IV: The Hunt For a Foe (1412-1415)
The Polish-Masovian War
The Grossgebietiger, the senior officers of the Teutonic Order, voted against Hochmeister von Plauen's plan to attack Poland. While it certainly wasn't open defiance - they were
expected to advise their lord and jealously guarded that right - it was a bitter pill nonetheless.
Technically every one of their posts were subject to the grandmaster's will: Von Plauen could dismiss the lot of them and Teuton law would support him. It would have led to civil war however, and whatever von Plauen's other faults (which can be summed up kindly under 'lacking people skills'), he wasn't foolish enough to bring down the Order he fought so hard to save on a point of pride.
This didn't mean von Plauen didn't seek revenge. He sent a number of messengers to Brandenberg, Bohemia and Pommerania all seeking to sell the Neumark. Grand Marschall von Sternberg used the Neumark as a staging ground during the Polish-Lithuanian War, and he administered three castles there as well as having made a number of powerful friends. Moving Neumark out of the Teuton sphere of influence would weaken him politically. Unfortunately (or fortunately), none of the realms could what von Plauen wanted for the Neumark and so it remained idle, ignored and neglected except when Tressler von Uexhull's taxmen visited.
Nor did the grand master remain idle. As Lithuania fought an epic war with Smolenski nationalists, he was able to trouble his other archenemy. Traders smuggled in enough weapons and armor to arm 4,000 peasants who fought off 1,000 Poles preparing to attack Pommerania from Kalisch.
Von Plauen's smuggling campaign broke down however and with his own officers forcing him to honor the post-war truce he watched with growing frustration as the Pommeranians seized Posen in April 1412 then sieged Torun and Kalisch.
The war turned when Masovia fell to King Wladyslaw's army in September. He forced Janus of Masovia to once more swear fealty and pay homage, then marched with eleven thousand men on the three rampaging through Kalisch.
Wladyslaw won, of course, but received a rude shock when he pursued the Pommeranians towards Posen and lost to reinforcements. He returned with fresh troops of his own and pushed the Pommeranians out in December.
Two months later Norway and Denmark declared war on Hamburg. Wartislaw IX once more honored his obligation to defend a friend placing Pommerania in a hopeless position. At the time most honored the Pommeranian duke for keeping his word at all costs. Modern historians suspect Wartislaw realized he must eventually submit to Poland and effectively offered the duchy to his son (Erik VII of Denmark).
This put the Teutons in a curious position. As it became obvious Hochmeister von Plauen wasn't going to (or wouldn't be allowed to) arbitrarily devastate the realm in a hopeless war, tensions eased. The cleric-nobles who formed the Order saw less reason to question their Papal-endorsed leader while merchants either submitted to the higher taxes or found new ways around them.
(Oct 1412: Stab to -1)
Von Plauen once more argued for intervention, especially as the Poles crossed the Pommeranian border in March 1413, but once more his 'advisors' recommended caution. Papal Legate von Wattzau, in particular, reminded everyone that:
Paul von Wattzau said:
Have you forgotten the infamy brought upon themselves by the Knights Hospitaller? You know as well as I that in June last their grandmaster, their last grandmaster thank God, submitted to the Eastern rite and forced his officers to follow! It was divine intervention that the order fell a month later, even if it was to the Turk and his perfidious allies! It was the first, and I pray the last, time I rejoiced at a Muslim victory for what can possibly be worse than a traitor?
No, gentlemen: The Templars fell to heresy, and now the Hospitallers follow. We are it. We are the last of the crusaders, and we do not dare spend our strength on any cause but the Lord's!
Once more the opportunity for war passed, and once more von Plauen paced the castle at Marienburg like a caged animal. He watched as the Pommeranians pushed Poland out of their lands in May, only for the
Aquileans to move in that August. Wladyslaw retook Posen in October 1413 and forced the last Pommeranian army out of his kingdom by November. At this point the Germans stood no chance of holding out, let alone winning, and von Plauen once more marshaled his forces without the consent of his council. Then fate intervened.
Before the Leaves Fall
On December 5, 1413 Muscovy declared war on Tver. Novgorod broke their alliance with the Muscovites, and the Hochmeister saw an opportunity for a quick, near bloodless war against the city state of Pskov.
This time the Grossgebetiger was more inclined to let the grandmaster have his way and von Wattzau could find no argument against an assault to claim lost souls. Through the winter Teuton and Livonian forces marshaled along the Russian border: Michael von Sternberg would attack Novgorod if they foolishly tried to protect Pskov, while Hochmeister von Plauen would march on the city.
With Muscovy and Tver tied up fighting each other, the Teutons expected Pskov to fight alone or at worst with Novgorod's help. When Grand Marschall von Sternberg learned that Novgorod, Muscovy, Tver and
Moldavia all intended to stand behind the helpless defenders, his response was said to be quite profane and has not survived in any record.
Though Hochmeister von Plauen promised a single year's campaign, he'd prepared for the worst. An initial 9,000 mercenaries were hired along with 2,000 regulars. This nearly doubled the Order's fighting strength and wrecked the still fragile economy. A reluctant Werner von Tettigen first raised emergency taxes, then when it became clear that wouldn't be enough begged Danzig merchants for a loan. This they provided at a punishingly usurious rate in violation of canon law (Christians weren't supposed to charge each other interest) in obvious retaliaton for the Hochmeister's recent treatment.
Von Sternberg marched into Novgorod and sieged Narva and Kopore.
(Ingermanland) Von Plauen, meanwhile, easily crushed a 1,000 man Pskovian army led by Alexander IV. There was trouble brewing however, in the form of a 10,000 man army building in the Novgorod capital under Prince Yuefimei II.
With reinforcements on their way to Kopore, the Hochmeister ordered von Sternberg to take what men could be spared and dislodge the Novgorod army before they could take the initiative. The Grand Marschall advanced with seven thousand men against the defenders.
The Teutons were outnumbered, but better disciplined and did enjoy an advantage in cavalry. Yuefimei negated the latter by deploying in swamps near Lake Ilmen to the south of the city. At that point it became a slugfest that lasted many hours with the Russians, eager to defend their homes and fed on stories of Teuton atrocities, gaining the upper hand.
When word reached von Plauen that his Marschall had failed he ordered the Livonian landmeister, leading the reinforcements approaching Kopore, to join him in a joint assault before Yuefimei could recoup his losses. Both Kopore and Pskov sieges were left with just enough men to prevent the defenders from breaking out.
On July 9, 1414 Heinrich von Plauen led fourteen thousand men against a Novgorod army reinforced to sixteen thousand.
Von Plauen's army was much like that which fought at Tannenberg and not far removed from that which fought at Lake Peipus 150 years earlier. Heavily armored cavalry led the charge with lance and sword while infantry armored in leather and chain and wielding a stunning array of weapons secured valuable points or formed defensive lines.
Novgorod's infantry - and this was an infantry heavy army -
had advanced since Lake Peipus. They now wielded bardiches, long polearms meant to hold cavalry at bay but without the mutual support that a well disciplined team of pikemen could provide. Their noble boyars were more lightly armored than their western counterparts, but could still deliver a terrible shock with lance and sword.
Yuefimei once more deployed in the swamps to nullify the Teuton cavalry advantage, and once more it turned into a slugfest. As morning passed into afternoon the battle still raged - when the Order's knights broke and fled!
The prince of Novgorod quickly organized a pursuit, not realizing that Hochmeister von Plauen learned well the lessons of Tannenberg. It was a false retreat, and once the knights led their opponents far away from the brawling infantry they turned on their pursuers. Here the Order's cavalry advantage proved decisive and banner after banner of the prince's boyars retreated in earnest.
Without anyone screening their sides the Novgorod infantry, which steadily ground away at the Teutons, found themselves flanked by charging horsemen. They broke under the strain and fled into the swamp.
Von Plauen won a pyrrhic victory: He lost 6,000 men (mostly infantry) while Yuefimei lost four. The Teutons pursued him to Kholm, where the Hochmeister once more won - and once more he lost more men than the enemy.
By now it was approaching October 1414. The Teutons sieged cities including the Novgorod capital while von Sternberg nursed his army's wounds in Pskov.
On paper the Order was clearly winning the war: Moldavia accepted a truce in September, while Muscovy and Tver had yet to make an appearance and Novgorod's prince was on the run. In truth, though, they were on their last legs: Von Plauen insisted on pursuing Yuefimei, though it's doubtful he could have won a third battle. Banner after banner of mercenary company reported significant enough losses to warrant canceling their contract. Despite war subsidies coming from Austria, the Order could barely mint enough money to pay interest on their debts let alone recruit and train more soldiers.
Fortunately, Hochmeister von Plauen proved he could dissemble quite well when he chose. He acted as if expecting overwhelming reinforcements any day now and Yuefimei believed him. He asked for a truce.
The grandmaster accepted. It allowed him to dismiss several thousand mercenaries (and such save the economy from collapsing trying to pay them) while cutting Muscovy and Tver off from Pskov.
Three days later word received von Sternberg in Pskov of the grandmaster's truce. He immediately ordered his men to storm the walls and the city fell hours later.
Aftermath
Upon installing himself in the krom (kremlin), von Sternberg opened negotiations with Alexander IV. He played on rumors of his grandmaster's instability and the fact he was on his way to push through a lenient treaty.
In his capacity as priest, von Sternberg blessed Alexander in the Roman rite later that day and left the formal baptism to Legate von Wattzau. Alexander also agreed to submit to the Teuton authority and through them the pope, while paying a minor war indemnity.
It was a lenient treaty, and many believe von Sternberg pushed it through to deprive his grandmaster the honor of negotiating it himself, but it went far to improving Teuton relations both home
(Stability to 0) and abroad. As they realized the Teutons weren't trying to conquer the Rus outright, both Tver and Muscowy agreed to truces and resumed their private war.
If Von Sternberg won a reputation for fairness, then von Plauen earned much glory for his military prowess. His campaign further wrecked the Teuton economy, but as it turned out not fatally. In the eyes of the world glory counted for much more than common sense and in January 1415 Legate von Wattzau read congratulations and blessings from Gregory XII
and Benedictus XIII at Avignon supporting and authorizing the 'Pskov Crusade'
This buoyed the Grossgebetiger as they met on a cold winter day, and they were happier still when von Uexkull reported that, despite all odds, they'd be able to pay off their first two loans on schedule in 1416. That would take enough pressure off the economy to reduce taxes and minting to 'sober' levels.
Perhaps, but the Lithuanians proved a tempting target. In March 1415 Wladyslaw II of Poland went to God, and not only did Lithuainian Grand Duke Kazimieras (House Chodkiewicz) disavow the Union of Krewo and all related acts binding his country to the Poles, he also bluntly asserted that Wladyslaw couldn't produce heirs and questioned one year old Kryzysztof's claim to the throne.
(Insult)
This caught the Hochmeister's interest, especially when Hungary asked for an alliance (replacing Bohemia and Pommerania, both of whom dishonored the Pskov war.) He wrote in a letter to Archbishop Johann of Riga:
Heinrich von Plauen said:
...which makes me question who the greater enemy is: Poland, who was duped into fighting us by their Lithuanian-born king who now resides in hell, or the Lithuanians who openly support (Orthodox) schism and apostasy? Is now the time to retake Samogitia and put those pagans to heel?
It certainly seemed so: Wherever the Lithuanian regular army deployed, it wasn't the Teuton border. They
had no allies. Still, it was less than five years since the Order signed the Peace of Thorn (by a handful of months) and cooler heads once more counseled patience.
While the Order waited through 1415, Poland finished subjugating Pommerania, while Denmark took the western half for themselves. The Muscovy/Tver war too ended with a Muscovite victory.
As it turned out, patience bore some dividends. In August, months after the Teutons added Riga to their sphere of influence to discourage outside aggression, Kazimieras guaranteed the archbishophric against
Teuton aggression. This was a legitimate casus belli and Grand Marschall von Sternberg, the loudest voice demanding patience back in March, fell silent.
By October Lithuania finally picked up two powerful allies: The Bohemian emperor and Muscowy. This would have made most men pause, but Lord von Plauen didn't like pausing when action would answer.
On October 15, 1415, the truce period enforced the Peace of Thorn expired...
