History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 311, the Baltic Crusades, the Lithuanian conflict part 16, the Hunger War.

Hello again. Last time we saw the Marshal of the Teutonic Order, Michael Kookmeister,

decide to remove Grandmaster Heinrich von Plowen from his leadership

possession, a move which Michael Cookmeister calculated would bring an end to the recent aggression shown by the order towards the

kingdom of Poland and herald the dawn of a new age of peace in the region.

Unfortunately though, the move didn't herald the dawn of a new age of peace in the region.

When the new Grand Master Michael Kookmeister met with King Agilah of Poland, he found him

resistant to all reasonable offers of peace, and the new Grandmaster reluctantly formed the conclusion

that the Teutonic Order needed to prepare to go to war against Poland. The belligerent moves then made by Grandmaster Michael

Kookmeister failed spectacularly as a large combined Polish and Lithuanian army invaded Prussia,

retraced the route it had taken prior to the Battle of Tannenberg, then turned north woods towards the Prussian coastline.

When we left last week's episode, the Tartar fighters which formed part of the Lithuanian army were menacing the local

population, raping, pillaging, murdering and destroying anything in their path,

while Grand Master Michael Kookmeister

watched on from a distance

powerless to stop them.

Now, when the Polish and Lithuanian armies invaded Prussia in July of

1414 the annual harvest was just about to commence. Across Prussia, grains were beginning to be

collected from the fields, storehouses were starting to fill up with food for the next winter and Millers and bakers were kept busy

turning the newly harvested grain into flour and bread. As the invading army advanced through the Prussian heartland, the harvest was

disrupted as the Tartars destroyed crops, storehouses and meals as part of their destructive

...