War of the Priests (Poland)

Last updated December 15, 2024

This is the 1467-1479 Polish-Teutonic War. For a list of all Polish-German Wars, see Polish-German Wars.

The War of the Priests (1467–1479, German : Pfaffenkrieg, Polish : wojna popia, wojna księża) was a conflict in the Polish province of Warmia between the King of Poland Casimir IV and Nicolaus von Tüngen, the new bishop of Warmia chosen – without the king's approval – by the Warmian chapter.^[1] The latter was supported by the Teutonic Knights, by this point vassals of Poland, who were seeking a revision of the recently signed Second Peace of Toruń.

Political background

The Bishopric of Warmia was, in the 14th century, part of the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights, but enjoyed autonomy and was administrated as a prince-bishopric. The bishops, often members of the Teutonic Order, were loyal to the order even in early 15th century, when the Teutonic Knights raised the taxes to pay for the resulting costs of Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War.^{[ citation needed ]} Eventually, the order's policies and tax increases led to opposition within Prussia and to the foundation of the Prussian Confederation in 1440 by Prussian cities who wanted to defend their rights against the order.

The Prussian Confederation eventually asked for external aid and allied with the Polish king Casimir IV, asking to be incorporated into the Kingdom of Poland. This led to the Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466). The bishop of Warmia, Paul von Legendorf (1458–1467), joined the Prussian Confederation in the last year of the conflict (1466). The Second Peace of Thorn (1466) put Royal Prussia under the suzerainty of the Polish king. As part of the treaty, the king of Poland had the right to approve the bishop of Warmia, as chosen by the Warmian chapter.

Election dispute

In 1467, the chapter chose as bishop Nicolaus von Tüngen, while the Polish king promoted Wincenty Kiełbasa (at the time Bishop of Chełm) for the position. It was Tüngen who was approved by the pope, but he was unable to take the seat de facto and instead resided in Riga. Unable to get the pope's approval for Kiełbasa, Casimir changed tack and nominated Andrzej Oporowski, his chancellor, as bishop (Tüngen was to receive the Bishopric of Kamień). Oporowski however, unlike Kiełbasa, did not have the support of the Prussian estates as he was not from the region.

This resulted in a dispute in which Tüngen was supported by the Teutonic Order and Matthias Corvinus, the king of Hungary. With help from the Order Tüngen was able to come to Warmia in 1472. In 1476 Corvinus invaded southern Poland and a year later Heinrich Reffle von Richtenberg, the grand master of the order, refused to provide military support to Casimir, his sovereign.

Casimir responded by courting the support of the Prussian Estates and cities. He granted Chełmno Law to several cities, affirmed existing privileges and withdrew the candidature of Oporowski. As a result, the Prussians re-swore their fealty to the king of Poland and refused to support the order. Likewise, Gdańsk, the largest city in Polish Royal Prussia declined to support to the Order and Corvinus.

Military action

In 1477 Martin von Wetzhausen, the new grand master of the order refused to make his oath of fealty to the Polish king and invaded Warmia, taking Chełm and Starogard Chełminski. In response, in 1478, Polish forces of King Casimir IV intervened militarily, besieging Braniewo.^[2] Under the command of Jan Biały and Piotr Dunin, the Polish forces occupied several cities in Warmia and Pomesania. The Teutonic Knights' military operations were hampered by the refusal of the Prussian Estates to support them. Tüngen was forced to flee to Königsberg (Królewiec). At the same time, in April 1479, the Polish and Hungarian kings came to an agreement and Corvinus withdrew from the anti-Polish alliance.

As a consequence by July 1479, both Tüngen and the grand master were forced to pay homage to the Polish king.

Settlement

The first Treaty of Piotrków (in Piotrków Trybunalski) ended the feud in 1479. The Polish king accepted Nicolaus von Tüngen, who had been elected in 1467, as bishop, and granted or confirmed several prerogatives of the bishopric. The bishop acknowledged the sovereignty of the Polish king over Warmia, obliged the chapter to elect only candidates "liked by the Polish king" and the Warmians had to pledge allegiance to him. Politically Warmia remained under lordship of the Polish crown.

Related Research Articles

The Prussian Confederation was an organization formed on 21 February 1440 at Kwidzyn by a group of 53 nobles and clergy and 19 cities in Prussia, to oppose the arbitrariness of the Teutonic Knights. It was based on an earlier similar organization, the Lizard Union established in 1397 by the nobles of Chełmno Land.

Warmia is both a historical and an ethnographic region in northern Poland, forming part of historical Prussia. Its historic capitals were Frombork and Lidzbark Warmiński and the largest city is Olsztyn.

The Peace of Thorn or Toruń of 1466, also known as the Second Peace of Thorn or Toruń, was a peace treaty signed in the Hanseatic city of Thorn (Toruń) on 19 October 1466 between the Polish king Casimir IV Jagiellon and the Teutonic Knights, which ended the Thirteen Years' War, the longest of the Polish–Teutonic Wars.

Frombork is a town in northern Poland, situated on the Vistula Lagoon in Braniewo County, within Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. As of December 2021, it has a population of 2,260.

Braniewo, is a town in northern Poland, in Warmia, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with a population of 16,907 as of June 2021. It is the capital of Braniewo County.

Royal Prussia or Polish Prussia became a province of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, which was annexed following the imposed Second Peace of Toruń (1466) from territory in Pomerelia and western Prussia which had been part of the State of the Teutonic Order. Royal Prussia retained its autonomy, governing itself and maintaining its own laws, customs, rights and German language for the German minority and Polish language for the Polish majority.

The Prussian Homage or Prussian Tribute was the formal investiture of Albert, Duke of Prussia (1490-1568), with his Duchy of Prussia as a fief of the Kingdom of Poland that took place on 10 April 1525 in the then capital of Kraków, Kingdom of Poland. This ended the rule of the Teutonic Order in Prussia, which became a secular Protestant state.

Lidzbark Warmiński, often shortened to Lidzbark, is a historical town located within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It is the capital of Lidzbark County.

Dobre Miasto is a town in Poland, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship with 9,857 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is situated in the northwestern part of the Masurian Lake District in the heart of the historical region of Warmia. It is also the seat of Dobre Miasto Commune which consists of the main town and 21 village administrative divisions, with a total population of 16,014.

Warmians were a Prussian tribe that lived in Warmia, a territory which now mostly forms part of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in Poland, with a small northern portion located in neighbouring Russia. It was situated between the Vistula Lagoon, Łyna and Pasłęka Rivers.

Lucas Watzenrode the Younger was Prince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermland) and patron to his nephew, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.

Nicolaus von Tüngen was bishop of Warmia from 1467 until 1489.

Orneta is a town in northern Poland, with a total population of 8,951 (2016). It is situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship and within the historical region of Warmia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Truchseß von Wetzhausen</span> Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights

Martin Truchseß von Wetzhausen zu Dachsbach was the 34th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1477 to 1489.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heinrich Reffle von Richtenberg</span> Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights

Heinrich Reffle von Richtenberg was the 33rd Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, serving from 1470 to 1477.

This is the 1519-1521 Polish-Teutonic War. For a list of all Polish-German Wars, see Polish-German Wars.

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 Archdiocese of Warmia is a Latin Church Metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland.

This is the 1454-1466 Polish-Teutonic War. For a list of all Polish-German Wars, see Polish-German Wars.

The Prince-Bishopric of Warmia was a semi-independent ecclesiastical state, ruled by the incumbent ordinary of the Warmia see and comprising one third of the then diocesan area. The Warmia see was a Prussian diocese under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Riga that was a protectorate of the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights (1243–1464) and a protectorate and part of the Kingdom of Poland—later part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1464–1772), confirmed by the Peace of Thorn in 1466. The other two thirds of the diocese were under the secular rule of the Teutonic Knights until 1525 and Ducal Prussia thereafter, both entities also being a protectorate and part of Poland from 1466.

References

↑ "JEZIORANY – CASTLE OF WARMIAN BISHOPS". MedievalHeritage.eu. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
↑ "WHKMLA : Royal Prussia : Warmia Stift Feud (Pfaffenkrieg), 1467-1479". zum.de. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2018.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "JEZIORANY – CASTLE OF WARMIAN BISHOPS". MedievalHeritage.eu. Retrieved December 31, 2022.

[2] "WHKMLA : Royal Prussia : Warmia Stift Feud (Pfaffenkrieg), 1467-1479". zum.de. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2018.

[1]

[2]