Historical story

Battle of Płowce 1331. A clash that showed that Poles can defeat the Teutonic Knights

The Kingdom of Poland, which was reviving at the beginning of the 14th century, faced a serious challenge - the growing power of the Teutonic state. King Władysław Łokietek had a hard nut to crack, because the knights of the Order were considered to be unmatched in battle.

The Teutonic rule in Prussia was probably the most voracious competitor of the Polish state that was reborn after the period of fragmentation of the district. At the turn of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the knights of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who were supposed to conquer the territories of the pagans, began to stare more and more lustfully at the Polish lands. It was primarily Gdańsk Pomerania, very attractive for both commercial and strategic reasons. Most of the exports from Poland passed through the port of Gdansk; owning this province would also make it easier for the order to obtain military reinforcements from the West, which are very important to it.

The Battle of Radziejów and Płowce had a great propaganda significance for Poland, united by Władysław Łokietek.

Pomerania also wanted to join his dominion Łokietek. Initially, however, he saw a greater threat in another competitor - Brandenburg. Wanting to oust rivals from Pomerania, the Polish ruler called on the Teutonic Knights for help. In 1308, the knights of the Order of the Hospital of the Holy Virgin Mary of the German House actually drove Brandenburg intruders from the district. Soon after, however, they announced that because Łokietek had not paid them for this service, they were taking Gdańsk into their possession.

The Polish monarch, preoccupied with internal problems, did not have the strength or means to stop the offensive of the order. He did appeal to the papal court and in 1321 obtained a favorable decision ordering the Teutonic Knights to return the captured province. However, this did not help much, because the Teutonic Knights appealed to the Pope, which suspended the execution of the sentence.

Łokietek also had a serious opponent in the south - the Czech king John of Luxembourg, who made claims to the Polish crown. Entering the role of the Vistula monarch, he granted the Order Gdańsk Pomerania, thus strengthening its claims to this district. Then, in March 1329, at the head of Czech reinforcements, he helped the Teutonic Knights in the attack on the Dobrzyń region. He also gave it to the order.

In the first years of his rule, Łokietek did not have enough strength for an armed confrontation with the Teutonic Knights.

From the Dobrzyń region, the Teutonic Knights attacked Kujawy in turn. Łokietkowo managed to gather a sufficient number of soldiers and undertake a retaliatory expedition, but it did not bring any tangible results. Both Pomerania and the Dobrzyń land remained in the hands of the Teutonic Knights.

The great master of the verse

A truce was signed, but it did not last long. In 1331, Luther von Braunschweig, from the Welfa family, became the new grand master of the order. He avoided personal participation in knightly expeditions, preferring to write theological treatises and poems , however, had ambitious conquest plans. Immediately after his election, he agreed with the Luxemburger to carry out a coordinated invasion of Poland from two sides.

Teutonic forces were to strike from the north and meet with the Czech troops attacking from the south-west near Kalisz. In this way, Polska Łokietka would be cut into two parts, Małopolska and Sieradz in the south, and Wielkopolska and Kujawy in the north. The aggressors would then occupy the northern part, which would have to reduce the Polish king to the role of the ruler of Małopolska.

In July 1331, part of the Teutonic forces conducted a quick, destructive raid on Greater Poland. Then the main religious forces, numbering about 7,000 armed, set off in a hurried march along the Vistula River to the south and crossed the river near Płock. As agreed with the king of Bohemia, they headed straight for Kalisz. There, however, a great disappointment awaited the Teutonic Knights. The strength of the Luxemburger did not come. In the end, the Teutonic Knights broke the camp and headed north, towards Kujawy.

Meeting in the fog

Łokietek watched the movements of the attackers, operating with his army of approximately five thousand in the vicinity of Łęczyca. Knowing that the Teutonic forces were more numerous and consisted of better trained, seasoned warriors, he avoided entering into open battle. Only when the opponent decided to retreat did the Polish monarch decide to act. He was going to follow the enemy's footsteps and harass their rear with tactics of torn warfare.

After repelling the Poles on the night of September 23-24, near Konin, the Teutonic Knights planned to capture Brześć Kujawski. The front column, commanded by the Balga commander Henryk Reuss von Plauen, moved towards the city, and then the middle column, gathering the main part of the forces led by Luterberg. The rear detachment, headed by Grand Marshal von Altenburg, was in turn assigned the task of gathering food supplies and joining the rest of the army near Brest.

The forces of von Altenburg, about 350 knights and 2,000 infantry consisting mainly of Prussian servants, set up a camp near Radziejów. In the early morning of September 27, the front troops of Łokietek unexpectedly stumbled upon rows of Teutonic tents shrouded in fog. There was a violent, chaotic clash. However, the fog was so dense that the fight was quickly stopped and the opponents returned to their positions.

Banner crushed by a horse

When the milky fumes evaporated, Polish knights went to fight. The unit under the command of Wincenty of Szamotuły cut off the enemy's retreat to Brest and began the charge first. Altenburg's forces resisted him, but from the side and from the rear attacked more Polish troops. Facing the outnumbered enemy and threatened with encirclement, the Teutonic Knights took up a brave defense.

19th-century drawing of a Teutonic knight returning with the spoils of his expedition.

The fight was interrupted twice to catch the breath and then restarted. The third fight turned out to be decisive. Around noon, a Polish crossbowman suddenly struck a standard horse with a great banner of the order. The mount rolled over, crushing the flagpole with its bulk. For medieval armies, the fall of the banner was always very dangerous, as it was used to transmit signals from the commander to the fighting.

So it was this time. Teutonic ranks broke down, the sudden disappearance of the great black cross on a white background was considered a sign of defeat. Łokietek's warriors triumphed across the field, attacking from all sides and beating the retreating Teutonic Knights.

After a while it was over. Injured in the head, von Altenburg surrendered to the Poles together with over fifty confreres. Only a few of the Order's fighters managed to break out of the field near Radziejów and escape towards Brest.

The Battle of Płowce in the painting by Feliks Sypniewski.

Intoxicated with his success, Łokietek decided that the heavens were in his favor and made a risky decision to continue the fight. He was hoping to surprise the enemy. According to his predictions, von Luterberg should recognize that after the success at Radziejów, the Poles will withdraw and hide in the forests, in accordance with the tactics of torn warfare. However, the Polish king miscalculated. As soon as the refugees from Radziejów caught up with the middle religious group and reported the defeat, the Teutonic commander ordered the entire army to be returned.

The Prince's Escape

Łokietek did not realize that thousands of Teutonic riders were moving directly towards him. The meeting of both armies took place near Płowce. It was not possible to stop and set up lines. The speeding troops ran into each other, immediately taking up a fierce fight.

The front part of the monastic army consisted largely of auxiliary Prussian warriors. Less armed and less armored than the Polish knights, they soon succumbed to their advantage. Soon the Teutonic ranks broke down and began to retreat under the pressure of Łokietkowo's who were heated by the battle. It seemed that the success from near Radziejów would be repeated.

Before 3 p.m., however, the core of the Order's forces started fighting and the pressure of the Poles was stopped. For two hours, there was chaotic mess; both commanders seem to have lost control of their troops . Around 5 p.m. the scales of victory began to tilt towards the Teutonic Knights. The knights of the Order were less tired than the Łokietkowys who had fought at Radziejów before, and many well-armed and trained guests from the West fought on their side.

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The Poles first began to withdraw, then more and more groups fled from the battlefield. One of such groups included the son of Łokietek, Prince Kazimierz. It is not known whether he made the decision to flee himself, or whether the father ordered some of his subordinates to kidnap the only surviving son and heir to the throne from the battlefield.

The sight of escaping Kazimierz did not break the morale of the Polish forces. A large part of the knights of Łokietek fiercely defended themselves almost until the evening. Only before dark did the rest of the Poles turn back. The overjoyed Teutonic Knights gave a chase, which ended only near the town where the first clash took place.

Propaganda victory

Maciej from Gołańcza, bishop of Włocławek, who took care of the burial of the victims of the battle, ordered the counting of the bodies. A total of 4,187 were counted, but it is not known how many on each side. One-third of all combatants died, which proves that the battle was a terrible slaughter ( about how bloody medieval battles were, read here ).

Both armies, probably many wounded, were incapable of further action. And although the Teutonic Knights undoubtedly won the battle of Płowce, the balance of the entire struggle on September 27, 1331 was not unfavorable for Łokietek. For the first time near Radziejów, Poles managed to defeat a large detachment of the Order in the field, which was of considerable propaganda importance.

As many as one third of the fighting died near Płowce.

At Płowce, both armies fought as equals As a result, the Teutonic Knights did not manage to achieve even the substitute goal of their expedition, i.e. the capture of Kujawy. Therefore, Łokietek presented the battle as a success. He made a triumphal entry into Krakow, leading with him a high-ranking prisoner - Henryk von Plauen.

Nevertheless, the newly reborn Kingdom of Poland still had no strength for a longer confrontation with the Order. Already in the spring of 1332, the Teutonic Knights organized another expedition to Kujawy, occupying Brest and other provincial cities. In July, the entire district, Łokietek's patrimony, was already in enemy hands. The Polish king died shortly thereafter, on March 2, 1333.

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Find out more:

  1. Bogacki M., Weapons of Polish troops in the Middle Ages , Replika, Poznań 2009.
  2. Długopolski E., Władysław Łokietek against the background of his times , Universitas, Krakow 2009.
  3. Nowak T.M., Władysław Łokietek - politician and commander , Book and Knowledge, Warsaw 1978.
  4. Samsonowicz H., Elbow-high times , National Publishing Agency, Krakow 1989.
  5. Strzyż P., Płowce 1331 , Bellona, ​​Warsaw 2009.
  6. Wiszewski P., Władysław Łokietek and his times , Dolnośląskie Publishing House, Wrocław 2002 ..