polish Crown
started to hire mercenaries, who usually fought under the
ag of St. George (especially Bohemian (Czech) mercenaries). The ag was either a red cross on white, or
a white cross on red; the latter was used only when two
Bohemian units met on opposite sides of a battleeld and
had to be dierentiated. The concept of tabor, learned
from the Bohemians, was an important tactic.
The Poles had artillery, at rst primitive cannons such as
bombards. Pistols, or handguns, were used but were ineective. More important were crossbows, which, when
properly used, could cause large losses.
The army of the Prussian estates consisted of conscripts
and small units provided by cities (around 750 people per
unit). In total they could provide about 16,000 soldiers,
plus a few thousand armed peasant infantry. They also
had more artillery than the Polish army.
The Prussian cities were also able to raise a small navy,
partially from armed trade ships, partially from hired
privateers from other cities.
The Teutonic Order in 1454 lost most of its arsenals, but
later it was able to raise armies from loyal knights (free
Prussians) and peasants. However, most of its forces were
hired mercenaries, mainly from Germany and Bohemia.

4
4.1

Overview
First phase

At the end of April 1454, the Prussian army started the

siege of Konitz; the defence of the city was commanded
by Heinrich Reu von Plauen from Greitz. However,
Szarlejski lacked any signicant commanding skill, his
army had not enough artillery, and the Prussian estates
were unable able to pay their mercenaries, so Konitz was
not seriously endangered.
After the arrival of Casimir IV, when he received the ocial oath of allegiance from his new subjects in Elbing and
Thorn, he directed to Konitz a pospolite ruszenie (leve en
masse) of Polish nobles from Kuyavia which replaced the
unpaid mercenaries. Cavalry forces such as the nobles,
however, were ill-suited to the taking of castles, so the
situation of Konitz did not change. The king also sent his
own units and a leve en masse to lay siege to Marienburg,
but Polish forces were unable to take the castle even with
Prussian reinforcements, which were relocated to Malbork after taking Stuhm on August 8, 1454. The Teutonic
Knights defended themselves skillfully and were able to
defeat forces from Danzig in a sudden attack on September 13.
The degrading situation of the Polish crown worsened
further when in September 1454 a large army of mercenaries under the command of Rudolf, prince of Sagan
(aga), and a Moravian nobleman, the talented soldier
Bernhard von Zinnenberg[1] (Polish: Bernard Szumborski) arrived in Prussia from the Holy Roman Empire. The
army had 9,000 cavalry and 6,000 infantry, plus artillery
and many wagons in tabor formations.
Rudolfs army slowly moved to Konitz to rescue it from
the Polish siege. It forced Casimir to call a leve en masse
of Greater Poland, without the traditional approval of the
provincial sejmik. Noblemen, angered by the disruption
of the harvest and the unconventional form of the call,
massed near the village of Dua Cerkwica (Cerekwica,
Gro Zirkwitz) and demanded from the king several privileges, which were granted in the privilege of Cerekwica
on September 14, 1454.

The rst land operations from February to August 1454

were carried out by Prussian state conscripts, supported
by Czech mercenaries from Moravia and soldiers from
Lesser Poland. This force, commanded by Scibor von
Baysen (Polish: Scibor Bayski), brother of Johannes
von Baysen, tried to besiege the Grand Master Ludwig
von Erlichshausen in the city and castle of Marienburg,
but without much success, due to the professional com- Casimir divided his forces into seven large units and the
mand of Heinrich Reu von Plauen the Elder, Komtur of army marched to Konitz, where it was joined by PrusElbing.
sians. On September 18, 1454 the Teutonic Knights deIn the meantime there was some organised support for the feated the Polish army in the resulting Battle of Konitz.
Teutonic Order from the German principalities, mainly The defeat was a near disaster. The Polish army quickly
in Saxony. The reinforcements entered Prussia in the

4
withdrew from Marienburg, and Stuhm was recovered
by the Teutonic Order. They were also able to take
other large towns, such as Mewe (Gniew) and Dirschau
(Tczew). Impressed by the crusaders victory, some Prussian lands also capitulated. This was a great victory for the
Teutonic Knights, although they lacked enough money to
pay the victorious mercenaries. On October 9, the Grand
Master promised them that if he could not pay them by
February 19, 1455, they would receive all cities, castles
and lands of Prussia, with the rights to sell them.
Mercenaries later captured two other cities,
Marienwerder (Kwidzyn) and Lessen (asin), near
Marienburg. None of the largest and most important
cities of Prussia, such as Knigsberg, surrendered, and
they were determined to continue the war. As a result,
the Teutonic Order was totally dependent on help from
the Holy Roman Empire.

5 1455
the eastern part of Prussia. They were helped by rebellions in a few cities, which were caused by new large war
taxes in the Knigsberg towns of Altstadt and Lbenicht
on April 17, 1455. The last East Prussian town loyal to
the Polish king, Kneiphof, was taken after a long siege
by the Teutonic Knights commanded by Heinrich Reuss
von Plauen the Elder on June 14, 1455. The Poles suffered defeat after defeat, and they later also lost Warmia
(Ermeland).
However, the Grand Master was unable to pay his mercenaries and they took Marienburg, Dirschau, and Eylau
(Iawa) in May 1455. Mercenaries under the Bohemian
Ulrich Czerwonka (or Oldrzych) immediately started negotiations with Poland to discuss selling the castles.
The international situation also became signicantly
worse. On March 25, Emperor Frederick III banned the
Prussian Confederation, which caused that everybody
could claim its property and forbade any trade with its
members. On September 24, 1455, Pope Callixtus III
warned that he would excommunicate the Prussian Confederation and all its allies if it would not settle peace
with the Teutonic Order. In June 1455 the Teutonic
Knights gained a new ally, King Christian I of Denmark,
who declared war against Poland and the Prussian Confederation. This meant nothing more than a disturbance
in trade, however, since Denmark was still busy ghting
with Sweden.

To save the situation for Poland, Casimir started hiring

more Bohemian and Silesian soldiers and sending them
to the cities of Pomerania, Pomesania and Culmerland.
He also decided to call for another leve en masse from
the whole Polish kingdom. The leve en masse in Opoka,
this time dominated by nobility from Lesser Poland, demanded privileges similar to those given in Cerekwica;
the king quickly approved them. Later on from November 11 to November 16, 1454, while under the inuence
of the aristocracy from Lesser Poland, Casimir changed
some of the promises given earlier both in Opoka and
Shocked by the loss of Kneiphof, Casimir, in debt and
Cerekwica through privileges for the whole country given unable to hire new mercenaries, called another leve en
in Nieszawa (the privilege of Nieszawa).
masse. The Polish army moved slowly to Thorn, but
This time the Polish army counted almost 3,0000 cav- military actions were halted briey when the king nally
alry, plus 3,000 mercenaries. The mercenaries had a few agreed to mediation by Frederick II, Margrave of Brancapable commanders, such as Jan Kolda from Zampach denburg; all earlier propositions of mediation from difand Jan Skalski from the northern Bohemian city of Mal ferent sides had been rejected. The elector, however,
Skla (literally, little rock) and a member of the family failed to negotiate a peace, because the Teutonic Knights,
of Valdsztejn, Waldstein or Wallenstein.
after recent successes, were unwilling to compromise.
This time the Grand Master avoided battle as too risky. The Poles suggested that the Teutonic Order should leave
The army started the siege of Lessen, whose defense was Prussia and go elsewhere to ght with pagans; a location
commanded by the Austrian mercenary Fritz Raweneck. suggested earlier by Polish envoys to the Holy Roman
However, the army was unprepared for taking castles, and Empire was Podolia, near the Tatars. Negotiations ended
unsuccessfully on September 26, and the war continued.
the large preparations ended with another asco.
The new Polish army was larger than before, including
soldiers from Red Ruthenia, small auxiliary forces of
Lithuanian Tatars, and a few mercenaries from Silesia.
5 1455
It laid siege to Lessen, but Raweneck was able to defend
the city. Additionally, when Casimir IV ordered a further
The rst negotiations between the two sides, conducted march to Graudenz (Grudzidz), the nobility refused and
from January 9 to January 10, 1455, were unsuccessful. instead decided to pay a new tax, which would allow the
king to hire more mercenaries.
The situation of Casimir became dicult. To pay his
mercenaries he had to borrow from the clergy. He de- After that, the situation did not change much. The Teucided to give two cities as a ef to Eric II of Pomera- tonic Knights were able to recover another city, Memel
nia from Stolp (Supsk) hoping it would secure northern (Klaipda), but their oensives in other directions was
Pomerania. To calm opposition, Casimir later went to stopped by the burghers of Thorn and of Culmerland, and
Lithuania, where he was forced to stay until the summer the leadership of Andrzej Tczynski. In autumn 1455 the
peasants of eastern Masuria, tired of the war, revolted
of 1455.
against the Teutonic Knights, but were defeated at Rhein
In that situation the Teutonic Knights were able to recover

5
(Ryn) on January 1, 1456. Land-based military actions nus as king of Hungary.
were limited to raids and local skirmishes.
In spring 1458 Casimir IV again called for a leve en
In the maritime arena, Casimir urged Danzig to build a masse which included the Masovians. Ignoring the meeet which would be able to break sea connections be- diation of John Giskra (Jan Jiskra), a Czech mercenary
tween the Teutonic Order and its allies. In May 1456 who hoped for an end to war with Prussia and the start
privateers hired by Danzig captured Dutch ships, which of a new conict with Hungary, the Polish army slowly
caused conict with Amsterdam and the Duke of Bur- marched into Prussia, crossing the Vistula via a pontoon
gundy, Philip the Good. In two weeks in August 1457, bridge near Thorn in June. Again the army was supported
three ships from Danzig defeated a combined Danish- by Tatar auxiliary forces from the Lithuania and by the
Livonian eet of 16 ships near Bornholm.
kings own army. The army was commanded by Piotr
After long negotiations, Teutonic mercenaries agreed to of Szamotuly, the castellan of Pozna. The Polish army
sell three castles in Prussia, including Marienburg, to marched directly to Marienburg, reaching the city on AuPoland. Heavy new taxes caused rebellions in Danzig gust 10. This time it was well equipped with artillery sent
and Thorn which were bloodily suppressed by the cities by Danzig and Elbing. The siege, however, was another
with help from the kings army. The Polish and Prus- asco, due partly to lengthy negotiations, and partly to Pisian estates were able to gather 190,000 Hungarian gold otrs lack of aggression on the battleeld. His inept leadpieces, most of which had been borrowed from Danzig. ership allowed Fritz Raweneck to take yet another casOn June 6, 1457, the castles of Marienburg, Dirschau, tle. The nobles demanded the storming of the castle, and
and Eylau were transferred to the Polish army. Two days when this did not happen, they started deserting and relater Casimir entered the castle of Marienburg, and its turning to Poland.
burghers paid homage to him. Ulrich Czerwonka became the rst Polish sheri of the castle, and also received
three other counties. The king again granted broad privileges to the Prussian cities. It was generally expected
that now, with the fall of the Teutonic Orders capital,
the war would end quickly. Optimism faded, however,
when the Polish army commanded by Prandota Lubieszowski was unable to take Mewe, which was again defended by Raweneck. Casimir had to return to Poland
to seek money to pay his debts and mercenaries. The
mood worsened when the grand master organised a new
oensive. The Teutonic Knights received signicant aid
from the burghers of Knigsberg, free Prussian knights,
and others. Although they were unable to take Wehlau
(Znamensk) and Schippenbeil (Spopol), the two Polishcontrolled castles which were the initial target of the offensive, they again defeated the Polish army in September
1457.
With the assistance of the towns burghers, Teutonic
forces under the command of Bernard von Zinnenberg,
who had been released from service with the Poles, took
Marienburg by surprise on September 28, 1457; only the
castle commanded by Czerwonka remained in Polish control. Lubieszowski was able to stop some further advances of the Teutonic army. However, they recaptured
Eylau, which again pledged allegiance to the Teutonic Order, Culm, and Preuisch Stargard (Starogard Gdaski).
The situation was saved for the Poles by a new army sent
from Greater Poland.
The international situation became increasingly complicated. The new Prince-Bishop of Ermeland was Cardinal Eneas Silvio Piccolomini, known for his pro-Teutonic
sympathies. In 1458, Piccolomini was elected Pope Pius
II. Another complication was the death of Ladislaus the
Posthumous and the election of George of Podbrady as
the new (Hussite) king of Bohemia, and Matthias Corvi-

In Lower Prussia there was a peasant rebellion against

Polish rule. The peasants captured a few castles and gave
them to the Teutonic Knights, declaring that they were
ready to ght on the Teutonic Orders side against Poland.
In the meantime the king, using John Giskra as mediator,
negotiated with the Teutonic Knights. The Poles again
proposed that the Teutonic Order should leave Prussia for
Podolia. The crusaders agreed on a mission to Podolia,
but refused to leave Prussia. Danzigers proposed a compromise which would leave part of Prussia for the Teutonic Order. At one point there was a signed cease re
lasting nine months there was even a signed treaty, and
John Giskra as the mediator was to keep Marienburg
and peace appeared certain, but the Prussian estates decided to persuade the king to break o negotiations.
One positive sign was peace with Denmark. King
Christian I of Denmark nally conquered Sweden, but
the Swedish king Charles VIII escaped to Poland and
started supporting the Polish cause nancially. Danzig
and Charles VIII began hiring more privateers, which seriously damaged Baltic trade, and nally Christian I decided to sign a ceasere in July 1458, which was extended
to four years in May 1459, and then to 20 years.
In 1459, Johannes von Baysen died, and his brother, Scibor, became the new governor of Prussia. The Teutonic
Knights raided Polish lands and achieved a few successes,
notably Komtur Kaspar Nostitz of Konitzs capture of a
Polish city in northern Greater Poland for a few months.
There were other attempts at mediation, such as by dukes
of Bavaria and Austria, as well as by bishops from Livonia, but they were all refused by Poland. More serious mediation was undertaken by Pope Pius II, who was
trying to mount a coalition against the Ottoman Turks.
He suspended the ban over the Prussian Confederation
and explicitly stated that the forementioned ban was also
against Poland. That statement outraged Casimir, who re-

6
jected the arrival of the papal legate, Hieronymus Lando.
On June 3, 1460, the pope reactivated the ban against
Prussia, Poland, and the Polish king. At the same time the
Bohemian king George of Podbrady banned and jailed
Ulrich Czerwonka and his comrades, and agreed to hire
Teutonic soldiers in the territory of his kingdom.
On 21 March 1460, the Polish army, supported by
Danzigers and peasants, began a siege of the town of
Marienburg; the towns castle was already in Polish control. This time the army had a more capable commander,
Lubieszowski, and enough artillery. Lubieszowski died
during the siege and was replaced by Jan Koscielecki with
Johann Meydeburg of Danzig as his advisor. The town of
Marienburg nally capitulated on 5 July. Marienburgs
mayor, Burgomaster Blume, was hanged as traitor, since
he had pledged allegiance to the Polish king, but later
opened the gates of Marienburg to the Teutonic Knights.
This Polish success was quickly countered by the Teutonic Knights, who regained other cities in western Prussia. They defeated the army of Danzig near Praust
(Pruszcz Gdaski) in July 1460, and burnt the suburbs of
Danzig; the Hanseatic city then asked Casimir for help.
The Teutonic Order also conquered Lauenburg (Lbork)
and Btow (Bytw), which had been in the possession of
Eric II of Pomerania, Leba (eba), and Putzig (Puck); the
latter was garrisoned by mercenaries hired by the former
Swedish king Charles VIII. Bernard von Zinnenberg also
captured the castle of Schwetz (wiecie). Thorn immediately sent soldiers there, who, helped by the kings army,
started a siege. In the Bishopric of Warmia, the administration of Paul von Legensdorf commenced. He was appointed by the pope, and promised neutrality between the
Teutonic Knights and the Polish king. The neutrality of
Legendorf made him popular amongst the burghers and
peasants, who were tired of war.
The situation of Poland became desperate. One by one,
the castles and cities in Prussia were recovered by the
Teutonic army. The internal situation was pessimistic because of the conict between the pope and the king over
nominating the new bishop of Krakw, since both king
and pope were convinced that the other lacked the right
to choose the new bishop.
The Polish king again called for leve en masse , but
most of the nobility refused to participate after Tczynski
was killed in Krakw by burghers in a dispute over payment for his armor. Commanders, amongst them Piotr
of Szamotuly, were disorganized, and, after raids to Eric
IIs Duchy of Pomerania, the army returned home after a
few weeks.
The failure of the latest leve en masse and the Teutonic
recovery of Warmia, capturing the last Polish points of
resistance, convinced Casimir that the war should be left
to professionals. The nobility agreed to pay new taxes for
the hiring and maintaining of a more regular army. The
new commander was Piotr Dunin, an innovative leader.

5 1455
castle of Schwetz. Polish privateers hired by Danzig were
far more successful, although they had to ght not only
Teutonic ships and privateers, but also with ships from
Lbeck.

5.1 Second phase

Teutonic state in 1466

The rst group of Polish army regulars initially around

2,000 soldiers came to Prussia around October 1461,
under Dunin from Prawkowice. Almost immediately
Dunin achieved two successes, capturing the castles of
Lessen and Stuhm. The Teutonic Knights at the same
time captured a few cities and castles, such as the town of
Strasburg (Brodnica), although the castle stayed in Polish
hands, and Stargard. The Sejm in Nowe Miasto Korczyn
in Lesser Poland decided to raise new taxes for increasing the Polish regular army. It was only in the summer of
1462 when Dunin nally, after losing the castle of Strasburg, could start any more serious action. His rst success
was the conquest of the castle of Frauenburg (Frombork).
What changed the course of the war was the Battle of
wiecino (Schwetz), where the excellent Teutonic commander Fritz Raweneck was killed. After that battle the
Poles, supported by Ulrich Czerwonka, released from Bohemian imprisonment, were able to start an oensive. On
July 27, 1463, Dunin started the siege of Mewe. Because
of the great strategic importance of the city and castle, the
Grand Master of the Teutonic Order decided to send reinforcements. The Teutonic army, under commanders von
Plauen, von Zinnenberg, and the grand master, gathered
in Stargard. On September 15, 1463, 44 ships of the Teutonic navy were destroyed by 30 ships from Danzig and
Elbing in the Battle of Zatoka wiea. Soon after the battle, von Zinnenberg, with approval of the Teutonic Order,
made a treaty with Poland, withdrawing from the war but
still having in his possession a few castles in Culmerland.
Mewe capitulated on January 1, 1464.

The Teutonic Knights started to have serious nancial

In 1461, Poland had only one success, the capture of the problems. Every year they received less money from the

7
Holy Roman Empire. Their mercenaries, the core of
the Teutonic army, were not paid and refused to make
any serious oensives. At the same time the armies of
Poland and the Prussian Confederation (mainly Danzig)
were continuing their oensive.
However, Casimir was unable to prot from these successes because of troubles in Lithuania. The Lithuanians rejected the idea of moving the Teutonic Order
to Podolia, even if Lithuania would acquire territories
in Prussia. This forced the king to open new negotiations with the Teutonic Order, with the Hanseatic League
as mediators. On July 3, 1462, negotiations started in
Thorn. The Polish negotiators included Jan Dugosz and
the rector of the Krakw Academy, Jan of Dbrwka.
The Prussian representatives included Gabriel von Baysen and Scibor von Baysen, as well as envoys from larger
cities. The Poles and Prussians argued that Pomerania
from time immemorial belonged to Poland, pointing out
Slavic names in Pomerania, the Slavic language of inhabitants, the tax of St. Peter paid by Pomerania, and that
Pomerania belonged to the Polish Diocese of Wocawek.
They also strongly emphasized that Prussians of their own
will asked for the incorporation of Prussia into Poland.
They also tried to prove that even eastern Prussia was,
in times past, tied in some way to Poland. The Teutonic
Knights questioned all the arguments and past papal judgments. Instead, they strongly underlined that Poland had
ocially resigned all claims to Pomerania and Culmerland, and also pointed to the emperors statement of 1453
when he forbade all opposition in Prussia. Hanseatic mediators proposed a ceasere for 20 years, but this was refused. The Poles again proposed moving the Teutonic Order to Podolia, which was also rejected. Unocially, the
Poles unsuccessfully proposed leaving the Teutonic Order
in Sambia as Polish vassals. Finally, the Poles demanded
at least Pomerellia, Culmerland, Marienburg, and Elbing,
and when this was rejected too, negotiations broke down.
Dunin continued on the oensive, capturing more and
more castles. Masovians, enraged by Teutonic raids, organised a leve en masse and captured the castle of Soldau
(Dziadowo), but again the king had to leave Poland for
Lithuania, and nancial problems stopped further advances. This caused another round of negotiations in
1465, which were again unsuccessful.
In 1466 the Prince-Bishop of Warmia, Paul von Legensdorf, decided to join the Polish forces and declare war on
the Teutonic Knights. Polish forces under Dunin were nally also able to capture Konitz on September 28, 1466.
Earlier, in 1454, Jan Janski de Turze (pl:Jan z Jani)
of the Clan of Ostoja become rst polish Voivode of
Gdask and Pomerania. The Clan have been ghting
Teutonic side since the days of Stibor of Stiboricz, the
Duke of Transylvania and one of most loyal Lords of King
Sigismund von Luksemburg. The strategy of the Clan
of Ostoja was in the beginning of 15th century not only
use of military forces but also to use diplomatic game

in order to make Teutonic side weaker economically so

they could not pay the mercenaries they depended on. By
the time Jan Janski de Turze become voivode of Pomerania, Szarlejski of Ostoja was Voivode of Kujawy and used
help of his Clan brother to raise founds for hire mercenaries ghting on polish side. Stibor de Poniec of Ostoja,
the Lord General of Greater Poland joined the cause in
1457. Together with his Clan brothers Jan Janski and
Szarlejski, Stibor de Poniec raised new founds in order
to hire more mercenaries ghting on polish side. However, Stibor decided to use those founds to pay mercenaries that defended main stronghold of Teutonic Knights Malbork (Marieburg) and in return asked them to leave
the stronghold. In this way, polish side succeeded to
overtake Malbork without using any force in year 1457.
Later, in 1466 Stibor de Poniec sealed the Second Peace
of Thorn in 1466 which also nally broke the power of
Teutonic Knights.
The Polish successes caused the exhausted Teutonic Order to seek new negotiations, which were well documented by the chronicler Jan Dugosz. The new mediator was Pope Paul II. With help from the papal legate,
Rudolf of Rdesheim, the Second Peace of Thorn was
signed on October 10, 1466. Western Prussia became an
autonomous Polish province later known as Royal Prussia; the Bishopric of Warmia also came under the crown
of Poland. Eastern Prussia remained under the control
of the Teutonic Knights, although they became vassals of
the Polish king. The Grand Master received the title of
Senator of the Polish kingdom. The treaty was signed by
the papal legate. Both sides agreed, that although the
Popes approval was not necessary, they would ask him
to conrm the treaty so as to ensure it. The treaty was
later disputed by Pope Paul II and Emperor Frederick III.

6 References
[1] (German) Kriegsreisende.de

Biskup, Marian. Wojna trzynastoletnia (The Thirteen Years War).

Karin Friedrich: The Other Prussia: Royal Prussia,
Poland and Liberty, 1569-1772, Google Books
Marian Biskup, Wojna trzynastoletnia, Gdask 1965
Antoni Czacharowski, Ksiga odu Zwizku
Pruskiego z okresu wojny trzynastoletniej 14541466, Toru 1969.
Pawe Jasienica, Polska Jagiellonw

7 External links
Photocopy of the request of the Prussian Confederation for Polish protection (Polish)

8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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674184342 Contributors: MichaelTinkler, Derek Ross, H.J., Mav, Szopen, Jeronimo, Eclecticology, Space Cadet, Hephaestos, Olivier,
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