Marienburg (Malbork)¶

In the 1380s [Historical record]¶

Marienburg (Pol. Malbork; Lith. Marienburgas), on the Nogat arm of the Vistula, was the seat of the Grand Master from 1309, when the Order moved its headquarters here. It is a vast brick complex in three parts: the High Castle (convent and St Mary’s church), the Middle Castle with the Grand Master’s Palace, and the Lower Castle. Work ran from the 1270s to about 1406. The Palace was rebuilt in the Kniprode-Zöllner years (roughly c. 1380-96, interiors painted by 1397). It is among the largest brick buildings in Europe.

Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode died on 24 June 1382; Konrad Zöllner von Rotenstein was elected that autumn and ruled to 1390, followed by Konrad von Wallenrode (1391-93) and Konrad von Jungingen (1393-1407). Kęstutis was held here after his capture on 21 March 1361 and escaped on 11 November 1361: a servant, Alf (Adolfas), removed bricks from the cell wall, Kęstutis broke through, dropped into the dry moat and rode out in a knight’s cloak (Wigand of Marburg; Baronas 2003). Vytautas was received by the Order’s leadership after his flight in 1382-83 (the saga stages the audience at Marienburg); in January 1402 Švitrigaila came here disguised as a merchant and signed a treaty with the Order on 2 March. After Grunwald (15 July 1410) Heinrich von Plauen held the castle: the allied army arrived on 26 July, and the siege was lifted on 19 September. Ulrich von Jungingen’s body was brought here on 19 July. Sources: VLE; en.wikipedia (Malbork Castle).

Marienburg (Malbork)


Tipas	vietovė
Pastaba	Monolithic red-brick castle on the Nogat; grand capital of the Teutonic Order.

Sensory sketch¶

A mountain of red brick above a flat green delta: the Nogat running slow and wide under walls, geese and swans in the meadow, mud and reed. Inside, the smell of beeswax, incense, cold stone, boiled cabbage, hot iron and wet wool. The sound is the Order’s day: bells for the canonical hours, boots in corridors, a smith in the lower ward, Latin chant, German orders, the heavy shutting of doors. Winter fills the vaulted halls with stove smoke; summer brings heat off the brick and flies from the river. The Palace’s star vaults and the Grand Master’s own stove-warmed rooms are the only luxury.

Sagoje¶

The Iron Saint’s capital. Consecrated stone dampens Kalba: Vytautas’s amber is silent inside these walls (Book I ch. 18), which is why this is where he negotiates and is received, not where he is baptised (Tapiau). It is the place where Kęstutis’s escape, told by him at Krėva (Book I ch. 8), originally happened, and in Book VI the dungeon where Kęstutis is held; in Book III the place where Švitrigaila and the Order plot (ch. 5, 11) and the target of the failed siege of 1410. The map room in Book II’s epilogue is where the Order plans how to hold the land it won at Salynas.

Getting there¶

From Vilnius 550-650 km (via Kaunas, Insterburg, Königsberg and Elbing): 13-16 days for envoys on horse, and part of the way by the Nemunas, the lagoon and the Pregel. From Czersk in Masovia 280-320 km (seven to eight days; five to six days down the Vistula). From Grunwald (Tannenberg) 95 km straight, 110 km by road: three days on horse, four to five on foot, which is the route the allied army took after the battle (26 July). Elbing is about 25 km north; Danzig about 55 km north-west. From Königsberg about 165 km straight (c. 200 km by road).

Scenes set here¶

Book I ch. 18 Geležinis magistras (Vytautas’s reception), ch. 22 (Ona and the children moved here after the Königsberg treaty); Book II ch. 30 (Marienburg map, December 1399); Book III ch. 5 (Švitrigaila, 1402), ch. 11 Marienburgo šešėliai (June 1407), ch. 22 Marienburgo apgultis (26 Jul-19 Sep 1410); Book VI ch. 14 (1353-60), ch. 17 Marienburgo požemis, ch. 18 Alfo raktas (the escape, 11 Nov 1361).

Ryšiai

Events here: Kęstutis escapes Marienburg · Vytautas before Zöllner at Marienburg

Chronologija¶

Year	Event	Book
1361-11-11	Kęstutis escapes Marienburg	VI · Šventasis Miškas (priešistorė)
1382	Vytautas before Zöllner at Marienburg	I · Vilko Tremtis

Sąsajos¶

graph LR
  ev_kestutis_escape_1361["Kęstutis escapes Marienburg"]
  ev_marienburg_audience["Vytautas before Zöllner at Marienburg"]
  marienburg["Marienburg (Malbork)"]
  ev_kestutis_escape_1361 -->|Location| marienburg
  ev_marienburg_audience -->|Location| marienburg
  style marienburg stroke-width:3px