Grunwald field and hanged in the Vilnius Cathedral reminded the public of the
GDL of the great victory.
The Battle of Grunwald made an immense impression on the contemporaries. It
was mentioned in major European chronicles of the time and after a few years
already the states who had fought in the Battle named it the Great. At the same
time care was taken to make the Battle be remembered. Jogaila intended building
a monastery on the site of the Battle, yet later, on having abandoned Prussia, he
funded the construction of the monastery in honour of the Battle in Lublin. On
the recaptured field, the Grand Master erected a chapel in memory of the slain.
The Battle symbolised the end of the power of the Teutonic Order, however the
weakening of the Order was the outcome of a change in the situation in Europe
and Eastern Baltic several decades ago. As a matter of fact, the Order managed to
defend its main stronghold then. Heinrich von Plauen, who took over the duties of
the Grand Master, organised the defence of Marienburg, and the allies, on having
reached the Order’s capital, saw, as it soon turned out, a secure stronghold before
their eyes. After the siege that lasted for several months at first Vytautas’, then
Jogaila’s troops retreated. The Peace of Thorn signed on 1 February 1411, which
ended the war, confirmed the state of affairs. Poland regained the Dobrin Land and
Lithuania regained Samogitia for the lifetime of Jogaila and Vytautas. The worst
problem for the Order was not the territorial losses but the huge contribution
– 100 thousand kapas of Prague groats. The financial obligations of the knights
that were much ahead of their possibilities shook the territory’s economy. From
then on, the Order did not constitute a military threat, and after the conclusion
of the “eternal” Meln Peace Treaty in 1422 (Samogitia was recognised to belong
to Lithuania for good) it even became a GDL’s potential ally in the complicated
controversy on the consolidation of political sovereignty. The western boundaries
with Prussia which for the first time then began to be marked by signs became the
state’s most stable borders during the GDL’ entire period of existence.
The Battle of Grunwald and related events not only determined further trends in
the development of Lithuanian history but a new international situation in Central
and Eastern Europe. The Polish–Lithuanian union gained high authority which was
shortly used by the Jagiellonian generation who established itself by assuming
the thrones of all the monarchies in the region – Poland, Bohemia, Hungary, and
the GDL. For Lithuania, the Battle meant a period of lasting peace during which
the long-matured modernization of the country’s political and social structure
commenced. The Battle (in Polish – the Battle of Grunwald, in German – the Battle
of Tannenberg), which resounded widely and brought deep changes, has left traces
in the historical memory of different nations. The different names of the Battle
reflect differences in the approaches to it. The image of Grunwald and of Grand
Duke Vytautas of Lithuania, who is reasonably related to this victory, had a great
influence on the historic self-awareness of the Lithuanian nation and has become
a lasting symbol of national identity. Also, the memory of this Battle formulated
the political consciousness of both the GDL nobility in the 16th century and the
figures of Lithuanian national revival in the 19th–20th c.c. In present Lithuania, too,
July 15th is one of the officially announced and calendar established memorable
days for the state. Memory and its forms, however, change inevitably over time. At
the beginning of the 21st century, the history of the Battle and its consequences
not only can be presented as a heroic deed but also as a real attempt to discover
the forms of peaceful co-existence in the Central and Eastern European region,
which, however, failed due to a variety of reasons. A wider approach to the Battle
of Grunwald is also important because in the context of the Battle, a wealth of
political categories urgent to date have appeared, such as the concept of fair
war, international intermediation process, possibilities and forms of peaceful
communication at war. Finally, the Battle of Grunwald is the historical symbol of
Lithuania’s political sovereignty; it is reflected in Grand Duke Vytautas’ majestic seal
created just a few years before the Battle depicted on the collectors coin.
Dr. Rimvydas Petrauskas
Lithuanian
Collectors
Coins
COINS TO COMMEMORATE THE 600TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF GRUNWALD
DENOMINATION 500 LITAS
Gold Au 999.9
Quality proof
Diameter 33.00 mm
Weight 31.10 g
On the edge of coin:
stylised 15th c. spearheads
Mintage 5,000
DENOMINATION 50 LITAS
Silver Ag 925
Quality proof
Diameter 38.61 mm
Weight 28.28 g
On the edge of the coin:
stylised 15th c. spearheads
Mintage 10,000
DENOMINATION 1 LITAS
Alloy of copper and nickel
Cu 75%, Ni 25%
Diameter 22.30 mm
Weight 6.25 g
Edge rimmed at intervals
Mintage 1,000,000
Designed by Rytas Jonas Belevičius
Issued 2010
Information is available at the Bank of Lithuania
Tel. +370 5 268 0316
Fax +370 5 268 0314
www.lb.lt
The coins were minted at
the UAB Lithuanian Mint
www.lithuanian-mint.lt
Lithuanian Collectors Coins
© Lietuvos bankas, 2010
Photographs by A. Baltėnas, R. Ginaitis and A. Lukšėnas. Illustrations from the collections of the Royal
Library of Belgium, Kernavė Archaeological and Historical Museum, Polish Army Museum,
Lithuanian Art Museum, National Museum - Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania,
and from private collections (collection of E. Rimša) are used
Designed by Virgaudas Minialga
Published by the Bank of Lithuania, Gedimino pr. 6, LT-01103 Vilnius
Printed by the UAB “Baltijos kopija”, Kareivių g. 13B, LT-09109 Vilnius, Lithuania
COINS TO COMMEMORATE THE 600TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE BATTLE OF GRUNWALD
600
The
th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald is commemorated
in 2010. On 15 July 1410, the allied forces of the Polish Kingdom and the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) defeated the forces of the Teutonic Order thereby
putting and end to the epoch of crusades in the Eastern Baltic that had lasted for
200 years. The victory was not only determined by the more numerous forces and
successful tactical military decisions of the alliance. In fact, it was the aftermath
of the changed geopolitical situation in the region after the 1385–1386 union of
Lithuania and Poland and the Christianization of Lithuania in 1387. After accepting
Catholic Christianization Lithuania could no longer be an arena for crusades,
although the Order for some time tried to continue the usual crusading policy. The
Teutonic Order was the first Roman Christian state that Lithuania encountered. Up
until the Christianization of Lithuania and long afterwards it remained one of the
major factors in Lithuanian history. Permanent wars against the Order that lasted
for over a hundred years seriously affected the development of the Lithuanian
State. The 14th c. marches to Prussia and Lithuania (Litauerreisen) became an
important cultural element of the Western European nobility. For the European
knights, marches to Lithuania were not just the fulfilment of certain military tasks,
but rather an opportunity to demonstrate their knighthood, and the Order’s
leadership managed to create a political and economic organization adapted to the
arrangement of these marches and existing on them (servicing of the marchers, the
use of the captives for maintenance works, ransoms). On the other hand, the grand
dukes of Lithuania, too, found their political and economic solutions combining
war economy with the state’s territorial expansion in the East. It is namely in this
epoch that Lithuania, which had established itself within the tribal boundaries,
expanded into the GDL. In the history of Lithuania, the Teutonic Order has played
an ambiguous role too. Constant wars, on the one hand, impeded the expansion
of the state’s political structures, yet, on the other hand, the Order’s developed
record-keeping and diplomacy was an example followed by the-then rulers of the
GDL. Not accidentally, the first international agreements entered into by grand dukes
of Lithuania were those with the Order. Major trade routes extended across the Order’s
territories, Prussia and Livonia; the influences of European political culture came through
these routes too, including the territorial state model adopted over time by the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania which was establishing itself as a state.
In the early 15th c. the epoch of wars was coming to an end. The Order’s marches in
1402–1403 were the last reisen on the territory of the GDL. In 1403, Pope Bonifacius IX
forbade the Order to fight against Lithuania. Further military actions took place on the
territory of the Order only. The Battle of Grunwald became the peak of the 1409–1411
war between Poland–Lithuania and the Teutonic Order. In the Christian world at that
time war was treated as the possible legal means of solving disputes between Christian
states, where all negotiating and intermediation efforts had failed. Therefore before
starting military actions, efforts were to be made to try convincing the international
community in one’s righteousness. Both the Order and Poland with Lithuania raised a
real “war of offices” in 1409 and 1410, and in their public letters to the Western European
rulers declared the justness of their actions. Moreover, the letters written on behalf of
Vytautas and Jogaila can be considered as the first texts of political polemic writing in
Lithuania. Efforts of the King of Rome to intermediate were not successful, so everything
was to be decided on the battlefield. In July 1410, the Polish–Lithuanian army (which
included Ruthenian, Tartar and Bohemian units), marching on the Grand Master’s
capital, Marienburg was met by the army of the Order and its mercenaries. In the ranks
of the Order there still was a sufficient abundance of knights who had arrived from a
variety of countries and lands, and heralds who participated in the Battle testified to
the Army’s knightly nature. The main force of the Order’s army was hard cavalry which
still dominated the-then Europe. The cavalry soldiers were organised in banners and
according to the known number of banners, the researchers are trying to find out
the total number of warriors who participated in the Battle. Judging from everything,
the allied forces numbered 25–30 thousand warriors outnumbering the Order’s army
by approximately one-third. The latter’s armament is assessed to have been better,
yet modern historiography has already denied the inveterate myth of Poland’s and
Lithuania’s great military backwardness. Well, the warfare epoch not only saw
armed conflicts but also cultural and technological exchange which primarily
changed the GDL’s political elite. From the 14th c. the Lithuanian warriors took
over the western customs of knightly warfare. They learnt to use the knightly
arms, mastered the subtleties of tactics, adhered to a knightly code of conduct
and began using the distinguishing knightly signs, coats-of-arms. Therefore, at
the Battle of Grunwald quite a significant part of the Polish-Lithuanian army bore
resemblance to European knights units. As a matter of fact, alongside them there
were units of another type, for example ordinary nobles and Tartars. This diversity
of tradition in the armament of the GDL forces should be seen as an advantage
rather, as it allowed applying more different tactical schemes.
On the church midsummer festivities, Separation of the Apostles Day morning
both armies formed their lines in a large field between the villages of Grünfelde
and Tannenberg. A battle in the Middle Ages was perceived as the judgement
of God, therefore both sides spent the start of the day praying. The Battle which
started already after noon lasted long hours. While the chief commander of the
Polish–Lithuanian forces was the King of Poland, Jogaila (Władyslaw II Jagiełło),
the events-related sources (the Order’s chronicles and Polish historian Jan
Długosz) attribute major military merits to Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania.
The Lithuanian units led namely by him had to sustain the highest pressure from
the enemy at the initial stage of the Battle, and the outcome of the Battle was
determined by the Lithuanian forces’ tactical retreat and return to the battlefield
manoeuvre testified by a contemporaneous source. The Battle was not scarce
in dramatic moments, of which a reckless outburst of a Teutonic knight against
Jogaila, which nearly ended up in tragedy, stands out. The Battle finished in the
flight of the Teutonic troops and the death of Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen
as well as other high leaders of the Order. After the Battle, the allied troops shared
out the trophies (first of all banners) and the captives; also, in accordance with
knightly custom, they “consolidated the victory” in a three days camp on the
approaches to the battlefield. The banners of the Teutonic Order brought from the