Friedeburgh
Encyclopedia
Friedeburgh or Friedeburg was a short-lived castle of the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...

 in Samogitia
Samogitia
Samogitia is one of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. It is located in northwestern Lithuania. Its largest city is Šiauliai/Šiaulē. The region has a long and distinct cultural history, reflected in the existence of the Samogitian dialect...

 (exact location is unknown). It was built after the Treaty of Salynas
Treaty of Salynas
Treaty of Salynas was a peace treaty signed on October 12, 1398 by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas the Great and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights Konrad von Jungingen. It was signed on an islet of the Neman River, probably between Kulautuva and the mouth of the Nevėžis River...

 was signed in 1398 and Samogitia was granted to the Knights by Vytautas the Great
Vytautas the Great
Vytautas ; styled "the Great" from the 15th century onwards; c. 1350 October 27, 1430) was one of the most famous rulers of medieval Lithuania. Vytautas was the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania which chiefly encompassed the Lithuanians and Ruthenians...

, Grand Duke of Lithuania. The castle was to become administrative center of Samogitia. Heinrich von Schwelborn was appointed as the vogt
Vogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...

 to facilitate territory's incorporation into the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights
Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights
The State of the Teutonic Order, , also Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights or Ordensstaat , was formed in 1224 during the Northern Crusades, the Teutonic Knights' conquest of the pagan West-Baltic Old Prussians in the 13th century....

 (sometimes future Grand Master Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg
Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg
Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg was the 28th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1414 to 1422.- Biography :...

 is incorrectly given as the first vogt of Samogitia; he was appointed only after the Peace of Raciąż
Peace of Raciaz
Peace of Raciąż was a treaty signed on May 22, 1404, between Kingdom of Poland, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Teutonic Knights, regarding the control of the Dobrzyń Land and Samogitia. Poland in essence confirmed the Treaty of Kalisz of 1342 and Lithuania – the Treaty of Salynas of 1398...

 of 1404). Here the last recorded "Table of Honor" was held. The castle was burned in March 1401 by the Samogitians during the first Samogitian uprising. The uprising was subdued in 1404, but the castle was not rebuilt immediately. Instead the Knights built new castles near the Dubysa
Dubysa
Dubysa, at 131 km, is the 15th longest river in Lithuania. It originates just a few kilometers from Lake Rėkyva near Šiauliai city. At first it flows south, but at Lyduvėnai turns southeast and near Ariogala - southwest. Dubysa is a Samogitian river...

 River. Only in 1408 reconstruction works began. Teutonic records show that in spring 1409 four skilled carpenters and 30 men were working to rebuilt the castle. The same year Samogitian rose against the Knights for the second time. Vytautas besieged the fortress and it had to surrender due to lack of food before reinforcements from Prussia
Prussia (region)
Prussia is a historical region in Central Europe extending from the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea to the Masurian Lake District. It is now divided between Poland, Russia, and Lithuania...

could arrive.
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