Teutonic takeover of Danzig

Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk)

Pomerelia (Polish Pomerania) while part of the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights

Date	13 November 1308
Location	Danzig (Gdańsk)
Result	Teutonic victory Expansion of the Teutonic Order Polish–Teutonic Wars
Territorial changes	Pomerelia became territory of Teutonic Order, only nominally subject to Poland, leaving Poland landlocked from the Baltic Sea, Germanization of the region.

Belligerents

Brandenburg
margraves

Piast dynasty

Teutonic Knights

Commanders and leaders

Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal

Władysław the Elbow-high, Duke of Poland

Heinrich von Plötzke

Teutonic victory

The city of Danzig (Gdańsk) was captured by the State of the Teutonic Order on 13 November 1308, resulting in a great victory for the Order and marking the beginning of tensions between Poland and the Teutonic Order. Originally the knights moved into the fortress as an ally of Poland against the Margraviate of Brandenburg. However, after disputes over the control of the city between the Order and the King of Poland arose, the knights murdered a number of citizens within the city and took it as their own. Thus the event is also known as Gdańsk massacre or Gdańsk slaughter (rzeź Gdańska). Though in the past, a matter of debate among historians, a consensus has been established that many people were murdered and a considerable part of the town was destroyed in the context of the take-over.

In the aftermath of the take-over, the order seized all of Pomerelia (Gdańsk Pomerania) and bought up the supposed Brandenburgian claims to the region in the Treaty of Soldin (1309). The conflict with Poland was temporarily settled in the Treaty of Kalisz (1343). The town was returned to Poland in the Peace of Toruń in 1466.

In the 13th century, the Pomerelian duchy was ruled by members of the Samborides, originally stewards for the Polish Piast kings and dukes. The stewards asserted their power from fortified strongholds. The major stronghold of the area was at the location of present-day Gdańsk's Old Town. The adjacent town developed from a market place of tradesmen and was granted Lübeck city rights by Duke Swietopelk II in 1224.

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Wikipedia