Heinrich von Plauen

Heinrich von Plauen (the Elder) (ca. 1370–1429) was the 27th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from November 1410 to October 1413. Having becoming grandmaster in the wake of the Battle of Grunwald, he was a stern proponent of prolonging the war with Lithuania and Poland. Because all male members of his family were baptized as Heinrich (Henry), he is sometimes known as Heinrich von Plauen the Elder to differentiate from his relative, Heinrich von Plauen the Younger (died ca. 1441). Early career Von Plauen was born in Vogtland, between Thuringia and Saxony. Von Plauen arrived in Prussia around 1390 as the Order's guest, but later became a full member. He did not hold any important positions until 1402 when he became the Komtur of Nessau (Nieszawa). He was promoted to Komtur of Schwetz (Świecie) in 1407. Von Plauen did not take part in the Battle of Grunwald on 15 July 1410. Upon receiving the news of the Order's defeat, he took the initiative and assembled an army of 3,000 men to defend Marienburg, capital of the Order. He correctly suspected that it was where the victorious Polish and Lithuanian armies were headed. He also sent letters, acting as the Grand Master, to Germany asking for additional troops and money. Von Plauen arrived at Marienburg on time and energetically organized the defense. The Siege of Marienburg started on 26 July and remained until 19 September 1410. The King of Poland, Jogaila, did not expect strong resistance and was not prepared for a long-term siege. The siege, holding Jogaila's army in place, helped to organize defensive forces in other parts of Prussia and gave time for relief to arrive from the Livonian Order and Germany. Jogaila had to retreat. Von Plauen ordered his forces to pursue the retreating Polish army and recaptured all fortresses (except those on the Polish–Prussian border) by the end of October. In November 1410 for his services in the defense of Marienburg and Prussia, von Plauen was chosen as the 27th Grand Master of the Order, overtaking other officials of the Order with higher positions, like Werner von Tettingen, the Order's Minister of Diplomacy and the Komtur of Elbing (Elbląg), who fought in the Battle of Grunwald. Von Plauen inherited a difficult task of rebuilding Order's fortresses, restoring the economy, recruiting new Knights, and defending the Order's reputation in Europe.