POLSKA HISTORIOGRAFIA XIX WIEKU WOBEC ZAGADNIENIA „KLĘSKI POGRUNWALDZKIEJ”
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How to Cite

Knyspel-Kopeć, Renata. 2019. “POLSKA HISTORIOGRAFIA XIX WIEKU WOBEC ZAGADNIENIA „KLĘSKI POGRUNWALDZKIEJ””. In Gremium. Studies in History, Culture and Politics, no. 2 (September). https://doi.org/10.34768/ig.vi2.15.

Abstract

The most important event of the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War was the battle of Grunwald. The
victorious army, led by Władysław Jagiełło, was thus presented with an opportunity to try and finish off
the Teutonic Knights. The king with his army then laid siege to the capital of the Order, Marienburg
(Malbork). They failed, however, to take the stronghold, so the Grunwald victory, spectacular though it
was, did not result in achieving the main objective of the war, i.e. the liquidation of the monastic state
of the Teutonic Knights. The Polish 9th-century historians with one voice comment on that failure of
the Polish-Lithuanian army: while Grunwald’s victory showed Poland’s power, not taking the enemy’s
capital meant defeat. The commanders of the joint armies are blamed with sluggishness that wasted an
opportunity for an easy capture of the castle which got strongly fortified by grand master Heinrich von
Plauen. Yet, the 9th-century historiographers show understanding of the ‘Marienburg failure’ – seeing its
source in the food shortages and lack of experience in handling the siege on the part of the joint armies.
One ought to remember, however, that the historians’ biased, negative opinion on king Władysław Jagiełło
followed Jan Długosz’s Chronicle’s unfavourable account of the king – then the main source text.

https://doi.org/10.34768/ig.vi2.15
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