Jogaila, later Władysław II Jagiełło, was Grand Duke of Lithuania, later giving the position to his cousin Vytautas in exchange for the title of Supreme Duke of Lithuania (1401–1434) and then King of Poland (1386–1434), first alongside his wife Jadwiga until 1399, and then sole ruler of Poland. Born a pagan, he converted to Catholicism in 1386 and was baptized as Ladislaus in Kraków, married the young Queen Jadwiga, and was crowned King of Poland as Władysław II Jagiełło. In 1387, he converted Lithuania to Catholicism. His own reign in Poland started in 1399, upon the death of Queen Jadwiga, lasted a further thirty-five years, and laid the foundation for the centuries-long Polish–Lithuanian union. He was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty in Poland that bears his name and was previously also known as the Gediminid dynasty in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The dynasty ruled both states until 1572, and became one of the most influential dynasties in late medieval and early modern Europe.
Stębark is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Grunwald, within Ostróda County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. The village is chiefly known for two historic battles which took place there or nearby: the 1410 Battle of Grunwald and the (Second) Battle of Tannenberg in World War I.
Ulrich von Jungingen was the 26th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1407 to 1410. His policy of confrontation with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland would spark the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War and lead to disaster for his Order, and his own death, at the Battle of Grunwald.
Janusz I of Warsaw, also known as Janusz I the Old, was a Polish prince member of the House of Piast in the Masovian branch, from 1373/74 Duke of Warsaw and after the division of the paternal inheritance between him and his brother in 1381, ruler over Nur, Łomża, Liw, Ciechanów, Wyszogród and Zakroczym. In addition, he was a vassal of the Polish Kingdom since 1391 for the fief of Podlachia.
Zyndram z Maszkowic was a Polish 14th and 15th century knight. His coat of arms was Słońce.
The (First) Peace of Thorn was a peace treaty formally ending the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War between allied Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania on one side, and the Teutonic Knights on the other. It was signed on 1 February 1411 in Thorn (Toruń), one of the southernmost cities of the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights. In historiography, the treaty is often portrayed as a diplomatic failure of Poland–Lithuania as they failed to capitalize on the decisive defeat of the Knights in the Battle of Grunwald in June 1410. The Knights returned Dobrzyń Land which they captured from Poland during the war and made only temporary territorial concessions in Samogitia, which returned to Lithuania only for the lifetimes of Polish King Władysław Jagiełło and Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas. The Peace of Thorn was not stable. It took two other brief wars, the Hunger War in 1414 and Gollub War in 1422, to sign the Treaty of Melno that solved the territorial disputes. However, large war reparations were a significant financial burden on the Knights, causing internal unrest and economic decline. The Teutonic Knights never recovered their former might.
The Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War, also known as the Great War, occurred between 1409 and 1411 between the Teutonic Knights and the allied Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Inspired by the local Samogitian uprising, the war began with a Teutonic invasion of Poland in August 1409. As neither side was ready for a full-scale war, Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia brokered a nine-month truce.
The siege of Marienburg was an unsuccessful two-month siege of the castle in Marienburg (Malbork), the capital of the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. The joint Polish and Lithuanian forces, under command of King Władysław II Jagiełło and Grand Duke Vytautas, besieged the castle between 26 July and 19 September 1410 in a bid of complete conquest of Prussia after the great victory in the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg). However, the castle withstood the siege and the Knights conceded only to minor territorial losses in the Peace of Thorn (1411). Marienburg defender Heinrich von Plauen is credited as the savior of the Knights from complete annihilation.
Lengvenis was one of the sons of Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and the ruler of Great Novgorod Republic. He was known for his skills as a military leader.
Feliks Sypniewski (1830–1903) was a Polish painter and artist who painted mostly historic battle scenes drawn from the borderlands of Poland and Germany, and his most favourite animal - horses.
The Hunger War or Famine War was a brief conflict between the allied Kingdom of Poland, and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, against the Teutonic Knights in summer 1414 in an attempt to resolve territorial disputes. The war earned its name from destructive scorched earth tactics followed by both sides. While the conflict ended without any major political results, famine and plague swept through Prussia. According to Johann von Posilge, 86 friars of the Teutonic Order died from plague following the war. In comparison, approximately 200 friars perished in the Battle of Grunwald of 1410, one of the biggest battles in medieval Europe.
The King Jagiełło Monument is an equestrian monument of Władysław II Jagiełło, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, located in Central Park, New York City. The monument commemorates the Battle of Grunwald, a decisive defeat of the Teutonic Order in 1410. Originally made by Stanisław K. Ostrowski for the Polish 1939 New York World's Fair pavilion, the monument was permanently installed in Central Park in 1945. Raised on its grand plinth it is one of the most prominently sited and impressive of twenty-nine sculptures located in the park.
Polish–Teutonic Wars refer to a series of conflicts that took place between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Order, a medieval German military order with roots in the Baltic region. These wars occurred primarily during the 14th and 15th centuries and were characterized by territorial disputes, political maneuvering, and religious differences.
The Grunwald Swords are a pair of simple bare swords sent as a mocking "gift" by Ulrich von Jungingen, the Grand Master of the Order of Teutonic Knights, to King Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland and Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania. The swords were sent on 15 July 1410, just before the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg), as a symbolic invitation to engage Jungingen's forces in battle. After the Polish–Lithuanian victory, both swords were taken as a war trophy by King Władysław II to Kraków, Poland's capital at the time, and placed in the treasury of the Royal Wawel Castle.
Mszczuj of Skrzynno was one of the Polish knights of Władysław Jagiełło who took part on July 15, 1410 in the Battle of Grunwald against the Teutonic Knights. He was a knight of the royal household regiment of the King of Poland (cubiculariorum). He bore a Łabędź, or Swan, as a coat of arms.
The Battle of Grunwald, Battle of Žalgiris, or First Battle of Tannenberg, was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila), and Grand Duke Vytautas, decisively defeated the German Teutonic Order, led by Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen. Most of the Teutonic Order's leadership were killed or taken prisoner.
Knights of the Teutonic Order, also known as Knights of the Black Cross, is a 1960 Polish historical epic film adapted from a 1900 novel by Nobel laureate, Henryk Sienkiewicz. The film, directed by Aleksander Ford, is one of the most successful movies in the history of Polish cinema.
Dobiesław Oleśnicki was a soldier, aristocrat and politician in 15th century Poland.
The Lithuanian Crusade was a series of campaigns by the Teutonic Order and the Livonian Order under the pretext of forcibly Christianizing the pagan Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Livonian Order occupied Riga in 1202 and in the 1230s they settled in Chełmno Land, a fief of Poland. They first conquered other neighboring Baltic tribes—Curonians, Semigallians, Latgalians, Selonians, and Old Prussians—in the Livonian Crusade and Prussian Crusade.
The Grunwald Monument is an equestrian statue of King of Poland Władysław II Jagiełło (1352–1434) located at Matejko Square in Kraków's Old Town and constructed in 1910 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald.
