Bayernburg (German for "Bavarian Castle"; ) is the name of three separate wooden castles of the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

in different locations along the

Neman River Neman, Nemunas or Niemen is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms Lithuania–Russia border, the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave, which specifically follows its s ...

in the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

during the

Lithuanian Crusade The Lithuanian Crusade was a series of campaigns by the Teutonic Order and the Livonian Order under the pretext of forcibly Christianizing the pagan Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Livonian Order occupied Riga in 1202 and in the 1230s they settled ...

. Their exact locations are not known and historians provide conflicting versions. The first fortress was built in 1337 by guest crusaders, including

Henry XIV, Duke of Bavaria Henry XIV, Duke of Bavaria (29 September 1305 – 1 September 1339), was Duke of Lower Bavaria (also called Henry II). Family Henry was born in Landshut, a son of Stephen I, Duke of Bavaria, and Jutta of Schweidnitz. His maternal grandpar ...

, in whose honor it was named after

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Emperor Louis IV Louis IV (; 1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian (, ), was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328 until his death in 1347. 20 October 1314 imperial election, Louis' election a ...

declared it the capital of the to-be-conquered Lithuania. The newly built castle withstood a 22-day siege by Grand Duke

Gediminas Gediminas ( – December 1341) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death in 1341. He is considered the founder of Lithuania's capital Vilnius (see: Iron Wolf legend). During his reign, he brought under his rule lands from t ...

, but was abandoned by the Order in 1344. The Teutons burned down the first Bayernburg and built a brand new fortress a little closer to

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. The second Bayernburg withstood a six-day Lithuanian attack in 1381 but was burned down in July 1384 by

Vytautas Vytautas the Great (; 27 October 1430) was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also the prince of Grodno (1370–1382), prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites. In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revere ...

when he betrayed the Order at the conclusion of the

Lithuanian Civil War (1381–84) Lithuanian Civil War may refer to: * Lithuanian Civil War (1381–1384), a war between Jogaila and his uncle Kęstutis with son Vytautas * Lithuanian Civil War (1389–1392), a war between Jogaila and his cousin Vytautas * Lithuanian Civil War (1432 ...

. The third Bayernburg was built in spring 1387 where Georgenburg stood but the new name did not gain acceptance and the fortress continued to be known as Georgenburg. This fortress was captured and burned down by Vytautas in April 1403 during the first

Samogitian uprising Samogitian uprisings refer to two uprisings by the Samogitians against the Teutonic Knights in 1401–1404 and 1409. Samogitia was granted to the Teutonic Knights by Vytautas the Great, Grand Duke of Lithuania, several times in order to enlist Kn ...

History

First Bayernburg (1337–44)

In spring 1337, many European knights, including

, and nobles from

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

and

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, arrived to

for the crusade that was described by

Wigand of Marburg Wigand of Marburg ()Note that ''von Marburg'' is a purely descriptive title added to his original name of Wigand by later historians, rather than a proper surname. Also the ''von'' should not be confused with a preposition used in later times to d ...

. The Teutonic force sailed upstream the

to an island near

Veliuona Veliuona (, , ) is a small town on the Nemunas River in the Jurbarkas district municipality in Lithuania. History Veliuona (also known as Junigeda) was first mentioned in 1291 in the chronicle of Peter of Duisburg. The town is primarily known ...

. There they built two wards (identified as present-day Pilaitės) and another strong castle. This castle, named Bayernburg in Henry's honor, was manned by 40 brothers, 40 archers, and 100 soldiers. The contingent also included a number of Prussian natives, including

Natangians Natangians or Notangians (; ; ; ) 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 southern portion lies in the Polish Warmian-Masurian Voivodesh ...

and

Sambians The Sambians were a Prussian tribe. They inhabited the Sambia Peninsula north of the city of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad). Sambians were located in a coastal territory rich in amber and engaged in trade early on (see Amber Road). Therefore, the ...

. Two of them decided to betray the fortress to

, Grand Duke of Lithuania. One of them stayed behind so he could secretly open the gates while the other reported to Gediminas that the fortress was built of logs and poorly reinforced with clay and should be an easy target. The conspiracy was discovered and the traitor was hanged. Gediminas brought a large army and

siege engine A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while othe ...

s, including

battering ram A battering ram is a siege engine that originated in ancient times and was designed to break open the masonry walls of fortifications or splinter their wooden gates. In its simplest form, a battering ram is just a large, heavy log carried ...

s, and besieged Bayernburg on the

Trinity Sunday Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christianity, Western Christian liturgical year, liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the ...

(15 June 1337). The siege lasted for 22 days. It ended when an archer managed to shoot and kill

Duke of Trakai Duchy of Trakai () was a subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the 14th and early 15th centuries. The Duke of Trakai was an important position held either by the Grand Duke of Lithuania himself or his second-in-command. History After ...

. This note caused much confusion in historiography as

Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...

interpreted it to mean that it was Gediminas who was killed, but modern historians

Edvardas Gudavičius Edvardas Gudavičius (6 September 1929 – 27 January 2020) was a Lithuanian historian. He was known as one of the best historians in Lithuania specializing in the early history of Grand Duchy of Lithuania and is an author of many publications. ...

and

Alvydas Nikžentaitis Alvydas Nikžentaitis (born October 18, 1961) is a Lithuanian historian, senior research fellow of the Lithuanian Institute of History and president of Lithuanian National Historians Committee. Biography In 1988 Alvydas Nikžentaitis defended ...

argue that it was a son of Gediminas. After successfully withstanding the siege, Bayernburg was awarded weapons, food, flag and coat of arms by Duke Henry XIV. On 15 November 1337,

Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV (; 1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian (, ), was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328 until his death in 1347. 20 October 1314 imperial election, Louis' election a ...

, gifted to-be-conquered Lithuania to the Teutonic Order and named Bayernburg as the capital of the to-be-conquered land and future

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

. Duke Henry XIV, in turn, promised to build the cathedral. Since the pope decided diocesan affairs, the emperor reissued his privilege on 12 December emitting any references to the diocese.

Second Bayernburg (1344–84)

In 1344, after deliberations with his officers, Grand Master Ludolf König decided to abandon the first Bayernburg. The fortress was burned down and the second Bayernburg was built about one mile down the Neman River. The reasons for this relocation is not known. Perhaps the first fortress was too far into the Lithuanian frontier and was difficult to supply and maintain. The second Bayernburg stood on the Lithuanian frontier for a few decades and was a base for further Teutonic raids into Lithuania. For example, in 1369, Teutonic soldiers took a supply of food for their campaign to reinforce

Gotteswerder Gotteswerder () was a Teutonic castle in the vicinity of Kaunas, constructed during the Lithuanian Crusade in the currently non-existent island of Virgalė, which was located at the confluence of Nemunas and Nevėžis. First built by the Grand Du ...

. Repeating this information German historian

Caspar Schütz Caspar Schütz (c. 1540 – 16 September 1594) was a German historian. Schütz was born in Eisleben. As professor of poetry at the University of Königsberg from 1562 to 1565, he developed interest in the history of Prussia. He then became th ...

made an error by claiming that the fortress, known as Beyery, was controlled by

Kęstutis Kęstutis ( – 3 or 15 August 1382) was sole Duke of Trakai from 1342 to 1382 and List of Lithuanian monarchs, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1342 to 1382, together with his brother Algirdas (until 1377), and with his nephew Jogaila (from 1377 to ...

. This confused note led some Lithuanian researchers to look for a Lithuanian fortress, known as Bairiai. Algirdas Makarevičius "found" it near the

Nevėžis River The Nevėžis (; ) is the sixth longest river in Lithuania and one of the main tributaries of the Nemunas. The long Nevėžis flows entirely within Lithuania.Raudondvaris Raudondvaris is a town on the Nevėžis River in Kaunas district, Lithuania, west of Kaunas city municipality. History The town was first mentioned in Teutonic chronicles in 1392. The old castle was rebuilt after the Battle of Grunwald and b ...

. In 1381, Lithuanians commanded by

Kaributas Kaributas (''Koribut'', ''Korybut'', baptized ''Dmitry''; after 1350 – after 1404) was a son of Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and reigned in Severian Novgorod until 1393. Kaributas was born some time after 1350 (exact date is unknown ...

, brother of Grand Duke Jogaila, attacked Bayernburg when they learned that it was defended only by a handful of soldiers. The Teutons decided to defend the fortress. Seeing that they were unable to defend the

outer bailey An outer bailey or outer ward is the defended outer enclosure of a castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It protects the inner bailey and usually contains those ancillary bui ...

, they burned it down themselves. After six days, the Lithuanians retreated as Bayernburg was about to receive reinforcements from

Ragnit Neman (; ; ), is a town and the administrative center of Nemansky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located in the historic region of Lithuania Minor, on the steep southern bank of the Neman River, where it forms the Russian border with ...

. The fortress was captured and burned down in July 1384 by

when he reconciled with his cousin Jogaila at the conclusion of the

. Vytautas also burned down Georgenburg and New Marienburg.

Third Bayernburg (1387–1403)

The third Bayernburg was built in spring 1387 where Georgenburg stood. The new name did not gain popularity or acceptance and the fortress continued to be known as Georgenburg. This fortress was captured and burned down by Grand Duke

in April 1403 during the first

. It was not rebuilt.

Historiography and locations

Bayernburg is a poorly researched subject and is subject to many errors, inaccuracies, and wide-ranging interpretations in works by various historians. Not all historians recognize and distinguish that there were three separate fortresses with the same name. Due to the supposed death of Gediminas during the attack on the first Bayernburg, debates over its location have received greater attention from historians. According to Johannes Voigt, the first Bayernburg stood on the Mastaičiai (Narkūnai)

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

opposite of

Skirsnemunė Skirsnemunė is a town in Jurbarkas district municipality, Tauragė County, Lithuania. It is situated on the Neman River about 9 km from Jurbarkas. According to the 2011 census, it had 772 residents. The town traces it history to Christmemel, a f ...

. In 1934, Kazys Paunksnis proposed that it stood in Pilaitės, located about west of

. This opinion was accepted by

Zenonas Ivinskis Zenonas Ivinskis (25 May 1908 in Kaušėnai village, near Plungė – 24 December 1971 in Bonn, West Germany) was a noted Lithuanian historian. Education Ivinskis studied at Telšiai and Plungė gymnasiums. In 1925 he entered the University of ...

and supported by Adolfas Tautavičius who conducted archaeological excavations in Pilaitės in 1965 and found many crusader artifacts. While this became the leading theory, other opinions exist.

and

identified it with Marienburg, built on the Romainiai island between Veliuona and

Pieštvė Pieštvė (also known as ''Beisten'', ''Bisten'', ''Pistene'', ''Pista'', ''Pestwa'', etc. in medieval chronicles) was a wooden fortress of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the Lithuanian Crusade. It stood on a hill fort that is known as in S ...

and destroyed in 1336. Gintautas Zabiela strongly refuted the idea that Bayernburg stood in Pilaitės as it is too small for a large fortress that could house 200 soldiers and withstand 22 days of attack. Zabiela instead suggested Plokščiai (Vaiguviškiai) hillfort (). A long historiographic tradition places the second Bayernburg at or near

Raudonė Raudonė ( Samogitian: ''Rauduonė''; ) is a town on the Nemunas River in Tauragė County, Lithuania. The town is primarily known for its castle ( Raudonė Castle) and a large park complex. History Raudonė has been traditionally identified ...

, but it lacks proof as archaeological research dates Raudonė only to the 16th century. Chronicler

mentioned that the second Bayernburg was located about one

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a imperial unit, British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of Unit of length, le ...

west of the first, but a mile is an ill-defined measure of distance that varied greatly over the ages and medieval period is known for its inaccurate measurements. According to Zabiela, the nearest hillfort that could have housed the second Bayernburg is Maštaičiai (Narkūnai) hillfort located about from Plokščiai hillfort (). The location of the third Bayernburg is more clear. It is the present-day Kalnėnai hillfort near

Jurbarkas Jurbarkas (; Samogitian: ''Jorbarks'', known also by several alternative names) is a city in Tauragė County, in Samogitia, Lithuania. Jurbarkas is located in the historic land of Karšuva. It is on the right-hand shore of the Nemunas at its c ...

. It is located on the right bank of the

a little below the mouth of Mituva. It is a typical

motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...

which was frequently used by the crusaders and not common among the Lithuanians.

References

{{reflist, 2, refs= {{cite journal , first=Tomas , last=Baranauskas , url=http://talpykla.istorija.lt/bitstream/handle/99999/1524/LA_24_57-106.pdf , title=Lietuvos medinės pilys rašytinių šaltinių duomenimis , journal=Lietuvos archeologija , year=2003 , volume=24 , issn=0207-8694 , language=lt , page=65 , access-date=2016-08-06 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151129150331/http://talpykla.istorija.lt/bitstream/handle/99999/1524/LA_24_57-106.pdf , archive-date=2015-11-29 , url-status=dead {{cite web, url=http://www.archeologijosdraugija.lt/itvirtinimai/piliakalnis.php?piliakalnis_id=31 , title=Bajerburgas , work=Gynybiniai įtvirtinimai (XIII-XVIII a.) , publisher=Society of the Lithuanian Archaeology , language=lt , access-date=2016-07-04 {{cite web, url=http://www.piliakalniai.lt/piliakalnis.php?piliakalnis_id=491 , title=Maštaičiai , work=Lietuvos piliakalniai , publisher=Kultūros paveldo išsaugojimo pajėgos , language=lt, access-date=2016-08-06 {{cite book, first=Len , last=Scales , title= The Shaping of German Identity: Authority and Crisis, 1245-1414 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qICADV-G-EC&pg=PA223 , page=223 , publisher=Cambridge University Press , year=2012 , isbn=9780521573337 {{cite journal , last=Zabiela , first=Gintautas , title=Bajerburgo pilis , url=http://talpykla.istorija.lt/bitstream/handle/99999/1475/LA_28_163-174.pdf , journal=Lietuvos archeologija , issn=0207-8694 , year=2005 , volume=28, language=lt , pages=163–171 Castles of the Teutonic Knights Former castles in Lithuania 14th century in Lithuania 14th century in the State of the Teutonic Order