Searchers Find Remains Of Teutonic Knights' Leaders - HISTORY

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                                  Searchers find remains of Teutonic Knights' leaders






By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA 
WARSAW,
Poland
(AP)
Dec. 12, 2008



— Polish archaeologists believe silk-draped skeletons found in a cathedral crypt are those of three grand

masters who more than 600 years ago ruled the Teutonic Knights — an order that spread religion through

force.



An archaeologist in the city of Kwidzyn — the Teutonic fortress of Marienwerder in the Middle Ages —
said Friday that DNA tests indicate the remains are those of Werner von Orseln, the knights' leader from 1324-1330; Ludolf Koenig, who ruled from 1342-1345; and Heinrich von Plauen, who reigned from 1410-1413.

"Taking everything into account, we see that we are dealing with Teutonic Knights grand masters," Bogumil Wisniewski, an archaeologist who spearheaded the search, told The Associated Press. "We are
95, 96 percent sure it is them."

He said the skeletons, found in wooden coffins, were draped in silks — some painted with gold — a fabric reserved only to those highest in power in the Middle Ages.

DNA tests matched their age to that of the death age of the three grand masters. They also revealed temporary malnutrition in one of the skeletons that could match the 10-year imprisonment of von Plauen.

While Wisniewski acknowledged he could only be completely certain of the identities "if I met each face-to-face and he told me his name," he said several other indicators supported the find, including wall paintings in the cathedral showing the three grand masters and historic documents saying that von Orseln and Koenig were buried there. The order ruled in the area until early 16th century.

Wojciech Weryk, coordinator for city development and promotion, said the remains will be returned to the crypt and displayed under a special glass shield, so visitors can see them.

"This is such a valuable historic finding that we should show it," Weryk said.

The Order of the Teutonic Knights was founded in the late 12th century to aid German pilgrims in the Holy Land. It became a military order, wearing trademark white coats with black crosses, forcefully bringing Christianity to pagan Prussians. It took control along the Baltic Sea coast in what is now northern Poland.

The order was crushed by Polish and Lithuanian forces at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410.

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Kwidzyn castle

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Kwidzyn [ˈkfʲid​͡zɨn] (German: Marienwerder) is a town in northern Poland on the Liwa River, with 40,008 inhabitants (2004). It has been a part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously in the Elbląg Voivodeship (1975-1998). It is the capital of Kwidzyn County.



The Teutonic Knights founded an Ordensburg castle in 1232 and a town the following year. This new settlement of Marienwerder (German for "Mary's ait") became the seat of the Bishops of Pomesania within Prussia. The town was populated with Masurian settlers from the Duchy of Masovia. Werner von Orseln, who died in Marienburg (Malbork) in 1330, was buried in the cathedral of Marienwerder. St. Dorothea of Montau lived in Marienwerder from 1391 until her death in 1394; pilgrims would later come to pray in the town at her shrine. The rebellious Prussian Confederation was founded in Marienwerder on March 14, 1440.[citation needed] In 1466, the town became a Polish fief together with the remainder of the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights after their defeat in the Thirteen Years' War.

Marienwerder became part of the Duchy of Prussia, a fief of Poland, upon its creation in 1525. The duchy was inherited by the House of Hohenzollern in 1618 and was elevated to the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. The town became the capital of the District of Marienwerder. After the First Partition of Poland, Marienwerder became an administrative seat of the new Prussian Province of West Prussia. The town and district were included within the government region of Marienwerder after the Napoleonic Wars.

According to statistics, in 1818 it was populated by a Polish speaking, Masurian majority.

The policy of forceful Germanization, however, gradually decreased the share of Polish speaking inhabitants who participated in the social life of the province that spoke German. After 1871, when Marienwerder was included in the newly created German Empire, the Kulturkampf was aimed mainly at Catholics. In 1885 Marienwerder had 8,079 mostly Lutheran inhabitants, many of whose trades were connected with the manufacturing of sugar, vinegar, and machines. Other trades were brewing, dairy farming, and fruit-growing. According to official statistics, ca. 1910 35.7% of the county's population was Polish.

After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 transferred most of West Prussia to the Polish Second Republic. The treaty permitted the East Prussian plebiscite in a few areas. To determine if Marienwerder would remain in Germany as part of East Prussia or join Poland; 93,73% of the inhabitants of the town voted on 11 July 1920 for East Prussia, to which the town was joined.

During the Weimar Republic, a Polish high school was founded in the town. On August 25, 1939, pupils of the school were deported to Nazi concentration camps[citation needed].

In 1945 during World War II, Marienwerder was plundered by the Soviet Red Army but not destroyed. The post-war Potsdam Conference placed it under Polish administration in 1945. Parts
of the town's old center were dismantled to provide material for the rebuilding of Warsaw after its destruction in the Warsaw Uprising.

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THE CASTLE IN 1912

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Werner von Orseln






                                  

                                   Ludolf Koenig














Kwidzyn contains the partially-ruined 14th century Brick Gothic Ordensburg castle of the Teutonic Order, namely the Bishops of Pomesania within the Order. Connected to the castle to the east is a large cathedral (built 1343-1384) containing the tombs of the bishops as well those of three Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights.

The literally outstanding feature of the castle is a sewer tower which is connected to it by a bridge. The tower used to be placed at the river which has changed its course since, leaving it on dry land.

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The castle today



Material retrieved from:

wikipedia.org