Peace of Raciąż; Marquard insults Birutė¶

What the chronicles say [Historical record]¶

Peace of Raciąż, 22-23 May 1404 (en.wikipedia 22 May; VLE 23 May), on an island in the Vistula at Raciążek, at the confluence of the Drwęca and the Vistula; talks from September 1403 through Vytautas’s plenipotentiaries. The 1398 Salynas borders were kept; the Order regained Samogitia and part of Sudovia and ended support for Švitrigaila; Poland could buy back Dobrzyń; Vytautas might move 250 Samogitian noble families into Lithuania. Smolensk was retaken in July 1404. Marquard von Salzbach had nearly derailed the talks by accusing Vytautas of treachery; after the peace he insulted Vytautas by attacking his murdered mother Birutė (en.wikipedia, after Ekdahl 1992). Ulrich von Jungingen (marshal from 1404) is plausibly present.

Peace of Raciąż; Marquard insults Birutė


Type	event
Years	1404-05-22
Status	Historical record
Book	III · The Green Wood
Chapters	6
Note	22-23 May 1404 (en.wikipedia 22nd, VLE 23rd). The insult to Birutė after the peace is attested for Marquard (en.wikipedia, citing Ekdahl).

Where: Raciążek (Vistula island) (on the map)

What really happened [The saga’s invention]¶

At the Order’s evening feast Marquard toasts “the witch” Birutė and the sea that “could not swallow her”; Vytautas answers “Aš tai prisiminsiu”, for the second time he says it to Marquard (the first was at Lyck). At Grunwald he keeps the promise. The Amber Queen later names Marquard (Book III ch. 14: “Raciążeke”).

Consequences¶

Caused by the Union of Vilnius and Radom. Leads, through Marquard’s execution, to Grunwald.

Dramatisation¶

Book III ch. 6 (Vytautas; 22-23 May 1404, a castle chapel at Raciążek); ch. 14 and ch. 21 (the execution after Grunwald).

Relations

Caused by: Union of Vilnius and Radom

Causes: Battle of Grunwald / Žalgiris — A truce, not a settlement.

Location: Raciążek (Vistula island)

Participants: Marquard von Salzbach — Insults Birutė after the peace. · Vytautas

Connections¶

graph LR
  ev_grunwald["Battle of Grunwald / Žalgiris"]
  ev_raciaz_1404["Peace of Raciąż; Marquard insults Birutė"]
  ev_vilnius_radom["Union of Vilnius and Radom"]
  marquard["Marquard von Salzbach"]
  raciazek["Raciążek (Vistula island)"]
  vytautas["Vytautas"]
  ev_raciaz_1404 -->|Location| raciazek
  ev_raciaz_1404 -->|Causes| ev_grunwald
  ev_vilnius_radom -->|Causes| ev_raciaz_1404
  vytautas -->|Took part in| ev_raciaz_1404
  marquard -->|Took part in| ev_raciaz_1404
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