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| Polish–Teutonic War (1326–1332) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Pomerelia as part of the Order State | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Kingdom of Poland Grand Duchy of Lithuania Kingdom of Hungary | Teutonic Order Kingdom of Bohemia Duchy of Masovia Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Władysław I the Elbow-high | Werner von Orseln Luther von Braunschweig | ||||||||
ThePolish–Teutonic War (1326–1332)[3] was the war between theKingdom of Poland and theState of the Teutonic Order overPomerelia, fought from 1326 to 1332.
Until the death of DukeMestwin II in 1294, theDuchy of Pomerelia on theBaltic coast, stretching from the border with the ImperialDuchy of Pomerania in the west to thePrussian territory of the Order state at theVistula river in the east, had been held by theSamborides dynasty, liensmen of the PolishPiast rulers.Przemysł II, King of Poland since 1295, incorporated Pomerelia (Pomorze Gdańskie) into theLands of the Polish Crown, against the protest of the ImperialMargraviate of Brandenburg referring to theTreaty of Arnswalde signed with Duke Mestwin in 1269. The following year, theAscanian margraves instigated the kidnapping and killing of King Przemysł, probably backed by KingWenceslaus II of Bohemia, who aimed for the Polish crown.
King Wenceslaus II prevailed against his Piast rivalWładysław I the Elbow-high and was crowned King of Poland in 1300. He ruled in Pomerelia with the assistance of the localSwenzones noble family. Upon the assassination of his sonWenceslaus III in 1306, thePřemyslid dynasty became extinct, and Duke Władysław was able to occupy the Pomerelian lands. The Swenzones, fearing for their assets and sinecures, called for MargraveWaldemar of Brandenburg, whose troops occupied the territory up to the city ofGdańsk. Władysław reacted by calling the forces of the Teutonic Order, who, under the command ofHeinrich von Plötzke in 1308, re-conquered Gdańsk and most of Pomerelia.
However, after theTeutonic takeover, they denied the handover to Władysław, as the duke refused to pay the requested expense allowance. Instead, they concluded the 1309Treaty of Soldin with Margrave Waldemar, whose resistance from the beginning had been relatively weak and who was willing to sell off his claims to Pomerelia.
Władysław, chafing under his defeat, unsuccessfully sued the Teutonic Order at theRoman Curia. However, he was crowned Polish king in 1320. He forged new alliances with theKingdom of Hungary and theGrand Duchy of Lithuania when he married his daughterElisabeth to KingCharles I in 1320 and his sonCasimir toAldona of Lithuania, daughter of Grand DukeGediminas. On the other hand, theKingdom of Bohemia, since 1310 under the rule of the mightyHouse of Luxembourg, rose again, and KingJohn the Blind himself claimed the Polish crown as a heritage from the Přemyslids. The Teutonic Knights supported King John, who joined them in crusades against thepagan Lithuanians. Furthermore, they were allied with Władysław's enemy inMasovia, DukeWenceslaus of Płock.
In 1326, the forces of King Władysław, with Lithuanian supportdevastated the Neumark region and the following year turned against the Teutonic Order, while in the south, King John the Blind marched againstKraków. Though King Charles I of Hungary urged him to retreat, he vassalized many of theDuchies of Silesia. Taking advantage of the weakness of Poland due to the internal fragmentation, the Teutonic knights pillaged and conquered the PolishKuyavian region and theDobrzyń Land. King Władysław received help from Lithuania and Hungary – commanded byWilliam Drugeth – and in turn pillaged theKulmerland of Teutonic Prussia up to theOsa River nearGrudziądz.
The Teutonic Knights counterattacked, taking many towns in Kuyavia and Dobrzyń. A Polish and Lithuanian counterattack in 1330 resulted in a temporary peace, with the Order returning part of its military gains to Poland, but over the next year, the fighting continued. After the indecisiveBattle of Płowce in 1331, the Order gained the upper hand and retook Kuyavia and Dobrzyń Land. Both sides agreed on an armistice, while King Władysław died in 1333.
In 1343, the territorial claims of the parties were settled in thePeace of Kalisz signed by Władysław's son King Casimir III, formally ending the war. He thereby regained Kuyavia and Dobrzyń but finally lost Pomerelia. Nevertheless, he retained the title of aPomeraniæ dominus et heres ("Lord and Heir of Pomerania").
The Pomerelian lands and the Polish access to the Baltic Sea remained a matter of conflict: regained as the Polish fief ofRoyal Prussia after theSecond Peace of Thorn (1466), annexed by theKingdom of Prussia in the course of theFirst Partition of Poland in 1772, and part of the "Polish Corridor" created by the 1919Treaty of Versailles, the ongoing dispute over the region for centuries put a strain onGerman–Polish relations.
