Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdansk)
Encyclopedia
The city of Danzig (Gdańsk) was captured by the State of the Teutonic Order on 13 November 1308, resulting in a massacre of its inhabitants and marking the beginning of tensions between Poland
and the Teutonic Order. Originally the knights moved into the fortress as an ally of Poland
against the Margraviate of Brandenburg
. However, after disputes over the control of the city between the Order and the King of Poland arose, the knights killed local nobles and burghers and took the city as their own.
In the 13th century, the Pomerelian duchy was ruled by members of the Samborides
, up until 1227 stewards for the Polish Piast kings and dukes. The stewards asserted their power from fortified strongholds. The major stronghold of the area was at the location of present-day Gdańsk's Old Town. The adjacent town developed from a market place of German tradesmen and was granted Lübeck city rights by DukeSwietopolk II
(Zwantepolc de Danceke) in 1224. According to Raphael Lemkin
the population in the city at the time was Polish According to Hartmut Boockmann
, the town was primarily inhabited by Germans. James Minahan wrote that the city inhabitants, for the most part, were Kashubians
.
After Mestwin II, the last member of the Samborides died in 1294, disputes over succession arose. In the 1282 Treaty of Kępno
Mestwin II promised his Pomerelian duchy to his ally Przemysł II, duke and later king of Poland, who succeeded to the duchy in 1294. The Margraviate of Brandenburg to the west, claimed rights to the harbor city and Pomerania based partially on a treaty of August 8, 1305 between the Rulers of Brandenburg and Wenceslaus III
, promising the Meissen
territory to the Kingdom of Bohemia
in exchange for Pomerelia
, although that treaty was never finalized. The Teutonic Order had inherited Gniew
(Mewe) from Sambor II, thus gaining a foothold on the left bank of the Vistula.
who entered the town, but not the castle which was held by a small garrison loyal to the king. They, and the city's Pomeranian judge and castellan
, Bogusza, on the advice of the Dominican prior Wilhelm, appealed to the Teutonic Knights
in Prussia for assistance.
The Knights, under the leadership of Heinrich von Plötzke
, agreed to aid Bogusza, if in exchange they were to allowed to garrison the town's grod
for a year. A force of 100 knights and 200 supporters, led by Günther von Schwarzburg
, arrived at the castle around August at which point the Brandenburgers lifted the siege without any fighting. The rebellious inhabitants, who supported the Brandenburgers, however, remained opposed to the Polish-Teutonic takeover. In September, the Teutonic Knights, together with the Polish garrison, begun their own siege of the city. Soon, however, tensions rose, as both sides vied for control; eventually the Polish knights with Bogusza left the town, leaving the siege under Teutonic Knights control. Shortly later, the Knights successfully took the town and carried out the massacre of its inhabitants.
to the Ordensburg Marienburg, the lawsuits did not have any practical effect on the order.
In the 15th century, era of the Polish-Teutonic Wars, medieval Polish chronicler Jan Długosz in epic prose described the event as a slaughter of Polish nationals that regardless of condition, age or gender.
When the Poles refused to accept monetary compensation for the Knights' takeover of the city and the massacre, the Order resorted to conquering further towns like Schwetz (Świecie). The local colony of merchants and artisans was specifically attacked because they competed with the Knights' town of Elbing (Elbląg
), a nearby city. The Knights also attacked Tczew
(Dirschau).
The Knights then captured the rest of Pomerelia
from Brandenburg
's troops. In September 1309, Margrave Waldemar
of Brandenburg-Stendal
sold his claim to the territory to the Teutonic Order for 10,000 marks in the Treaty of Soldin (now Myślibórz
), thereby connecting the State of the Teutonic Order with that of the Holy Roman Empire
. While for the order, this landbridge with the empire was a major strategic improvement by connecting its Baltic territories to its German bailiwick
s (ballei), it was at the same time a major loss for Poland who had become a landlocked country again.
Thus, the takeover triggered a series of conflicts between Poland and the Teutonic Order, and these conflicts in turn triggered a conflict within the order itself. Some prominent brethren favoured a concession of Pomerelia in exchange for good relations with Poland, but were opposed by a majority of the knights who thought that such a concession would eventually lead to the total expulsion of the knights from their state. These disagreements caused the abdication of Grand Master Charles of Trier in 1318 and the murder of the succeeding Grand Master Werner of Orseln in 1330. The possession of Danzig and Pomerelia by the Teutonic Order was questioned consistently by the Polish kings Władysław I and Casimir the Great
in legal suits in the papal court in 1320 and 1333. Both times, as well as in 1339, the Teutonic Knights were ordered by the Pope to return Pomerelia and other lands back to Poland, but did not comply. As a result, in the late 1330s, a war ensued.
Peace was established in the Treaty of Kalisz in 1343; although the Polish kings were able to retain the title "Duke of Pomerania" and were recognized as titular overlords of the crusaders, the Knights retained control of Danzig. - this time, with the permission of the papal court.
Development of the city stagnated after its capture by the Teutonic Knights. Initially the new rulers tried to reduce the economic significance of Danzig by abolishing the local government and the privileges of the merchants. This was exemplified by the fact that the city council, including Arnold Hecht and Conrad Letzkau
, was removed and beheaded in 1411. Later the Knights were forced to accept the fact that city defended its independence and was the largest and most important seaport of the region after overtaking Elbing. Subsequently it flourished, benefiting from major investment and economic prosperity in the Monastic state and Poland, which stimulated trade along the Vistula
. The city had become a full member of the merchant association, the Hanseatic League
by 1361, but its merchants remained resentful at the barriers to trade up the Vistula river with Poland, along with the lack of political rights in a state ruled in the interest of the Order's religiously-motivated knight-monks. As a result the city became a co-founder of the Prussian Confederation
which formally petitioned Casimir IV Jagiellon
, to incorporate Prussia, including Danzig, into the Kingdom of Poland in 1454.
, the Poles recalled the massacre quoting the number of 10,000 murdered. After Nazi Germany had annexed
the Free City of Danzig
in World War II, the exiled Polish government
in releases said that the knights had "massacre[d...] ten thousand souls", portrayed the contemporary Germans in the tradition of these events and linked these events with National Socialism. After World War II, when the area had become part of the People's Republic of Poland
, Polish politician and writer Jędrzej Giertych
replied to a US congressman's statement, "The citizens of Danzig are German as they always had been", that the knights treacherously gained access into the Polish garrison as allies, then turned their arms against the Poles, massacred first the soldiers, then the civilians, 10,000 men, women and children. in 1969 the post-war Polish city authorities dedicated a monument that commemorates the massacre of the population of Gdańsk in 1308, its aim was to propagate an analogy of the events of 1308 and the German crimes of World War II.
The city of Gdańsk
states that "The Teutonic Knights, having captured the castle in 1308 butchered the population. Since then the event is known as the Gdańsk slaughter". In many Polish works, the takeover is indeed referred to as "Gdańsk slaughter" (rzeź Gdańska). Norman Davies
in his extensive history of Poland
says, while not insisting on the number of 10,000 dead, that the knights "drove Waldemar from the city, and calmly slaughtered its inhabitants", similar descriptions are presented also in some other English books with sections on Polish history. Jerzy Lukowski
in "A concise history of Poland" says that the knights massacred "Lokietek's men".
On the other hand, German historian Hartmut Boockmann
asserts that 10,000 is a "typical medieval number abundantly used by contemporary chroniclers" meaning "very much", and he states that the original figure seems far too high compared to an overall population of Pomerelia which he estimates at 130,000. William Urban says that the number of 10,000 dead has been considered greater than the city's population at the time. Based on Polish research up to 2002, Boockmann gives a number close to a hundred dead.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and the Teutonic Order. Originally the knights moved into the fortress as an ally of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
against the Margraviate of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
. However, after disputes over the control of the city between the Order and the King of Poland arose, the knights killed local nobles and burghers and took the city as their own.
Background
Samborides
The Samborides or House of Sobiesław were a ruling dynasty in the historic region of Pomerania. They were first documented about 1155 as governors in the eastern Pomerelian lands serving the royal Piast dynasty of Poland, and from 1227 ruled as autonomous princes until 1294, at which time the...
, up until 1227 stewards for the Polish Piast kings and dukes. The stewards asserted their power from fortified strongholds. The major stronghold of the area was at the location of present-day Gdańsk's Old Town. The adjacent town developed from a market place of German tradesmen and was granted Lübeck city rights by DukeSwietopolk II
Swietopelk II of Pomerania
Swietopelk II, also Zwantepolc II or Swantopolk II, , sometimes known as the Great , was Duke of Pomerelia-Gdańsk from 1215 until his death...
(Zwantepolc de Danceke) in 1224. According to Raphael Lemkin
Raphael Lemkin
Raphael Lemkin was a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent. He is best known for his work against genocide, a word he coined in 1943 from the root words genos and -cide...
the population in the city at the time was Polish According to Hartmut Boockmann
Hartmut Boockmann
Hartmut Boockmann was a German historian, whose research in medieval history made him internationally respected.Hartmut Boockmann made his Ph.D. in 1965...
, the town was primarily inhabited by Germans. James Minahan wrote that the city inhabitants, for the most part, were Kashubians
Kashubians
Kashubians/Kaszubians , also called Kashubs, Kashubes, Kaszubians, Kassubians or Cassubians, are a West Slavic ethnic group in Pomerelia, north-central Poland. Their settlement area is referred to as Kashubia ....
.
After Mestwin II, the last member of the Samborides died in 1294, disputes over succession arose. In the 1282 Treaty of Kępno
Treaty of Kępno
The Treaty of Kępno was an agreement between the High Duke of Poland and Wielkopolska Przemysł II and the Duke of Pomerania Mestwin II signed on February 15, 1282, which transferred the suzerainty over Gdańsk Pomerania to Przemysł...
Mestwin II promised his Pomerelian duchy to his ally Przemysł II, duke and later king of Poland, who succeeded to the duchy in 1294. The Margraviate of Brandenburg to the west, claimed rights to the harbor city and Pomerania based partially on a treaty of August 8, 1305 between the Rulers of Brandenburg and Wenceslaus III
Wenceslaus III of Bohemia
Wenceslaus III Premyslid was the King of Hungary , King of Bohemia and the king of Poland ....
, promising the Meissen
Meissen
Meissen is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrechtsburg castle, the Gothic Meissen Cathedral and the Meissen Frauenkirche...
territory to the Kingdom of Bohemia
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...
in exchange for Pomerelia
Pomerelia
Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...
, although that treaty was never finalized. The Teutonic Order had inherited Gniew
Gniew
Gniew is a town situated on the left bank of the Vistula River, in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is located at around .-History:The first recorded mentions of Gniew appear in written documents from the first half of the 13th century, one of which refers to the region as Terra Gymeu...
(Mewe) from Sambor II, thus gaining a foothold on the left bank of the Vistula.
Teutonic Knights called in
In Summer of 1308, a Pomeranian rebellion in the city unseated the forces loyal to Władysław I the Elbow-high (who later would become King of Poland), and allied itself with Waldemar of Brandenburgwho entered the town, but not the castle which was held by a small garrison loyal to the king. They, and the city's Pomeranian judge and castellan
Castellan
A castellan was the governor or captain of a castle. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle". Also known as a constable.-Duties:...
, Bogusza, on the advice of the Dominican prior Wilhelm, appealed to 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 Prussia for assistance.
The Knights, under the leadership of Heinrich von Plötzke
Heinrich von Plötzke
Heinrich von Plötzke was an officer of the Teutonic Order during the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Born in Płock in the independent Duchy of Masovia, , he was a descendant of the hereditary dukes of Plock but never took the formal title due to the conflict of his family with the ruling Piast...
, agreed to aid Bogusza, if in exchange they were to allowed to garrison the town's grod
Grod
Grod may refer to:* Caspar Maria Grod, Wilhelm Riphahn's co-worker from 1913 to 1931* Weilern Grod, a village in Brittnau, Switzerland* Grod, 520s–528 ruler after Utigur in Patria Onoguria. He was succeeded by his brother Mugel.-See also:...
for a year. A force of 100 knights and 200 supporters, led by Günther von Schwarzburg
Günther von Schwarzburg
Günther XXI von Schwarzburg , German king, was a descendant of the counts of Schwarzburg and the younger son of Henry VII, count of Blankenburg....
, arrived at the castle around August at which point the Brandenburgers lifted the siege without any fighting. The rebellious inhabitants, who supported the Brandenburgers, however, remained opposed to the Polish-Teutonic takeover. In September, the Teutonic Knights, together with the Polish garrison, begun their own siege of the city. Soon, however, tensions rose, as both sides vied for control; eventually the Polish knights with Bogusza left the town, leaving the siege under Teutonic Knights control. Shortly later, the Knights successfully took the town and carried out the massacre of its inhabitants.
Medieval law suits and Długosz chronicle
In the aftermath of the take-over, law suits against the order were filed by the Polish side, mostly the Polish ruler Władysław I the Elbow-high, which included reports that, after the siege, the order had killed up to 10,000 people. As a result of the suit, the Teutonic Knights were briefly excommunicated by the pope, yet that decision was reversed soon after. The respective Papal Bull of 19 April 1310 includes a reference to the 10,000 dead. While in the consequence the Knights moved their headquarters from VeniceVenice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
to the Ordensburg Marienburg, the lawsuits did not have any practical effect on the order.
In the 15th century, era of the Polish-Teutonic Wars, medieval Polish chronicler Jan Długosz in epic prose described the event as a slaughter of Polish nationals that regardless of condition, age or gender.
Aftermath
Elblag
Elbląg is a city in northern Poland with 127,892 inhabitants . It is the capital of Elbląg County and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship...
), a nearby city. The Knights also attacked Tczew
Tczew
Tczew is a town on the Vistula River in Eastern Pomerania, Kociewie, northern Poland with 60,279 inhabitants . It is an important railway junction with a classification yard dating to the Prussian Eastern Railway...
(Dirschau).
The Knights then captured the rest of Pomerelia
Pomerelia
Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...
from Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
's troops. In September 1309, Margrave Waldemar
Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal
Waldemar of Brandenburg was Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal, the last from the Ascanian House.-Life:He was a son of Conrad, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal and Constance, daughter of Przemysł I of Greater Poland...
of Brandenburg-Stendal
Stendal
Stendal is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of Stendal District and unofficial capital of the Altmark. Its population in 2001 was 38,900. It is located some west of Berlin and around east of Hanover...
sold his claim to the territory to the Teutonic Order for 10,000 marks in the Treaty of Soldin (now Myślibórz
Myslibórz
Myślibórz is a city in north-west Poland, in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is the capital of the Powiat of Myślibórz...
), thereby connecting the State of the Teutonic Order with that of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. While for the order, this landbridge with the empire was a major strategic improvement by connecting its Baltic territories to its German bailiwick
Bailiwick
A bailiwick is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and may also apply to a territory in which the sheriff's functions were exercised by a privately appointed bailiff under a royal or imperial writ. The word is now more generally used in a metaphorical sense, to indicate a sphere of...
s (ballei), it was at the same time a major loss for Poland who had become a landlocked country again.
Thus, the takeover triggered a series of conflicts between Poland and the Teutonic Order, and these conflicts in turn triggered a conflict within the order itself. Some prominent brethren favoured a concession of Pomerelia in exchange for good relations with Poland, but were opposed by a majority of the knights who thought that such a concession would eventually lead to the total expulsion of the knights from their state. These disagreements caused the abdication of Grand Master Charles of Trier in 1318 and the murder of the succeeding Grand Master Werner of Orseln in 1330. The possession of Danzig and Pomerelia by the Teutonic Order was questioned consistently by the Polish kings Władysław I and Casimir the Great
Casimir III of Poland
Casimir III the Great , last King of Poland from the Piast dynasty , was the son of King Władysław I the Elbow-high and Hedwig of Kalisz.-Biography:...
in legal suits in the papal court in 1320 and 1333. Both times, as well as in 1339, the Teutonic Knights were ordered by the Pope to return Pomerelia and other lands back to Poland, but did not comply. As a result, in the late 1330s, a war ensued.
Peace was established in the Treaty of Kalisz in 1343; although the Polish kings were able to retain the title "Duke of Pomerania" and were recognized as titular overlords of the crusaders, the Knights retained control of Danzig. - this time, with the permission of the papal court.
Development of the city stagnated after its capture by the Teutonic Knights. Initially the new rulers tried to reduce the economic significance of Danzig by abolishing the local government and the privileges of the merchants. This was exemplified by the fact that the city council, including Arnold Hecht and Conrad Letzkau
Conrad Letzkau
Conrad Letzkau was a Councilman and later a Mayor of Danzig who, together with Arnold Hecht, was assassinated by the Teutonic Knights.-Origins:...
, was removed and beheaded in 1411. Later the Knights were forced to accept the fact that city defended its independence and was the largest and most important seaport of the region after overtaking Elbing. Subsequently it flourished, benefiting from major investment and economic prosperity in the Monastic state and Poland, which stimulated trade along the Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
. The city had become a full member of the merchant association, the Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
by 1361, but its merchants remained resentful at the barriers to trade up the Vistula river with Poland, along with the lack of political rights in a state ruled in the interest of the Order's religiously-motivated knight-monks. As a result the city became a co-founder of the Prussian Confederation
Prussian Confederation
The Prussian Confederation was an organization formed in 1440 by a group of 53 gentry and clergy and 19 cities in Prussia to oppose the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. It was based on the basis of an earlier similar organization, the Lizard Union...
which formally petitioned Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV KG of the House of Jagiellon was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440, and King of Poland from 1447, until his death.Casimir was the second son of King Władysław II Jagiełło , and the younger brother of Władysław III of Varna....
, to incorporate Prussia, including Danzig, into the Kingdom of Poland in 1454.
Lasting legacy
When the area was disputed between Weimar Germany and the Second Polish RepublicSecond Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
, the Poles recalled the massacre quoting the number of 10,000 murdered. After Nazi Germany had annexed
Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany
At the beginning of World War II, nearly a quarter of the pre-war Polish areas were annexed by Nazi Germany and placed directly under German civil administration, while the rest of Nazi occupied Poland was named as General Government...
the Free City of Danzig
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
in World War II, the exiled Polish government
Polish government in Exile
The Polish government-in-exile, formally known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in Exile , was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, which...
in releases said that the knights had "massacre[d...] ten thousand souls", portrayed the contemporary Germans in the tradition of these events and linked these events with National Socialism. After World War II, when the area had become part of the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
, Polish politician and writer Jędrzej Giertych
Jedrzej Giertych
Jędrzej Giertych was a Polish right-wing politician, journalist and writer, son of Franciszek Giertych, father of Maciej Giertych and grandfather of Roman Giertych...
replied to a US congressman's statement, "The citizens of Danzig are German as they always had been", that the knights treacherously gained access into the Polish garrison as allies, then turned their arms against the Poles, massacred first the soldiers, then the civilians, 10,000 men, women and children. in 1969 the post-war Polish city authorities dedicated a monument that commemorates the massacre of the population of Gdańsk in 1308, its aim was to propagate an analogy of the events of 1308 and the German crimes of World War II.
Modern research
Modern sources are divided as to the actual extent of the massacre though they all agree that one did take place. Historian Matthew Kuefler states: "German and Polish historians in the twentieth century tended to have diverging both on the question of whether Pomerelia really "belonged" to Poland and also on the degree of ferocity of the order's conquest".The city of Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
states that "The Teutonic Knights, having captured the castle in 1308 butchered the population. Since then the event is known as the Gdańsk slaughter". In many Polish works, the takeover is indeed referred to as "Gdańsk slaughter" (rzeź Gdańska). Norman Davies
Norman Davies
Professor Ivor Norman Richard Davies FBA, FRHistS is a leading English historian of Welsh descent, noted for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland, and the United Kingdom.- Academic career :...
in his extensive history of Poland
God's Playground
God's Playground is a book written in 1979 by Norman Davies, covering the history of Poland.Davies was inspired to the title by Jan Kochanowski's 1580s Boże igrzysko ....
says, while not insisting on the number of 10,000 dead, that the knights "drove Waldemar from the city, and calmly slaughtered its inhabitants", similar descriptions are presented also in some other English books with sections on Polish history. Jerzy Lukowski
Jerzy Lukowski
Jerzy Tadeusz Lukowski is a Polish-British historian at University of Birmingham. He specializes in studies of the 18th century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.- Selected publications :...
in "A concise history of Poland" says that the knights massacred "Lokietek's men".
On the other hand, German historian Hartmut Boockmann
Hartmut Boockmann
Hartmut Boockmann was a German historian, whose research in medieval history made him internationally respected.Hartmut Boockmann made his Ph.D. in 1965...
asserts that 10,000 is a "typical medieval number abundantly used by contemporary chroniclers" meaning "very much", and he states that the original figure seems far too high compared to an overall population of Pomerelia which he estimates at 130,000. William Urban says that the number of 10,000 dead has been considered greater than the city's population at the time. Based on Polish research up to 2002, Boockmann gives a number close to a hundred dead.
See also
- Siege of DanzigSiege of DanzigThe Siege of Danzig of 1734 was the Russian encirclement and capture of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth city of Danzig during the War of Polish Succession...
- History of GdańskHistory of GdanskThis article is about the History of Gdańsk , a Polish city located on the Baltic Sea.- Early times :The area around the Vistula delta was inhabited by populations belonging to the various archaeological cultures of the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age...
- Teutonic Order#Against Poland
- History of Pomerania#Eastern Pomerania and Poland