Gdańsk Affairs at the Council of Constance (1414–1418)1
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Medieval Studies, vol. 22, 2018 / Studia z Dziejów Średniowiecza, tom 22, 2018 Přemysl Bar (Masaryk University, Brno) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9579-4509 Přemysl Bar Gdańsk Affairs at the Council of Constance (1414–1418)1 Gdańsk Affairs at the Council of Constance (1414–1418) Keywords: The Concil of Constance, Gdańsk, Teutonic Order, Bridgettine Convent The Council of Constance (1414–1418), sometimes referred to as the first European congress, is often regarded in historiography as one of the most important events in the Late Middle Ages. In recent years, and thanks to the forthcoming anniversary, research has not only focused on the ‘great’ religious matters (ending the papal schism and addressing the Wycliffe-Hussite heresy and the reform of the Church) and secular affairs (Sigismund of Luxemburg’s Euro- pean policies and the imperial diet, i.e. Hoftag), but it also looks at more marginal issues.2 Thanks to the Council and the arrival of del- egations from various corners of the Christian West (as well as a few from the East), Constance became an outstanding meeting place for political negotiations and for establishing commercial and cultural contacts. The different ways in which the Council is perceived is not something confined to contemporary research and is already apparent in the primary sources.3 1 The study was conducted as part of the Czech Science Foundation Project “Emperor Sigismund’s Party in Hussite Bohemia” (no. GA15-14758S) at the Depart- ment of Auxiliary Historical Sciences and Archive Studies, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University. 2 Cf., e.g. Das Konstanzer Konzil: 1414–1418. Weltereignis des Mittelalters. Essays. Katalog, eds. K.-H. Braun, M. Herweg, H.W. Hubert, J. Schneider, T. Zotz, Darmstadt 2013–2014. 3 The comparison of two primary sources from the Council highlight the different views of the Council: the Council Acts and the Council Chronicle by Ulrich von Richen- tal, cf. Acta concilii Constanciensis I–IV, eds. H. Finke, J. Hollnsteiner, H. Heimpel, 8 přemySl Bar The affairs of the townspeople of the Hanseatic city of Gdańsk, occupied by the Teutonic Order, also left their mark on the Council of Constance. One Gdańsk townsman was even an official member of the Order’s delegation at the Council, although this was not the first delegation of October 1414, but the one held at the start of 1417. How- ever, no more is known about the activities of the Gdańsk councillor, Johann Baysan, in Constance. The representatives of the Prussian knights and the townsmen in the Order’s delegation evidently only performed representative roles. Their participation was to provide the impression that the delegation represented the Prussian popula- tion as well as the Order (in terms of spiritual bodies).4 There were two events that caused tension and conflict in the Han- seatic town which were of greater significance for the Gdańsk towns- people than the participation of their councillor in the Order’s del- egation. These mainly concerned the consequences of the Gdańsk townspeople’s uprising against the rule of the Teutonic Knights on 18 June 1416 and the unresolved legal status of the Gdańsk Bridget- tine Convent. The repercussions of the Gdańsk townspeople’s uprising (1416) at the Council of Constance The immediate causes of the Gdańsk uprising against the Teutonic Order can be traced back to the fiscal policy of the Order’s leadership, who lacked the means to compensate Poland and Lithuania for war damages after the so-called Great War (1409–1411). The lowered value Münster 1896–1928; Chronik des Konstanzer Konzils 1414–1418 von Ulrich Richental, ed. T.M. Buck, Ostfildern 20112; cf. T. Rathmann, Geschehen und Geschichten des Konstanzer Konzils. Chroniken, Briefe, Lieder und Sprüche als Konstituenten eines Ereignisses, München 2000. 4 Cf. the extension of the Brodnica truce of 14 May 1417,: Codex epistolaris saeculi decimi quinti, tomus II, ed. A. Lewicki, Kraków 1891, pp. 84–86, no. 72, where on p. 85 two townspeople are named amongst the membership of the religious delegation: ‘Liffhardus Blomental de Thoron et Johannes dictus Baysenn de Danczk, opidani et consules [...];’ more on the Gdańsk councillor: J. Zdrenka, Urzędnicy miejscy Gdańska w latach 1342–1792 i 1807–1814, vol. 2, Biogramy, Gdańsk 2008, pp. 15–16 and Poczet sołtysów, burmistrzów, nadburmistrzów, przewodniczących Miejskiej Rady Narodowej i prezydentów Gdańska od XIII do XXI wieku, ed. B. Możejko, Gdańsk 2015, pp. 50–52; for general information on the delegations at the Council of Constance, see P. Bar, Diplomacie, právo a propaganda v pozdním středověku. Polsko-litevská unie a Řád německých rytířů na kostnickém koncilu (1414–1418), Brno 2017, pp. 42–80. GdańSk AffairS at the Council of ConStance (1414–1418) 9 of the newly minted coins led to price increases which hit the towns- people the hardest.5 In June 1416, Grand Master Michael Küchmeister was staying with the commander of Gdańsk, and it was at that time (on St Corpus Christi on 18 June, which is why this rebellion is called the Fron- leichnamsaufstand in German historiography), that an angry crowd attacked the town hall, which they took over and destroyed. At the head of the crowd was the brewer Johann Lupi and the townsman Kon- rad Bell. The Order’s mint was also destroyed along with the house of the mayor, Gert von der Beke, who, as the leaseholder of the Order’s mint, was one of the most hated people among the Gdańsk townspeo- ple. The terrified Grand Master fled town, despite the insurgents being unable to translate their surprise control over the town into lasting success. Gdańsk had been successfully isolated by the Order from other Prussian towns, so they could not rely on their solidarity. After a few weeks, the leadership of the Order gradually managed to regain control over the town. The exiled Gdańsk councillors complained about the uprising to the Grand Master and demanded that the rebels be strictly punished. Under the leadership of the Grand Marshal, the court declared the rebels dangerous disruptors of the social order and with their ver- dict condemned the leaders, Johann Lupi and Konrad Bell, and other participants in the uprising to death. Ten of the insurgents, including the aforementioned, managed to escape this punishment. A further eighteen people were beheaded, and the court sent forty insurgents into exile. All of the insurgents’ property was confiscated.6 The repercussions from these dramatic events can be followed at the Council of Constance thanks to messages that were regularly sent to Malbork by the Procurator General acting on Order’s behalf in the Roman Curia. Since the thirteenth century, this post had been occupied by a trustworthy cleric who was a member of the Order, 5 On the war 1409–1411, see, e.g. S. Ekdahl, Die Schlacht bei Tannenberg 1410: Quellenkritische Untersuchungen. Band 1, Einführung und Quellenlage, Berlin 1982; S. Jóźwiak, K. Kwiatkowski, A. Szweda, S. Szybkowski, Wojna Polski i Litwy z zakonem krzyżackim w latach 1409–1411, Malbork 2010 and Tannenberg–Grunwald–Žalgiris 1410: Krieg und Frieden im späten Mittelalter, eds. W. Paravicini, R. Petrauskas et al., Wiesbaden 2012. On the economic problems this war caused the Teutonic Order, see M. Biskup, R. Czaja et al., Państwo zakonu krzyżackiego w Prusach. Władza i społe- czeństwo, Warszawa 2009, pp. 342–347. 6 The basic facts mentioned here about the uprising are based on Historia Gdańska, vol. 1, Do roku 1454, ed. E. Cieślak, Gdańsk 1978, pp. 554–561. 10 přemySl Bar and during the time of the Council of Constance this fell to the priest Peter Wormditt (1403–1419).7 It would seem that information about the Gdańsk rebellion and its repercussions soon reached Constance. There is no mention yet of the Gdańsk disturbances in the Procurator’s report from mid-July 1416. Peter Wormditt only mentioned that a certain chaplain, Gert von der Beke, probably a relative of the Gdańsk mayor, was present in Constance.8 What is certain is that the Order’s delegation knew about the Gdańsk uprising by August 1416 at the latest when a letter from the Grand Master of 9 August arrived in Constance for the arch- bishop of Riga, Johann von Wallenrode.9 The reports on the uprising would certainly not have been restricted to the Order’s delegation. Paweł Włodkowic (Paulus Wladimiri), an educated lawyer, rector of Krakow University, and a member of the Polish-Lithuanian delegation, devoted one point of indict- ment to it, in which he wanted to prove the sectarianism and heresy of the Teutonic Order. In the 120th article he wrote that the Order had condemned 14 of Gdańsk’s leading townsmen to the cruel punishment of decapitation without a fair trial. In the end, however, these incrim- inatory articles were not published at the Council.10 The Procurator of the Order might have had a certain sympathy towards the critical attitude of the way the Order’s leadership had treated the townspeople of Gdańsk. Towards the end of October 1416, a Gdańsk butcher arrived in Constance, who, according to Peter Wormditt, had not yet decided to prosecute the Order; nevertheless, the aggrieved townspeople of Gdańsk would be expected to appear and show their anger at the behaviour of the Order’s leadership.11 7 J.-E. Beuttel, Der Generalprokurator des Deutschen Ordens an der Römischen Kurie. Amt, Funktionen, personelles Umfeld und Finanzierung, Marburg 1999. 8 Die Berichte der Generalprokuratoren des Deutschen Ordens an der Kurie, Bd. II, Peter von Wormditt (1403–1419) (henceforth: BGDO II), ed. H. Koeppen, Göttingen 1960, p. 346, no. 168. The editor is in no doubt about the kinship ties between the curate and the Gdańsk mayor. 9 Ibidem, p.