List of banners in the Battle of Grunwald

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The following tables list the banners of the Lithuanian and Polish forces participating in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410.

Poland[edit]

The exact Order of Battle of the Polish forces is unknown. However, Ioannes Longinus in his Historiæ Polonicæ written after 1455 recorded 51 Polish banners, together with their descriptions, blazoning and commanders.

Unfortunately, this list also has some obvious errors:

It is not certain whether the list is complete.

Banner of Battle sign Blazon from Longinus' Historiae Polonicae Origin Remarks

  Army of The Crown - Court Banners[edit]

Great Banner of Kraków and the Kingdom of Poland The Crown Arms of Poland[citation needed] Primum vexillum magnum Cracoviensis terrae, cuius alba aquila coronata, extensis alis, in campo rubeo Elite troops, under Zyndram of Maszkowice
"Gończa" Court Banner Goncza Goncza Coat of Arms[citation needed] Secundum vexillum Goncza, cuius duae cruces caeruleae in campo caelestino under Andrzej of Ochocice of Osorya
Coat of Arms of Lithuania Court Banner Coat of Arms of Lithuania[citation needed] Tertium Cubiculariorum, cuius vir armatus equo candido insidens, gladimque manu vibrant, in campo rubeo under Andrzej Ciołek of Żelechów and Jan of Sprowa of Odrowąż
Saint George Quartum Sancti Georgiu, habens crucem albam in campo rubeo Bohemian and Moravian mercenaries, under Sokol and Zbyslavek

  Army of The Crown - Regional Banners[edit]

Land of Poznań Poznań Coat of Arms of Poznań Quintum terrae Posnaniensis, albam aquilamin campo rubeo, non coronatam
Land of Sandomierz Sandomierz Flag of Sandomierz Sextium Sandomiriensis terrae, in quo pro una medierate tres barrae, seu tractus glauci, in campo rubeo, pro altera septem stellae, in campo caelestino
Land of Kalisz Kalisz Flag of Kalisz Septimum Calissiense, caput bubali in skakorum tabula, diademate Regio ornatum, ex cuius naribus circulus rotundus pendebar
Land of Sieradz Flag of Sieradz Octavum terrae Siradiensis, in quo pro una medierate, medietas aquilae albae in campo rubeo, pro altera medietas leonis flammei in campo albo
Land of Lublin Lublin Jeleń Nonum terrae Lubliensis, ceruum cornibus extensis in campo rubeo
Land of Łęczyca Flag of Łęczyca Decimum terrae Lancitiensis, euius insigne media pars nigrae aquilae, media vero albi leonis picti, in campo caeruleo, capita habentes coronata
Land of Kuyavia Coat of Arms of Cuyavia Undecimuni terrae Cuiaviensis, in quo pro una inedietate aquilae nigrae in campo caeruleomedietas; pro altera medietas leonis albi in campo rubeo, capita coronata gestantes
Land of Lwów Lwów Banner of Lwów Duodecimum terrae Leopoliensis, leonem caeruleum per modum pertam conscendentem, in campo caelestino
Land of Wieluń Wielun Flag of Wieluń Tredecimum terrae Vielunensis, lineam niveam transversitate, in campo rubeo, proportionaliter locatam Reinforced with mercenaries from Silesia
Land of Przemyśl Przemyśl Flag of Przemyśl Quartum decimum terrae Premisliensis, quod aquilam caeruleam, duo capita a se invicem proportionaliter aversa, in campo caelestino
Land of Dobrzyń Coat of Arms of Dobrzyń Quintum decimum terrae Dobrzinensis, faciem numanam senilem ad femur se portendentem, capite diademate coronato cornibus quoque exasperato, in campo caerulio
Land of Chełm Chełm Coat of Arms of Chełm Sextum decimum terrae Chelmensis, ursum album inter duas arbores consistentem in campo rubeo
Three banners of Podolia Podolia Coat of Arms of Podolia Decimum septinum, decumum octavum, & decimum nonum, terrae Podolia, ... faciem solarem, in rubeo campo Split up due to large number of knights
Land of Halicz Halicz Coat of Arms of Halicz Vigesimum terrae Haliciensis, monedulam nigram in capite coronata, in campo albo

  Army of The Crown - Masovian Banners[edit]

Two banners of
Duke Siemowit IV of Masovia 		Siemowit IV of Masovia Coat of Arms of Masovia Masovia, mostly Płock area Dukes of Masovia
Duke Janusz I of Masovia Banner of Masovia as flown by the forces of Janusz I own Masovia, mostly Warsaw area Dukes of Masovia

  Army of The Crown - Personal Banners[edit]

Archbishop of Gniezno
Mikołaj Kurowski 		Sreniawa Śreniawa
Bishop of Poznań
Wojciech Jastrzębiec 		Jastrzębiec Jastrzębiec under Jarand of Brudzewo
Castellan of Kraków
Krystyn of Ostrów 		Rawicz Rawicz
Voivod of Kraków
Jan of Tarnów 		Leliwa Leliwa
Voivod of Poznań
Sędziwój of Ostroróg 		Nałęcz Nałęcz
Voivod of Sandomierz
Mikołaj of Michałowo 		Poraj Poraj
Voivod of Sieradz
Jakub of Koniecpol 		Pobóg Pobóg
Castellan of Śrem
Iwo of Obiechów 		Wieniawa Wieniawa
Voivod of Łęczyca
Jan Ligęza 		Półkozic Półkozic
Castellan of Wojnice
Andrzej of Tęczyn 		Topór Topór
Marshal of The Crown
Zbigniew of Brzezie 		Zadora Zadora
Chamberlain of Kraków
Piotr Szafraniec 		Starykon Starykoń
Castellan of Wiślica
Klemens of Moskorzów 		Pilawa Piława
Castellan of Śrem and mayor of Greater Poland
Wincenty of Granów 		Leliwa Leliwa
Dobko of Oleśnica Dębno Dębno
Spytko of Tarnów Leliwa Leliwa
Lord High Steward of Kalisz
Marcin of Sławsko 		Zaremba Zaremba
Dobrogost Świdwa of Szamotuły Nałęcz Nałęcz
Krystyn of Koziegłowy Lis Lis
Master King's Cup-Bearer
Jan Mężyk 		Wadwicz Wadwicz
Deputy Chancellor of the Crown
Mikołaj Trąba 		Trąby Trąby
Mikołaj Kmita of Wiśnicz Sreniawa Śreniawa
Gryf Clan Gryf Gryf Family of Gryf, under Zygmunt of Bobowa
Zaklika of Korzkiew Syrokomla Syrokomla
Clan of Koźlerogi Kozlerogi Koźlerogi Family, under Castellan of Wiślica Florian of Korytnica
Jan of Jičín Odrowaz Odřivous Benešovici Moravia Volunteers from Moravia, commanded by Jan Helm, the hejtman in the duty of aristocratic family of Kravaře
Steward of the Crown and starost of Lwów
Gniewosz of Dalewice 		Strzegomia Strzegomia Czech lands Only volunteers and mercenaries from Silesia, Bohemia and Moravia
Duke of Lithuania Sigismund Korybut Pogoń Coat of Arms of Lithuania

Lithuania[edit]

The sole source on the banners from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is Jan Długosz. He counted 40 banners on the right flank of the Polish–Lithuanian forces, 10 flying the Columns of Gediminas and 30 flying the Vytis.[1] The flags varied in the colors of the background, horse and its harness. Długosz listed 18 lands that supplied the banners: Trakai, Vilnius, Hrodna, Kaunas, Lida, Medininkai (Varniai?), Smolensk, Polotsk, Vitebsk, Kiev, Pinsk, Navahrudak, Brest, Vawkavysk, Drohiczyn, Mielnik, Kremenets, Starodub.[1] One land might have supplied more than one banner as evidenced by Smolensk which provided three banners. That is all information currently available from contemporary sources. However, it is unclear how complete or accurate Długosz's information is.[1]

Historians pointed out several notable absences from the list, including the banners from Volhynia (Lutsk and Volodymyr-Volynskyi) as well as Samogitia.[1] It is unclear whether Medininkai mentioned by Długosz referred to Varniai in Samogitia or to Medininkai Castle near Vilnius.[1] The absence of Samogitian forces could be explained by a diversionary maneuver: according to 27 June 1410 report from Königsberg, a Lithuanian force was attacking Skalva.[1] Other historians argued that the Medininkai banner represented at least seven Samogitian banners[1] based on the seven regions mentioned in the Treaty of Königsberg (1390).[2] Długosz's list is also missing three banners from Moldavia and a Tatar contingent known from German sources. Historians stipulate that in addition to banners from territories there should have been banners presented by nobles, but Długosz mentioned only Sigismund Korybut whose banner he counted with Polish forces.[1]

Some Belarusian historians attempted to divide the 40 banners by nationality to Lithuanian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, and Russian banners.[1] However, such analysis is fundamentally flawed as it is impossible to determine how many banners each territory provided, how many men were in each banner, or what was the ethnic composition in each land. For example, Smolensk had rebelled against Vytautas in 1404 and 1408 and therefore it is unlikely that the three Smolensk banners included just local soldiers.[1]

Historians express skepticism over the lack of heraldic diversity. Heraldic symbols of various lands, including of Trakai, Kyiv and Novogrudok, are known from contemporary sources, to have included the great seal of Vytautas.[1] Historians suggest that perhaps the two heraldic flags represented gonfalons, e.g. the 10 banners of Columns of Gediminas represented forces from domains of Grand Duke Vytautas and the 30 banners of Vytis represented different territories.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bumblauskas, Alfredas (2010). "Žalgiris: neatsakyti klausimai". Lietuvos istorijos studijos (in Lithuanian). 26: 82–86. ISSN 1392-0448.
  2. ^ Binkis, Kazys (12–13 September 1930). "Lietuvių kariuomenė Tanenbergo mūšy". Lietuvos aidas (in Lithuanian). 207–208 (988–989).
  • Sven Ekdahl Die "Banderia Prutenorum" des Jan Długosz: Eine Quelle zur Schlacht bei Tannenberg 1410 : Unters. zu Aufbau, Entstehung u. Quellenwert d. Hs. : mit e. ... Klasse ; Folge 3, Nr. 104). ISBN 3-525-82382-7
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