The second part of the article deals with heretofore unknown descriptions of the southern border of the court district of Pisz, part of the military district of Balgij (temporarily Rynsk), which started on the river Boleszówka, a tributary of the Turosl (Rudna) and then ran eastward along the Kolno Upland. This fragment of the frontier between Mazovia and the Teutonic Order, all the way to the headspring of the Biebrza, was also established in the course of negotiations conducted in Bratian in 1343, and followed the northern edge of the Upland. Meanwhile, in the descriptions under examination we encounter a boundary delineated across the centre of the Upland, from the mouth of the Korczowoda (Labna) to the Pisa, crossing the Losiowa Biel marshes and then along the Skroda, the Chojna and the Wissa, up to the mouth of the Biebrza, which corresponded approximately to the territorial claims made by the Order during the 1330s and 1340s. Some of the examined descriptions remain undated. The first, most probably written by Jan von Sayn, the military commander of Balgij, originates from 1405-1407, and in May 1412 found itself among documents whose purpose was to assist an Order mission setting off for negotiations with the Polish side in Buda. This is the second most important description (after the one contained in a letter by the military commander of Ostróda, 15 February 1413), since it depicts the mechanism of the efforts of the Teutonic Knights aimed at a legal appropriation of a considerable part of the Mazovian territory. The preparation of the document was probably based on three consecutive descriptions, made at the end of the fourteenth century, which are discussed in detail. By publishing unknown descriptions of the boundaries made for the purpose of a Polish-Teutonic Order trial conducted after the battle of Grunwald (or prepared earlier and only used at the court proceedings) the authors wished to supplement heretofore knowledge about the border disputes between Mazovia and the Teutonic Order from the last quarter of the 14th century to the second decade of the 15th century, which up to now have been known only from outdated, frequently 19th century ascertainments made by German and Polish researchers.
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The formation of the Mazovian-Teutonic Order boundary has not been sufficiently examined up to now. This is the prime reason why Polish and German writings feature numerous contradictory findings or erroneous simplifications, including those concerning the circumstances and course of the Rajgród–related conflict between Mazovia (Poland) and the Teutonic Knights (summer 1360), described in a copious protocol–account and a brief description found in the chronicle of Wigand. The presented article discusses the events preceding the conflict and its course. The roots of the event go back to the second half of the thirteenth century when Mazovia, Ruthenia and the state of the Teutonic Order embarked upon a conquest of Sudovia and the subsequent division of its lands. Both sources include information which demands further research. The authoress has recently identified two Mazovian knights - Dobrogost of 'Cannink' (Kanigowo) of the Lubicz coat of arms, and Bronisz of 'Sulostase' (Sulostowo) of the Grabie coat of arms, who appeared during the first stage of the conflict. On the other hand, it proved impossible to identify a knight's servant named Nykus Nassund. Further investigations are required in the case of the starosta (capitanens) of Wizna and a verification of the proposed localisation and identification of the Teutonic Order fortress of 'Grebyn' whose construction was completed after the devastation of Rajgród; the same holds true for the determination of the fortification work conducted in Rajgród by the Mazovians. In the case of both fortifications, this task is rendered additionally difficult by the fact that heretofore archaeological research has not provided any auxiliary ascertainments.
In 1308/9, the Teutonic Order annexed by force Vistula Pomerania (Polish: Pomorze Nadwislanskie). In order to validate this annexation, the Order purchased the territory for 10 thousand silver deniers from the Brandenburg margrave Waldemar, who assumed possession of it in 1305 as a grant of the Bohemian and Polish king Waclaw III, resigning on his behalf from the March of Meissen. Some historians derive the ownership rights to this part of Pomerania from the grant of the Pomeranian Duchy to the Brandenburg margraves, received as fief of the Reich by emperor Frederick II in 1231, while others from the aforementioned transaction from 1305. This latter point of view was represented by the Teutonic Knights themselves; it is better justified.
The article deals with the problem of authenticity of the document of Gunter the bishop of Plock and the Plock chapter of March 17, 1230 confirming the grant of all the land estates belonging to them and most rights in the Land of Chelmno to the Teutonic Order. Considering the arguments for and against the authenticity of that document, the author concludes that it is indeed false but was based on an authentic document of bishop Gunter and his chapter of March17, 1230. The degree of falsification is, according to the author, minimal because to the list of land estates and rights actually granted to the Order only all tithes from the Land of Chelmno were added, and some corrections were made in order to authenticate the range of that grant. Following the suppositions of M. Perlbach, the author dates the creation of the false document of March17, 1230 to the period immediately preceding the negotiations of the Order with Andrzej, bishop of Plock, which ended with an agreement signed in Parchanie on November 19, 1257.
The locality of Rogozno-Zamek lies between Grudziadz and Lasin. The ruins of a Teutonic Order castle tower on a hillock above the mouth of the river Gardega into the Osa. The selection of a site convenient for erecting a fortification was determined by the outstanding defensive properties of the lay of the land. The construction of a brick castle in Rogozno was commenced after 1275, on the site of an earlier wooden fortification. From 1285 the castle was manned by Teutonic Knights, headed by commander (komtur) Winand. In 1335 the 'komturia' (area administered by the komtur) was replaced by a 'wojtostwo' (area administered by a 'wojt'/commune head/). In 1466-1590 the castle was the seat of the local 'starosta'. After 1772 a large part of the buildings was demolished to serve as a source of building material necessary for raising a Prussian fort in Grudziadz. In 1934 the ruins of Rogozno Castle were recognised as an historical monument. Work on protecting the object was inaugurated in 1911. The plan of the upper castle was recreated in the course of archaeological research conducted in 1941-1942 under the supervision of H. Jacobi. The mediaeval castle was composed of three parts: the castle proper, the upper castle standing on top of the hill, the middle castle with a tall gate tower, and a sprawling forecastle on a neighbouring elevation, separated from the main fortification by a moat. The upper castle included four wings, and was encircled by outer walls. The western part of the hill features scarce preserved fragments of the upper castle walls. The grounds of the inner forecastle contain an extant square, five-storey gate tower, originally preceded by a gate gorge, and a bridge leading to the non-residential part of the forecastle. Another surviving element is a long fragment of the outer wall with a corner turret built on a circular plan. Today, the castle is considerably devastated due to natural destruction, efforts to obtain building material, and incorrect exploitation. Only a part of the object, which urgently calls for additional protection measures, is suitable for reconstruction.
The paper makes a record of the swords with pommels denoted Type N (Oakeshott) or XV (Ruttkay) or B2 (Glosek) or 16 II (Geibig). The other sword parts have also been analyzed, cross-guards (Type 1) and blades (types Xa and XIII). Two subtypes have been identified, N-a (9 specimens) and N-b (5 specimens), which is correspondent to Geibig Combination Type 16 II, as well as the swords with pommels of related shapes (types O, B/N and A1). The pommels, blades and guards of all Type N swords are very similar both in type and in size. All swords have hand-and-a-half hilts, whose dimensions are very similar in most cases. Most of the blades are of medium dimensions and show transitional characteristics between Oakeshott's types Xa and XIII, those with predominant features of the former type being more frequent. All guards of Type N swords are straight and slender, belong to Oakeshott Type 1 and are very long (22.5-27.7 cm). So far, only three swords with Type O pommels are known. Some examples are close to Type N swords (guards of Type 1, blades of Type Xa), and some differ (guards of Type 2, blades of Type XVI). Most finds come from Transylvania, central Romania (5 examples), and Bavaria, southern Germany (three N-b examples, three B/N and one O), and almost all were chance finds. A rare exception is the pommel discovered in a Transylvanian hoard buried in 1241. The only artistic depiction of a sword with that type of pommel occurs on a statue from about 1255 in Naumburg cathedral, central Germany. The dating of N Type swords to the first half of the 13th century is confirmed by the typological characteristics of their blades and cross-guards, and this date has been suggested by most scholars. In the first quarter of the 13th century the Teutonic Knights (1211-1225) were based in the surroundings of Brasov (Kronstadt) in Transylvania. It is in that area that two N Type finds were discovered, while another two come from Sibiu (Hermannstadt), also in Transylvania, the city which had remained the center of the German colonists even after the Order's departure. Besides a Type N pommel, the above mentioned hoard from the Sibiu area contained a liturgical vessel (urceolus) which is directly analogous with a find from the first half of the 13th century from Thuringia, the region of origin of the Order's grand masters in that period. Under the assumption that the Teutonic Knights brought the swords with Type N- pommels to what then was eastern Hungary, the swords may be a little more precisely dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, while those of Type N-b would then be a decade or two younger. Based on their typological properties, the swords with Type O pommels have been dated to the second half of the 13th and early 14th centuries, which is also suggested by their sculpted depictions in Freiburg cathedral from about 1300. Considering their morphological resemblance to Type N pommels, they may be interpreted as their slightly younger derivative.
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One of the biggest battles of medieval Europe belongs to the leading events in the history of Poland, as it effectively curbed the aggression of the Teutonic Order on the Baltic seacoast. With sword and fire, under the banner of the cross, the Order had established its own state on those lands threatening the Piast Poland. For centuries the Germans perceived this defeat as an end of their 'civilizational mission' and only towards the end of the 20th century they re-evaluated their judgment, their position approaching that of Polish historiography. The defeat of 1410 was compensated for in propagandist terms with a 'second Tannenberg', i.e. a defeat of the Russians on the same site during the First World War. In pre-partition Poland (until 1795) and especially during the reign of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the anniversaries of the victory were celebrated as church and state holidays. In times of national captivity they served the idea of national survival and could be freely celebrated only from the third quarter of the 19th century in the part annexed by Austria, after Galicia had gained autonomy. The 500th anniversary was celebrated on a grand scale in Kraków with the participation - partly in conspiracy - of delegations from the Prussian and Russian partitions. Jubilee celebrations were held on the 550th anniversary (1960) and the 600th anniversary (2010) when the battlefield was within the territory of the Polish state. The character of the celebrations changed as they no longer needed to serve the idea of 'cheering up the hearts'. Recently the anniversaries lost their confrontational edge in shaping the image of Polish-German relations.
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