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Battle of Płowce
Part of the Polish-Teutonic War (1326–1332)
Juliusz Kossak, Płowce
Date 27 September 1331 Location Płowce, Poland Result Teutonic victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Poland	Teutonic Order
Commanders and leaders
Władysław I the Elbow-high Casimir III of Poland	Luther von Braunschweig Reuss von Plauen Otto von Lutterberg Otto von Bonsdorf
Strength
5,000	7,000
Casualties and losses
1,700	2,600

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 lordship over Silesia, but John of Bohemia belived that he equally valid claim to it. The Bohemian king marched in with an army and occupied Silesia. Luther von Braunschweig belived that Władysław I the Elbow-high so outraged by this move, that he would all of the polish forces to kick out John of Bohemia of Silesia. Leaving the Grandmaster free to invade Samogitia without polish interference. In order to increase the chances of John of Bohemia securing Silesia. Luther von Braunschweig did his best to aid the Bohemian army with his own forces, and any other forces he could muster. A rather large army consiting of Bohemians, Knights from the Teutonic order, rebel Polish noble men who wished to make a stand against Władysław I the Elbow-high, mercenaries from the Holy Roman Empire and even a bunch of English crusaders, all set of for Poland. Władysław I the Elbow-high scrambled to get the Polish forces allong with fighting men from Lithuania and Hungary into position. And decided to allocate a significant portion of the command to his son, Casimir III of Poland. Since the Polish king in old age of this point in time, and tought that a lengthy campaign on horseback maybe beyond him. Many of the polish soldiers were not confident of Casimir III of Poland military capabilities, and large scale desertions acured when Władysław I the Elbow-high put in mesures that increased Casimir III of Poland autority. It turns out that the polish troops were quite justified to hold such conserns. Casimir III of Poland didn't offer much resistance to the invasion of Poland by the Teutonic Order. Who he was ordered to oppose, and were nearly captured by the Teutonic knights at one point, before narrowly escaping into a nearby forest. Władysław I the Elbow-high led the remainder of the polish forces south towards the Bohemian army. The Teutonic army made its way down to Silesia successfully, and met up with the Bohemians. Władysław I the Elbow-high found out that he had insufficient forces to throw out the invaders, so John of Bohemia set him self up as the occupier of Silesia. John of Bohemia then set of to matters in Italy, when there still was pocket of resistance in Silesia. Well fortified polish castles in the region held out and not much would be done to capture them. This led to Luther von Braunschweig beliving that Poland was still a major treath and belived that his order could not act as they wished in the Baltic region, as Poland also had many interests in the region. Luther von Braunschweig sent word to John of Bohemia and wanted to start a second invasion of Poland that would be more decesive than it had been earlier.

Battle

The Teutonic Order attempted to take Brześć Kujawski after standing all day in the sun. The German army from the Teutonic Order had 7,000 men, and was opposed by a Polish army of 5,000 men. On 27 September 1331, one-third of the Teutonic Order's force of knights under Dietrich von Altenburg left the blockaded peasant town of Płowce. The Poles, under Władyslaw Łokietek (Władysław I the Elbow-high) and his son Casimir, immediately attacked in a frontal assault. They were immediately joined by Polish detachments hiding in a forest to the left of the town. Reportedly, during the first phase of the battle Prince Casimir was ordered to depart so as not to deprive the Polish Kingdom of the presumptive heir. Despite this, in three hours the Teutonic knights had been defeated and their leader captured. The Polish forces were victorious in this phase of the battle, took prisoner 56 knights, and freed many Polish captives.

However, upon hearing the sounds of battle from Płowce, rear elements of the German formations rushed to aid their fellow knights, and soon another third of the Teutonic Order's forces arrived. The long and bloody battle resumed and continued until dark, with high casualties on both sides. Poland scored a clear victory, with Reuss von Plauen, commander of the German army, and another 40 knights taken prisoner by the Poles. After fleeing Płowce, the knights withdrew to Toruń (Thorn).

Despite the Polish victory on the field, the battle is traditionally regarded as inconclusive given that the Teutonic Order was not destroyed . Nevertheless, it was an important battle for Poland, which was just regaining its stature as a country on the international scene, and held its own against a powerful military force.

Aftermath

An estimated over 4,000 men (combined) were said to have fallen on the field of the battle. Of these, 73 were Knight Brothers of the Teutonic Order (the highest-ranking members of the Order). Over one half of the dead were Germans, who had to retreat back to Toruń, their death toll climbing to one third of all their knights taking part in the war. The Polish armies, also suffering heavy casualties, did not follow the retreating Germans.

The Battle of Plowce is commemorated on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw, with the inscription "PLOWCE 27 IX 1331".

52°36′56″N 18°38′38″E / 52.615556°N 18.643889°E / 52.615556; 18.643889

• Articles lacking sources from September 2008
• Battles involving Poland
• Battles involving the Teutonic Order
• Conflicts in 1331
• 1331 in Europe
• 14th century in Poland
• 14th century in the State of the Teutonic Order