Heinrich Reuß von Plauen (died 2 January 1470) was the 32nd Grand Master of the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

, serving from 1467 to 1470. He was the nephew of the previous Grand Master, Ludwig von Erlichshausen, and a distant relative to the 27th Grand Master, Heinrich von Plauen.

Biography

Reuß von Plauen came from the

Reuss Reuss may refer to: *Reuss (surname) * Reuss (river) in Switzerland * Imperial County of Reuss or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the People's State of Reuss * Principality of Reuss-Greiz and Principality of R ...

family from

Plauen Plauen (; ; ) is a town in Saxony, Germany with a population of around 65,000. It is Saxony's 5th most populated city after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest cit ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

. Incidentally, the family named every male child Heinrich (

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

). Earlier, the brothers Heinrich Reuss von Plauen the Elder and Heinrich Reuss von Plauen the Younger had served in the Thirteen Years' War. Reuß von Plauen joined the Teutonic Order at a young age. He was first a brother in a monastery in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Reuß von Plauen arrived in

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

in the 1420s when he became the

Vogt An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...

of Dirschau. In 1433 he became the

Komtur Commander (; ; ; ; ), 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. ...

of Balga and in 1440 the Vogt of Natangia. From 1441, Reuß von Plauen held the position of the Grand Hospitaller and the Komtur of Elbing (Elbląg). As the Grand Master's nephew, his influence in the Order grew and he advanced quickly. He took control of the Order's army during the Thirteen Years' War and became famous for destroying the Polish army in the Battle of Konitz. After the Second Peace of Thorn in 1466, Reuß von Plauen became the Komtur of Preußisch Holland. After the 1467 death of his uncle, Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen, Reuß von Plauen assumed control over of the Teutonic Order without having been elected Grand Master. He settled in Mohrungen and waited for further moves of King

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...

of Poland, hesitating to call the meeting of the Order's

capitulum capitulum (plural capitula) may refer to: *the Latin word for chapter ** an index or list of chapters at the head of a gospel manuscript ** a short reading in the Liturgy of the Hours *** derived from which, it is the Latin for the assembly known ...

to elect him ''de jure''. Pressured by Casimir, he finally called the capitulum in 1469 to

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

. This was just a formality as the decision was unanimous and Reuß von Plauen was declared the 32nd Grand Master of the Teutonic Order on 17 October 1469. Reuß von Plauen went to

Piotrków Trybunalski Piotrków Trybunalski (; also known by #Etymology, alternative names), often simplified to Piotrków, is a city in central Poland with 71,252 inhabitants (2021). It is the capital of Piotrków County and the second-largest city in the Łódź Voi ...

to attend the

sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

where he paid homage to Casimir IV. On his way back to Prussia he suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

and became paralyzed which made further travel impossible. Reuß von Plauen died in Mohrungen on 2 January 1470 and was buried in

Königsberg Cathedral Königsberg Cathedral (; ) is a Brick Gothic-style monument in Kaliningrad, Russia, located on Kneiphof island in the Pregolya river. It is the most significant preserved building of the former city of Königsberg, which was largely destroyed in ...

References

* Friedrich Borchert: "Die Hochmeister des Deutschen Ordens in Preußen." In: ''Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung'', 6 October 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Reuss Von Plauen, Heinrich Year of birth missing 1470 deaths Grand masters of the Teutonic Order Military personnel from Thuringia Heinrich Reuß von Plauen Medieval Knights of the Holy Sepulchre People from Plauen