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Group: Palembang, principality of
People: Ansprand
Topic: Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War
Location: Cenad Timiș Romania

Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War

Years: 1409 - 1411

The Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War or Great War occurs between 1409 and 1411, pitting the allied Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania against the Teutonic Knights.

Inspired by the local Samogitian uprising, the war begins by Teutonic invasion of Poland in August 1409.

As neither side is ready for a full-scale war, Wenceslaus, King of the Romans, brokers a nine-month truce.

After the truce expires in June 1410, the military-religious monks are decisively defeated in the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg), one of the largest battles in medieval Europe.

Most of the Teutonic leadership is killed or taken prisoner.

While defeated, the Teutonic Knights withstand the siege on their capital in Marienburg (Malbork) and suffer only minimal territorial losses in the Peace of Thorn (1411).

Territorial disputes last until the Peace of Melno of 1422.

However, the Knights never recover their former power and the financial burden of war reparations causes internal conflicts and economic decline in their lands.

The war shifts the balance of power in Eastern Europe and marks the rise of the Polish–Lithuanian union as the dominant power in the region.

"Remember that the people you are following didn’t know the end of their own story. So they were going forward day by day, pushed and jostled by circumstances, doing the best they could, but walking in the dark, essentially."

—Hilary Mantel, AP interview (2009)