Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)
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The Thirteen Years' War (German: Dreizehnjähriger Krieg; Polish: Wojna trzynastoletnia), also called the War of the Cities, was fought from 1454-1466.
The war started as an uprising by Prussian cities and the local nobility with the goal of gaining independence from the Teutonic Knights. The Prussian Confederation asked the Polish king for help and offered to incorporate Prussia into the Kingdom of Poland. When the king agreed, war between Poland and the Teutonic Knights broke out. It ended with the Peace of Toruń in 1466 in favor of the confederacy and Poland, and was followed by the War of the Priests from 1467-1479.
Preliminaries
Reasons behind the war
In the 15th century, the towns of Prussia rapidly grew economically. However, this was not followed by an increase in their political influence. 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 gentry wanted a larger say in the running of the country, and were looking enviously at neighbouring Poland, where the szlachta enjoyed wider privileges. The Knights were also accused of violating the few existing privileges of the gentry and the cities. Craftsmen were discontented because of competition from so-called partacze, or artisans settled by the Knights near 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.
The western part of Prussia, called Pomerelia, where the main city of Danzig (Gdańsk) was situated, was originally captured by Duke Boleslaus I of Poland and then ruled by Pomeranian rulers until its conquest by the Teutonic Order. Some links to Poland remained and increased with strong cultural contacts, trade, and marriages between the elite families of Kraków, Pomerania, and Thorn (Toruń). Kraków was a Hanseatic city and had many German craftsmen and inhabitants at that time. Many Polish and German Prussians taught and studied at Kraków Academy.
The remembrance of some Polish roots of Pomerania by later Polish nationals was not an important reason for the start of the uprising, but it was considered more important later.
There was a long tradition of resistance against the Teutonic Knights in Prussia. In 1397 Prussian knights of Polish descent had founded a secret organisation called the 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 the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) during the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War (1409–1411), the Prussian estates eagerly pledged allegiance to King Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila) of Poland, but they quickly returned to the order's 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 conflict, and pushed the Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights to make peace.
On February 21, 1440, a group made up of individuals from the Prussian cities, gentry and clergy, formed the Prussian Confederation. The main contributors were from the gentry of Culmerland (Chełmno Land), Thorn, Culm (Chełmno), and from the Hanseatic cities of Elbing (Elbląg) and Danzig. Grand Master Paul von Rusdorf was seen to approve the existence of the confederacy, but his successor, Konrad von Erlichhausen, opposed it. His con-compromising policy was followed and intensified by Ludwig von Erlichhausen.
In 1452, the Prussian Confederation asked Emperor Frederick III for mediation in their conflict with the Teutonic Order. Disagreeing with the confederacy, Frederick banned it and ordered it to obey the Teutonic Order on 5 December, 1453.
Faced with that situation the Prussians sent envoys to Poland -- although the Prussian Confederation, under the influence of Thorn and the Pomeranian and Culmerland gentry, 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 Kraków, Zbigniew Cardinal Oleśnicki, opposed this support and tried to prevent war.
In January 1454, the Prussians 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 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.
On 10 February 1454, the confederacy sent an official delegation to Poland, headed by Johannes von Baysen. By 20 February, the delegates were in Kraków 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.
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 gentry. Three days later, Johannes von Baysen was named as the first governor of Prussia. After 15 April, most of the Prussian estates, with the exception of the 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 quickly.
International situation
In 1454 Poland was in conflict with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which meant that although Casimir IV Jagiellon|Casimir IV was Grand Duke of Lithuania as well as King of Poland, Lithuania sent no aid during the war to Poland, and aside from a few ineffective raids, did not participate during the conflict. There was also the threat of attack by the Grand Duchy of Moscow and by the Ottoman Empire, which sacked Constantinople in 1453.
Elsewhere, the international situation was quite good for Poland, as no outside states were likely to intervene. The southern border of Poland was more or less secure because of the weakness of the Bohemian lands, which resulted from the Hussite Wars. Because of its internal problems was not able to directly intervene in the conflict. 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 conflict between Sweden and Denmark both sides stayed more or less neutral in the upcoming conflict.
France and England were too weakened after the Hundred Years' War. 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.
The forces of the belligerents
The main part of the Polish army of that period was conscripted. All noblemen from the class known as the szlachta, when called by the king, had to appear with their village-mayors and village-administrators. 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 participated as infantrymen. The highest command belonged to the king. The total army could amount to 30,000 cavalry.
From the beginning of the 15th century, the Polish Crown started to hire mercenaries, who usually fought under the flag of St. George (especially Bohemian (Czech) mercenaries). The flag 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 battlefield and had to be differentiated. The concept of tabor, learned from the Bohemians, was an important tactic.
The Poles had artillery, at first primitive cannons such as bombards. Pistols, or handguns, were used by were ineffective. 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.
Overview
First phase
The first 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 (Scibor Bazynski), brother of Johannes von Baysen, tried to besiege the Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichhausen in the city and castle of Marienburg, but without much success, due to the professional command of Heinrich Reuß von Plauen the Elder, Komtur of Elbing.
In the meantime there was some organised support for the Teutonic Order from the German principalities, mainly in Saxony. The reinforcements entered Prussia in the 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 Mikołaj Szarlejski, who was the representative of the Polish kingdom and received the title of "Supreme Commander of Forces in Prussia".
On April 7, 1454, the Teutonic Knights sold the Neumark back to the Margraviate of Brandenburg "to assure itself better relations and connection with Germany".[citation needed]
At the end of April 1454, the Prussian army started the siege of Konitz; the defence of the city was commanded by Heinrich Reuss von Plauen the Younger from Greitz. However, Szarlejski lacked any significant 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 official oath of allegiance from his new subjects in Elbing and Thorn, he directed to Konitz a levee 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 levee 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 (Żagań), and a Moravian nobleman, the talented soldier Bernhard von Zinnenberg[1] 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.
Rudolf's army slowly moved to Konitz to rescue it from the Polish siege. It forced Casimir to call a pospolite ruszenie (levee 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 Cerekwica and demanded from the king several privileges, which were granted in the privilege of Cerekwica on September 14, 1454.
Casimir divided his forces into seven large units and the army marched to Konitz, where it was joined by Prussians. On September 18 1454 the Teutonic Knights defeated the Polish army in the resulting Battle of Konitz.
The defeat was a near disaster. The Polish army quickly 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 (Łasin), near Marienburg. None of the largest and most important cities of Prussia, such as Königsberg, 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.
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 levee en masse from the whole Polish kingdom. The levee en masse in Opoka, this time dominated by gentry 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 influence of the aristocracy from Lesser Poland, Casimir changed some of the promises given earlier both in Opoka and Cerekwica through privileges for the whole country given in Nieszawa (the privilege of Nieszawa).
This time the Polish army counted almost 3,0000 cavalry, plus 3,000 mercenaries. The mercenaries had a few capable commanders, such as Jan Kolda from Zampach and Jan Skalski from the northern Bohemian city of Malá Skála (literally, "little rock") and a member of the family of Valdsztejn, Waldstein or Wallenstein.
This time the Grand Master avoided battle as too risky. The army started the siege of Lessen, whose defense was commanded by the Austrian mercenary Fritz Raweneck.[2] However, the army was unprepared for taking castles, and the large preparations ended with another fiasco.
1455
The first negotiations between the two sides, conducted from January 9 to January 10, 1455, were unsuccessful.
The situation of Casimir became difficult. To pay his mercenaries he had to borrow from the clergy. He decided to give two cities as a fief to Eric II of Pomerania from Stolp (Słupsk), hoping it would secure northern Pomerania. To calm opposition, Casimir later went to Lithuania, where he was forced to stay until the summer of 1455.
In that situation the Teutonic Knights were able to recover the eastern part of Prussia. They were helped by rebellions in a few cities, which were caused by new large war taxes in Königsberg and Löbenicht on April 17, 1455. The last East Prussian city 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 [[Iława|Eylau (Iława) 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 significantly 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".[citation needed] 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 fighting with Sweden.
Shocked by the loss of Kneiphof, Casimir, in debt and unable to hire new mercenaries, called another levee en masse. The Polish army moved slowly to Thorn, but military actions were halted briefly when the king finally agreed to mediation by Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg; all earlier propositions of mediation from different sides had been rejected. The elector, however, failed to negotiate a peace, because the Teutonic Knights, after recent successes, were unwilling to compromise. The Poles suggested that the Teutonic Order should leave Prussia and go elsewhere to fight with pagans; a location suggested earlier by Polish envoys to the Holy Roman Empire was Podolia, near the Tatars. Negotiations ended unsuccessfully on September 26, and the war continued.
The new Polish army was larger than before, including soldiers from Red Ruthenia, small auxiliary forces of Tatars, and a few mercenaries from Silesia. It laid siege to Lessen, but Raveneck was able to defend the city. Additionally, when Casimir IV ordered a further march to Graudenz (Grudziądz), the szlachta refused and instead decided to pay a new tax, which would allow the king to hire more mercenaries.
After that, the situation did not change much. The Teutonic Knights were able to recover another city, Memel (Klaipėda), but their offensives in other directions was stopped by the burghers of Thorn and of Culmerland, and the leadership of Andrzej Tęczynski. In autumn 1455 the peasants of eastern Masuria, tired of the war, revolted against the Teutonic Knights, but were defeated at Rhein (Ryn) on January 1, 1456. Land-based military actions were limited to raids and local skirmishes.
In the maritime arena, Casimir urged Danzig to build a fleet which would be able to break sea connections between the Teutonic Order and its allies. In May 1456 privateers hired by Danzig captured Dutch ships, which caused conflict with Amsterdam and the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good. In two weeks in August 1457, three ships from Danzig defeated a combined Danish-Livonian fleet of 16 ships near Bornholm.
After long negotiations Teutonic mercenaries agreed to sell three castles in Prussia, including Marienburg, to Poland. Heavy new taxes caused rebellions in Danzig and Thorn which were bloodily suppressed by the cities with help from the king's army. The Polish and Prussian estates were able to gather 190,000 Hungarian gold pieces, most of which had been borrowed from Danzig. On June 6, 1457, the castles of Marienburg, Dirschau, and Eylau were transferred to the Polish army. Two days later Casimir entered the castle of Marienburg, and its burghers paid homage to him. Ulrich Czerwonka became the first Polish sheriff 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 capital, war would end quickly. Optimism faded, however, when the Polish army commanded by Prandota Lubieszowski was unable to take Mewe (Gniew), which was again defended by Raveneck. 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 offensive. The Teutonic Knights received significant aid from the burghers of Königsberg, free Prussian knights and others. Although they were unable to take Welau (Welawa) and Sepopol, the two Polish castles which were the initial target of the offensive, they again defeated the Polish army in September 1457.
On September 28, 1457, Teutonic Order forces under the command of v. Zinnenberg, (who had been released by the Poles), with help from the burghers, took Marienburg by surprise -- only the castle commanded by Czerwonka was saved. Prandota Lubieszowski was able to stop further advances of the Teutonic army, but this was not the last of the Teuton successes. They re-captured Eylau (which again pledged allegiance to the Teutons), Culm (Chełmno) and Preußisch Stargard (Starogard Gdański). The situation was saved by a new Polish 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-Teuton sympathies. Soon after that, in 1458, Piccolomini was elected pope and took the name of Pius II. Another complication was the death of Ladislas the Posthumous and the election of George of Podebrady as new (Hussite) king of Bohemia, and Matthias Corvinus as king of Hungary.
In Spring 1458 Casimir IV again called for a levee en masse, this time calling even the Masovians. Ignoring the mediation of John Giskra (Jan Jiskra), a Czech mercenary who hoped for an end to war with Prussia and the start of a new conflict with Hungary, the Polish army slowly marched into Prussia, during June crossing the Vistula via ponton bridge near Toruń. Again the army was supported by Tatar auxiliary forces from Crimea and by the king's own army. The army was commanded by Piotr of Szamotuly, the castellan of Poznań. The Polish army marched directly to Marienburg, reaching the city on August 10. This time it was quite well equipped with artillery sent by Gdańsk and Elbląg. The siege, however, was another fiasco, due partly to lengthy negotiations, and partly to Piotr's lack of aggression on the battlefield. He was such an inept commander that Fritz Raweneck was able to take yet another castle. The nobles demanded the storming of the castle, and when this did not happen, they started deserting and returning to Poland.
In Low 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 fight on the Teutonic Order's side against Poland.
In the meantime the king, using John Giskra as mediator, negotiated with the Teutons. The Poles again proposed that the Teutonic Order should leave Prussia for Podolia. The Teutons agreed on Podole, but refused to leave Prussia. Gdanskers proposed a compromise which would leave part of Prussia for the Teuton Order. At one point there was a signed cease fire lasting 9 months (there was even a signed treaty, and John Giskra as mediator kept Marienburg), and peace appeared certain, but the Prussian states decided to persuade the king to break off negotiations.
One positive sign was peace with Denmark. The Danish king finally conquered Sweden, but the Swedish king Charles VIII of Sweden escaped to Poland and started supporting the Polish cause financially. Gdańsk and Charles VIII were hiring more and more privateers, which seriously damaged Baltic trade, and finally Christian I of Denmark decided in July 1458 to sign a cease fire, which was in May 1459 extended to four years, and then to 20 years.
In 1459, Johannes von Baysen died, and his brother, Scibor von Baysen (Polish: Ścibor Bażynski), became the new governor of Prussia. The Teutonic Knights raided Polish lands and achieved a few successes, notably Kaspar Nostitz, Komtur of Konitz, captured one of the Polish cities 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 rejected the arrival of the Pope's 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 Podebrady 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 town's castle was already in Polish control. This time the army had a more capabale commander, Prandota 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 finally capitulated on 5 July. Marienburg's 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 Gdański) in July 1460, and burnt the suburbs of Danzig; the Hanseatic city then asked Casimir for help. The Teutonic Order also conquered Lauenburg (Lębork) and Bütow (Bytów), which had been in the possession of Eric II of Pomerania, Leba (Łeba), and Putzig (Puck); the latter was garrisoned by mercenaries hired by the former Swedish king Charles VIII. Bernard von Zinnenberg (Szumborski) also captured the castle of Schwetz (Świecie). Thorn immediately sent soldiers there, who, helped by the king's 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.
Situation of Poland became desperate. One by one, castles and cities in Prussia were re-captured by the Teutonic army. Internal situation was also not very bright, because of the conflict between the pope and the king over nominating the new bishop of Cracow (since both king and pope were convinced that the other had no right to choose the new bishop).
The Polish king again called for levee en masse, but most of the gentry refused participation after Andrzej Tęczynski was killed in Cracow by burghers (in a dispute over payment for his armour). Again, this was a total fiasco. Commanders (amongst them Piotr from Szamotuly) seemed even as if they didn't know where they should go, and after a few weeks (and raids to duchy of Eric II of Pomerania) army returned home.
This, and another success of the Teutons, which took almost all castles and towns of Ermeland, capturing the last Polish points of resistance, convinced the king finally that war should be left to professionals. The gentry agreed to pay new taxes for hiring and maintaining a more regular army. The new commander was Piotr Dunin.
In 1461 Poland had only one success - capturing the castle of Schwetz (Swiecie). On the sea privateers hired by Gdańsk were far more successful, although they had to fight not only with Teutonic ships and privateers hired by the Teutons, but also with ships from Lübeck.
Second phase
The first group — initially around 2000 soldiers — of regular army came to Prussia around October 1461, under Piotr Dunin from Prawkowice. Piotr Dunin was a soldier to the bones, knowing the newest methods of military tactics. Almost immediately he achieved two successes, capturing the castles of Lasin and Stuhm. The Teutons at the same time captured a few cities and castles, for example the city of Strasburg (the castle stayed in Polish hands) and Stargard. Sejm in New City of 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 finally, after losing the castle of Strasburg (Brodnica), could start any more serious action. His first success was conquest of the castle of Frauenburg (Frombork). But what changed the course of the war was the battle of Swiecin (Schwetz), where the excellent Teuton commander Fritz Raweneck was killed. After that battle the Poles, supported by Ulrich von Czirwonka (released from Czech jail), were able to start an offensive. In July 27 1463 Dunin started the siege of Mewe (Gniew). Because of the great strategic importance of the city and castle, the grand master of the Teutonic Order decided to send it reinforcements. The army of Teutons, under commanders v. Plauen, v. Zinnenberg and the Grand Master gathered in Stargard. In September 15 1463 the navy of Teutons, 44 ships, was destroyed in battle of Zatoka Świeża by 30 ships from Gdańsk and Elbląg. Soon after the battle v. Zinnenberg, with approval of the Teutonic Order, made a treaty with Poland, withdrawing from war but still having in his possession a few castles in Culmerland. Mewe capitulated soon in January 1 1464.
The Knights started to have serious financial problems. Every year they received less money from the Holy Roman Empire. Their mercenaries, the core of the Teutonic army, were not paid and refused to make any serious offensives. At the same time the armies of Poland and the Prussian Confederation (mainly Gdańsk) were continuing their offensive.
However, King Casimir was unable to get all the fruits of these successes, because of troubles in Lithuania. The Lithuanians rejected the idea of moving the Teutonic Order to Podole, even if Lithuania would get some 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 Toruń. The Polish negotiators (Johannes Longinus (Jan Dlugosz) and the rector of the Cracow Academy, Jan from Dabrowka, with the Prussian representatives (Gabriel von Baysen and Scibor von Baysen plus envoys from big cities 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 Church diocese of Wloclawek. 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 time past, tied in some way to Poland. The Teutons questioned all their arguments and past Papal judgments. Instead they strongly underlined that Poland once officially resigned all claims to Pomerania and Culmerland, and also pointed to the Emperor's statement of 1453 when he forbade all opposition in Prussia. Hanseatic mediators proposed a cease fire for 20 years; this was refused. The Poles proposed again moving the Teutons to Podole; this was refused too. Unofficially the Poles proposed leaving the Teutonic Order in Sambia as Polish vassals. This idea was rejected too. Finally the Poles demanded at least Pomerania, Culmerland, Marienburg and Elbląg, and when this was rejected too, negotiations broke down.
Dunin continued on the offensive, capturing more and more castles. Masovians, enraged by Teutonic raids, organised a levee en masse and captured the castle of Działdowo, but again the king had to leave Poland for Lithuania, and financial 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 Teutons. Polish forces under Piotr Dunin were finally also able to capture Conitz (September 28 1466).
All of these successes caused the Teutonic Order to seek new negotiations (which are well documented because one of the Polish negotiators was again historian Johannes Longinus). The new mediator was Pope Paul II. With a lot of help from the Pope's legate Rudolf von Rüdesheim, in October 10 1466, a peace treaty (known as the peace of Toruń 1466) was finally signed, due to extensive war battle exhaustion. Prussia as a whole was to be incorporated into the Polish kingdom; the Teutons were allowed to rule its eastern part as Polish vassals. The Grand Master received the title of Senator of the Polish kingdom. The treaty was signed by the Pope's legate. Both sides agreed, that although the Pope's approval wasn't necessary, they would ask him to confirm the treaty so as to ensure it. Later however, the Pope refused to do that. The treaty was also disputed by the Emperor.
Aftermath
- Peace of Toruń 1466
- changes to Polish legal system such as privilege in Nieszawa etc.
- decline of the Teutonic Order's power
Important people
- Casimir IV, king of Poland
- Johannes Longinus (Polish name: Jan Długosz), Polish historian and negotiator
- Piotr Dunin, Polish commander
- Bernard von Zinnenberg, Bohemian mercenary, commander in Teutonic army
References
- BISKUP, Marian. Wojna trzynastoletnia (The Thirteen Years War).