Vytautas burns Order castles; turns on the Order¶

What the chronicles say [Historical record]¶

In July 1384 Vytautas abandoned the Teutonic Order and reconciled with Jogaila. Wikipedia’s civil-war article (Urban, Ivinskis, Kiaupa) records that he burned the Order’s new castles on the Neman, including Georgenburg (Jurbarkas), and that the joint forces of Jogaila and Vytautas besieged New Marienwerder (Naujapilis) for six weeks until it fell; Vytautas captured Marquard von Salzbach. The Order had begun building New Marienwerder in May 1384 and he had reconfirmed the Königsberg terms there in June and July (the Wikipedia article on the treaty gives 14 June and 16 July; they differ and need checking). Earlier in 1384 Jogaila had offered Volhynia with Lutsk, which Vytautas refused, demanding his Trakai patrimony.

Vytautas burns Order castles; turns on the Order


Tipas	įvykis
Metai	1384-07
Status	Istoriniai duomenys
Knyga	I · Vilko Tremtis
Skyriai	22, 23, 24, 25
Pastaba	Vytautas turns on the Order, burning crusader fortresses along the Nemunas in July 1384.

Where: Jurbarkas (Georgenburg) (on the map) · Naujapilis (Marienwerder) (on the map)

What really happened [The saga’s invention]¶

The book recasts a fictional 1383 Vilnius siege as these July 1384 events. Vytautas sees the Order’s bombards trained on the city he intends to defend; his father’s shade and Eglė’s ashes come to him in the camp; he cuts a rope, kills a young sentry and fires the siege tower „Lietuvos griovėjas“, sends an arrow with the message „Geležis degia“ and flees. Next day the Order’s soldiers hunt him through the forest; he loses Jonas, Birutė’s weak fog saves him (cost implied), and the ‚Geležinis Vilkas‘ legend is born. Henė calls him Išdavikų išdavikas, the traitor of traitors.

Consequences¶

Caused by the Treaty of Königsberg; leads to the truce in the ashes. With it Vytautas is the Order’s most dangerous apostate and the surety of the Pact (Birutė’s sacrifice) falls due.

Dramatisation¶

Book I ch. 22 „Naujapilis“, ch. 23 „Ugnis ir Pelenai“, ch. 24 „Pasirinkimas“, ch. 25 „Išdavikų Išdavikas“ (all Vytautas; summer 1384, the siege heat; the older Vilnius-siege dating is superseded).

Ryšiai

Caused by: Treaty of Königsberg (Samogitia ceded)

Causes: Truce in the ashes with Jogaila

Location: Jurbarkas (Georgenburg) · Naujapilis (Marienwerder)

Participants: Jonas (vilkų vyresnysis) · Vytautas

Sąsajos¶

graph LR
  ev_burnings_1384["Vytautas burns Order castles; turns on the Order"]
  ev_konigsberg["Treaty of Königsberg (Samogitia ceded)"]
  ev_truce_ashes["Truce in the ashes with Jogaila"]
  jonas["Jonas (vilkų vyresnysis)"]
  jurbarkas["Jurbarkas (Georgenburg)"]
  marienwerder["Naujapilis (Marienwerder)"]
  vytautas["Vytautas"]
  ev_burnings_1384 -->|Location| jurbarkas
  ev_burnings_1384 -->|Causes| ev_truce_ashes
  ev_burnings_1384 -->|Location| marienwerder
  ev_konigsberg -->|Causes| ev_burnings_1384
  vytautas -->|Took part in| ev_burnings_1384
  jonas -->|Took part in| ev_burnings_1384
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