Late Middle Ages · Europe · Politics

1309

Teutonic Knights move capital to Marienburg

1309

Grand Master Siegfried von Feuchtwangen shifted the Order's headquarters from Venice to the brick fortress on the Nogat, consolidating a Baltic state built on crusade against pagan Prussians. Marienburg would grow into Europe's largest brick castle, its vast halls heated by hypocaust systems, and govern a theocratic realm that rivaled any kingdom around the Baltic.