The Battle of Grunwald/Tanneberg 1410 – an important battle in the history of Poland and the Baltic Region. Fought between the Teutonic Knights with guest crusaders on one side against a combined Polish/Lithuanian army. Also discussed is the battle’s aftermath and its relevance today
Category Archives: Poland
Battle of Grunwald 1410, Part 3
In the 14th century Lithuania became a major European power under the leadership of Algirdas, his brother Kęstutis, and their respective sons Jogaila and Vytautas (pictured), This episode describes Lithuania and her relations with the Teutonic Knights leading up to the Battle of Grunwald 1410
Battle of Grunwald 1410 Part 2
Struggle for Pomerania and Danzig/Gdansk between the native population, Teutonic knights and Kingdom of Poland. Teutonic knights move base to Marienberg. King Casimir the Great of Poland. Dynastic union of Poland and Lithuania in 1390’s. Includes quotes from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Picture: Marienberg/Malbork fortress (courtesy of visitmalbork.pl)
Battle of Grunwald 1410 Part 1
Baltic Region in the 13th Century. Origins of the Teutonic Knights. Expansion of the Duchy of Lithuania as far south as the Black Sea at the expense of the declining Mongol Empire
Battle of Lake Peipus Part 3, Conquest of Livonia 1185-1238
Livonia in the 12th century was threatened by invasion from all sides; Danes, Swedes, Germans, Poles and Russians. Key events in this episode are;
1201 – Founding of Riga (capital of modern day Latvia) by Bishop Albert
1219 – Capture of Tallinn (capital of modern day Estonia) by Denmark in the legendary battle of Lyndanisse
1236 – Defeat of a military order, the Sword Brothers, by a band of Lithuanians at the Battle of Saule
https://www.patreon.com/posts/6482201
Lake Peipus Part 1, Baltic Sea, Northern Crusades
From now on some new sets of episodes will be available exclusively on a website called www.patreon.com.
This is a website where fans can support a podcaster, artist, musician, etc and pledge either a one-off payment or an ongoing amount per month. Up until now I have made available all content completely free of charge but I will begin to offer bonus material to all those generous enough to pledge $3/month (about £2/month). The money will be invested back into the podcast to cover e.g. purchase of books and hosting fees.
The latest set of episodes of A History of Europe, Key Battles podcast covers the Baltic Sea; firstly its early history, and then the Northern Crusades.
Part 1 of 5
The first part (of five) is available at patreon.com for free at: https://www.patreon.com/posts/6129312
The armies of Germany, Poland, Scandinavia and Russia attempt to convert the Baltic pagans to Christianity and carve up their lands in the process. The culmination of the the set of episodes is the Battle of Lake Peipus 1242, or The Battle on the Ice, between the Teutonic Knights and Orthodox Russians of Alexander Nevsky. The battle is probably most famous for its representation by the Soviet director Eisenstein the film Alexander Nevsky.
Part 2 of 5
The second part is at: https://www.patreon.com/posts/28-42-teutonic-6170798
The Teutonic Order was set up in the Holy Land as a German equivalent of other military orders. The first campaigns in Europe were in response to invitations from the King of Hungary and then a Duke of Poland. And so began their conquest of Prussia
