Moreover, he entered into correspondence with Luther, discussing with him the most important problems of faith, and in 1524 he met him personally during the negotiations concerning his brother Albert's secularization of the Teutonic Order's state of Prussia into the secular Duchy of Prussia.

They continued, however, to function in all respects ( rule, clothing and policy ) as an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, headed by their own Master ( himself de jure subject to the Teutonic Order's Grand Master ).

The Teutonic Order's attempts to conquer Orthodox Russia ( particularly the Republics of Pskov and Novgorod ), an enterprise endorsed by Pope Gregory IX, can also be considered as a part of the Northern Crusades.

In February 1454, the Prussian Confederation rose against the Teutonic Order's rule.

The Teutonic Order's castle at Marienburg

The Teutonic Order's army numbered about 18, 000 cavalry, mostly Germans and 5, 000 infantry.

On 15 July, at the Battle of Grunwald ( also known as Battle of Tannenberg ) after one of the largest and most ferocious battles of the Middle Ages, the allies won a victory so overwhelming that the Teutonic Order's army was virtually annihilated, with most of its key commanders killed in combat, including Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen and Grand Marshal Friedrich von Wallenrode.

Most of the Teutonic Order's territory, however, including towns which had surrendered, remained intact.

In 1422, Władysław fought another war, known as the Gollub War, against the Teutonic Order, defeating them in under two months before the Order's imperial reinforcements had time to arrive.

The fortress Malbork Castle | Ordensburg Marienburg, founded in 1274, the world ’ s largest brick castle and the Teutonic Knights | Teutonic Order's headquarters on the River Nogat.

From the 14th century, in old texts ( until the 16th / 17th c .) and in Latin, the terms Prut ( h ) enia and Prut ( h ) enic refer not only to the original settlement area of the extinct Old Prussians ( Prusowie, see: Prussia ) along the Baltic Coast east of the Vistula River, but also to the adjacent lands of the former Samboride dukes of Pomerelia, which the Teutonic Knights had acquired from Poland in the 1343 Treaty of Kalisz and added to their Order's State.

During the Thirteen Years ' War (" War of the Cities "), in February 1454, the Confederation, led by the citizens of Gdańsk, Elbląg, and Toruń, as well as gentry from Chełmno Land sent a delegation with Johannes von Baysen to ask the Polish king for support against the Teutonic Order's rule and for incorporation of Prussia into the Polish kingdom.

The eastern part of Prussia remained under the rule of the Teutonic Knights and its successors as a fief of Poland, becoming the Ducal Prussia in 1525 when the Order's last Grand Master Albert von Hohenzollern adopted Lutheranism and secularized the land as its hereditary ruler.

The combination of taxation by the nobility, the furor of the Protestant Reformation, and the abrupt secularization of the Teutonic Order's remaining Prussian lands exacerbated peasant unrest.

They continued, however, to function in all respects ( rule, clothing and policy ) as an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, headed by their own Master ( himself de jure subject to the Teutonic Order's Grand Master ).

In 1336, the defenders of Pilėnai in Lithuania set their castle on fire and committed mass suicide in order to make the attacking Teutonic Order's victory a costly one.

With the secularization of the Teutonic Order's Prussian territories in 1525, Bartenstein became part of the Duchy of Prussia.

Ulrich and his elder brother Konrad von Jungingen, as younger sons excluded from succession, took the vow of the Teutonic Knights and moved to the Order's State in Prussia.

The settlement was founded by Teutonic Order's Otto von Luttenberg and was known under following names Nuwenmarkt, Novum Forum, Nowy Targ.

The Diocese of Warmia lost the two thirds of its diocese within Teutonic Prussia after 1525 when the Order's Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach converted the monastic state into Ducal Prussia, himself ruling as duke.

Kneiphof became part of the Duchy of Prussia after the Teutonic Order's Prussian branch was secularized in 1525.

His strategy was to gain the support of the Pope and other Catholic powers in his conflict with the Teutonic Order by granting a favourable status to Catholics living within his realm and feigning a personal interest in the Christian religion.

By December 1409, Jogaila and Vytautas had agreed on a common strategy: their armies would unite into a single massive force and march together towards Marienburg ( Malbork ), capital of the Teutonic Knights.

Albert of Prussia (; ) ( 17 May 1490 – 20 March 1568 ) was the 37th and last sovereign Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights and, after converting to Lutheranism, the first duke of the Duchy of Prussia, which was the first state to adopt the Lutheran faith and Protestantism as the official state religion.

Because Albert was a member of the Brandenburg-Ansbach branch of the House of Hohenzollern, it had been hoped that his election as Grand Master would reverse the decline of the Teutonic Knights since 1410 ; Duke Frederick of Saxony of the House of Wettin had been elected for the same reason.

He was a skilled political administrator and leader, and effectively reversed the decline of the Teutonic Order, until he betrayed it by transforming the order's lands into his own duchy, secularizing it in the process.

For want of funds, Alexander was unable to resist the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights or prevent Grand Duke of Muscovy Ivan III from ravaging Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the Tatars.

The marriage took place on 30 April or 16 October 1325 and was a purely political maneuver to strengthen the first Polish – Lithuanian coalition against the Teutonic Knights.

The Teutonic commander was also killed in battle and was buried in the Żarnowiec chapter church.

The direct result of the battle of Schwetz / Świecino was that the city of Danzig and Pomerania were freed from Teutonic Order danger so that the royal and municipal armed forces could be used elsewhere in the war, mainly to protect the Vistula waterway and to capture the Teutonic held strongholds.

The psychological significance was that this was the first open field battle won by the royal forces, so it increased the morale of the Polish forces and lowered the morale of the Teutonic Knights.

Duke Konrad of Masovia still was not capable to end the Prussian attacks on his territory and in 1224 began to conduct negotiations with the Teutonic Knights under Grand Master Hermann von Salza in order to strengthen his forces.

He obtained a charter by Emperor Frederick II issued in the 1226 Golden Bull of Rimini, whereby Chełmno Land would be the unshared possession of the Teutonic Knights, which was confirmed by Duke Konrad of Masovia in the 1230 Treaty of Kruszwica.

Christian ceded his possessions to the new State of the Teutonic Order and in turn was appointed Bishop of Chełmno the next year.

The Polish position was defended by Paulus Vladimiri, rector of the Jagiellonian University, who challenged legality of the Teutonic crusade.

After the defeat of the Teutonic Knights and the destruction of the castle by the inhabitants, the city successively was under the sovereignty of the Polish crown ( 1466 ), the Kingdom of Prussia ( 1772 ), and Germany ( 1871 ).

Elbląg is the Polish derivative of the German name Elbing, which was assigned by the Teutonic Knights to the citadel and subsequent town placed by them in 1237 next to the river.

Baibars was free to continue his campaigns: in 1270 he had the Assassins kill Philip of Montfort, and in 1271 he captured the Hospitaller and Teutonic Knights strongholds of Krak des Chevaliers and Montfort Castle.

Acre was defended by Henry II's brother Amalric of Tyre, the Hospitallers, Templars, and Teutonic Knights, the Venetians and Pisans, the French garrison led by Jean I de Grailly, and the English garrison led by Otton de Grandson, but they were vastly outnumbered.

In 1250, Mindaugas entered into an agreement with the Teutonic Order ; he consented to receive baptism ( the act took place in 1251 ) and relinquish control over some lands in western Lithuania, for which he was to receive a crown in return.

Pagan Lithuania was a target of Christian crusades of the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order.

The Lithuanian-Polish alliance was able to defeat the mighty Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410.

* a state ruled by the Livonian Order founded by Albert in 1202, which was assimilated into the Teutonic Knights in 1237 ;