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IT WAS THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY, and armies were on the move. From the East marched the Poles, the Lithuanians, and their allies. From the west came the Teutonic Knights of Prussia with theirs.

The Teutonic Knights (Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem) had been founded around 1190 to defend Crusaders and to establish hospitals. A resurgence of Islam limited their usefulness in the Middle East, but King Andrew II of Hungary solicited their aid against the Kipchaks, a tribe of medieval Turkish nomads. However, he saw the knights as a threat when they attempted to place themselves under the authority of the pope rather than their employer and so Andrew expelled them in 1225. But a Polish noble asked them to help fight against the Prussians. Over the following century, the Knights brought Prussia and regions along the Baltic under their control. They repeatedly attacked pagan Lithuania. Meanwhile, as their wealth grew, so did their corruption.

During that time, Jagiello, the ruler of Lithuania converted to Christianity and married Jadwiga of Poland, becoming King Jogaila. Since the nation was no longer pagan, the Teutonic Knights had lost their main justification for attacking Lithuania. However, they claimed Jogaila’s conversion was insincere, and continued their attacks.

Jogaila and his brother Vytautas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, conceived a strategy for defeating the Knights. To pin down their enemy, they pretended to invade from two directions. Meanwhile a single large army moved rapidly toward Marienburg, the Knights’ capital city. When the Knights discovered the ruse, they moved quickly to intercept Jogaila.

On this day, 15 July 1410, the armies met between the villages of Grunewald, Tannenberg, and Ludwigsdorf. They fought a terrific battle that lasted ten hours. No one is certain how many forces fought on each side. The Knights were probably outnumbered, but they had superior training, a strong cavalry, and an early form of the cannon. However, light rain prevented them from using the cannon.

After their lines nearly broke, the Poles and Lithuanians stiffened their resistance and pushed back against the Knights. In the end, the Teutonic Knights crumbled, losing most of their leadership and thousands of foot soldiers. The eastern allies captured fourteen thousand Prussian soldiers and imposed heavy tribute on the defeated enemy, but they never succeeded in taking their main castle. Even so, the Teutonic Knights went into decline. Lithuania remained among the Christian nations.

—Dan Graves

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For more about the Teutonic Knights, see "The Fighting Monks" in Christian History #40, The crusades

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Other Events on this Day

• HAWAIIAN CHRISTIANS CLAIMED SOULS IN THE MICRONESIAN ISLANDS
• God Pointed His Bible Carriers to His CHOSEN Recipients

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