this film was a huge undertaking with the largest audience in the history of all Polish cinematography. Of course, the allusive background was the WW II and the conclusion that German element had threatened Poland for centuries in various incarnations : the Teutonic Order, Prussia, United Germany and finally the Third Reich. It wasn't just a historical movie
The movie did the event justice but like you said this was a very significant moment in the history of Poland. When people like you comment it gives me a better understanding, I really thank you for taking your time out. I am now more eager to visit your great country.
It all started when Konrad of Masovia (Konrad Mazowiecki) invited the Teutonic Knights in 1225/1266 to help Poland fight the pagans. However, the Teutonic Order created its own state in the areas given to them (the same situation occurred in Hungary, from where the Teutonic Knights were expelled before they came to Poland), which resulted in war. Both sides, i.e. the Poles and the Teutonic Order, were Catholics. And over time, to the greatest battle of medieval Europe that you saw (after the Battle of Grunwald, the Teutonic Order never regained its former power). Fun fact: together with Lithuania, Poles were fighting against the flower of chivalry of all Europe in this battle (that's why there are mentioned English knights). Many years later, in 1525, King Sigismund the Old of Poland (Zygmunt Stary) allowed Princely Prussia to be a Polish vassal, instead of annexing these areas because the ruler of Prussia, Albrecht Hohenzollern, was his nephew. Of course, it was supposed to be like this until the Albrecht line expired, and then Prussia was to be incorporated into Poland. This happened (expiration of the Albrecht line), but in the meantime we had a war with Sweden and the treaty was annulled. Fun Fact: you can see my distant ancestor Hetman Mikołaj Firlej of the Lewart coat of arms on the painting called Prussian Homage by Jan Matejko. He's on the right side of the painting wearing a green outfit. Thus, the decision of 1225/1226 resulted in Prussia belonging to Germany (with some time when it was Polish) until World War II, and connecting it with the rest of Germany with a highway that was to go through Poland was the main demand of Hitler, who, due to the Poles' refusal, began World War II with the Invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939... Also, Germans claim Gdańsk (ger. Danzig) to be their city, but in fact it was founded by Poles and it was ruled by Poland most of the time but its population was mostly German before WW2.
Actually this was battle between Roman Christian Poland (with friends) against Roman catholic knights order. They were invited many years ago to fight with pagans, and letter they just oppressed converted people and refused to leave. That's why Poland said stop.
And there were „hiding” in the woods because they knew circumstances- July was a very hot month ant standing in open field in all of the armour was just insane
The Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War, also known as the Great War, occurred between 1409 and 1411 between the Teutonic Knights and the allied Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Inspired by the local Samogitian uprising, the war began with a Teutonic invasion of Poland in August 1409. As neither side was ready for a full-scale war, Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia brokered a nine-month truce. After the truce expired in June 1410, the military-religious monks were decisively defeated in the Battle of Grunwald, one of the largest battles in medieval Europe. Most of the Teutonic leadership was killed or taken prisoner. Although they were defeated, the Teutonic Knights withstood the siege on their capital in Marienburg (Malbork) and suffered only minimal territorial losses in the Peace of Thorn (1411). Territorial disputes lasted until the Peace of Melno of 1422. However, the Knights never recovered their former power, and the financial burden of war reparations caused internal conflicts and economic decline in their lands. The war shifted the balance of power in Central Europe and marked the rise of the Polish-Lithuanian union as the dominant power in the region.
During the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, the Polish-Lithuanian army was supported by the pretender to the Khan's throne in the Golden Horde, Jelal-ad-din. After the battle, many of his warriors remained in Lithuania.
The biggest battle of European medieval history. It changed everything.... Especially the Vatican's attitude ;) (Polish-Lithuanian postulates was about considering non Christian people as human beings... And after the intervention of one of the greatest knights in history and legends, Zawisza the Black, (where he went to the pope's chambers kicking his doors)
I am a history enthusiast from Poland. I have known this film since I was a child, it was once considered a masterpiece of Polish film art. However, it contains inaccuracies. First of all, it was a battle only in horse formations, no infantry took part in it. However, the cavalry charged in tight formations. These formations attacked using lances and fire from horse crossbowmen. After crushing the copies, they returned to their original positions. After a short rest, they returned to the fight. There were no chaotic fights as depicted in the film. Sorry for my English, I'm not good at it. I come from a generation that had to learn Russian
You explained it very well my friend, maybe they should do a remake in modern film era. One thing I felt from the movie footage was the sheer passion and national pride, great acting.
@@Johnconte786 That's true. Poles are proud of their victory in the Battle of Grunwald, especially since it was the largest battle of the Middle Ages. The film was made at a time when people were still talking about the "Polish film school". Of course, acting was at a higher level back then than it is now.
W 1410 Zakon Templariuszy juz nie istniał. Król Francji Filip Piekny dokonał grabierzy ich ziem i majątku a Wielki Mistrz Jakub de Molay został spalony na stosie. W 1314 r.
Answering your question: about 20,000 Polish ppl + about 10,000 Lithuanians; 50 Polish banners (from the kingdom, Masovia, Płock, Belz, Podolia, Moldova, and Czech mercenaries), 40 Lithuanian banners (Lithuanians and Ruthenians from the Grand Duchy, Jalal ad-Din's Tatars, Lingwen's private banner); approx. 29 thousand soldiers (2/3 of them are Polish knights), and on the Order's side: about 15,000 to 20,000 ppl; 51 banners, approx. 21 thousand mounted knights (including approximately 230 monastic brothers), 6 thousand infantry troops, and artillerymen. Casualties: 8 thousand were killed and 14 thousand were captured, on The Order's side, from 2 to 3 thousand killed on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth side. If I remember correctly, there was a moment when The Order's troops came very close to where our king Władysław Jagiełło (he was a Lithuanian Prince originally,BTW) was stationed, but they didn't recognize the king and rode onto the battlefield. If they did it would be a tough fight, because the king had only a small number of knights at his side. Our army was nice and cool under the canopy of the forest, and The Order's Knights were baking in the sun :D 13:05 Zawisza Czarny, the faumos Polish Knight. Being an excellent diplomat and therefore one of the most trusted people of King Władysław Jagiełło, he was sent as one of six envoys of the Polish delegation to the Council of Constance (1414-1418), where he became famous as one of the few defenders of the cause and person of Jan Hus.
Makes complete sense now and knowing it was hot I guess it further hydrated then before the battle. Thanks for answering some of the questions because knowing the back story and the actual event you get to learn why we are in our current state of events. You have commented in the past on my previous video, if you have a recommendation for me I would love to react to it.
@@paulinarapicka I am already getting goosebumps just thinking about the Battle of Britain. Subscribe to the channel please and you will get a notification once I upload it.
These are not the Templars or the Crusaders, but the German Teutonic Order. They were called the Teutonic Knights because they wore large black crosses on their white robes.
Funny is that song of polish knights is a pray for victory to Saint Mary against Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem . And they won :)
The only period when Rome's interests aligned with the Polish ones started much later, in 1978... All the time before the Pope rather supported Western Europe at the cost of the East. If not for the papal influence, Vasa dynasty could unite Sweden, Poland and Russia... which would eventually result in creating the largest empire in the world, from Norway through Alaska and quite probably Canada. Multireligious empire... Papa didn't want that.
You must know that this battle looked completely different than in this movie. It was a cavalry clash, there were no infantry. The Teutonic Knights treated it as a shortcut. Our army consisted of Polish, Russian, Lithuanian, Czech and Tatar troops. So, facing the Catholic army of the Teutonic Knights and Western Europe, stood Poles and Lithuanians - Catholics, Risuni - Orthodox and Tatars - Muslims.Therefore, the papal curse was placed on Poland.It's a pity that he fought with dissenters against the Teutonic Knights. Poland was a multi-religious country, interestingly enough, Polish Tatars who were followers of Islam were granted nobility.
It is worth mentioning that the Battle of Grunwald was treated by Western knights as another crusade - this time not to the Holy Land, but to the "pagans" in Central Europe.
Yes, it was a crusade, thanks to the victory we managed to get out of the hands of the Vatican for two hundred years. This is when Poland experiences its greatest prosperity. An interesting fact is that during the battle there was a conspiracy not to take Teutonic knights into captivity. Out of two hundred and forty taking part in the battle, two hundred and twenty are killed.@@paulinanaliszewska8906
4:10 In those times, accusing someone of cowardice and, in addition giving them swords was one of the worst insults a knight could hear. If he had spit in his face, he wouldn't have offended him so much.
The Teutonic Order were not the Templars. You have to remember that. As for the Templars, they had their commuries in the west of Poland, close to the Polish-Czech border. Greetings from Krakow
9:15 The Polish knights sang "Bogurodzica" specifically to prove that the Teutonic Order is lying, telling the West that Poland is still a pagan country and thus explaining their occupation of Polish lands by supposedly Christianizing these areas.
11:13 In the Middle Ages, when enemy troops captured the royal banner during a battle, it was considered a bad sign and the troops often surrendered when they saw it. Yeah, but not Poles. The loss of the banner caused such fury among the knights that (according to historical records) they attacked the Teutonic Knights with such fury that they defeated them faster.
1. The Order of the Templars (French founders) was destroyed and murdered on the orders of their debtor, Philip the Fair, king of France 102 years earlier in 1308. In the battle of 1410, Poland fights with the Order of the Virgin Mary called the Teutonic Knights (Germans) 2. Two Catholic states fight each other in whose armies also include mercenary knights from different countries and of different religious denominations.3 The Teutonic Knights, under the guise of spreading the faith, attacked neighboring countries, robbed, murdered and enslaved their citizens, which Poland could not allow. That's it in a nutshell.4. Watch the full film,, KRZYŻACY" because you are commenting on something you don't understand.
No, Cannons were used in Europe for the first time by Mongols 2 hundred years earlier as powder was basically invented by Chinese. For a long time they were more panic raisers than a real weapon.
Well i dont know the history well, but this was interesting story. King of Poland invite crusaders to Poland to make christianity in countries west from Poland, but couple years later, they find that they can make good money from attacking polish villages, they build own state and starting to take Polish land. After a years of attacking and murdering polish citizens the king decide to destroy crusaders, wchich was problematic because the head of christianity supports crusaders.
The Teutonic Order is not the Templar Order. These are two different things. The Teutonic Order is Germany. Once called Prussia. The territory of Prussia was also in the north-eastern part of Poland, and the territory of Russia near the Baltic Sea (Königsberg Oblast). The Teutonic Order was very cruel. Supposedly under the guise of Christianity, but they converted with the sword. They built the largest brick castle in the world - Malbork. Then the king of Poland bought it and it is now a Polish castle.
No the Teutonic Nights gradually became mercinaries that fought for money. They became an order that terrorizes the neighbours including Poland Lituania
The knight dueling in the swamps bears the coat of arms of my "Lubicz" family 🙂 We have different heraldry than in England. Many families have the same coat of arms. Horseshoe with a cross on a blue background.
Hahaha initially I had no idea what I was reacting to and I have to admit I dont know the history every country. What can I say i'm an ignorant person who is up for learning.
Religion was and always will be a poweful tool . People went to war in rhe name of God for centuries....the thing is in this case the religion just showed devotion of both sides and them not fearing death as rhey were expecting afterlife. Also some say that when Poland created a union with Lithuania they joined pagans and there were still some pagan baltic tribes in the are that dodnt want to be christianized. That was the reson the Teutons came to the are initialy to help fight the pagans. But in reality the jist wanted the land for themselves and it led to this battle. And as many other regions before Lithuania was christianized as a country, but suprisingly when union lead to creation of Polosh Lithuanian Commonwealth the couutry was very divers and had religious minorities ( orthodox, jews and muslim tatars). So religion is not an issue but rhe the bacground here. Both sides belived to have god on their side and Mary , virgin - mother of Christ had a cult like tratment in Poland for centuries. The battle song they sing is a Hymn to Mary (Maryja Bogurodzica) the mother of God.
I hear you however in the video both sides are shouting in the name of Christianity before the battle. The Polish side are calling for strength through Mary which indicates strong association with the Roman Catholic church.
No, we were NOT. The Teutonic Order was invited to our lands by a Prince- Konrad I Mazowiecki in 1226. Poland was Christianised in 966... The Teutonic Order started to be like a cancer in our lands and started to endanger us and undermine our politics. This battle is a dam braking, a culmination of constant smaller-scale battles. Generally- The Order wanted to rule this territory and the religion was just a pretext. As always...
liberum veto , prywata , popuszczanie pasa no i ten mega żenujacy wyfiokowany królik co podwalał sie do carycy . Na lekcjach historii chodziłeś na wagary ?
