The Teutonic Knights' War on Pirates

When, in the final years of the 14th century, pirates fell upon the seas in the north and assailed the merchant fleets of kings and queens, the quest to destroy them was taken up by the Knights of the Teutonic Order. This is the Knights versus Pirates War of 1398. This video is brought to you by Odoo. Stick around at the end to learn how you can create a professional website fast, easy, and for free. The Black Death first passed through Europe at mid-century. It would claim as many as one in every two souls. The plague would return here and there while survivors were left to maintain the world. Merchants still took to the sea, peasants worked the fields, and knights were sent to settle the quarrels of crowns. Queen Margaret of Denmark contested the rule of Albert, the king of Sweden who hailed from the German house of Mecklenburg. The queen's men triumphed over Albert in 1389 and locked him away in a castle surrounded by moats on the southern tip of Sweden. Only the city of Stockholm remained loyal to the captive king. The house of Mecklenburg hardly possessed the means to free their king and resist the might of Margaret, and so they turned to men of ill repute. Mercenaries smuggled supplies, or vittles, through Margaret's blockade of Stockholm and plundered the shipping lanes of Denmark. Nobles and peasants, loyal subjects and freebooters alike, united in this sanctioned thievery, and they were called the Vittle Brothers. The brethren were granted safe harbor and markets for their loot in the ports of allies. Yet as Queen Margaret began negotiations for the conditional release of Albert, the legitimacy of the Vittle Brothers waned and their disparate members were beyond control. Some of the brethren attacked coastlines sacking Bergen, Norway. Others dispersed to act as sell swords in regional conflicts or robbed ships with little discernment. Despite their professed allegiance to King Albert, a chronicle lamented, they threatened the entire sea and all merchants and robbed both sides friend and foe so that the way to Scania was closed. The precious reeking trade and salted herring was all but halted. Margaret released Albert on the promise of a payment of silver in 1395, then united the three kingdoms of Scandinavia under her and her grandnephew. But the Vittle Brothers would not relinquish control of the seas. Their power centered on the island of Gotland and its main fortified city of Visby. King Albert's son Eric had for a time governed some of the island, but all political pretense died with him in 1397. The pirates accepted the command of Captain Sven Stura. Sven had been sent by Margaret to rule Gotland for the Danes, but he betrayed his queen and joined those he was meant to fight. Now reviled by many, the Vittle Brothers would call themselves friends of God and enemies of all the world. The knight Conrad von Jungingen recognized the threat of the pirate haven on Gotland. The island is in the middle of the sea so that much evil can be done if it comes into the hands of evil men. Conrad was grandmaster of an old crusading brotherhood forged two centuries ago in the Holy Land. The Teutonic Order, they were called, later rode with cruel and shining blades against pagan holdouts and rivals in the Baltic lands and had gradually raised their black cross over a sprawling and embattled dominion. Their Prussian cities were enriched by association with the Hanseatic League, a powerful network of northern towns and their merchants that dominated trade in these seas, exerted political influence, and safeguarded piracy. The League now appeared powerless to clear the seas of the roving Vittle Brothers, yet the Brethren would retreat to the shores of Gotland for the winter, and there they could be dealt with at once. And so the Teutonic Order raised an invasion army from the Prussian towns, 4,000 men to be led by 50 Teutonic knights. Among the knights and hired blades cherished great helms no longer graced the field of battle. The Order had come to favor bassinets and kettle hats, and the gradual transition toward plate armor saw troops supplement mail with breastplates, padded armor, forms of limb protection, and more. The Order embraced new technology. Their arsenal came to include bombard cannons as well as primitive firearms. The Grandmaster assembled this great force in secrecy. Margaret was not to know of their operation. Her power in the region had grown, and they would not permit her an additional claim to Gotland. When the seas calmed on March 17, 1398, the knights and their men in 84 ships set a course for Gotland. The Vittle Brothers caught wind of the coming fleet. The Brethren assumed direct command of the walls and towers of Visby. This pirate garrison numbered around 400, while an equal number of them were distributed among three castles. Though hardly a proper army, the pirates knew violence well and surely possessed a range of worthy arms and armor, properly acquired or stolen. On the 21st, the Teutonic Fleet reached the shores of Gotland, not far from one of the pirate castles. The sources suggest their landing was met by the enemy. Blades, spears, and crossbow bolts would have felled any pirates on the beach before the army clattered past the slain and established camp. Winter still lingered on the isle. The air was like steel, and dunes of snow covered the land. The invaders could hardly transport their artillery, but they would nonetheless undertake the march north toward Visby. A sense of doom preceded them. Sven Sture and the Mecklenburg official Duke John began negotiations with the knights. The Teutonic Fleet meanwhile blocked the harbor of Visby, and through the snow the gleaming army emerged outside of the walls. No path of escape remained. Food was too scarce for a siege, and the common folk chafed under the rule of the Vidal brothers. The army forced their way into Visby in a frightful spectacle. Terms were reached on April 5th. The pirates were to evacuate the island and leave all their goods. Their castles would be burned, and when the sun set on April 7th, any pirate who yet lingered on Gotland would suffer the penalty of death. Thus, in the days following, Sven Sture and 400 Vidal brothers evacuated, while the army swept over the land. The smoke of ruined pirate haunts streamed the sky, while the blood of outlaws was spilled. These were the erstwhile servants of the king, hired and now disposed of for political ends. How swiftly could the changing will of the crown make a pirate out of a privateer? The knights had conquered Gotland in only a matter of weeks, but the expedition was costly, and the order was ever occupied by warfare on the continent and dissent within their ranks. Margaret sacked Gotland a few years later, and the Teutonic order ceded the island to her in 1408. Albert, having never paid the silver, was forced to relinquish Stockholm. And the Vidal brothers, or some loose form thereof, survived in vanishing corners of the gray seas, stealing and hiding until they became shadowed in folklore. Harbor tales of the heavy drinking Klaus Störtebeker, the noble pirate at length caught and beheaded with his crew. Order and peace on the ocean were ever the bane of pirates. But the time was near when a less vigilant corridor would open to piracy. A new world. Watch this. My brother Joe spends hours manually creating each digital painting in these videos. It's a passion. But we don't love spending lots of time or money when we're building a website. 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