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Pieštvė
Pieštvė (also known as ''Beisten'', ''Bisten'', ''Pistene'', ''Pista'', ''Pestwa'', etc. in medieval chronicles) was a wooden fortress of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the Lithuanian Crusade. It stood on a hill fort that is known as Palemon Hill in Seredžius, Jurbarkas District Municipality, Lithuania, located near the confluence of the Neman and Dubysa rivers. It was an important Lithuanian defensive outpost against the Teutonic Order. It was first mentioned in written sources in 1293 and attacked numerous times by the Order. Because it stood near Junigeda ( Veliuona), both fortresses were often attacked together. It was burned down in 1363, a year following the fall of Kaunas Castle. It was rebuilt in May 1412 but lost its strategic importance after the Treaty of Melno (1422) and was abandoned. Earlier historians thought that Pieštvė was identical to Bisena. History Pre-history and legends Archaeological excavations show that people lived on and around the hill f ...
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Siege Of Kaunas (1362)
The siege of Kaunas was laid by the Teutonic Order on the newly built Kaunas Castle in spring 1362. It was the first brick castle built by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After a month-long siege, the castle was captured and destroyed. Its commander Vaidotas, son of Kęstutis, and 36 others were taken captive. The defeat, followed by the destruction of Veliuona and Pieštvė the following year, severely weakened Lithuanian defenses along the Neman River and opened central Lithuania to Teutonic attacks. Background The Teutonic Order waged a decades-long crusade against the pagan Grand Duchy of Lithuania in attempts to conquer it and convert it to Christianity. The Neman River became the natural frontier and each side built a network of castles and fortresses along its banks. Lithuanian fortresses were wooden ( Kolainiai, Veliuona, Pieštvė, Paštuva, Bisenė) until they began building stone and red brick Kaunas Castle near the confluence of the Neman and Neris Rivers. Siege ...
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Seredžius
Seredžius is a town in Lithuania on the right bank of the Nemunas River near its confluence with the Dubysa River. According to the 2011 census, it had a population of 590. Names The Yiddish name for the city was סרעדניק (''Srednik''), corresponding to the Polish language, Polish ''Średniki'', German language, German ''Schrödnick'', and Russian language, Russian Средники (''Sredniki''). In local Samogitian dialect the town is known as ''Seredius'', in Lithuanian language, Lithuanian - ''Seredžius''. Other recorded forms of the town's name include ''Srednike'', ''Seredzhyus'', ''Seredzhus'' and ''Seredius''. The name Seredžius is believed to be derived from середа (''sereda''), a word meaning "Wednesday" in many Slavic languages. This is probably because of the markets held there on Wednesday. History Southeast of the town, archaeologists discovered graves from the 3rd–4th centuries. According to the Palemonids legend, noble refugees from the Roman Empi ...
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Bayernburg
Bayernburg (German for "Bavarian Castle"; lt, Bajenburgas) is the name of three separate wooden castles of the Teutonic Order in different locations along the Neman River in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the Lithuanian Crusade. Their exact locations are not known and historians provide conflicting versions. The first fortress was built in 1337 by guest crusaders, including Henry XIV, Duke of Bavaria, in whose honor it was named after Bavaria. Emperor Louis IV declared it the capital of the to-be-conquered Lithuania. The newly built castle withstood a 22-day siege by Grand Duke Gediminas, but was abandoned by the Order in 1344. The Teutons burned down the first Bayernburg and built a brand new fortress a little closer to Prussia. The second Bayernburg withstood a six-day Lithuanian attack in 1381 but was burned down in July 1384 by Vytautas when he betrayed the Order at the conclusion of the Lithuanian Civil War (1381–84). The third Bayernburg was built in spring 1387 whe ...
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Hill Fort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roman period. The fortification usually follows the contours of a hill and consists of one or more lines of earthworks, with stockades or defensive walls, and external ditches. Hillforts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC, and were used in many Celtic areas of central and western Europe until the Roman conquest. Nomenclature The spellings "hill fort", "hill-fort" and "hillfort" are all used in the archaeological literature. The ''Monument Type Thesaurus'' published by the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage lists ''hillfort'' as the preferred term. They all refer to an elevated site with one or more ramparts made of earth, stone and/or wood, with an external ditch. M ...
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Piedmont
it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , demographics1_title3 = , demographics1_info3 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code_type = ISO 3166 code , area_code = IT-21 , blank_name_sec1 = GDP (nominal) , blank_info_sec1 = €137 billion (2018) , blank1_name_sec1 = GDP per capita , blank1_info_sec1 = €31,500 (2018) , blank2_name_sec1 = HDI (2019) , blank2_info_sec1 = 0.898 · 10th of 21 , blank_name_sec2 = NUTS Region , blank_info_sec2 = ITC1 , website www.regione ...
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Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The capital of Dijon was one of the great European centres of art and science, a place of tremendous wealth and power, and Western Monasticism. In early Modern Europe, Burgundy was a focal point of courtly culture that set the fashion for European royal houses and their court. The Duchy of Burgundy was a key in the transformation of the Middle Ages toward early modern Europe. Upon the 9th-century partitions of the Kingdom of Burgundy, the lands and remnants partitioned to the Kingdom of France were reduced to a ducal rank by King Robert II of France in 1004. The House of Burgundy, a cadet branch of the House of Capet, ruled over a territory that roughly conformed to the borders and territories of the modern administrative region of Burgundy. U ...
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Henry XIV, Duke Of Bavaria
Henry XIV, Duke of Bavaria (29 September 1305 – 1 September 1339), was Duke of Lower Bavaria (also called Henry II). Family Henry was born in Landshut, a son of Stephen I, Duke of Bavaria, and Jutta of Schweidnitz. His maternal grandparents were Bolko I, Duke of Jawor and Świdnica and Beatrice of Brandenburg. Bolko was a son of Bolesław II the Bald and his first wife Hedwig of Anhalt. Beatrix was a daughter of Otto V, Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel and Jutta of Hennenberg. Biography After the death of his father he became duke of Lower Bavaria together with his brother Otto IV under the tutelage of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor. Henry supported Louis against Frederick I and became a candidate for the German crown when Louis considered temporarily his resignation in 1333. Conflicts with his brother Otto IV (d. 1334) and his cousin Henry XV, Duke of Bavaria on the partition of their lands worsened the relationship between the emperor and Henry XIV, who allied with hi ...
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Pilėnai
Pilėnai (also ''Pillenen'' in German) was a hill fort in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Its location is unknown and is subject to academic debates, but it is well known in the history of Lithuania due to its heroic defense against the Teutonic Order in 1336. Attacked by a large Teutonic force, the fortress, commanded by Duke Margiris, tried in vain to organize a defense against the larger and stronger invader. Losing hope, the defenders decided to burn their property and commit mass suicide to deprive the Order of prisoners and loot (cf. scorched earth). This dramatic episode from the Lithuanian Crusade has caught the public imagination, inspired many works of fiction, and became a symbol of Lithuanian struggles and resistance. Sources The attack and the defense of Pilėnai were briefly mentioned in several contemporary chronicles, including ''Epitome gestarum Prussiae'' by a Sambian canon, ''Der Chronist von Wolfenbüttel'' (Chronicler of Wolfenbüttel), ''Annalista Thorunens ...
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Heinrich Von Plötzke
Heinrich von Plötzke ( 1264 – 27 July 1320 in Varniai, Medininkai, Lithuania) was an officer of the Teutonic Knights, Teutonic Order during the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Heinrich was the Komtur of Altenburg in 1286 and of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle in 1287, after which he was transferred to Prussia (region), Prussia. He became the Komtur of Balga in 1294. Heinrich served as the Landmeister of Prussia from 1307–1309, and he was based in Elbląg, Elbing. Hochmeister Siegfried von Feuchtwangen, Heinrich (and a relative of Gunther von Schwarzburg of the same name) led the Order's forces which relieved Margraviate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg's siege of Gdańsk, Danzig in 1308, but refused to relinquish the city to King Władysław I the Elbow-high of Poland who did not offer enough reimbursement for the Order's expenses. This led to the Teutonic takeover of Danzig. By the Treaty of Soldin (1309), Treaty of Soldin of 1309, Heinrich purchased Brandenburg's claims on Pomer ...
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Ushakovo, Novomoskovsky Rural Okrug, Guryevsky District, Kaliningrad Oblast
Ushakovo (russian: Ушако́во; german: Brandenburg (Frisches Haff) or '; pl, Pokarmin; lt, Pokarviai) is a village in the Russian exclave Kaliningrad Oblast. It is situated at the mouth of the Prokhladnaya River at the Vistula Lagoon. History The Battle of Pokarwis between pagan Prussians and the Teutonic Knights took place nearby in 1261. The Teutonic Knights founded the village as ''Brandenburg'' to honor Otto III, Margrave of Brandenburg who supported the order in the Prussian Crusade, and erected a castle in 1266. It became known as "Brandenburg (Frisches Haff)" and "Brandenburg in Ostpreußen" to differentiate it from Brandenburg an der Havel. In 1454, the region was incorporated by King Casimir IV Jagiellon to the Kingdom of Poland upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation. After the subsequent Thirteen Years' War, the longest of all Polish–Teutonic wars, since 1466 it formed part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Order,Górski, p. 96 ...
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Komtur
Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval military orders, such as the Knights Hospitaller, for a member senior to a Knight. Variations include Knight Commander, notably in English, sometimes used to denote an even higher rank than Commander. In some orders of chivalry, Commander ranks above (i.e. Officer), but below one or more ranks with a prefix meaning 'Great', e.g. in French, in German, (using an equivalent suffix) in Spanish, in Italian, and in Dutch (, 'Grand Commander'), Grand Cross. France History The rank of in the French orders comes from the Middle Ages military orders, in which low-level administrative houses were called and were governed by . In the Modern Age, the French Kings created chivalric orders which mimicked the military order's ranks. * The Order of ...
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