Teutonic Knights: The War That Destroyed Them | Grunwald 1410

Teutonic Knights were the most feared military order in Christendom. On 15 July 1410, on a field in Prussia, that reputation ended in a single afternoon. This film tells the eleven months that led there — from the declaration of war to the largest battle of medieval Europe. In August 1409 the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order sent a formal declaration of war to Władysław Jagiełło, King of Poland. Days later the Order crossed the border and destroyed the town of Dobrzyń. What followed was a winter of secret councils in Brest, a bridge built in pieces and floated down the Vistula, and two armies converging on a plain between the villages of Grunwald and Tannenberg. There the Grand Master sent two naked swords to the Polish king — an invitation to fight, and an insult. It was the last gesture the Order would ever make from a position of strength. HISTORICAL NOTES - Estimates of the armies vary widely. The upper figures are around 39,000 Polish-Lithuanian troops against 27,000 for the Order; lower estimates run closer to 16,000 against 11,000. - The Lithuanian retreat remains disputed. Jan Długosz described it as a genuine flight. The theory of a planned manoeuvre appeared in 1909, and in 1963 Sven Ekdahl published a letter from the Order's own archive warning a later Grand Master about exactly such a tactic. Historians still disagree. - The two swords were taken to the treasury on Wawel Hill and became part of the Polish coronation regalia, carried at royal coronations until 1764. They disappeared without trace in 1853. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Grunwald 01:06 - Malbork Castle and preparation for war 03:53 - King Jagiełło Court and declaration of war 06:06 - Riders departure 06:33 - Dobrzyń Town before siege 07:50 - Dobrzyń Town battle begins 09:18 - Dobrzyń Massacre 13:08 - Historical Context 13:46 - Brest Secret Meeting 17:44 - Preparations for Vistula Crossing 19:00 - Teutonic Order finds out about Vistula Crossing 20:50 - Grunwald and the Two Swords 22:30 - Bogurodzica 23:10 - Grunwald Battle Starts 25:15 - Grunwald Lithuanian Retreat 27:20 - Grunwald Lithuanians Strike Back 27:52 - Epilogue