Battle of Grunwald

On 15 July 1410, in the lands of the Teutonic Order in Prussia, the combined armies of Poland and Lithuania under King Władysław II Jagiełło and Grand Duke Vytautas crushed the forces of the Order. Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen and most of the Order's leaders were killed. Known in Germany as the (first) Battle of Tannenberg and in Lithuania as Žalgiris, it was one of the largest battles of medieval Europe. Although it brought Poland and Lithuania few territorial gains, it marked the start of the Order's long decline and the rise of the Polish–Lithuanian union.

The Teutonic Order, a crusading order of knights, began its conquest of the pagan Prussians in 1230 and then spent about a century raiding pagan Lithuania, especially Samogitia, which separated its lands in Prussia from its branch in Livonia. In 1385 the Lithuanian ruler Jogaila agreed to marry Queen Jadwiga of Poland, became a Christian and was crowned king as Władysław II Jagiełło, linking the two states. Lithuania's conversion undercut the Order's reason for crusading, but disputes continued over Samogitia, held by the Order since 1404.

In May 1409 the Samogitians rose against the Order with Lithuanian backing, and Poland stood by Lithuania. On 6 August 1409 Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen declared war and invaded Polish territory. A truce mediated by Wenceslaus, King of the Romans, ran from October 1409 to June 1410, and both sides used it to prepare. Jagiełło and Vytautas secretly agreed to join their armies and march together on the Order's capital at Marienburg (Malbork).

No reliable contemporary figures exist, and modern estimates, often shaped by national viewpoints, vary widely. Polish and Lithuanian forces have been put at between about 16,000 and 39,000 men and the Order's at between about 11,000 and 27,000. The Order's army was better equipped and disciplined. The allied side included Polish heavy cavalry, Lithuanian and Ruthenian light cavalry, Czech and Moravian mercenaries, a Moldavian contingent and Tatars of the Golden Horde. The allies crossed the Vistula on a pontoon bridge and entered Prussia on 9 July.

The armies met on the morning of 15 July near the villages of Grunwald, Tannenberg and Ludwigsdorf. The knights of the Order waited for hours in the heat, and the Grand Master sent two swords to the Polish king as a provocation. Vytautas then attacked the Order's left. After more than an hour, his light cavalry retreated. One chronicler presented this as a rout; many modern historians think it was at least partly a deliberate feigned withdrawal of a kind learned from the steppe.

Heavy fighting followed between the Poles and the Order's knights. The royal banner of Kraków was briefly lost, and one knight charged at the king himself before being stopped. When von Jungingen led a last great attack on the Polish right, the Lithuanians returned and struck him from behind. The Grand Master was killed, his army broke, and many more knights died when their wagon camp was overrun. By some accounts the fighting lasted about ten hours.

Between 203 and 211 of the Order's roughly 270 brother knights died, including the Grand Marshal and Grand Komtur. Payroll records show only 1,427 men returning to claim pay. Polish losses were described by the king as small. The victors were slow to reach Marienburg, and Heinrich von Plauen held the castle until the siege was lifted on 19 September. The Peace of Thorn in February 1411 returned Dobrzyń Land to Poland and suspended the Order's claim to Samogitia. Disputes went before the Council of Constance and further wars followed. The heavy indemnity drove the Order into debt, unrest and, in 1454, the Thirteen Years' War.

Grunwald became a powerful symbol of national pride in Poland and Lithuania, and is also remembered in Ukraine and Belarus. It was later exploited by both Nazi and Soviet propaganda. A large re-enactment is held on the site every year.

Our 1400 map shows the State of the Teutonic Order on the Baltic, between Poland and the vast Grand Duchy of Lithuania, ten years before the battle.