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

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

, serving from 1467 to 1470. He was the nephew of the previous Grand Master,

Ludwig von Erlichshausen Ludwig von Erlichshausen (1410–1467) was the 31st Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1449/1450 to 1467. As did his uncle and predecessor Konrad von Erlichshausen, Ludwig came from Ellrichshausen in Swabia, now part of Satteldo ...

, 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 *Reuss (state) or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the Republic of Reuss * Reuss Elder Line and Reuss Younger Line The Principality of Reus ...

family from

Plauen Plauen (; Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest city in t ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...

. Incidentally, the family named every male child Heinrich ( Henry). 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 is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. Reuß von Plauen arrived in

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

in the 1420s when he became the

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

Dirschau Tczew (, csb, Dërszewò; formerly ) is a city on the Vistula River in Eastern Pomerania, Kociewie, northern Poland with 59,111 inhabitants (December 2021). The city is known for its Old Town and the Vistula Bridge, or Bridge of Tczew, which pl ...

. In 1433 he became the Komtur of Balga and in 1440 the Vogt of

Natangia Natangians or Notangians (Prussian: ''Notangi''; pl, Natangowie; lt, Notangai; german: Natanger) was a Prussian clan, which lived in the region of Natangia, an area that is now mostly part of the Russian exclave Kaliningrad Oblast, whereas the s ...

. 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 The Peace of Thorn or Toruń of 1466, also known as the Second Peace of Thorn or Toruń ( pl, drugi pokój toruński; german: Zweiter Friede von Thorn), was a peace treaty signed in the Hanseatic city of Thorn (Toruń) on 19 October 1466 betwe ...

in 1466, Reuß von Plauen became the Komtur of

Preußisch Holland Preußisch is the German language adjective for "Prussian". Preußisch may refer to: ;Places in Germany *Preußisch Oldendorf, town in North Rhine-Westphalia ;Places outside of Germany *Preußisch Eylau, now Bagrationovsk, Russia *Preußisch F ...

. After the 1467 death of his uncle, Grand Master

, 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 (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; pl, Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the m ...

of Poland, hesitating to call the meeting of the Order's capitulum to elect him ''de jure''. Pressured by Casimir, he finally called the capitulum in 1469 to

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...

. 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 alternative names), often simplified to Piotrków, is a city in central Poland with 71,252 inhabitants (2021). It is the second-largest city situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Previously, it was the capita ...

to attend the

sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

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

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

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

Königsberg Cathedral , infobox_width = , image = Kaliningrad 05-2017 img04 Kant Island.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Front (west side) of the cathedral , map_type = , map_ ...

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