Heinrich von Plauen

:"For the similarly-named Grand Master, see Heinrich Reuß von Plauen."

Heinrich von Plauen (the Elder) (ca. 1370–1429) was the 27th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from November 1410 to October 1413. He is famous for saving Castle Marienburg after the Order's defeat in the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) in 1410. He wanted to continue war with Poland and for that reason was removed from the office by Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg. Because all male members of his family were baptized as Heinrich (Henry), he is sometimes known as Heinrich von Plauen the Elder to differentiate from his relative, Heinrich von Plauen the Younger (died ca. 1441).

Early career

Von Plauen was born in Vogtland, between Thuringia and Saxony.cite book| title=Tannenberg and After |first=William |last=Urban |publisher=Lithuanian Research and Studies Center |location=Chicago |year=2003 | isbn=0-929700-25-2 |pages=160–161] Von Plauen arrived in Prussia around 1390 as the Order's guest, but later became a full member. He did not hold any important positions until 1402 when he became the Komtur of Nessau (Nieszawa). He was promoted to Komtur of Schwetz (Świecie) in 1407.

Von Plauen did not take the part in the Battle of Grunwald on July 15 1410. Upon receiving the news of the Order's defeat, he took initiative and assembled an army of 3,000 men to defend Marienburg, capital of the Order. He correctly suspected that it was where victorious Polish and Lithuanian armies were headed. He also sent letters, acting as the Grand Master, to Germany asking for additional troops and money. [Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 163.] Von Plauen arrived to Marienburg on time and energetically organized the defense. The Siege of Marienburg started on July 18 and lasted until September 19 1410. King of Poland Jogaila did not expect a strong resistance and was not prepared for a long-term siege. The siege, holding Jogaila's army in place, helped to organize defensive forces in other parts of Prussia and gave time for relief to arrive from Livonian Order and Germany. [Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 164–165.] Jogaila had to retreat. Von Plauen ordered to pursue the retreating Polish army and recaptured all fortresses (except those on the Polish–Prussian border) by the end of October. [Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 166.]

In November 1410 for his services in the defense of Marienburg and Prussia, von Plauen was chosen the 27th Grand Master of the Order, skipping officials with higher held positions, like Werner von Tettingen, the Order's Minister of Diplomacy and the Komtur of Elbing (Elbląg), who fought in the Battle of Grunwald. Von Plauen inherited a difficult task of rebuilding Order's fortresses, restoring economy, recruiting new Knights, and defending Order's reputation in Europe. [Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 169.]

Grand Master

Von Plauen's major diplomatic accomplishment was signing the Peace of Thorn on February 1 1411. The peace was rather favorable to the Order: it retained its core territories. The Order assigned Samogitia to Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas the Great for his and Jogaila's lifetime. After their death Samogitia was to return to the Order. The border was not decided by the peace – an international commission was to mediate further negotiations. Poland received Dobrzyń Land and Kuyavia. The Order was to pay a large ransom for prisoners of war and war indemnity, equivalent to six million Prague groschen, in four installments.Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 175.]

To raise the money for the first installment, von Plauen called representatives of Prussian cities to Osterode (Ostróda) in February 1411. He proposed a special assessment of 1⅔% on cities' possession. All cities, except for Danzig (Gdańsk), agreed. Because the decision was not unanimous, von Plauen called a second meeting, this time in Elbing (Elbląg). Thorn (Toruń) joined Danzig in opposition to the tax.Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 179.] Von Plauen decided to enforce the assessment. Thorn capitulated without much resistance, while Danzig resisted blockade until April 5 1411. [Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 180.]

Von Plauen actively fought off the opposition of the Lizard Union. In 1411 von Plauen discovered a plot by Georg von Wirsberg, Komtur of Rehden (Radzyń Chełmiński), and ordered the beheading of Nicholas von Renys, one of the four knights who formed the Lizard Union, for helping the Poles. The execution took place in Graudenz (Grudziądz), which brought him even less popularity.

The first two installment payments were made on time. When von Plauen saw that he could not make the third payment on time he asked Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor for help. [Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 188.] Sigismund agreed to mediate and the parties met in Breslau (Wrocław) in March 1412. In August 1412 the emperor delivered his decision that the Peace of Thorn was just and that a commission should negotiate a reduction to the war indemnity. Another commission would decide the border between Samogitia and Prussia and inhabitants of the region would be given a choice to remain in Samogitia and become part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania or to relocate to Prussia and become part of the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. [Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 192.] To universal surprise von Plauen made the final payment on time in January 1413. The commission regarding Samogitian borders did meet. On May 3 1413 Benedict Macra, appointed by Sigismund, decided that the right bank of the Neman River, including Memel (Klaipėda), should belong to Lithuania. [cite book | last=Kiaupa | first=Zigmantas | coauthors=Jūratė Kiaupienė, Albinas Kunevičius | title=The History of Lithuania Before 1795 | origyear=1995 | edition=English | year=2000 | publisher=Lithuanian Institute of History | location=Vilnius | isbn=9986-810-13-2 | pages=142–143]

Despite the Order's financial troubles and weakened military capability after the defeat of 1410, von Plauen started preparations for another war with the Kingdom of Poland. He rejected decision by Benedict Macra and by late summer 1413 gathered 6,000 men near the border with Pomerania and 15,000 on the border with Dobrzyń Land and Masovia (commended by Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg). [Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 195.] The time seemed right as Jogaila was busy in the south while Vytautas waged a war against Novgorod. Küchmeister attacked northern Poland, but returned only after 16 days. Attack on Pomerania was similarly stopped by disobedient Knights. [Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 195–196.]

Removal from office

Von Plauen was removed from his office on October 9 1413 by Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg, the Grand Marshal and Komtur of Königsberg (Kaliningrad). [Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 198.] Küchmeister disapproved von Plauen's decision to wage another war and supported further peace talks with the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The general chapter conviened five days later. Herman Gans was appointed as an interim Grand Master until a formal general assembly would meet in January 1414. [Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 198–199.] Von Plauen officially resigned and Küchmeister was appointed as the next Grand Master. Von Plauen was first appointed as a Komtur to minor fortress, but soon was arrested when Jogaila did not support the new regime and demanded to return von Plauen to his office. [Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 199.] Küchmeister unsuccessfully reopened diplomatic talks with Poland and a brief Hunger War broke out in summer 1414. [Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 200–201.]

Heinrich von Plauen was released from Danzig jail in 1418. [Urban, William. "Tannenberg and After". 203.] At that time he became the procurator of Lochstädt (Pavlovo) near Königsberg, where he died in 1429.

References