Ulrich von Jungingen
Ulrich von Jungingen was Grand Master of the Teutonic Order for four years and destroyed it in an afternoon. Born around 1360 into a Swabian noble family, he joined the Order and rose through its military commands, becoming Marshal — its senior military officer — before being elected Grand Master in 1407 on the death of his elder brother Konrad. The Order at that point ruled Prussia as a sovereign monastic state, with a network of brick castles, an income from the Baltic grain and amber trade, and a permanent supply of crusading volunteers from across Europe. Its problem was that its reason for existing had gone. Lithuania had accepted Christianity in 1386 when its grand duke married the Queen of Poland, and a crusading order has no mandate against Christians. Ulrich's policy was confrontation where his brother had temporised. He occupied Samogitia, backed a rising against Vytautas, and in August 1409 declared war on Poland over its support for the Samogitians. At Grunwald on 15 July 1410 he met the combined Polish-Lithuanian army with perhaps 20,000 men against a larger force. The battle turned on the withdrawal of the Lithuanian wing, which drew part of his line into a pursuit and opened a gap. Ulrich committed his reserve into it personally and was killed in the melee, along with most of the Order's senior officers. Marienburg held out and the territorial losses at the Peace of Thorn were modest. The Order's prestige and its supply of volunteers never recovered. It was secularised in 1525 and its last Grand Master became the first Duke of Prussia.
- Lived: 1360 CE – 1410 CE
- Nationality: German
- Roles: general, ruler
