Kuno of Lichtenstein

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Coat of arms of the Lichtenstein in Johann Siebmacher's coat of arms book

Kuno von Lichtenstein (* 1360 ; † July 15, 1410 in the Battle of Tannenberg ) was a knight and major of the Teutonic Order .

Life

Kuno came from the Frankish family of Lichtenstein . The exact time of his birth and entry into the Teutonic Order is not known. Lichtenstein is mentioned for the first time as Bailiff of the Samland between 1389 and 1392. From 1392 to 1396 he acted as Commander of Ragnit . In view of the constant Lithuanian threat to this administration, the leadership of this commandery, located far to the east, was generally only guaranteed by specially qualified knights. Lichtenstein was then Komtur von Mewe until 1402 .

In 1404 he was appointed Grand Commander by Grand Master Konrad von Jungingen , that is to say one of the five major officers of the order. He thus acted as the Grand Master's deputy. This important office was confirmed to him under the elected Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen in 1407 .

In the battle of Tannenberg , Kuno von Lichtenstein commanded the right wing of the order's army and thus the majority of the order's Western European "guests" under the banner of St. George . Among those were Duke Conrad VII. "The old white man" from Oels and Casimir, younger son of Duke Swantibor III. from Pomerania-Stettin with their entourage. After the Grand Master's death, he tried to assert the battlefield. As a result of being surrounded by superior Polish-Lithuanian forces, his wing was cut off and the Grand Commander was killed.

According to Johannes Longinus, Kuno von Lichtenstein was considered by contemporaries to be one of the most skilled swordsmen in the known world.

reception

In Henryk Sienkiewicz's novel Die Kreuzritter Kuno von Lichtenstein, like the entire Teutonic Order, is described with the most negative traits, such as deviousness and greed for revenge. His person plays a key role in this novel.

literature

Contemporary chronicles

Source editions

Monographs

  • Walter Markov and Heinz Helmert: Battles of world history ; Leipzig. 1978, ISBN 3-88059-11-48
  • Wolfgang Sonthofen: The German Order ; Weltbild, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89350-713-2
  • Old Prussian biography . Vol. 1, Königsberg 1941, p. 395

Fiction

Remarks

  1. ^ Theodor Hirsch, Max Toeppen, Ernst Strehlke: Scriptores rerum Prussicarum. The historical sources of Prussian prehistoric times up to the fall of the order ; Volume 3, p. 185
  2. ^ Theodor Hirsch, Max Toeppen, Ernst Strehlke: Scriptores rerum Prussicarum. The historical sources of Prussian prehistoric times up to the fall of the order ; Volume 3, p. 229
  3. ^ Theodor Hirsch, Max Toeppen, Ernst Strehlke: Scriptores rerum Prussicarum. The historical sources of Prussian prehistoric times up to the fall of the order ; Volume 3, p. 229
  4. ^ Theodor Hirsch, Max Toeppen, Ernst Strehlke: Scriptores rerum Prussicarum. The historical sources of Prussian prehistoric times up to the fall of the order ; Volume 3, p. 164
  5. ^ Johannes Longinus (Jan Długosz): Banderia Prutenorum ; Longinus, however, used to equip many fallen knights of the order with excellent qualities in order to glorify the victory over the order.
  6. ↑ Description of the flags and also of the war events of 1410/11, around 1448. A conditionally timely representation of the events; the record was not made until 38 years later after oral tradition from a participant in the battle. Despite various heraldic errors in the descriptions of the individual banners (flags) , it is precisely the merit of this work to have passed down a description of the banners used in battle in the form of images up to our time
personal data
SURNAME Kuno of Lichtenstein
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Grand Commander
DATE OF BIRTH 1360
DATE OF DEATH July 15, 1410
Place of death near Tannenberg , Poland