Luther von Braunschweig (also known as Lothar of Brunswick; 18 April 1335) was a German nobleman who served as the 18th

Grand Master of the Teutonic Order The grand master of the Teutonic Order (; ) is the supreme head of the Teutonic Order. It is equivalent to the Grand master (order), grand master of other Military order (religious society), military orders and the superior general in non-milit ...

from 1331 to 1335.

Life

Luther was a younger son of the

Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to: *Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious *Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau *Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of W ...

duke Albert I of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1236–1279) and his second wife Adelaide (1242–1284/85), daughter of Margrave

Boniface II of Montferrat Boniface II (July 1202 – 12 May 1253), called the Giant, was the eleventh Marquis of Montferrat from 1225 until his death. He became the titular King of Thessalonica in 1239. Boniface was the son of William VI and his second wife, Berta ...

. His elder brothers

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

, Albert II and

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

succeeded their father in the Brunswick principalities of Grubenhagen,

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

and

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel Distri ...

. He was first documented as a Teutonic Knight in 1295, serving in the

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

lands; from 1304 in the entourage of the ''Landmeister''. From 1308 to 1312, Luther acted as

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

(''Komtur'') at Gollub, an important

commandry In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

Chełmno Land Chełmno land (, or Kulmerland) is a part of the historical region of Pomerelia, located in central-northern Poland. Chełmno land is named after the city of Chełmno. The largest city in the region is Toruń; another bigger city is Grudziąd ...

. From 1313 he served as commander at

Malbork Castle The Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork, commonly known as Malbork Castle (; ), is a Brick Gothic castle complex located in the town of Malbork, Poland, built in the 13th and significantly expanded in the 14th century. It is the largest cast ...

and in 1314 became commander of Christburg (present-day Dzierzgoń), governing large estates along the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

river down to the

Vistula Lagoon The Vistula Lagoon is a brackish water lagoon on the Baltic Sea roughly 56 miles (90 km) long, 6 to 15 miles (10 to 19 km) wide, and up to 17 feet (5 m) deep, separated from the Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. Geography The lag ...

(''Frisches Haff'') on the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

coast. He founded the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of Gilgenburg (Dąbrówno) in 1326; he also renewed the charters of Christburg, Eylau (Iława), and

Saalfeld Saalfeld () is a town in Germany, capital of the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district of Thuringia. It is best known internationally as the ancestral seat of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha branch of the Saxon House of Wettin. Geography The town is situated ...

(Zalewo). In 1329 he had the commandry of Osterode (Ostróda) established. Under Luther's rule, and with the aid of the

Cistercians The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

, his territory became the most advanced commandry in the Order's State. On 17 February 1331, he was elected Grand Master (''Hochmeister''), succeeding

Werner von Orseln Werner von Orseln (18 November 1330) was the 17th Grand Master of the Teutonic Order from 1324 until his murder in 1330. Von Orseln hailed from a noble family of ''vogts'' (reeves) of the Counts of Falkenstein in Oberursel near Frankfurt. It is ...

who had been killed the year before. While the Polish–Teutonic War over

Pomerelia Pomerelia, also known as Eastern Pomerania, Vistula Pomerania, and also before World War II as Polish Pomerania, is a historical sub-region of Pomerania on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland. Gdańsk Pomerania is largely c ...

continued, again culminating in the

Battle of Płowce The Battle of Płowce took place on 27 September 1331 between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Order. Background The Teutonic plan was to support John of Bohemia in an invasion of Silesia. Władysław I the Elbow-high had claimed lordshi ...

on 27 September 1331, Luther further promoted the colonisation and

Christianisation Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

of the Order's lands. In his presence,

Königsberg Cathedral Königsberg Cathedral (; ) is a Brick Gothic-style monument in Kaliningrad, Russia, located on Kneiphof island in the Pregolya river. It is the most significant preserved building of the former city of Königsberg, which was largely destroyed in ...

was consecrated in 1333; Luther also had Malbork Castle extended and became known as a patron of the arts, such as the work of

Peter of Dusburg Peter of Dusburg (; ; died after 1326), also known as Peter of Duisburg, was a Priest-Brother and chronicler of the Teutonic Knights. He is known for writing the ''Chronicon terrae Prussiae'', which described the 13th and early 14th century Teutonic ...

, whose ''

Chronicon terrae Prussiae ''Chronicon terræ Prussiæ'' () is a chronicle of the Teutonic Knights, by Peter of Dusburg, finished in 1326. The manuscript is the first major chronicle of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, completed some 100 yea ...

'' was translated by chaplain

Nikolaus von Jeroschin Nikolaus von Jeroschin (c. 1290 – 1341) was a 14th-century German chronicler of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia. Nikolaus joined the Teutonic Order as a chaplain of the Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights, during the time of Grand Master Gottf ...

on his behalf. Luther was buried in Königsberg Cathedral. His tomb was destroyed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

References

{{Authority control 1270s births 1335 deaths Grand masters of the Teutonic Order Old House of Brunswick People from Brunswick-Lüneburg Sons of dukes