Summary

Thirteen Years' War - fought between the state of the Teutonic Order and the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland in 1454-1466, started as a result of Poland's support for the rise of the Prussian Union against the Teutonic Order, ending with the victory of the Kingdom of Poland and the Second Peace of Torun.

Launched on February 4, 1454, the uprising of the Prussian Union, an organization grouping middle-class nobility and burghers led by the patriciate of Gdansk, Toruń, Elblag and Chelmno against the Teutonic Order led by Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen, was supported on April 21, 1454 by the Kingdom of Poland, whose king was Casimir IV Jagiellon. The unionists captured all the Teutonic cities and castles, except the capital Malbork and Chojnice. The defeat of the Polish expedition of the Polish common movement, in a clash with the Order's army composed of Czech and German mercenaries at the Battle of Chojnice on September 18, 1454, started the Teutonic counteroffensive, as a result of which the Order recaptured most of the cities and fortresses, along with Königsberg, which was finally captured on July 14, 1455. A lack of money to continue financing mercenary troops halted the Order's counteroffensive progress, and the failure to pay off debts owed to the Teutonic forces culminated in the sale of the Malbork fortress to the Polish king on June 8, 1457, by the Czech mercenaries who were his crew. Casimir IV raised the necessary funds by increasing the privileges of the Polish nobility in exchange for the enactment of high taxes, and by granting the so-called Great Privilege to Gdansk on May 15, 1457 in exchange for a high loan. The Order moved its capital to Königsberg in July 1457 and, taking advantage of the discontent of a population exhausted by war and discouraged by increased taxes, captured a number of strongholds on the lower Vistula and Lyna rivers, along with the cities of Malbork and Chelmno, from 1457-1461, paralyzing the Vistula trade of Pomeranian cities.

In response, the Polish and Union sides organized a system of armed convoys on the Vistula from October 1459, fielded a caper fleet blockading the Teutonic seacoast, and abandoned expeditions of the common march, devoting all funds to hiring mercenaries. Command was taken over by Piotr Dunin, the Burgrave of Cracow, who, at the head of a sparse but well-trained army, launched an offensive in October 1461, aiming to cut off western Pomerania from Prussia, and on September 17, 1462 won a landmark victory over the Teutonic forces at the Battle of Swiecin. In a union-winning naval battle on the Vistula Lagoon (Bay of Swiecin) on September 15, 1463, the Teutonic fleet was destroyed by the fleets of Gdansk and Elblag, making it impossible for the grand master to deliver aid to the besieged Teutonic strongholds on the Vistula. After the fall of Gniew, Nowe and Starogard and the surrender of Chojnice, the last Teutonic stronghold in Pomerania, on September 28, 1466, the financially ruined Teutonic Order agreed to accept peace terms. Under the Second Peace of Toruń, signed on December 31, 1466, the Order had to relinquish half of the Prussian lands (Gdansk Pomerania, Chelmno Land, Michalow Land and Warmia), and from the remaining lands pay a fief tribute to the Kingdom of Poland.

The Thirteen Years' War accelerated the decay of the Teutonic Order, allowed the Polish nobility to gain far-reaching privileges and a decisive role in the Kingdom of Poland at the expense of weakening the bourgeoisie, and led to the emancipation of Gdansk and laid the groundwork for the rapid development of that city.

Teutonic-Polish conflict over Pomerania

The conflict between the Kingdom of Poland and the state of the Teutonic Order over Pomerania dates back to the early 14th century. Expanding its possessions in Prussia, the Order captured the right bank of the lower Vistula River, the basins of the Lyna, Pregolese and Nogat rivers, in the 13th century, building a number of fortresses and founding new cities - Torun (Thorn) in 1231, Chelmno (Culm) in 1232, Elblag (Elbing) in 1237, and Königsberg (Königsberg) in 1286. In 1308, taking advantage of the civil war in Poland, the Order seized Danzig (Gdańsk) and established a new capital in Malbork (Marienburg). The result of this annexation was a protracted Polish-Teutonic war that ended with the signing of the Peace of Kalisz in 1343.As a result, the Kingdom of Poland agreed to the separation of Poland and Pomerania, but the Teutonic side was forced to recognize Casimir III the Great and his successors as the founders and donors of the Order in Pomerania and the Chelmno lands. This allowed the Teutonic Order to maintain the principle of legal sovereignty derived from Conrad of Mazovia's endowments to the pagan-fighting Order. The Order's recognition of the Polish king's honorary sovereignty over the disputed lands enabled Casimir III the Great to address the Pope in 1357 with the argument that these lands belonged to the archdiocese of Gniezno and the Kingdom of Poland, and in 1364 to be released from all pledges made under threat of war unjust to the Kingdom of Poland.

In the middle of the 14th century, Poland and the Teutonic Order were not interested in renewing the conflict, as the leaders of both states, King Casimir III the Great of Poland and Grand Master of the Order Winrych von Kniprode, confirmed at a convention in 1366 in Malbork. The main goal of the Teutonic Order state was to occupy the entire southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea and obtain a land connection between the two parts of the state - Prussia and Inflants. To this end, the Teutonic Knights pressed armed pressure on the Lithuanian Zmudia separating them, taking advantage of Lithuania's involvement in the south and east. In 1348, the Teutonic Knights won a decisive victory over the Lithuanian-Prussian coalition at the Battle of the Strava River. The Teutonic Knights' Baltic policy was part of the broader context of the mastery of the Baltic coast by German-derived merchant and monastic associations in the 14th century.

Gdansk in the mid-14th century became a major trading center and the largest port of the Teutonic state in Prussia.

The consequences of the Lithuanian-Polish union

The Polish-Teutonic conflict was renewed as a result of the personal union between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at Kreva in 1385, which resulted in the baptism of Lithuania and the assumption of the throne in Krakow by the Lithuanian prince Jogaila. The baptism of the last pagan state of Eastern Europe shook the ideological basis for the development of the state of the Teutonic Order, and, strengthened by the alliance, Poland and Lithuania began to strive for the revindication of the lands seized by the Teutonic Order - Pomerania, Chelmno Land (Poland) and Samogitia (Lithuania). In addition, from 1397, the Teutonic Order, together with the German Hansa, was forced to face revindication pressure from the Nordic states, which had concluded the anti-German Union of Kalmar after Denmark's victory in Margaret I's war with Albrecht of Mecklenburg. In 1408, after a 10-year conflict, Malbork had to return the island of Gotland, captured in 1402 in response to the Kalmar Union, to Denmark, so as not to be forced into a war on two fronts (against the Polish-Lithuanian union and against the Kalmar Union) in a conflict with Poland and Lithuania.

Weakening of the state of the Teutonic Order in the early 15th century

After the great war with the Teutonic Order ended with the Peace of Torun in 1411, the state of the Teutonic Order fell into a deep internal crisis. At the Battle of Grunwald, the Teutonic army and its German reinforcements were destroyed, nullifying forever the military superiority of the monastic organization over the Kingdom of Poland, resulting in the capitulation of some cities (including Gdansk and Torun) to King Wladyslaw II Jagiello. In addition, the loss of Samogitia resulted in the re-division of the monastic state into two separate territories - the Prussian state on the Vistula and Pregoła rivers and the Livonian state on the Dvina and Narva rivers.

Taking advantage of the retreat of the Polish-Lithuanian coalition armies from under Malbork in September 1410 and the conclusion of peace, the Teutonic Knights managed to regain control of the rebellious cities, brutally cracking down on anti-Jewish opposition in Gdansk. However, the subsequent wars between the Polish-Lithuanian union and the state of the Teutonic Order (the Hunger War of 1414, the so-called Retreat Expedition of 1419 the Golub War of 1422 the Polish-Teutonic War of 1431-1435, the so-called Nieszawa War of 1431-1435), which erupted due to differences in the understanding of the provisions of the (small) First Peace of Torun, led to a further weakening of the Teutonic Order. The Order, no longer having its own strong armies, was unable to resist the devastating incursions of Polish and Lithuanian armies (chevauchée') into the territory of the monastic state and was limited only to maintaining the most important strongholds.

At the end of the long reign of Wladyslaw Jagiello, a devastating Polish expedition (supported by the Hussites) to the New March and Gdansk Pomerania in 1433 was carried out, which led to the ruin of both districts, and the decisive defeat of the coalition forces of the Livonian-Ruthenian-Tartar armies against the Lithuanian-Polish army in the Battle of Vilkomierz on the Sveta (Šešupė) River in 1435, in which the entire military and political leadership of the Livonian state was killed, prompted the Teutonic Order to conclude a final peace treaty. According to the terms of the Perpetual Peace at Brest-Kujawsk on December 31, 1435, the leadership of the Teutonic Order agreed never to interfere again in the internal affairs of Lithuania and Poland, and to surrender the disputed strongholds (Nieszawa), in addition to placing the Order's foreign policy under the control of the Prussian states. As a consequence, the burghers and middle nobility of the Teutonic Order state obtained the right to terminate obedience to the master of the Teutonic Order if he violated the provisions of the peace of Brest-Kujawy. This enabled the emergence of an organized opposition of the towns and nobility of Prussia against the Teutonic Order.

Prussian Union

The first organization of Prussian nobility in opposition to the Teutonic Order - the Lizard Society - was smashed by the Teutonic Knights after 1410, but the Teutonic Order's ruinous wars and the high cost of enlisting mercenaries resulted in increasing fiscal oppression of the cities and small Prussian nobility, hampering the development of trade. At the same time, opportunities for advancement in the hierarchy of the Teutonic Order remained attractive among the younger sons of the German magnates and attracted career-hungry aristocrats to the lower Vistula and Pregolese. The local population treated the newcomers with increasing resentment.

In the first half of the 15th century, economic ties between the various regions of Europe tightened, and the continent, having overcome the economic crisis of the 14th century, developed trade. In view of the poor quality of land roads and imperfect means of transportation, the most convenient trade routes were the main rivers. The development of the cities of Pomerania and Prussia depended on access to goods from the Polish and Mazovian hinterland, while at the same time the nobility of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania sought favorable markets and trade routes along the Vistula and Niemen. Teutonic customs barriers and fiscal oppression of the markets, however, hampered trade, and the Order's sovereignty became less and less favorable to the bourgeoisie and small nobility.

In response to Malbork's policy, the towns and nobles of Pomerania, Chelmno Land and Prussia gathering at conventions made demands to participate in the administration of the state of the Teutonic Order and refused to pay taxes, and in 1435 were recognized as guarantors of the Order's compliance with the Peace of Brest. In 1440, the Prussian states founded an organization in opposition to Malbork to represent their interests - the Prussian Union.

The leadership of the Teutonic Order countered by seeking to break up the union opposition. The conflict intensified after the election of Ludwig von Erlichshausen as Grand Master of the Teutonic Order in 1450.The new Grand Master brought a complaint to the papal tribunal against the union, to which the unionists, led by Jan Bazynski, responded with an appeal to Emperor Frederick III.

On December 5, 1453, in a verdict handed down in Wiener Neustadt, the Emperor condemned the Prussian Union and ordered its dissolution under threat of severe repression. In an atmosphere of bitterness over the unjust verdict, the unionists began secretly arming themselves, decided on an anti-Crusader action and turned to King Casimir IV Jagiellon for help.

Phase I of the uprising - anti-Teutonic rebellion in Pomerania and Powisle

In the end, the cities and nobles of Pomerania and Prussia made their choice of further political path in the form of an act of self-determination. The Privy Council of the Union of Prussia considered turning to the King of Bohemia and Hungary for help and protection, while the port cities were inclined to consider submitting to the protection of the King of Denmark. However, the opinion of members of the former Jaszczurcz Union, representatives of the Chelmno Land and Powisle, prevailed, in order to initiate treaties with the Kingdom of Poland.

The chancellor of the Kingdom of Poland, Jan of Koniecpol and treasurer Hińcza of Rogów, as well as Primate Władysław of Oporów and the governors of the lands bordering the State of the Teutonic Order, Łukasz Górka and Mikołaj of Szeleja, were in favor of giving support to the Prussian Union, however, Cardinal Zbigniew Oleśnicki was against it. Before the king made his final decision, an anti-Teutonic uprising broke out in Prussia on February 4, 1454. Several Teutonic dignitaries who were heading for a meeting with representatives of the Prussian Union were imprisoned in Chelmza, and on February 4, 1454 the attack on the Teutonic castle in Torun began. The fortress garrison, blockaded by townspeople and fired upon with artillery, capitulated on February 7, 1454. On the same day, the Gdansk city council officially informed the local komtur of its declaration of obedience to the Order after the Danzigers seized the Great Mill on February 5, 1454, and prepared artillery and assault equipment to attack the Teutonic fortress. The Order's grand treasurer arrived in Krakow equipped with a sum of 50,000 red zlotys with the intention of bribing selected members of the crown council and getting them to reject the Prussian Union's proposal. Ultimately perceiving little chance of success in this mission, the treasurer left for Saxony, using the funds at his disposal to recruit mercenaries.

The success of the uprising in Torun sparked a widespread atmosphere of open rebellion - on February 8, 1454, residents of Birgelau (Bierzgłowo), Graudenz (Grudziądz), Althaus (Starogród) and Mewe (Gniew) captured local Teutonic castles, killing or forcing members of their garrisons to flee. At the same time, the Torun insurgents captured the fortress in Bischöflich Papau (Papowo Biskupi), and then the city council of Torun extended the uprising to the entire Chelmno Land and assisted local insurgents in capturing Teutonic castles in Rehden (Radzyn) and Schwetz (Swiecie) and Gollub (Golub). The commandant of the besieged fortress in Brodnica (Strasbourg), seeing no possibility of further defense against the insurgents, surrendered the castle to the Polish voivode of Inowrocław, Jan of Koscielec.

The Teutonic Castle in Danzig surrendered to the insurgents on February 11, 1454, without resistance, after promising the Teutonic crew a payment from the city's finances, which enabled the insurgents operating from Danzig to provide assistance to other urban centers rebelling against the Teutonic Knights, asking Danzig for support; on February 9, the Teutonic Knights were removed from Skarszewy, on February 13, 1454, from Bütow (Bytow), and the uprising also broke out in Preussisch Stargard (Starogard). Military contingents from Gdansk entered Dirschau (Tczew) and Bern (Koscierzyna). The insurrectionary action led from Gdansk then spread to Hammerstein (Czarne) and Preussisch Friedland (Debrzno) in southern Pomerania, and along the Baltic coast to Lauenburg (Lebork), Leba, Putzig (Puck) and Hel.

In contrast, the crew of the fortress in Elblag, despite the absence of its komtur Henrich von Plauen, put up fierce resistance and the Elblag insurgents took the castle only on February 12, 1454, after several day and night assaults. On the same day, Prussich Holland (Paslek) capitulated, and thus, after eight days of insurgency, 17 key strongholds of the Powisle came under the control of the Prussian Union. The captured Teutonic castles in Danzig, Torun and Elblag were, by decision of the city councils, immediately scheduled for demolition in order to prevent the establishment of an authority in the cities, independent of the city council.

The uprising in Pomerania ended with the insurgents' capture of Schlochau (Człuchów) on February 26, 1454, and the beating at Chojnice of the relief organized by the Teutonic Order in Germany, ending with the seizure of the city. In the Chełmno Land, all states stood in solidarity against Teutonic rule, but in Gdansk Pomerania the resolute anti-Teutonic actions of Gdansk inspired mainly the bourgeoisie, while the knighthood was characterized by a wavering attitude.

Phase II of the uprising - the development of the uprising in Prussia

Directed from the insurgent center in Elblag, the Prussian Union's action led to the seizure of Nowy Staw, Dzierzgon, Pasleka and Miłomłyn, capturing a large part of the fertile Vistula Zulawy. News of the rebels' successes and the grand master's passivity prompted the population of subsequent districts to take a stand against the Teutonic Knights; the inhabitants of the towns of Warmia, against the position taken by the local bishop, captured Braunsberg (Braniewo) and plundered Balga. Deutsch Eylau (Ilawa) joined the Prussian Union three days before the outbreak of the anti-Teutonic uprising, and insurgents operating from Löbau in Westpreussen (Lubava) captured Leutenburg (Lidzbark Welski) and Osterode (Ostróda). The crew of the Königsberg fortress repulsed several assaults, but surrendered the castle to the insurgents after destroying four towers and a significant section of the walls. The Königsberg insurgents then captured Labiau (Labiava) and Ragnit (Regnet), as well as Kreuzburg (Krzyzbork), Schippenbeil (Sepopol) and Barten (Barciany). Uprisings broke out from Wormditt (Orneta), Heilberg (Lidzbark Warmiński) and Rastenburg (Kętrzyn).

The spread of the uprising was facilitated by the absence from the castles of the individual commanders, who, on the orders of the grand master, left for Malbork to confer. Teutonic knights from the districts engulfed by the uprising, without trying to put up resistance, also tried to get to the Teutonic capital or fled to Germany, and those captured on the way by the insurgents were killed. Some Teutonic Knights unable to reach Malbork found refuge in the fortress in Sztum, maintained by the Order.

On February 17, the blockade of the Teutonic Order's main point of resistance - Marienburg (Malbork), guarding the intersection of routes running through the Vistula Zulawy - began. Commanded by Danzig city council member Ewald Wrige, Danzig troops, numbering several thousand soldiers supported by artillery, garrisoned the left bank of the Nogat River, while the right bank of the river was blocked by troops detached from other Union cities. The union forces cut off the Teutonic capital's contact with the outside world.

The effects of the anti-Crusader uprising

The inclusion of representatives of all Prussian states in the uprising enabled the instant success of the anti-Teutonic uprising. Joining the rebellion of free city dwellers and some peasants made it impossible for the Teutonic Knights to defend their fortresses, devoid of crews. Without any support in the Prussian population, the Teutonic Knights did not gain any counteraction, and the revealing cowardice of the Order's representatives emboldened further groups to rise up.

The union side's successes were achieved mainly due to the surprise and involvement of the population in the uprising, which was free from occupation during the winter. The insurgents, however, were not suited to warfare away from their cities, and with the start of the spring sailing season, many residents of port cities found lucrative work on ships. The Prussian city councils had to conduct further operations with the help of mercenaries.

At the same time, the extension of the uprising to other social groups and the social character of their anti-Crusader speeches worried the patriciate of the great cities and the knighthood of the Prussian state, as they threatened to lose their quickly gained power by having to countenance the opinion of the commoners. Political struggles over privileges between individual cities and the division of power in the province shattered the original solidarity of the Prussian Union.

A change in Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen's position and the submission of conciliatory proposals at a time when individual strongholds were under attack proved decidedly late. Requests for conciliation and appeals for help from the monastic authorities to Mazovia, Denmark, Sweden and the Silesian principalities initially had no effect.

On March 6, 1454, after two weeks of negotiations with representatives of the Prussian Union, King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed an act of incorporation of Prussia into the Kingdom of Poland. Prussia retained local law and a state assembly (fees and duties introduced by the Teutonic Knights were abolished. The Prussian nobility was made equal in rights with the Polish nobility, and merchants were given freedom of trade.

On March 23, 1454, mercenaries recruited by the Order captured Chojnice, which was guarding the route from Germany to Pomerania, where the remnants of the Pomeranian fortress crews loyal to the Grand Master took refuge.

Christian Europe's reaction

On May 29, 1453, Turkish troops captured Constantinople, putting a final end to the Eastern Roman Empire. The fall of Constantinople, nullifying hopes for the unification of the two factions of Christianity after the Union of Florence, briefly made a big impression on Christian Europe.

In response, Pope Nicholas V attempted to defuse conflicts in Europe and form a pan-European anti-Turkish alliance by issuing appeals to European rulers. Despite the ineffectiveness of these appeals, the recapture of Constantinople from the hands of the Muslims became the main objective of the pontificate of his successor, Calixtus III, elected on April 8, 1455.The pope sent legates to European countries to urge the organization of an anti-Turkish crusade.

The diplomatic efforts of the popes had no effect, but negatively affected the image of the Kingdom of Poland; European rulers viewed negatively the launching of a war in alliance with the excommunicated Union of Prussia against the Teutonic State at a time of calls for a crusade in defense of Christianity. King Casimir IV found himself politically isolated. Poland's isolation deepened in July 1455, when Pope Callistus III threatened to extend excommunication to the allies of the Union of Prussia, but European states made no attempt at organized intervention in defense of the Order.

Attempts by the Teutonic Order to obtain an end to the war through diplomatic means proved unsuccessful. The Prussian Union disregarded the banishment order issued by Emperor Frederick III on March 24, 1455, arguing that after the incorporation of Prussia into the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland it was no longer subject to imperial authority. Nor did Pope Calixtus III's imposition of an interdict on the rebellious provinces make much of an impression, since the Teutonic Order's previous disobedience to the Holy See's orders and verdicts and the pope's abuse of curses had weakened the significance of this legal remedy, although the curse facilitated the Teutonic Order's propaganda efforts.

The diplomatic position of the Kingdom of Poland improved in May and June 1462, as a result of an agreement with the new King of Bohemia, George of Poděbrady, and the conclusion of treaties shattering the pro-Teutonic diplomatic front with Duke Ludwig IX of Bavaria, leader of the anti-cesarist opposition in the Reich, and the Emperor's brother, Archduke Albrecht VI of Austria. Emerging from political isolation, King Casimir IV was able to ignore the mission of a papal legate sympathetic to the Teutonic Knights, Archbishop Jerome Lando, who was not allowed into Krakow, and forced the pope to send a new legate, Rudolf of Rüdesheim, who received new instructions.

German Reich

Despite general sympathy for the Teutonic Order, the states and cities of the German Reich, especially those belonging to the Hanseatic League, could not afford to intervene in its defense because of the strong economic ties linking them to the cities of the Prussian Union. In the mid-15th century, the rift between the various cities of the Hanseatic League deepened, making the union incapable of joint political action and limited to fighting over trade privileges and fighting pirates.

The immediate interest also prevented the Elector of Brandenburg Frederick from supporting the Order, as the critical financial situation of the Teutonic Knights forced them to obtain a loan of 40,000 Rhine florins from Brandenburg for the pledge of New March. The Elector was consolidating his power in the province during the Thirteen Years' War, and the Order's prolonged financial troubles prevented the latter from taking steps to regain it.

Czech Republic

Shortly before the outbreak of war, on February 10, 1454, King Casimir IV married Elisabeth Rakusanka, the older sister of Ladislaus the Great, who had reigned in Bohemia and Hungary since 1453. Queen Elisabeth was formally heir to the throne in Prague and Buda, as her first-born son Ladislaus Jagiellonian, born in 1456, inherited these rights. The international situation on the southern border of the Kingdom of Poland became considerably complicated in November 1457 with the death of Ladislaus the Sepulchre. Power in Prague was assumed by the leader of the Utraquists, the regent George of Poděbrady, who, concerned about the possible dynastic claims of the Jagiellonians, entered into an agreement with the Teutonic Order, facilitating the grand master's recruitment of mercenaries in the Bohemian lands. At the Glogow congress in May 1462, the alliances were reversed - George of Podiebrads, reacting to the Pope's mounting of an anti-Catholic coalition of Catholic states, accepted other Silesian acquisitions of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and its actions against the Teutonic Order after Casimir IV's rejection of the proposal to incorporate Catholic Wroclaw.

Pope Paul II, in conflict with George of Poděbrady, began in 1465 to form an anti-Catholic coalition of Catholic states. To this end, he made strenuous efforts to bring a swift end to the Polish-Teutonic war on the grounds of a just settlement of the affiliation of the disputed lands, delegating a new legate - Bishop Rudolf of Rüdesheim - to carry out this mission.

The victory of the moderate Utraquist movement over the radical Taborites in the Hussite Wars in 1434 resulted in the progressive emigration of many Taborite supporters, who feared repression, outside the countries of the Czech Crown. They were eagerly hired as soldiers in the wars fought in Europe and were valued as experts in effective military tactics involving the use of plebeian infantry and the military use of carts.

Scandinavia

The anti-German Kalmar Union, concluded in 1397 between Denmark, Norway and Sweden, was weakened in 1448 with the assumption of power in Stockholm by the national king Charles Knuttson Bonde. However, the strongest state in the Union - Denmark - sought to re-establish a close union, gaining the support of Sweden's privileged strata. With the reluctance of the Swedish commoners, the Kalmar Union, severed and renewed several times, could not bring the Scandinavian states dominance in the Baltic.

The incorporation of the State of Prussia by the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland was received negatively by Denmark, as it opened access to the Baltic to another power, reducing the chances of Scandinavian domination. In response to the Thirteen Years' War, Danish King Christian I in the summer of 1455 gave his support to the Teutonic Order, and the Danish fleet began fighting the shipping of the Union of Prussia. At the same time, Denmark laid claim to part of Inflants-Estonia, hoping to receive the province in exchange for assistance to the Order.

As a result, Christian I's fellow rival, Swedish King Charles Knuttson, exiled from Sweden in 1456, found refuge in Pomerania and, waiting for an opportunity to resume the struggle for the throne in Stockholm, took action against the Teutonic Knights. This and the defeats of the Danish fleet against the ships and capers of the Prussian Union in 1457-1458 prompted King Christian I to accept the Hanseatic truce brokerage, as a result of which the Teutonic Order's only active ally withdrew from hostilities.

In August 1464, Charles Knuttson left Pomerania with his forces and attempted to regain the Swedish throne.

Pomerania

On January 3, 1455, the Kingdom of Poland concluded a treaty with the former ruler of Denmark, dethroned in 1440 and exiled from Gotland in 1449, Prince Eric I of Slupsk and Stargard - in exchange for giving Lębork and Bytow as fiefs, the ruler undertook to defend these cities against the Teutonic Order. The death of Erik I in 1459 nullified the Polish-Slupsk alliance, and his successor to the ducal throne, Erik II Pomeranian, took up a short-lived partnership with the Teutonic Order, returning Lębork and Bytow to the Teutonic Knights on October 10, 1460, resulting in a Polish invasion of the Duchy of Slupsk in 1461. In 1462, after the battle of Swiecin, which was victorious for Poland, Erik II again made an agreement with Poland, receiving Lębork and Bytow in fief.

Lithuania

Lithuania, which was in a resumed personal union with Poland in 1444-1445, was divided from Poland by a conflict over the belonging of the border lands of Volhynia and Podolia. At a convention in Brest, representatives of Poland and Lithuania agreed on a compromise division of the disputed territory favorable to Lithuania, but some Lithuanian leaders advocated using Poland's involvement in the war with the Teutonic Order to force an adjustment of the settlement in Lithuania's favor.

King Casimir IV Jagiellon opted for a joint military effort of the Jagiellonian Union and made efforts to induce Lithuania to engage in the war. The Grand Ducal Council was opposed to this. In the end, only the Lithuanian court banners of King Casimir IV Jagiellon, who was also Grand Duke of Lithuania, took part in the military action on the territory of the Prussian State.

More understanding of Baltic politics was shown by the administrator of Samogitian Samogitia, starosta Jan Kezgail, who obeyed the orders of Casimir Jagiellon, but the forces at his disposal were only sufficient to temporarily block the land route from Inflants to Prussia and make occasional forays against the fortress of Memel (Klaipeda), which guarded the mouth of the Niemen River.

Lithuania's attitude is judged very harshly by Polish historian Wladyslaw Konopczynski (who describes this neglect of Lithuania as "clouded by a consciousness that is not national, but simply tribal"), who notes that by failing to cooperate with its Polish ally, Lithuania not only lost the chance to strengthen its position on the Baltic, but by allowing the eastern part of the Prussian state to survive, it exposed itself to serious danger in the future.

The Polish-Lithuanian conflict escalated after the deaths of the Mazovian princes Siemowit VI and Wladyslaw II in late 1461 and early 1462. King Casimir IV decided to divide the inheritance of his fiefs by incorporating the Rawska and Bełsk lands into the Kingdom of Poland, leaving the Sochaczew lands under the rule of Princess Anna Oleśnicka and ignoring the demands of Lithuania.

Poland's successes in the final phase of the war deprived Lithuanian policy of a viable basis, making it impossible to exert pressure to change the borders within the Jagiellonian Union. As a result, Lithuania received no political benefit from its separatist policy.

Union-Poland side

The military system of the Kingdom of Poland was formed during the reign of the last Piasts - Wladyslaw Lokietek and Casimir the Great - and in this form, without significant reforms, it survived until the beginning of the Thirteen Years' War. The basis of the kingdom's army was a levée en masse (a mass movement) of all private landowners, to which each was obliged to appear with his own armaments and mail (lackeys). The clergy did not appear in person, but paid deputies. The mobilization of the common movement was slow. The nobility (knighthood), following the example of the expeditions of 1414, 1422, 1430 and 1433, after appearing at an armored point in an armed camp, made political demands for the confirmation and extension of privileges for their state, on the fulfillment of which they conditioned further participation in the war. Knights forming heavy cavalry were incapable of systematic efforts at sieges of cities and protection of trade routes.

The establishment of professional mercenary troops and artillery, present in the army of the Kingdom of Poland since the reign of Casimir the Great, depended on the state of finances. The ruin of the royal treasury in the late reign of Ladislaus Jagiello and his son Ladislaus Varna, related to debts resulting from the Hungarian War and the defeat at Varna, prevented King Casimir IV Jagiellon from fielding mercenary armies in the first phases of the war. In the second half of the Thirteen Years' War, taxes on the clergy and nobility passed at sejmiks, particularly in Greater Poland, made it possible to create a modern army.

The Kingdom of Poland initially lacked capable and experienced military commanders. The situation was changed by the passage of the Czech mercenary Oldrzych Czerwonka to the king's side. The few royal mercenaries were initially commanded by Prandota Lubieszowski, and after his death by Piotr Dunin.

The Prussian Union's insurgent activities in the first phase of the war were carried out with the help of a common movement of townspeople, who took by surprise and then demolished the Teutonic strongholds of Gdansk, Torun, Elblag and Königsberg. Residents also took part in defending the cities of the Prussian Union and serving to maintain the city walls. The main seats of the Prussian Union had strong fortifications surrounding the cities.

The Union entrusted the systematic warfare of besieging fortresses and cities held by the Teutonic Order and escorting ships and river convoys to professional soldiers. The money to enlist mercenaries came from taxing trade.

Attempts to take action by the Prussian Union's organized knights belonging to the Prussian middle nobility within the levée en masse yielded meager results in the first two years of the Thirteen Years' War. Declining support for the Prussian Union among the Lower Prussian knights prevented the use of this form of military activity in the later period.

The mercenaries were commanded by hired professional commanders, among whom the Czech mercenary Jan Skalski stood out, and city councilors of the Prussian Union's seat cities.

For offensive naval warfare, involving the capture of foreign ships and the blockade of enemy ports, the Prussian Union issued so-called caper lists, authorizing the owners and crews of private armed ships to attack foreign ships and coasts "by order of Casimir, King of Poland" in exchange for a substantial share of the conquest. Captured ships (pryas) were guided to the port of Gdansk. The most prominent capers were Wincenty Stolle and Szymon Lubbelow.

Teutonic side

The military strength of the Teutonic Order in the 15th century, based on the latifundia-holding knights and the dignitaries who constituted the Order's political leadership, serving in heavy cavalry, was broken by the defeat at Grunwald and was never rebuilt. In addition, the outbreak of an uprising in Prussia in February 1454 deprived the Grand Master of control over any part of the monastic state and the cooperation of his existing subjects, which made it impossible to convene a common movement of landowners. Out of necessity, the Teutonic Order devoted all its financial resources to recruiting mercenaries from German countries and Bohemia. The professional mercenary troops constituted both the crews of Teutonic fortresses and cities, and were used for systematic warfare in sieges, reliefs and attacks on union shipping. From the beginning of the war, they were commanded by experienced and capable professional commanders Bernard Szumborski (Bernard von Zinberg), Fritz Raweneck (Raveneck), Kaspar Nostyc (Nostitz), Oldrzych (Urlich) Czerwonka and an energetic dignitary of the Teutonic Order, nephew of the Grand Master and komtur of Elblag, Henrich Reus von Plauen.

The Order was supported by the Silesian principalities ruled by the Germanized Piasts, who fielded their own contingents of professional mercenary troops.

The depletion of financial reserves made it difficult for the Grand Master to continue the war with professional troops, but the Teutonic Knights managed to obtain steady tax revenues from the revindicated monastic lands (especially Sambia) and Teutonic possessions in Germany (baliwats), as well as loans and allowances from the allies. An important source of sustenance for some fortress crews was the looting of ships and convoys carrying goods between the cities of the Prussian Union, as well as the tribute extorted from merchants carrying goods along Prussian rivers. The Teutonic Knights conducted their operations on inland waters using fleets of armed boats manned by sailors and mercenaries hired by supporting cities.

As the hostilities prolonged, the Teutonic Order regained support among the commoners of some cities in the Prussian Union, making it possible to successfully carry out pro-Teutonic conspiracies: a pro-Teutonic faction operating inside the city would, under favorable circumstances, paralyze the defenses, allowing the Order's troops to recapture the city.

For operations in the Baltic Sea, the Teutonic Order, like the Prussian Union, hired cappers, and also attempted to bribe cappers hired by the cities of the Prussian Union.

Interested in maritime trade with the Teutonic Order state and Inflants, the Kingdom of Denmark and the city of Amsterdam were forced, as a result of attacks by Prussian Union capers, to arm ships bound for Teutonic and Inflantic ports. In Denmark, as in Sweden, individual counties were obliged to field ships with crews at the king's call. However, systematic operations against enemy shipping were carried out using capers.

Warships differed from merchant ships by fitting a castellum - a superstructure made of wood to facilitate the boarding or firing of another vessel - in the fore and aft of the deck.

Stage I of the war (1454 - autumn 1455): attempt to incorporate the Prussian state

On April 21, 1454, the Kingdom of Poland delivered to the Teutonic Order the act of declaration of war of February 22, 1454, and on May 28, 1454, King Casimir IV Jagiellon accepted tribute from the Prussian states of the Chelmno land in Torun, annexing the lands of the Teutonic Order state to the Kingdom. In the following days, tributes were paid by the states of the Elblag land and Prussian bishops (in Elblag on June 10 and 11, 1454), Gdansk (June 16, 1454) and the states and cities of Lower Prussia (June 19, 1454 in Königsberg). Jan Bazynski (Johannes von Baysen) became governor.

The Prussian Union mobilized mercenary troops and directed them under the command of Governor Scibor Bazynski's brother to lay siege to Malbork, Chojnice, Sztum. On April 1, 1454, the Malbork garrison, under the command of Komtur von Plauen, beat the besiegers at Kaldow and broke the siege and launched attacks on union shipping on the Nogat River and devastating raids on Elblag. In May 1454, Danzig troops under the command of Wilhelm Jordan again besieged Malbork.

Sztum was captured by the unionists on August 8, 1454, which enabled them to direct a larger force at the last two strongholds held by the Teutonic Knights, Malbork and Chojnice.

However, the seemingly desperate situation of the Teutonic Order in the summer of 1454 did not reflect the actual balance of power. The Kingdom of Poland could not provide the unionists with prominent assistance, as it was then experiencing a deep financial crisis, linked to the ruin of the royal treasury as a result of the previous king Ladislaus Varna's unsuccessful war for Hungary and defeat at the Battle of Varna in Bulgaria in 1444. King Casimir IV Jagiellon could not thus mobilize mercenary troops, as he would not have had the financial means to pay them, and decided to direct against the Teutonic stronghold of Chojnice a common army from the provinces of Wielkopolska and Kujawy, as well as court banners.

On the other hand, the Order's Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen, at the outbreak of war, did not control any part of the Teutonic Order's state and, as a result, being unable to convene a common army, could only rely on allied troops and mercenaries. All Teutonic funds, including those obtained from loans and income from Teutonic estates in the German Reich (bailiwicks), were used for this purpose. The troops mobilized in Bohemia and Germany, numbering about 15,000 soldiers, were placed under the command of the capable and experienced commander Bernard Szumborski. The Teutonic Knights were joined by the troops of Duke Rudolf of Zagan (1,900 men). Since the unionists had seized all the Teutonic seaports, the only way to bring the captured army to Prussia was to march overland through the New March and the Pomeranian principalities to Chojnice, which was besieged by a common march from Wielkopolska and Kujawy.

The nobility of Greater Poland, mobilized as part of the common march at Cerekwica, recognized the unchecked rule of the magnates and the predominance of Lesser Poland as the cause of the financial ruin of the Kingdom of Poland and, following the example of the war expeditions of 1414, 1419 and 1422, demanded that the ruler grant various privileges. Taking advantage of the difficult situation of King Casimir IV, who was deprived of court troops, she made demands to increase the role of the middle nobility and regional sejmiks at the expense of limiting the influence of the oligarchy and higher clergy on the governance of the Polish state in exchange for agreeing to take part in the expedition. The king's acceptance of the knights' demands and the issuance of a privilege for the nobility of Greater Poland on September 15, 1454, in Cerekwica, made it possible to take action against Chojnice with the forces of the common march.

Before the siege of Chojnice had any effect, mercenary Teutonic-Silesian troops commanded by Bernard von Zinnenberg and Rudolf von Sagan came to the fortress from the west with relief. They numbered 15,000 soldiers and consisted 40% of infantry manning Hussite battle wagons. King Casimir IV decided on the battle and, under pressure from an internally divisive council, entrusted command of his army of more than 16,000 soldiers to the militarily inexperienced Greater-Prussians and reached an agreement on the repayment of wages with the commanders of the Prussian mercenaries. No commander-in-chief was appointed.

On September 18, 1454, the Battle of Chojnice ended in a heavy defeat for the Polish army and demonstrated the superiority of mercenary armies over the common movement of knights - after the first successful attack by the Polish cavalry, in which von Sagan was killed and von Zinnenberg was taken prisoner, the Polish attack collapsed in an attempt to capture the Teutonic Knights' wagenburg, and the army was surprised by the Chojnice garrison's advance on its wing. The royal army was shattered, suffering losses of more than 3,500 killed and taken prisoner, and the king had to save himself by fleeing.

As a result of the victory at Chojnice, the Teutonic army gained open access to the Prussian state and the relief of Malbork, and in addition, separate mercenary troops were able to garrison the cities and fortresses regained by the Grand Master. At the same time, the prestigious defeat of Casimir IV was a shock to a large part of the towns and knights of Prussia and Pomerania, unconvinced about the new power, and the act of incorporation of the Prussian state was undermined among the countries of Europe.

The defeat at Chojnice required vigorous action by the Polish side to maintain possession, as in the changing conditions mercenary fortress crews presented exorbitant demands and began requisitions among the townsfolk and peasants, resulting in unrest and fugitives. It also became increasingly difficult for Poland and Torun to maintain contact with Danzig and Lower Prussia. As a result, more towns and fortresses, either out of fear of Teutonic reprisals for previous treachery or due to the rise of pro-Teutonic sympathies, began to switch to the side of the Order, and loyalty to the king was maintained only by those fortresses in Pomerania that received military support quickly enough.

On September 21, 1454, the siege of Malbork was lifted, in the Vistula basin Tczew surrendered to the Teutonic Knights after a brief siege, Gniew and Starogard were taken without a fight, as well as Ilawa (November 15, 1454) and Tapiava in the Pregolese basin. King Casimir IV was forced to hand over Lębork and Bytow for life to Prince Eric II of Pomerania on January 3, 1455, as he was unable to defend the western part of Gdansk Pomerania. At the same time, the Order's authorities, lacking sufficient funds to pay the mercenaries' wages, decided to sign a contract with the commanders of the mercenary troops on October 9, 1454, guaranteeing future payment on pledge of the cities and fortresses maintained by the mercenaries in exchange for the mercenaries' agreement to continue serving.

Lithuania rushed to the immediate aid of the Prussian Union - at the behest of Casimir IV, the starosta of Samogitia, Jan Kezgail, garrisoned the region of Palanga, blocking any possibility of supplying the Teutonic Knights with reinforcements from Inflants.

King Casimir IV attempted to counteract further advances of the Teutonic counteroffensive by organizing an expedition of the Lesser Poland common army to Prussia. This required granting the nobility of Malopolska and the Ruthenian lands privileges similar to those of Cerekwitz, which took place on November 11 and 12, 1454, in Nieszawa. The resulting expedition was stopped by the Teutonic Knights at Łasin on December 18, 1454.The Polish side besieged the fortress unsuccessfully until January 13, 1455, when - in view of the lack of prospects for its capture - it was decided to retreat. This enabled the Teutonic forces to make an attempt to capture Danzig, thwarted by the defeat of the Teutonic Knights in a skirmish at Biskupia Górka on the outskirts of the New Town of Danzig on January 13, 1455.

The grand master's next expedition led to the recapture of Działdow from the hands of the union (February 15, 1455), while on March 9, 1455, the Teutonic Knights failed to capture Toruń or Chelmno, as the reinforced union garrison thwarted a pro-Teutonic conspiracy in those cities.

The capture by the Teutonic Knights of five of the eleven fortresses guarding the crossing of the lower Vistula enabled the Teutonic Order's armies to maneuver freely on both banks of the river, crossing the river and thus attacking any city under the control of the Prussian Union. At the same time, it threatened the union's commercial navigation on the Vistula, threatening to cut off Danzig and Elblag from Toruń, Chelmno and the Polish hinterland and consequently the economic ruin of the cities belonging to the Prussian Union.

In February 1455, the Teutonic garrison of Gniew seized a convoy of ships from Toruń and Grudziądz, and together with the garrison of Tczew built an earth-and-wood fort (basteja) on the bank of the Vistula to block ship traffic on the river. In this situation, the Gdansk City Council decided to introduce a system of armed convoys on April 23, 1455, and the congress of the Prussian Union in Elblag passed a new tax for this purpose in February 1455. It was supported by the patriciate (the wealthiest bourgeoisie and representatives of merchants), but opposed by the commoners (representatives of craft guilds), among whom disputes over the new levy and the costs of the protracted war caused a wave of discontent with the policy of the Prussian Union.

As a consequence of this discontent, on March 24, 1455, pro-Teutonic revolts broke out in two of Königsberg's (Königsberg) three main districts - the Old Town and Lipnik (Löbenicht) - and only the port district of Knipawa (Kneiphof) remained loyal to Casimir IV Jagiellon.

On April 7, 1455, the grand master brought about a regional truce with the union crews of the fortresses of Starogard and Nowe on the Vistula (who refused to fight when they were not paid their pay by the agreed date) and set out from Malbork at the head of an expedition to homage Lower Prussia. On April 13, 1455, he reached Königsberg and began the siege of Knipawa, and on April 16, 1455, he accepted the homage of the Old City of Königsberg and Lipnik, and then homaged Tapiava (again) and Labiava in the Pregolese basin, and Regnata and Tilsit in the Nemunas basin.

Impressed by these successes, the side of the Teutonic Order state was taken by the Livonian master, against the position of the city councils of Riga, Dorpat and Revla. In response, the Lithuanians, led by Kezgaila, entered the Order's territory and seized the castle of Klaipeda (Memel) at the mouth of the Nemunas with a small force.

The Prussian Union attempted to come to Knipawa's aid, but only April convoys from Danzig with a small (400 mercenaries) armed assistance reached the port. The May convoys with food were repulsed by von Plauen's soldiers, and on May 25, 1455, the relief organized by the Lower Prussian common army (2,000 soldiers) under the command of Ramesh Krzykoski was broken up at Prussian Ilawa (more than 1,000 killed and taken prisoner).

Another attempt by Casimir IV to lift the siege of Knipawa in June 1455 failed; the king was unable to persuade Lithuania to take up arms against the Order, and an expedition of 1,600 mercenaries organized by him and the city of Gdansk under the command of Jan Skalski proved too weak and was limited to seizing the Old Town of Braniewo and Dobre Miasto and ravaging the Balga region. Having obtained reinforcements (600 mercenaries from Inflants and a 1,500-man contingent of Balthasar, Duke of Zagan), von Plauen had 4,000 soldiers at his disposal and launched the final assault of Knipawa on July 6, 1455. On July 14, 1455, the district capitulated on honorable terms.

In July, the Order's troops, attacking from Chojnice, captured Czarne and Debrzno, on July 10, 1455, the Order's expedition from Gniewo burned Swiecie, and in August the Teutonic Order captured Olsztyn and southern Warmia. The Unionists, however, succeeded in burning Frombork and garrisoning the fortified cathedral in that city on July 21, 1455, and in August repelled a Teutonic attack on Welawa (200 Teutonic kills). In September 1455, King Casimir IV organized the largest expedition of the common movement to Prussia (30-40 thousand armed men), however, the offensive collapsed on October 7 for the second time at the unsuccessfully besieged fortress in Łasin. The ineffectiveness of the common movement in besieging cities led to the belief that in the future the war should be fought with mercenary troops.

In November 1455, an outing of Teutonic mercenaries from Königsberg led to the burning of the castle and suburbs in Klaipeda and the retreat of the Lithuanians from the area of that city. Reinforced by reinforcements from Inflants (200 mercenaries), the Teutonic Knights carried out a strike on the Lithuanian town of Palanga in December 1455, where they destroyed Lithuanian earthen fortifications, thus opening a road from Prussia to Inflants and permanently capturing the second Baltic port after Königsberg.

The fall of Königsberg permanently changed the strategic situation of the warring parties: the Teutonic Order succeeded in regaining a port on the Baltic Sea and thus the possibility of maritime communication with Inflants and western Europe, and finally captured the mouth of the Pregel - one of the two great rivers of the Prussian state. This put in a very difficult situation the remaining union strongholds on the Pregel and its main tributary, the Lyna, which were still in union hands, and caused a decline in the importance and prestige of the Prussian Union in the eastern part of the Teutonic Order state. In addition, the Königsberg fleet went over to the side of the Teutonic Knights, forcing Gdansk and Elblag to separate some of their ships from the Vistula and Nogat for operations on the Bay of Freshwater and the Vistula Lagoon. Moreover, in 1455, the Gdansk city council was forced to take up arms in the Baltic Sea to cripple Teutonic trade, as well as the supply of food and armaments to the Order.

This success made a big impression on the Warmian chapter, which agreed to the grand master's control of the bishop's estates (Olsztyn and Frombork), as well as on the individual cities of the Prussian Union. Gloom prevailed among the Order's opponents, there were voices about the futility of continuing the war and the lack of prospects for ultimate military success. The attempt to incorporate the monastic state into the Kingdom of Poland failed.

Phase II of the war (1455-1458): war of attrition

The crisis was overcome by the union side as a result of the unyielding attitude of the Pomeranian cities, which, led by Gdansk and Jan and Scibor Bazynski, were determined to continue the war.

The series of Teutonic successes was halted by a financial crisis related to the need to pay the mercenary troops with which the Order conducted its warfare. Already in April 1455, the grand master's debt to his own troops exceeded 400,000 Hungarian zlotys (or 640,000 Prussian fines). The mercenaries did not agree to another extension of repayment and refused to continue warfare, and the lack of prospects for repayment of this amount led to a revolt of Teutonic mercenaries on May 2, 1455. Bohemian and German rotamasters at the head of their armies seized the fortresses of Malbork, Tczew and Ilawa as pledge for the unpaid debts and held the Teutonic Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen hostage in the Teutonic capital.

In June 1455, after the dismemberment of the Lower Prussian Common Rush in the Battle of Ilawa Prussia, the mercenaries had the largest operating armed force in Prussia and, being able to dictate terms to both bankrupt parties to the conflict, became masters of the position, and not expecting to recover their debts from the grand master, the leader of the rotamen Oldrzych (Ulrich) Czerwonka (Oldřich Červenka) made a proposal to sell the 21 cities and fortresses maintained by the mercenaries to Poland. In view of the exorbitant demands of the mercenaries and the unsuccessful great expedition of the common march near Lasin, which lasted from September to October 1455, negotiations were protracted. The negotiating situation became more complicated when, in December 1455, the Teutonic mercenaries, disappointed by the lack of progress in negotiations with representatives of the Prussian Union and the Kingdom of Poland, threatened to make an offer to buy the fortresses to all potentially interested parties (in addition to the Teutonic Order and the Kingdom of Poland, these included Inflants, Brandenburg, the Pomeranian principalities and the exiled Swedish King Karol Knutsson and the bishops of Warmia) to hand over the seized fortresses in exchange for satisfaction of their claims.

In January 1456. The Teutonic Knights recaptured the fortress in Ryn and took revenge on peasants rebelling against the arbitrariness of the Teutonic crews in the region of the Great Masurian Lakes, then captured Frombork Cathedral in February 1456 and undertook an unsuccessful expedition to the Chelmno lands, during which they suffered defeats at Brodnica and Lubawa. In the spring - due to the lack of funds on both sides to continue the war - military activities on land froze. Both sides limited themselves to destructive raids by armed boats - on February 21, 1456, the Danzigers won a skirmish at Tczew (about 25 Teutonic Knights killed and taken prisoner), and from August they attacked Sambia and the Balga region, which had not yet been destroyed by warfare. On November 1, 1456, a Danzig landing party under the command of Henrik von Staden and Michael Ertmann plundering Sambia in the area of Lőchstadt and Rybaki was smashed by the Teutonic crew of Königsberg (more than 250 killed and taken prisoner, including the commanders).

In February 1456. The Gdansk City Council, after warning the Hanseatic Union, issued caper letters to four more captains, allowing them to attack Teutonic, Livonian and Danish ships and raid Teutonic shores. A Danzig landing force (1,000 mercenaries) together with Kezgayla's Lithuanians again garrisoned the Palanga region, cutting the land route from Inflants to Prussia. On March 21, 1456, von Plauen captured Lithuanian fortifications with a sudden attack.

In June 1456, once again, the unpaid union crews of the fortresses of Nowe and Starogard refused to obey orders and began collecting tribute from merchant ships crossing the Vistula for overdue pay.

After negotiations led by Bazynski and Chancellor Jan Gruszczynski on the union and Polish side, a treaty was concluded with the mercenaries represented by Czerwonka on July 29, 1456, in Torun, providing for the transfer of 21 cities and strongholds to the Polish side in three rounds by December 6, 1456, in exchange for the enormous sum of 436,000 Hungarian zlotys.

In response, Teutonic commanders Szumborski and von Plauen took advantage of the divergence of opinion between Bohemian and German rotamasters and, on August 14, 1456, led to the surrender of 15 fortresses to them by German mercenaries in exchange for ad hoc advances. On August 16, 1456, Czerwonka made a new deal with the king, providing for the surrender of six fortresses (Malbork, Tczew, Ilawa, Chojnice, Czarny and Debrzno), but the crews of the last three fortresses were eventually persuaded to wait for the Teutonic Knights to pay. The Grand Master obtained the funds needed for the advances through a special tax collected in Sambia and a loan received from Inflants (200,000 Hungarian zlotys).

In the summer of 1456, the Lithuanians under the command of Kezgaila once again fortified themselves in Palanga, and on August 5, 1456, the Gdansk fleet struck Klaipeda, ravaged the area and began a naval blockade of the city.

In September 1456, against the backdrop of collecting taxes needed to pay off mercenaries, an anti-King rebellion broke out in Torun, suppressed by armed crews of ships covering the Vistula convoys.

The Polish side had a big problem collecting the amount promised to the mercenaries. King Casimir IV, raising funds, issued to Gdansk the so-called Great Privilege on May 15 and 25, 1457, granting the city great commercial and judicial powers on the Baltic coast, significantly limiting royal authority, and borrowed 15,000 fines from Karol Knutson for the pledge of Puck and Leba, and finally, on June 6, 1457, acquired from the mercenaries the town and fortress of Malbork (which the king solemnly entered on June 8), and on June 13 Tczew and Ilawa for a total of 190,000 Hungarian zlotys. Czerwonka became the starosta of Malbork, and Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen fled to Chojnice.

King Casimir IV granted privileges to Elblag on August 24, 1457, and Toruń on August 26, 1457, in exchange for a commitment to continue funding the war effort. In addition to the privileges, Toruń received a promise to liquidate the competitive market in Nieszawa.

In an effort to extend the success, King Casimir IV organized an expedition of a common force from Greater Poland and mercenaries (about 1,300 men) supported by the Gdansk fleet (a dozen boats, about 350 mercenaries) under the command of Prandota Lubieszowski against the last Teutonic stronghold held by the Teutonic Knights on the Vistula - Gniew (Mewe). The siege, which began on July 30, 1457, despite initial successes (the garrison lacked supplies and the will to fight), ended in failure on September 22, 1457, due to the treachery of a knight from the common movement (later sentenced to death by the royal court), who started a mutiny in the Polish camp.

During the siege of Gniew, Grand Master von Erlichshausen managed to secretly make his way by fishing boat from Chojnice to Königsberg, which he made the new capital of the Order in August 1457, and from there he continued to fight against the King and the Union. He obtained limited but steady funds for this purpose from the newly enacted levies in Sambia; moreover, under pressure from Czerwonka, Bernard Szumborski was finally released from royal captivity and was able to take command of the Teutonic army. He launched an offensive in the Lyna River basin, plundering the vicinity of Welawa and Sepolno and winning the Battle of Kinkajmy, in which he defeated the union troops from Warmia commanded by Otto Machvic.

After recognizing the situation in Malbork and establishing contact with the Teutonic Knights' favorable inhabitants of the city, Grand Master von Erlichshausen advanced near Malbork and entered the city on the night of September 27-28, 1457, occupying it. The assault on the fortress (castle), which was undertaken immediately, was repulsed by the fortress crew commanded by Czerwonka. In the following days, the Teutonic Knights fortified themselves in the city and began a blockade of the fortress, while Czerwonka undertook a harassing shelling of the city from the castle walls. Leaving a stalemate, Szumborski began an expedition through the Vistula Zulawy towards Danzig, seizing smaller towns, but on October 1, 1457, after a skirmish near Nowy Staw, the Teutonic march was stopped by Danzig troops commanded by Lubieszowski, who were defending themselves in a wagenburg formation. The retreat of the Teutonic forces enabled the union troops from Elblag and Gdansk to establish cooperation with the Malbork fortress crew and send them supplies.

In the second half of October, Szumborski undertook an expedition to the land of Chelmno. A significant group of Chelmno residents, embittered by the collapse of the city's economy and importance and resentful of Casimir IV, who had not granted Chelmno privileges along the lines of Gdansk, Elblag and Toruń, expressed their readiness to recognize the Order's authority again. They were led by the mercenary Mikolaj Skalski. Having obtained its support, Szumborski captured Chelmno, one of the main seat cities of the Prussian union, on October 24, 1457.

The Teutonic Knights' retreat to Königsberg made it possible to undertake an expedition of 4,000 armed men from Toruń, covered by armed boats, on November 7, 1457, to lift the blockade of the Malbork fortress. On November 20, the expedition reached Malbork and began the siege of the city. The effect of the consistent blockade and shelling of Malbork was to ruin the city and burn the mills, as well as the collapse of the morale of the starved crew, who entered into surrender negotiations with the besiegers. The situation changed on January 19, 1458, when the Teutonic garrison was reinforced and well-equipped after a relief convoy, commanded by Szumborski, reached Malbork and broke into the city, with Augustyn Trotzeler taking command. Teutonic expeditions ruined the Vistula Zulawy, but the counteraction of Czerwonka and Scibor of Poniec had the effect of stopping the Teutonic offensive in Powisle. The intensity of the battle for the city decreased, while on March 18, 1458, the besiegers repulsed a raid by 400 Livonian mercenaries escorting a convoy of food, forcing them to withdraw to Gniew.

However, the Teutonic Knights managed to deliver some supplies to besieged Malbork by water through the Nogat River and, under the command of Szumborski, burned the outskirts of Toruń on March 23, 1458. On April 24, 1458, the Teutonic crew of Gniew, in a skirmish near Walichnowy, surprised and defeated the escort of a Vistula convoy from Toruń by capturing and plundering all the ships, which - despite the recapture of some of the ships by the Elblag fleet that arrived with relief - disorganized the movement of union convoys on the Vistula, and on May 27, 1458, another Teutonic convoy with food arrived in besieged Malbork.

In response to these setbacks, on July 20, 1458, another expedition of the common movement (20,000 nobles and 600 Tartars from the royal court banners) began, led by Peter of Szamotuly. After capturing the fortress at Papowo Biskupi, the expedition moved towards Malbork, but upon reaching the besieged city, they decided not to storm and proceeded to lay siege to the city again. On the night of August 15-16, 1458, the Teutonic Knights captured the stronghold in Nowem and began harassing union merchant shipping from their second position on the lower Vistula besides Gniew.

In view of the unresolved situation at Malbork - the Polish side was unable to capture the city, while the Teutonic Knights were unable to take the fortress - the two exhausted parties to the conflict agreed to a nine-month truce, signed in Prabuty on October 14, 1458, during which peace negotiations would take place.

The support of the Teutonic Knights by the Inflants in the spring of 1455 placed the conflict between the Prussian Union and Poland and the Teutonic Order in the broader context of the competition for control of the Baltic coast. Ruled by Christian I of Oldenburg, Denmark, interested in gaining control of ports on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, declared war on the Kingdom of Poland and the Union of Prussia on June 1, 1455, after concluding treaties with Inflants and Lübeck in Flensburg, and Danish ships began patrolling the Prussian coast. On July 14, 1455, the Teutonic Order regained Königsberg (the port of Knipawa), and at the end of November 1455 the second port on the Baltic Sea - Klaipeda. The Teutonic Knights thus gained the possibility of contact with their allies by sea and by seizing the estuaries of the Pregolese and Nemunas and began to take over trade with Lithuania based on the Kaunas waterway.

In response, the Gdansk city council was forced in 1455 to issue capers' letters to 13 captains of armed naval vessels, allowing them to attack ships bound for and from Königsberg and Klaipeda in order to cripple Teutonic trade and the supply of food and armaments to the Order. In 1456. The naval war was extended to authorize attacking ships bound for Inflants and Denmark, followed by mutual confiscation of Danish goods and ships in the Union of Prussia and Union ports in Denmark. In February 1456, the Gdansk city council, after warning the Hanseatic Union, issued caper letters to 4 more captains, allowing them to attack Teutonic, Inflantic and Danish ships and raid Teutonic coasts.

The cutting off of the territories held by the Grand Master from the Polish economic hinterland caused a significant increase in the price of certain goods, resulting in high profitability of trade. This prompted Hanseatic and Dutch merchants to risk traveling to Teutonic ports. In May 1456, an Amsterdam convoy heading for Königsberg led by the city's mayor, Mewes Reymersson, was attacked by Danzigers in the vicinity of the Balgian Strait, resulting in Amsterdam initiating military action against the union fleet.

Repeated clashes over the Balgian Strait, coupled with the Unionists' attempt to block it with sunken wrecks, cut off Elblag from the Baltic Sea, as a result of which Elblag's trade concentrated on transshipment of goods exported and imported through Gdansk.

In February 1457, the manufactured opposition expelled the national king Charles Knutsson from Sweden and restored Christian I to power on June 26, 1457. On the night of August 14-15, 1457, armed Danzig ships under the command of Jacob Heine in the First Battle near Bornholm wrecked and forced the retreat of a Danish convoy heading to help the Teutonic Knights (one ship was sunk).

At the beginning of 1458, Danzig decided to wage unrestricted naval warfare and step up the offensive: 21 letters of capers were issued in the spring of 1458 and 12 letters in the summer of 1458, and ships were authorized to attack Danish and Livonian shipping in the Danish Straits and along the coasts of West Pomerania and Mecklenburg, as well as to raid the cities and ports of Denmark, Danish Norway and Gotland. The capture of 45 ships by Danzig's capers paralyzed Baltic trade, with the result that the Hanseatic League began to pressure the conflicting parties, seeking a cessation of hostilities. The armistice between Denmark and Poland was concluded on July 28, 1458, in Gdansk, depriving the Teutonic Order of its main ally, although the truce was occasionally violated by both sides.

Stage III of the war (autumn 1458 - spring 1462): counteroffensive of the Teutonic Order

At the Petrograd Diet in January 1459, the faction determined to continue hostilities gained the upper hand and peace negotiations were broken off. The period of truce was used by merchants to resume trade on the water trade route on the Vistula and Pregole, as the Gdansk council temporarily abandoned the convoy system to avoid irritation. This made it possible to deliver supplies to the union strongholds on the Lyna River, but in the spring of 1459 conflicts erupted over the collection of tribute from merchants by the Teutonic crews of the strongholds in Nowem and Gniew and Tapiavo and Königsberg, as well as by the union stronghold in Swiecie. King Casimir IV Jagiellon forbade the purchase of security gilts from mercenaries of both sides, and river trade collapsed during the summer season. Between April and June 1459, Prince Eric of Pomerania died.

Hostilities resumed on July 13, 1459, but were limited to skirmishes between small detachments in Zulawy (near Malbork) and Pomerania (near Lębork) - both sides, exhausted by the prolonged war, could not mobilize larger forces. Another truce, not covering Gdansk Pomerania, was concluded by the Prussian states in Elblag in November 1459.

The Gdansk City Council proceeded to reorganize the convoy system on the Vistula, imposing a fixed fee on mercenaries of one Prussian fine per lash of goods and establishing a commission to enforce the fees. The Piotrków Seym, on December 18, 1459, enacted a ban on the resale of goods to Teutonic fortress crews, as well as a tax on goods and on clergy income for war purposes. The governor of Kujawy and the City Council of Toruń obtained the right to confiscate goods from those merchants who entered into deals with Teutonic mercenaries. The guard of the October convoy to Gdansk repulsed the Teutonic attack on ships and burned down the suburbs of Novi in retaliation.

His brother Scibor Bazynski became the new governor of Prussia after Jan Bazynski's death. At the beginning of 1460, the Teutonic Knights were the first to initiate military action; a detachment under the command of Kasper Nostyc entered the territory of the Kingdom of Poland and captured the fortress in Walcz, while a detachment commanded by the Grand Master moved up the Pregolese River near Welawa. A flotilla of 24 union ships under the command of Jan Skalski attacked the unprotected coast of Sambia and the Vistula Lagoon, carrying out destruction and plunder, but was unable to seriously threaten the rear of the Teutonic army.

In 1460, the Polish commander of the mercenary army Prandota Lubieszowski died. In March 1460, Oldrzych Czerwonka, accused by Bernard Szumborski of breaking the rules of honor by selling castles to Poland, appeared before the royal court in Prague. George of Poděbrady settled the dispute between the mercenaries, who were Czech subjects, in favor of the Teutonic commander, and Czerwonka was thrown into prison. Szumborski, with the loan he obtained, enlisted 3,000 mercenaries, at the head of whom he entered Pomerania. He was joined by the crew of Walcz, who burned the fortress after he left it.

Before Szumborski was able to reach Malbork with relief, the city capitulated before the royal army on August 6, 1460. In response, Szumborski divided his forces; the unit commanded by Raveneck attacked Pruszcz Gdanski and burned the suburbs of Gdanski, taking more than 300 Gdanskians captive, and then conducted a raid along the coast of the Gulf of Gdanski, seized Lębork and Bytow on October 10, 1460, and Puck on October 13, 1460. The forces commanded by Szumborski crossed the Vistula and, based on a base in Chelmno, captured Golub on the Drweca River (before September 19, 1460), blocking the castle, and on the night of November 10-11 his forces seized the fortress in Swiecie. Consequently, by the end of 1460, most of the strongholds of Gdansk Pomerania had been captured by the Teutonic Knights, and the main seats of the Prussian union - Gdansk and Torun - were directly threatened.

Casimir IV's counteraction was limited to raising funds to enlist 800 mercenaries, who were sent to garrison Gdansk. The command of this detachment was given to the burgrave of Kraków, Piotr Dunin. Despite the Teutonic successes, the convoy system allowed the unionists to maintain transport on the Vistula.

On August 19, 1458, the titular bishop of Warmia, Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (Enea Silvio de Piccolomini), was elected pope and took the name Pius II. Conflicted with Casimir IV Jagiellon, he appointed Paul Legendorf as his successor. In October 1460, Bishop Legendorf reached an agreement with Grand Master von Erlichshausen on the neutrality of Warmia. The union crews of Pasleka (Hollandt), Orneta (Wormditt) and Miłakowo (Liebstadt) in Northern Warmia, in the absence of receiving their pay, concluded a truce with the Teutonic Knights. On October 27, 1460, Welawa capitulated before the troops of the Teutonic Order. Legendorf between January and August captured Dobre Miasto (Guttstadt), Jeziorany (Seeburg) and Lidzbark (Lautenburg). The counteraction of the union fleet under Jan Skalski prevented the capture of the coastal city of Braniewo in April 1460 and led to the re-occupation of the coast of Sambia, but this did not prevent further Teutonic successes in the Lyna basin.

The popular movement of Greater Poland and Lesser Poland, supported by Mazovian contingents, called by King Casimir IV to Kuyavia instead of - as initially planned - Lower Prussia, was directed to western Gdansk Pomerania.

On the night of September 10-11, 1461, opposing the continued basing of Skalski's fleet in the city, Braniewo went over to the side of Bishop Legendorf, who immediately after this success attacked Frombork and besieged the cathedral held by the unionists.

On the night of September 15-16, 1461, Grand Master von Erlichshausen captured Frydland, on October 18 Sępopol (Schippenbeil) on the Lyna River and Kętrzyn (Rastenburg), and on October 27, 1461. - Morag (Mohrungen). As a result of the 1461 campaign, Lower Prussia was again under the rule of the Teutonic Order, and Warmia was captured by Bishop Paul Legendorf.

The Unionists, supported by royal mercenaries, counterattacked on the Vistula Lagoon, forcing Legendorf and the Teutonic Knights to retreat from Frombork in October 1461, and unsuccessfully attacking Braniewo on the night of November 29-30, 1461, where Skalski was wounded.

Initially, King Casimir IV's intention was to direct an expedition of the Cuyahoga common movement convened in the early summer of 1461 to the Lyna River, to help the crews of fortresses besieged by the Teutonic Knights and Bishop Legendorf. To this end, preparations began for a bridge over which the expedition was to cross the Vistula. Eventually, royal advisors required a change in the purpose of the expedition to western Gdansk Pomerania, in order to carry out an armed demonstration on the border of the Duchy of Slupsk, which was in chaos after the death of Eric of Pomerania, and to attack the fortress at Chojnice, through which the Teutonic Knights were bringing reinforcements by land.

On July 16, 1461, Krakow, during the riots caused by his attitude, the starosta of Chelm, Andrzej Tęczynski, brother of the castellan of Krakow Jan, died at the hands of the townspeople. Upon hearing of the death and desecration of the body of the representative of the most powerful magnate family, the assembled knights made demands to punish the city and threatened that otherwise they themselves would move near Krakow to mete out armed justice. King Casimir IV sided with the nobles, promising to meet the demands, and the expedition crossed the pre-war border of Prussia on August 25, 1461, captured the fortress of Debrzno on September 1, 1461, and proceeded to blockade Chojnice, held by Nostyc. At the same time, a punitive expedition into the Duchy of Slupsk plundered Szczecinek.

The lack of progress of the blockade of Chojnice, political factional fighting and deteriorating weather conditions influenced two important decisions in September, and these were the demobilization of the common army and the enactment of a tax to continue the war with the help of mercenaries, as advocated by the castellan Jan Tęczynski. Casimir IV withdrew from under Chojnice and, on September 25, 1461, at a convention of Prussian states in Bydgoszcz, apologized for the previous failure and presented a revised strategy of action, which was accepted by the unionists.

On October 16, 1461, the Prussian Union recaptured the fortress in Swiecie, and on October 31, 1461, forces arriving in Pomerania under the command of Peter Dunin, who had been promoted to court marshal, and numbering 2,000 mercenaries, took by storm the fortress in Łasin and, after moving boats from the Nogat River, the fortress in Sztum. On the night of November 11-12, 1461, Dunin and Szymborski clashed at Brodnica; the Teutonic Knights, cooperating with the inhabitants, took the town, but failed to capture the fortress. Dunin's expedition from Łasin delivered supplies to the castle and inflicted heavy losses on the besieging Teutonic Knights. The Unionists managed, amid fierce escort battles with Teutonic outposts from Nowe and Gniew, to maintain undisturbed convoy traffic on the Vistula.

On December 8, 1461, Raweneck captured Stargard, on January 6, 1462, the Teutonic Knights under Nostyc recaptured Debrzno, and on March 5, 1462, the fortress in Brodnica capitulated.

The final change in the system of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish strategy of warfare, agreed upon during the negotiations in the camp of the Chojnice common movement, took place in December 1461 at the seym in the New Town of Korczyna. In fulfillment of his promise to the knights, King Casimir IV convened a noble court to hear the case of the assassins of Andrzej Tęczynski, in defiance of the Piotrkow-Vislice Statutes and the privileges of Casimir the Great of December 7, 1358, ordering a nobleman to sue a townsman before a municipal tribunal. The tribunal, acting on the basis of the cerekwicki-nieszawski privileges, sentenced to death the mayor of Krakow Stanislaw Leitmiter and five townsmen responsible for keeping the peace in Krakow. On January 15, 1462, they were beheaded at Wawel Castle. At the same time, the Novokuznetsk Diet passed high taxes to enlist mercenaries and continue the war against the Teutonic Order.

In mid-1462, the Polish and union sides already possessed only Orneta and Frombork from the disputed territories in Warmia, Nidzica and Pasłęk in Upper Prussia, Malbork and Elbląg in Powisle, and Swiecie and Tczew from the fortresses guarding the Vistula. Maintaining communication between Poland and Torun, and Gdansk and Zulawy, threatened after the recent Teutonic successes, required maintaining a convoy system under the protection of an armed escort. The threatening situation resulted in the formation of a pro-Teutonic conspiracy in the Gdansk city council, bloodily suppressed by the council's pro-Polish majority.

The Teutonic Order, deprived of its Danish ally in 1459, began forming its own caper fleet with the help of Amsterdam and warned Hanseatic cities against trading with Danzig. In June 1460, the Teutonic fleet numbered 6-8 ships of little combat value, as experienced crews had been hired by the Prussian Union several years earlier.

Beginning in 1460, the Prussian Union, at the request of the Hanseatic League, limited naval warfare to patrolling the eastern Baltic coast and the island of Gotland and attacking only Teutonic and Livonian ships and ships bound for Klaipeda or Königsberg. Lübeck in February 1460 sent three of its own armed ships to Pomerania to monitor Gdansk's compliance with the truce and to combat pirates independent of the conflicting parties. On July 8, 1460, the Danzig caper ship "Lyckuff" commanded by Simon Lubbelow captured three Teutonic ships in the Second Battle near Bornholm, and three more were intercepted by Lübeck ships ("peace kogs") in the second half of July 1460. In October 1460, the Teutonic Order captured the new Baltic ports of Leba and Puck. Teutonic crews of these strongholds armed several ships and undertook a naval blockade of Gdansk in the spring of 1461, capturing 8 Polish ships. In response, Gdansk armed some 20 caper ships, which it sent to the area of Hel, Inflants and Gotland in the summer, chasing away Teutonic ships and capturing 10 Dutch ships. The resumption of the naval war prompted protests from Denmark and resulted in reprisals against Danzig merchants and capers. As a result, the Prussian Union decided to return the seized ships to the Dutch and issue neutral ships with certificates to trade with the Livonian cities.

As a result of the mediation of the Hanseatic League, the Prussian Union and the Kingdom of Poland concluded a peace treaty with the Kingdom of Denmark in Lübeck on August 6, 1462, a truce with the Livonian cities was concluded in September 1462, and in October 1462. - truce with Amsterdam in Bruges. In April 1463. The Hanseatic League directed four "peace kogs" against Teutonic ships attacking neutral ships.

In the summer of 1463, his own caper fleet, based on Skalski's fleet from Frombork and the caper Jacob Vochs, who had quarreled with the Gdansk city council, staged Elblag and attacked the island of Färö near Gotland after the truce ended.

Stage IV of the war (summer 1462-1466): the Polish offensive

In the first half of 1462, neither side in the conflict carried out active measures due to the possibility of Czech mediation at the Glogow convention. In the end, Grand Master von Erlichshausen did not appear in Glogow, and King Casimir IV on May 27, 1462 made a compromise deal with George of Podiebrad, giving the Kingdom of Poland a free hand for actions in Prussia. In addition, Ulrich Czerwonka was released from Czech captivity. Only the Teutonic garrison of Chojnice showed activity, plundering Krajna in June 1462.

The Polish side used the time to gather and reorganize forces and enlist new mercenaries, for which funds borrowed from the city council of Toruń were used. On July 1, 1462, Dunin's offensive on the Vistula began - under the protection of mercenary troops and court banners, 300 peasants destroyed crops near Chelmno to starve the Teutonic garrison of the city, and then the royal troops repulsed the Teutonic raid on Dybów Castle near Toruń and began shelling the Teutonic-held Golub.

On July 15, 1462, coalition Teutonic and Warmian forces under the command of von Erlichshausen and Legendorf in a force of 3,000 men besieged Frombork. In doing so, the conflict between Bishop Legendorf and Grand Master von Erlichshausen over Frombork Cathedral became apparent. In response, Dunin moved part of his forces to the Vistula Lagoon and, with the help of ships from Gdansk and Elblag, made an effective landing in Sambia, completely destroying Rybaki (Fishhausen) on the night of August 7-8, 1462, and on August 24, 1462, besieging Braniewo and making an incursion into northern Warmia. Fear of ransacking Sambia and a conflict between Grand Master von Erlichshausen and Bishop Legendorf over the right to Frombork Cathedral forced the Warmian-Teutonic army to abandon the siege. The Teutonic Knights retreated to Königsberg.

This enabled Dunin's army to return to Danzig and begin operations in late August 1462 to realize the main objective of the campaign - to cut off the remaining Teutonic-held strongholds in western Danzig Pomerania from Prussia. Reinforced by a 900-man detachment of Danzig mercenaries, commanded by Matthias Hagen, Dunin's 2,000-man army marched along the shore of the Bay of Danzig, pacifying Kashubian villages and cutting off the Teutonic garrison of Puck from food supplies.

In response, von Raveneck and Nostitz gathered the crews of the fortresses of Nowe, Lębork, Kiszewa, Gniew, Starogard and Puck, numbering 1,000 horsemen, 400 infantrymen and 1,300 armed local peasants. At the head of this force, on September 16, 1462, they settled Dunin's fortified stockade near Swiecin, building a palisade and terracing potential routes of retreat. On September 17, 1462, a decisive battle ensued: after several hours of fierce cavalry clashes, the Teutonic attack on the Polish infantry collapsed and von Raveneck was killed. A counterattack by Dunin's forces led to the capture of the Teutonic camp and the massacre of the Order's troops - about a thousand soldiers were killed, including 300 cavalry soldiers, 70 mercenaries were taken prisoner, the Poles also captured 200 carts with cannons and battle equipment. On the Polish and Prussian sides, 100 soldiers died in battle, and of the more than 150 seriously wounded, some died later in Gdansk. Among those who fell were Danzig councilman Maciej Hagen, while Piotr Dunin was seriously wounded in the hand and scratched in the thigh by a cannon shell. The Polish cavalry leading the pursuit repulsed a Pomeranian detachment led by Eric II of Pomerania, which came to the aid of the Teutonic Knights. Only the survivors of the Teutonic army led by Nostitz managed to retreat to Chojnice. The defeat at Swiecin settled the war in western Gdansk Pomerania, decimating the crews of the Teutonic strongholds and collapsing their morale. Dunin took complete initiative and captured Skarszewy on September 30, 1462 and Koscierzyna on October 4, 1462.

The successes of the Polish and Union sides in western Pomerania could not be countered by Bernard Szumborski, who lost a skirmish at Jasieniec near Nowe on September 17, 1462, and was unable to prevent the fall of the town of Golub, captured by Czerwonka on October 25, 1462.

After the defeats suffered in the autumn of 1462, the decimated forces of the Teutonic Order in the Vistula basin were at an impasse, and the commanders of the mercenaries, deprived of facilities and direct contact with Königsberg, lacked the money to pay their sub-commanders. Maintaining the Teutonic holdings depended on the intervention of the Grand Master's forces located in the Pregolese basin.

The planned offensive in Gdansk Pomerania by Teutonic forces from Königsberg was hampered by the lower Vistula River, on the banks of which, in early 1463, the Teutonic Order maintained only two fortresses, Gniew and Nowe. Access to them was blocked by Elbląg and Malbork, which were in the hands of the unionists and King Casimir IV. In this situation, Grand Master von Erlichshausen decided to await the actions of the Polish side and counteract accordingly, and to reinforce the crew of the key fortress in Gniew (Mewe), commanded by komtur Ulryk von Isenhofen.

Using the gained operational initiative, Piotr Dunin continued his efforts to cut off Gdansk Pomerania from Prussia: On July 6, 1463, Czerwonka's troops again destroyed the sowings near Chelmno, and on July 27, 1463, Tomiec of Mlodkow launched an attack on the fortress and city of Gniew. Merchants from Toruń and Mazovia pressured the Gdansk council to make Gniew a priority target for the offensive, as the city's strategic location above the Nogat River's outflow from the Vistula posed the greatest threat to the union's Vistula convoys. The siege corps, consisting of royal mercenaries and contingents issued by the city councils of Gdansk and Torun, numbered about 1,000 men and about 10 armed boats. The first assaults on the heavily fortified, conveniently located city and castle were repulsed and the union command decided to change tactics - it surrounded the city with field fortifications and began a strict blockade from the land and river.

Since the situation of the besieged fortress did not allow the Teutonic Order to hold it with the strength of its garrison alone, Grand Master von Erlischhausen decided to conduct a relief operation. In August 1463, a separate detachment under von Plauen set out from Lower Prussia and on September 7, near Now, joined with Szumborski's detachment from the Chełmno area to form a 1200-strong Teutonic army grouping from the south. The grouping went around besieged Gniew from the west and reached Starogard the next day.

The northern grouping of the Teutonic army, consisting of 1,500 soldiers and more than 300 sailors embarked on 44 ships and boats, set out from Königsberg for the relief of Gniew on September 7, 1463. The fleet, sailing southwest along the Vistula Lagoon with the intention of breaking through to the Vistula River, also carried supplies for the entire army. Grand Master von Erlichshausen planned to concentrate both groupings near Kiezmark in Zulawy.

The unionists, informed of the grand master's preparations, took measures to shield the siege corps: The crews of Malbork and Elblag, which additionally gathered its fleet at the mouth of the Nogat River, were reinforced. Gdansk blockaded the Szkarpawa River in the Zulawy area with field fortifications and manned the barrage with 10 ships and 500 mercenaries under the command of Councilman Maciej Kolmener (Matthias of Chelmno) and Captain Wincenty Stolle, and drew caper ships from the Baltic Sea to prevent the Teutonic Knights from moving along the northern shores of the Vistula Spit.

On September 9, 1463, the Order's fleet carrying the northern grouping of Teutonic forces attempted to force the dam at Zulawy, but was repulsed after two days of clashes. On September 12, 1463, an 800-man detachment from the crews of the Teutonic strongholds in Gdansk Pomerania joined the southern monastic grouping at Starogard, and the entire 2000-man grouping set off along the Vistula River to the north, forming a wagenburg on its left bank in the Czatkowa (Czattkau) area. Only a separate detachment crossed the Szkarpawa River and attacked a Danzig convoy with supplies.

Fearing an attack by Elblag's ships on the rear of his fleet, Grand Master von Erlichshausen withdrew on September 13, 1463 to the wider waters of the Vistula Lagoon (Fresh Bay) in the vicinity of the Elblag Highlands, where the Teutonic forces were entrenched and deprived of contact with Königsberg by the fleets of Elblag, Danzig and Kapr Vochs, numbering 33 ships. On September 15, 1463, in a battle on the Vistula Lagoon (Freshwater Bay), the unionists, taking advantage of favorable weather conditions and the superior quality of their smaller fleet, completely destroyed the Teutonic fleet, capturing or sinking 43 ships and killing some 1,000 and taking nearly 500 Teutonic prisoners. Only Grand Master von Erlichhausen's ship managed to retreat to Königsberg with the survivors. Upon hearing of the defeat of the main force, the unpaid and demoralized southern grouping of the Teutonic army disintegrated, and its individual units returned to the fortresses held by the Teutonic Knights and to Chelmno.

On September 29, 1463, the Elblag fleet under Skalski's command attacked and sacked the settlement of St. Albrecht near Königsberg. On October 24, 1463, unionists repulsed von Plauen's attack on Paslek. On December 13, 1463, Bernard Szumborski concluded a truce with King Casimir IV, under which the remaining towns of Chelmno, Brodnica and Starogrod in the Chelmno region recognized royal supremacy. In December, royal mercenaries, attacking from Nidzica, sacked Olsztyn.

Deprived of any hope of relief, Gniew capitulated on January 1, 1464.The Gniew operation, which was victorious for the Prussian Union and Poland, decided the outcome of the war. Having lost a key stronghold in Gdansk Pomerania, the entire Königsberg fleet and most of its army, as well as its Bohemian and Warmian allies, Grand Master von Erlichhausen could no longer count on a peace treaty favorable to the Teutonic Order.

On March 16, 1464, Bishop of Warmia Pawel Legendorf surrendered Warmia to King Casimir IV with a treaty in Elblag and pledged to declare war on the Teutonic Order after King Casimir IV sent reinforcements to the Warmian territories.

On April 1, 1464, the Elblag fleet won the skirmish for the Baltic Strait, defeating Teutonic boats manned by mercenaries from Inflants, and on July 2, 1464, the Elblag landing force under Skalski destroyed the shipyards near the Old City of Königsberg, preventing the Teutonic Knights from rebuilding their fleet until the end of the Thirteen Years' War.

On April 23, 1464, Danzig troops under the command of Maciej Kolmener blockaded Puck, held by the Teutonic Knights, and Teutonic mercenaries from Leba concluded a truce with the Teutonic Knights. In June 1464, Teutonic capers from the Curonian Lagoon captured 10 Danzig ships, but a retaliatory attack by Danzigers commanded by city councilors and Kapr Lubellow on Klaipeda managed to recapture them. Until the end of the war, Danzig capers patrolled the Balgian Strait and Klaipeda Strait, capturing individual Livonian ships attempting to break the blockade, and fought off Teutonic capers.

On July 28, 1464, Tomiec of Mlodkow, at the head of royal mercenaries, began the siege of Novy, the last Teutonic stronghold on the Vistula River. On July 30, 1464, a sudden coordinated raid by Teutonic crews from the besieged fortress and from Starogard and Pomeranian strongholds defeated the union troops, inflicting heavy losses on them, but on August 1, 1464, Dunin, at the head of 700 cavalrymen and 20 Torun ships, reached for Nowe, restoring the siege. On August 13, 1464, the besiegers were reinforced with royal flags and artillery and, after repulsing the crew's excursion, surrounded the city with field fortifications.

On September 24, 1464, the Teutonic garrison of Puck capitulated, and the Kingdom of Poland also captured Działdowo. Not having sufficient forces to carry out a relief of the fortress in Nowem, von Plauen tried to disrupt the siege with cavalry raids: October 13, 1464 on Elblag and on the night of October 30-31, 1464 on Torun. Both were unsuccessful.

On February 1, 1465, Nowe capitulated on honorable terms, and the Teutonic fortress crew marched out to Starogard, which was held by the Teutonic Order. The Prussian Union regained control of the entire course of the lower Vistula River.

The Teutonic Order received less financial aid from abroad each year, and attempts to introduce a new tax in Prussia provoked opposition from subjects and dignitaries. Unable to raise funds either to pay off debts to mercenaries or to raise new enlistments, Grand Master von Erlischausen was forced to abandon any active military action and make peace proposals. The Teutonic side, reconciled to the loss of the war and the loss of Pomerania, did not want to agree to the eventual loss of Malbork and control of the Nogat River. This demand was unacceptable to King Casimir IV, who decided to continue military action.

The offensive action of the Polish side was halted by epidemics and lack of funds. Adequate taxes were not enacted until the summer of 1465.The weakening of the Teutonic Knights in the Vistula basin was conducive to the intensification of Vistula trade, although the Prussian Union, fearing that the crews of the Teutonic strongholds, particularly from Starogard Gdanski, would still maintain the convoy system.

In February 1465, the Teutonic garrison of Stargard, reinforced by a detachment that had left Nowe, made two devastating forays into the Zulawy of Gdansk. In response, King Casimir IV chose Stargard as the target of another offensive by Polish troops. Before the royal army had time to enter Prussia, the Teutonic Knights from Stargard, under the command of Komtur Hans von der Salego, attacked the fortress in Tczew on July 31, 1465, and on August 27, 1465. - the fortress in Gniew. Taking advantage of the demoralization of unpaid royal mercenaries who were looting the area, the Teutonic Knights took some of the crews of both castles by surprise, but relief from Gdansk and Malbork prevented them from capturing either fortress.

The attack on Starogard, delayed by a lack of funds to pay arrears to soldiers, began on September 21, 1465. Despite the siege, the Teutonic Knights managed to make an advance near Pruszcz Gdanski on November 15, 1465, and on December 4, 1465, part of the royal army withdrew due to victualing difficulties. The remaining siege forces under the command of Gotard of Radlin fortified themselves near the city and the Teutonic relief from the castles in Pomerania was repulsed on December 12, 1465.

In January 1466, the last attempt to come to the aid of the Teutonic Order was made by the Livonian master, but the recruited detachment of 600 mercenaries was smashed by the Samogitians in an attempt to break through by land to Klaipeda, and some of the soldiers drowned in the Klaipeda Strait.

On February 11, 1466, the bishop of Warmia, Pawel Legendorf, declared war on the Teutonic Order, and on the night of April 10-11, 1466, coalition forces of Warmia and the union led by Skalski occupied Pieniężno (Melzak). Warmia was a potential base for a Polish-Union offensive toward Königsberg, and Bishop Legendorf became the leader of a party demanding the complete removal of the Teutonic Knights from the Baltic. He demanded that the strongholds of Warmia be garrisoned by royal troops and used as the basis for an offensive against Königsberg, Sambia and Lower Prussia. In response to Legendorf's declaration of war, the Teutonic Knights under von Plauen's command (3,000 armed) attacked Pieniężno and then Pasłęk on April 22, 1466, but the assaults on both fortresses were repulsed.

On May 25, 1466, a sudden advance by a Teutonic detachment from Lower Prussia captured Zantyr at the fork of the Vistula and Nogat rivers. The Teutonic Knights fortified the church located in the town and built a bastion on the banks of the Vistula, creating a base against Vistula shipping. In response, the union crew of Malbork fortified the left bank of the Nogat River.

In late June and early July 1466, another Teutonic excursion from Königsberg (600 soldiers) into Warmia destroyed sowings in the area of Orneta, Lidzbark and Pieniężno, but an attempt to force the surrender of Pieniężno by laying siege to the city failed. The coalition fleet of Danzig-Elblag-Frombork, under Skalski's command, carried out diversions on the coast of Sambia and near Königsberg, and forced the Teutonic Knights to retreat to Bartoszyce. After the Teutonic Knights withdrew, the crews of the union towns made retaliatory forays into Lower Prussia.

In May 1466, the union-royal siege troops around Stargard were reinforced with 300 mercenaries and completely closed the siege ring on July 23, 1466. The following night the Teutonic garrison of the city broke through to Chojnice and Zantyr, abandoning their tabors, allowing Gotard of Radlin to garrison Stargard with royal forces. Upon hearing of the fall of Stargard, the Teutonic fortress crew in Kiszew surrendered the castle to King Casimir IV.

In August 1466, union mercenaries from Malbork began actions against the Teutonic crew of Zantyr, but by August 10, 1466, the Teutonic Knights had repulsed all attacks inflicting heavy losses on the unionists. On September 10, 1466, after the arrival of reinforcements from Malbork, Gniew, Nowe and Tczew and armed boats, fighting resumed. On September 16, 1466, a Teutonic relief from Przezmark (Preußisch Mark) broke the siege and enabled the Order's troops to burn Zantyr and retreat to Kwidzyn.

On July 29, 1466, a well-prepared expedition of 5,000 men (royal mercenaries supported by court banners and private banners from Greater Poland) under Dunin's command began a decisive campaign against Chojnice, the last Teutonic stronghold in Pomerania. The city was surrounded by fortifications, and the Teutonic Knights' attempt to break them on September 17, 1466 was repulsed. The assault that began thereafter ended with the destruction of much of the city and the surrender of the Teutonic crew on September 28, 1466 on honorable terms. The capture of Chojnice determined the outcome of the war in Pomerania.

On October 11, 1466, Duke Erik II of Pomerania bought Lębork and Bytow from the Teutonic Knights, once again taking the two cities as fiefs.

Peace negotiations

The Kingdom of Poland was exhausted by the long and costly war, the nobility was reluctant to agree to further funding of the army. The exhaustion of the forces of both sides in mid-1466 was exacerbated by an epidemic, particularly dangerous in the cities, which resulted in the adoption of the view that it was pointless to conduct further costly and difficult sieges. In King Casimir IV's entourage, the view that incorporation of the entire monastic state exceeded the capabilities of the Kingdom of Poland gained the upper hand, and the influence of the Prussian Union in the eastern part of the country was much weaker than in Pomerania. This determined the decision to limit Polish territorial demands to Pomerania, Powisle, the Chelmno Land controlled by Szumborski and the Warmia controlled by Bishop Pawel Legendorf.

The favorable conjuncture for peace negotiations was initiated by the diplomatic action of the new Pope Paul II, whose goal was to include Poland in the Antioch coalition of Catholic states. As an intermediary between Krakow and Königsberg, the pope appointed an experienced mediator, Bishop Rudolf of Rüdesheim of Lavantin, whose goal was to bring about the realization of the legitimate territorial claims of the Kingdom of Poland and the Prussian states while maintaining the far-reaching independence of the rest of the monastic state.

The final talks in Torun began on September 8, 1466. Legate Rudolf of Rüdesheim, having agreed on the terms of peace with King Casimir IV, presented them to the Teutonic delegation waiting in Chelmno as a basis for negotiation, while threatening not to recognize the peace thus agreed upon if the Kingdom of Poland did not engage in the Antioch Crusade. The subject of negotiations remained the question of the belonging of the Powisle lands and the degree of independence of the Teutonic Order from the Kingdom of Poland. The decisive victory of the Poles and unionists at Chojnice, which was captured after a brief siege, weakened the Teutonic negotiating position so much that on October 10, 1466 Grand Master von Erlichshausen decided to come to the royal area in Toruń and make concessions. On October 19, 1466, after 26 days of negotiations, the Second Peace of Toruń was solemnly sworn in at the Artus Court in Toruń.

The Second Peace of Toronto

Once again, the results of the negotiations did not reflect the actual superiority of the Poles over the Teutonic Knights, however, this was enough to eliminate the Order from the group of major powers in Europe at the time. The Peace of Torun with the Kingdom of Poland and its fiefs - the dukes of Mazovia, Prince Eric II of Pomerania, the voivode of Moldavia, Bishop Legendorf and the Warmian chapter - was concluded only by the Prussian branch of the Teutonic Order. The principle adopted in the 1454 deed of surrender of the Prussian States to the Crown was preserved, namely the incorporation of the entire Prussian lands into the Kingdom of Poland. The territorial sovereignty of the Order retained in the eastern provinces of Prussia was subject to the authority of the Polish king, however, without the act of investiture typical of fief relations. Ludwig von Erlichshausen took the oath of allegiance on the day the Peace of Torun was concluded, and each subsequent grand master was obliged to take the oath within six months of his election.

The Teutonic Order gave up its independent foreign policy, could not wage war against the Catholics without the consent of Poland, and was obliged to provide armed assistance to the Kingdom of Poland. At the same time, the canonical principle of election of the Grand Master, in accordance with the monastic rule, was preserved, regardless of the will of the Polish king, the independence of the Order's ecclesiastical institution and a separate judiciary were secured. The grand master became a member of the crown council and his deposition from office required the king's consent.

The parties concluding the treaty avoided precisely defining the principle of fief subordination of Order Prussia, leaving formal sovereignty over the Order's lands to the Pope. This gave a legal pretext for the pope's interference in Prussian affairs and constituted a concession won by the Order's 13-year resistance to Poland's act of incorporation in 1454.

The Treaty of Torun established the principle of free return of burghers and nobles to their own estates, choice of residence and amnesty of subjects of both sides of the conflict.

The new lands were divided into three provinces: Chelmno, Pomerania and Elblag (later Malbork). In 1467, making the system of Prussia similar to that of the Crown, the governor's office was abolished and town and land courts were introduced.

Directly annexed to the Kingdom of Poland were the so-called Royal Prussia, consisting of the provinces lost in the 14th century: the land of Michalov, the land of Chelm with Toruń and Gdansk Pomerania, plus parts of Prussia proper and Pomezania: Zulawy with Malbork, Elblag and Tolkmicko, and Dzierzgoń. The entire Warmian bishopric with Lidzbark and Olsztyn also came under the sovereignty of the Kingdom. Royal Prussia was granted autonomy, its own district parliament, and offices were to be filled only by residents of the districts.

Left to the authority of the grand masters was the remnant of the Teutonic state, consisting mainly of its eastern part - Lower Prussia and Sambia, part of Upper Prussia, and a strip of Pomezania separating Warmia from the land of Chełm, including Działdowo and Kwidzyn on the Vistula, the so-called Teutonic Prussia. The Order retained the mouth of the Niemen River and revenue from Lithuanian trade, as well as sovereignty over the bishopric of Pomezania.

In view of the inability of both King Casimir IV and Grand Master von Erlichshausen to continue direct military operations and the advances in the military field, as a result of which the levée en masse became anachronistic and ineffective, the outcome of the war was determined by the need for funds to pay for expensive professional mercenary troops. At the time, the annual cost of enlisting a mercenary was 40 Hungarian zlotys.

Lack of funds prevented Casimir IV from finally beating the defeated Teutonic Knights and liquidating the Prussian state.

Polish-union website

The war expenditures of the Kingdom of Poland amounted to about 1.2 - 1.3 million Hungarian zlotys from special taxes, loans from the burghers of Cracow and magnates. In addition, in 1455 the middle nobility imposed a special tax on the clergy, hitherto not obliged to pay taxes.

In addition, the cities and states affiliated with the Prussian Union spent about 800 thousand Hungarian zlotys on war costs. More than half of the costs of the Prussian states were borne by Danzig (470 thousand Hungarian zlotys), 1

These were enormous costs in view of the fact that the annual income of the royal treasury was only 90,000 Hungarian zlotys and was further reduced during the war as a result of pledging part of the income as collateral for the repayment of loans to redeem Prussian strongholds. The Prussian Union's expenditures amounted to more than 207 tons of silver, while the Kingdom of Poland's expenditures from extraordinary taxes eventually amounted to more than 311 tons of silver.

Teutonic side

More difficult to estimate are the expenses of the Teutonic Order, which, faced with the adoption of a defensive strategy, incurred lower costs, skillfully allocating its own, received from German possessions and borrowed funds to regain the support of some of the cities and knights of Lower Prussia. In the final phase of the war, the exhausted Teutonic Knights could not mount any active defense. The Order's total expenditures for the war may have amounted to about 1.1-1.2 million Hungarian gold, or the equivalent of 300 tons of silver.

The state of the Teutonic Order was completely ruined, both as a result of the expenses incurred for mercenary costs and the destruction of localities and depopulation resulting from the warfare. This was recognized by King Casimir IV, who agreed to exempt the Order for 20 years from providing the armed assistance guaranteed to the Kingdom of Poland by the peace treaty concluded at Torun and to pay off part of the debts of the Teutonic mercenaries.

The return of the Polish Kingdom to the sea

The main territorial and economic result of the war was Poland's regaining access to the Baltic Sea. The fall of Constantinople resulted in the progressive closure of trade routes leading from the Crown (Poland) to western Europe via the Black Sea and made the possibility of trade dependent on possession of the Vistula estuary and access to the Baltic Sea.

The Teutonic Order, relinquishing the Vistula river basin in the peace treaty with the exception of Pomezania with Kwidzyn, lost income and the ability to control the Vistula trade, but while retaining Königsberg and Memel it could still derive income from Lithuanian trade based on the Niemen River.

The entire course of the Vistula River came within Poland's borders, and its entire river basin system was brought under a single political authority. Coinciding with the second half of the 15th century, the increased demand for raw materials in Western Europe thus temporarily coincided with the increased possibility of supplies from Poland, which contributed to the dizzying growth of trade along the Vistula and the significant development of grain exports, which dominated the Polish economy in subsequent years.

As a result of the privileges obtained during the war and the temporary blocking of the trade route through Elblag, Polish maritime trade was concentrated in Gdansk. The city retained the right of exclusive commercial intermediation from 1442, extending the privileges to include the right to control shipping and collect taxes. Poland's authority over the Vistula estuary remained severely limited. Danzig's profits from exclusive commercial intermediation enabled the city to grow, making it Poland's largest and richest city, maintaining its multiculturalism and far-reaching independence.

Disintegration of the State of the Teutonic Order

Despite the formal incorporation into the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland on a fief basis of the lands left in the territorial authority of the Grand Masters - Prussia of the Order - the authority of the Teutonic Knights was left far-reaching independence. The King of Poland pledged not to interfere in the election of successive grand masters, although he imposed the condition of admitting Poles to the Order as well. Despite the vague provisions of the peace regarding the degree of subordination to the Crown, the Order was forced to give up its independent foreign policy and provide armed assistance to the Crown.

These conditions sealed the disintegration of the Teutonic Order into separately developing districts - the goal of Teutonic Prussia for the next few years remained the pursuit of retaliation against the Crown and the abrogation of the provisions of the Second Peace of Torun. Inflants were left alone. Factors in charge of the former Livonian state, unable to count on help from the beaten Teutonic Prussia, began a policy of rapprochement with the Jagiellonian Union in order to conclude a defensive alliance against Moscow.

Only the bailiwicks - the Order's possessions in Germany, still recognizing the supremacy of the Emperor - retained their independence.

War in literature

The landmark events of the war - the recapture of Pomerania by the Crown and the capture of Malbork - are mentioned in the last chapter of Henryk Sienkiewicz's "Teutonic Knights." The final passage of the war forms the background of Wladyslaw Strumski's novel "Traces of Grunwald." The battle of Swiecin, along with the preceding events of the war, was literarily depicted by Stefan Zeromski in his novel "Wiatr od morza."

War in culture

Individual episodes of the Thirteen Years' War are commemorated by cyclical events. In the Krokowa municipality, a re-enactment of the battle of Świecino, which was victorious for the Polish side, is held annually. A similar event combined with a tournament of knightly teams is held near Chojnice, however, in a different place than the later built-up historical battlefield. Until 2014, Suchacz hosted a re-enactment of the great victory of the Prussian Union fleet on the Bay of Freshwater, combined with an exhibition and fair.

Sources

1. Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)
2. Wojna trzynastoletnia
3. „Naprawdę niełatwo wskazać w dziejach europejskich drugi przykład takiej pomyłki i takiego prymitywizmu myślenia politycznego. Uganiać się za krymskimi mirażami, grozić sprzymierzeńcowi wojną o odległe Podole i wykazywać całkowitą obojętność wobec losów pobrzeży dolnego Niemca, głównej rzeki litewskiej!” (Jasienica 1992a ↓, s. 192).
4. Imperium Osmańskie popierało rozwój handlu, czerpiąc znaczne dochody z położenia na skrzyżowaniu szlaków handlowych i z pośrednictwa pomiędzy Europą Zachodnią a Bliskim Wschodem i Afryką. Jednakże znaczna liczba zakazów administracyjnych negatywnie odbijała się na poszczególnych gałęziach wymiany handlowej: Turcja dążyła do zamknięcia Morza Czarnego dla nietureckiej żeglugi ze względu na bezpieczeństwo Stambułu. Ponadto Imperium Osmańskie nie było zainteresowane pośrednictwem w handlu zbożem pomiędzy Europą Wschodnią i Zachodnią, gdyż samo było eksporterem tego surowca. (Podhordecki 1993 ↓, s. 21).
5. ^ Daniel Stone (2001). The Polish–Lithuanian State, 1386–1795. University of Washington Press. pp. 29–30.
6. a et b Fedorowicz 1982, p. 57
7. a b c d e et f C. Rodgers, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 291
8. a et b Stone 2001, p. 29
9. a et b Fedorowicz 1982, p. 58