Marquard von Salzbach¶

Summary¶

Marquard von Salzbach, komtur of Ragnit and later of Brandenburg, is Vytautas’s captive of July 1384, his adviser in 1389 and then his enemy: he signs the Treaty of Lyck (1390), helps negotiate Salynas (1398), fights at the Vorskla (1399), insults Birutė after the Peace of Raciąż (1404, not 1390) and is beheaded by Vytautas after Grunwald for refusing to apologise.

Marquard von Salzbach


Tipas	veikėjas
Metai	?–1410
Status	Istoriniai duomenys
Pastaba	Komtur of Ragnit; Vytautas’s captive (1384) and adviser (1389), then enemy. Signs Lyck 1390, helps negotiate Salynas 1398, fights at the Vorskla 1399 (Posilge: nine of the Order killed, he is rescued), insults Birutė after Raciąż 1404, beheaded by Vytautas after Grunwald (komtur of Brandenburg). Birth year unknown.

Appearance & tells¶

A komtur with a wind-burned face and a voice that begins to sing as soon as he has drunk his third horn. He speaks Lithuanian better than any other Order brother, a fluency earned when Vytautas held him prisoner and fed him as a guest, and he uses it as a weapon: at Lyck he raises his cup in Lithuanian, „to my old host“, before the hostages; at Raciąż he again speaks in Lithuanian „so that all who ought to understand will understand“. He wears armour „like a skin“ (Book III ch. 21), is broad-shouldered, and always smiles at what he takes for a toast. His honesty is his tell: at the stump on the evening after Grunwald he neither dodges Vytautas’s eyes nor begs for mercy.

Want · Need · Lie · Truth¶


Want (external)	To serve the Order and be proved right about Vytautas, the betrayer; to keep the Order’s hold on Samogitia.
Need (internal)	To account for his old friendship with the man he now humiliates: he is the saga’s picture of a friend turned into an enemy by the Order’s cause.
Lie they believe	Vytautas is a traitor who will never be loyal, so insulting him costs nothing.
Truth they learn (or refuse)	Refused: at the stump he answers Vytautas’s question with a flat ‚I remember‘ and ‚That it’s a pity‘, and pays the price without complaint.

Arc by book¶

Book II (1390-1399). At the Lyck feast in January 1390, as komtur of Ragnit and the old friend of his former captor, he toasts „my old host“ and says he is paying back a debt: Vytautas’s wife, children and brother „will eat at my table and sleep under the Order’s keys“. Vytautas answers quietly in Lithuanian, „I will remember that“ (ch. 6). In July 1399 he brings the Order’s knights to the Vorskla under the Salynas treaty, „some say one and a half thousand horse“ (ch. 22), and fights openly at the eastern wagons, where the chronicler later counts nine Order dead and names Marquard among the rescued (ch. 26).
Book III (1404-1410). At the Raciąż feast he raises a cup to „the witch“ who could not be swallowed by the sea, Birutė; Vytautas answers „Aš tai prisiminsiu“ for the second time (ch. 6). In spring 1410, at Palanga, the Amber Queen names him through the pebble: „Marquard raised a cup for me at Raciążek“ (ch. 14). After the battle, on the night of 15-16 July 1410, Vytautas has him and Heinrich Schaumburg beheaded at a stump for the insult he refuses to apologise for (ch. 21).

Power & magic¶

Tier 0. No gift. His fluency in Lithuanian is the only „power“ he uses, to wound; the Amber Queen’s response is not his to feel. His beheading at Grunwald is the Queen’s son answering the insult on the field of the Iron Saint (Book III ch. 21).

Record vs saga¶

[Historical record]: En.wikipedia (Marquard von Salzbach; Ekdahl 1992 pp. 58-59; Urban 2003): after Raciąż (1404) he insulted Vytautas by attacking his murdered mother Birutė; at Grunwald, as komtur of Brandenburg, he was beheaded with Heinrich Schaumburg. At the Vorskla he brought a force (1,600 horse is unconfirmed); Posilge lists nine of the Order dead and names Marquard among the rescued.
[The saga’s invention]: His velvet threat to the hostages at Lyck („grąžinu skolą“; Book II ch. 6) and Vytautas’s „Aš tai prisiminsiu“; the toast to „the witch“ Birutė at the Order’s feast after Raciąż (Book III ch. 6).

Tarimas¶

MAR-kvart fon ZALTS-bakh · IPA /ˈmaʁkvaʁt fɔn ˈzaltsbax/ · English sound-alike „MAR-kvart fon ZAHLTS-bahkh“. German; the Lithuanian text writes Markvardas fon Zalcbachas.

Appearances¶

Book II: ch. 6 (Lyck), 22 (the Order’s contingent), 26 (the Vorskla) and the afterword.
Book III: ch. 6 (Raciąż), 14 (the Amber Queen names him), 21 (the beheading) and the afterword.

The insult to Birutė is dated 1404 (Raciąż), not 1390; at Lyck (1390) he issues only a velvet threat to the hostages. At the Vorskla the Order fights openly under him (Posilge: nine dead).

Ryšiai

Ally: Vytautas (1384–1389) — Captured July 1384; became his adviser.

Enemy: Vytautas (1390–1410) — Lyck 1390; the insult of 1404; beheaded at Grunwald for refusing to apologise.

Member of: Teutonic Order

Rules: Ragnit (Ragainė)

Took part in: Battle of Grunwald / Žalgiris — Komtur of Brandenburg; beheaded afterwards by Vytautas. · Battle of the Vorskla — Komtur of Ragnit with an Order contingent; Posilge lists nine of the Order dead and names Marquard among the rescued. · Peace of Raciąż; Marquard insults Birutė — Insults Birutė after the peace. · Treaty of Lyck; hostages demanded · Treaty of Salynas — Helped negotiate.

Chronologija¶

Year	Event	Book
1390-01-19	Treaty of Lyck; hostages demanded	II · Auksinis Šešėlis
1398-10-12	Treaty of Salynas	II · Auksinis Šešėlis
1399-08-12	Battle of the Vorskla	II · Auksinis Šešėlis
1404-05-22	Peace of Raciąż; Marquard insults Birutė	III · Žaliasis Miškas
1410-07-15	Battle of Grunwald / Žalgiris	III · Žaliasis Miškas

Sąsajos¶

graph LR
  ev_grunwald["Battle of Grunwald / Žalgiris"]
  ev_lyck_1390["Treaty of Lyck; hostages demanded"]
  ev_raciaz_1404["Peace of Raciąż; Marquard insults Birutė"]
  ev_salynas["Treaty of Salynas"]
  ev_vorskla["Battle of the Vorskla"]
  marquard["Marquard von Salzbach"]
  ragnit["Ragnit (Ragainė)"]
  teutonic_order["Teutonic Order"]
  vytautas["Vytautas"]
  marquard -->|Took part in| ev_lyck_1390
  marquard -->|Took part in| ev_salynas
  marquard -->|Took part in| ev_vorskla
  marquard -->|Took part in| ev_raciaz_1404
  marquard -->|Member of| teutonic_order
  marquard -->|Ally| vytautas
  marquard -->|Enemy| vytautas
  marquard -->|Took part in| ev_grunwald
  marquard -->|Rules| ragnit
  style marquard stroke-width:3px