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Poles love of knights and battle.


Wroclaw  44 | 5359  
8 Aug 2011 /  #1
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14378984

"There is something about summer that makes some Poles clamour to slip into chain mail or flowing dresses and pretend to be medieval knights and damsels.

During the holiday season there is a knights' tournament or battle re-enactment every weekend.

"People love it. They want to be some somewhere far, far away from the normal, just a little bit boring, everyday life," says popular historian Boguslaw Woloszanski".
beckski  12 | 1609  
8 Aug 2011 /  #2
There is something about summer

There's something about the season. It definitely brings out a sense of pride in our Polish heritage :)





wersy2  
2 Sep 2011 /  #3
1:14, look at that cute little Teuton:) God, isn't he (she?:)) sweet:*?
1jola  14 | 1875  
5 Jan 2013 /  #5
moved from another thread

The level of constant endeavors to diminish our heritage among some of you amazes me.

If you have a chance, catch the BBC documentary on the Teutonic Knights. I happened to watch it yesterday. King Jagiełło was dressed like a peasant who grabbed a sword and luckily not a pitchfork, and the battle flags had the present day eagle on them. The Lithuanians' coat of arms was like something resembling an astrological sign and on and on. The Order had near magical powers and were saintly, of course, bringing Jesus to the world and beyond.
monia  3 | 212  
5 Jan 2013 /  #6
So sad , that the national TV brings such lies to people .

info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/JM/GT.html

This is more reliable link that explains the battle than the above link which contains strange criticism of the painting.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grunwald

Why did Matejko know how knights looked like ?Because of the works of Jan Długosz . He described the battle with details here ( there is en English version too , but you need to search a bit :

staropolska.pl/ang/middleages/Sec_prose/Dlugosz.php3
staropolska.pl/sredniowiecze/dziejopisarstwo/Dlugosz.html

Here are some excerpts from his annales about the begining of the biggest war of the middle ages "

"Your Majesty! The Grand Master Ulryk sends you and your brother (omitting the name of Aleksander and the title of duke) through us, the deputies standing here, two swords for help so that you, with him and his army, may delay less and may fight more boldly than you have shown, and also that you will not continue hiding and staying in the forest and groves, an will not postpone the battle. And if you believe that you have too little space to form your ranks, the Prussian master Ulryk, to entice you to battle, will withdraw from the plain which he took for his army, as far as you want, or you may instead choose any field of battle so that you do not postpone the battle any longer."

And here is a response of that depicted by BBC as pheasant Polish King after such a brazen speech of that two Teutonic envoys -

"And King Władysław, having listened to the boastful and impudent words of the Teutonic deputies, accepted the swords from their hands, and without any anger or resentment, but with tears, responded without hesitation to the heralds, with strange humility, patience and modesty. "Even though", he said, "I do not need the swords of my enemies, as I have in my army a sufficient amount, however, in the name of God, for securing greater help, protection and defense in my just cause, I accept these two swords brought by you and sent by the enemies who desire my blood and my destruction as well as that of my army."

What a class and bravery King Jagiełło showed 600 years ago .
Wroclaw Boy  
5 Jan 2013 /  #7
What a class and bravery King Jagiełło showed 600 years ago .

Without reading anything of what youve wrote im assuming that this Jagiello chap is Polish.

Do you ever wonder why youre so patriotic?
monia  3 | 212  
5 Jan 2013 /  #8
It is not a crime, right ? . But do you think that bringing the facts needs patriotism?/ I feel the need to explain Polish history, because some facts are only known to us , because they are written in Polish .

To me patriotism is a very important part of my life and I am not a victim of liberal`s indoctrination which is common in today`s Europe . I am not inclined to any political movement and my opinion is always strictly mine .
isthatu2  4 | 2692  
11 Jan 2013 /  #9
Why do you diminish our pride by saying – zee Germans built it?

Why do you have pride in something that an occupying army built?
Are you "Proud" of Auschwitz?
I *Like* and admire hadrians wall but I derive no silly sense of nationl pride from a wall built by a bunch of Romans 17 hundred years ago.....

Stop being silly Monia, just leave us boys to compare portcullis sizes and go and bake some nice cakes or something ;)

Weren't most of the English castles build by the Normans?

Not the ones that still stand today TBH,but you have a good point for a small handfull, but, the Normans became *us*,became as English as anyone else, I doubt even monia will say the Germans became Poles...

Both Poles and Britons are proud of the amazing variety of styles of building we are lucky to have within the present day borders of our respective countries.....

Shall we leave it at that ? :)
monia  3 | 212  
11 Jan 2013 /  #10
Stop being silly Monia, just leave us boys to compare portcullis sizes and go and bake some nice cakes or something ;)

Your statement only shows your chauvinistic attitude towards women .
As a matter of fact, things look quite different from your insular way of reasoning.
You are obviously far from being an objective person. I don`t know who you are , why are you so interested in posting on forum which is Polish and about Poland while you are British residing in Doncaster . I am quite aware that your knowledge about Poland is very limited by the fact that you don`t speak Polish.

That`s why your historical knowledge is obscure, backward, narrow- minded. Anyways I will try to give you a closer look at our history.
Poles are a very proud nation and we nurture whatever is connected with our heritage and naturally architectural monuments are the first on that list. Not only adults, but even very young Polish children do know who built Malbork, that's why we preserve the castle in immaculate conditions, because it is part of our heritage; just take into account few simple factors :

- It was built mainly by pheasant community of local Prussians (tribes of Baltic region which was not Germanic) , Poles and in lesser extent Germans.
- Teutonic Knights order was German, but they used Prussians as slave workforce
- German nobles from Germany were supplying this Teutonic Knights order with funds to use them as means of conquering Polish lands and later reasoning their action as if it was done on behalf of Prussian community - indigenous people , while the facts were such that Prussians were systematically murdered by the Germanic order over the years to provide the German settlers with the fertile land as German flagship policy stated - Drang Nach Osten .

- The statement that Teutonic Knights order build castles is just a simplification used in superficial historical sketches made for popular recipients.
- Malbork castle is a symbol and a monument commemorating our great victory over the enemy,
- it serves us as a history lesson not to be merciful to the enemy, because the enemy not destroyed until the end can rebuild its strength and can hit back with a greater vengeance and power. In fact Germans did it later towards Poland.

- It was a residence of our kings for 200 years, until partitioning. When Poland reinstated its existence Malbork castle returned to legal owners, so the input in Malbork castle`s present conditions is solely ours.

Historical facts about Prussia. Some of you might not know that:
For the suppression of Prussian society, the Knights defeated or liquidated in absolute terms, the social structure of the Prussians.
Remnants of the Prussian population were used to build churches, forts and castles, which then became the headquarters of the knights all over Christian Europe.

Without the help and support of the Popes, the whole process of crusade and conquest would not be possible.
Order received many privileges, like indulgences known in middle Ages.
Together with the progress of the conquest of Prussia, cruelty combined with bestiality grew. Details of these atrocities are described in the Appeal of Prussians to the European Parliament, as well as biographies of Prussian heroes.

In protest against these atrocities and extermination of the people, in 1260, united Prussians caused a revolt against the invaders. Monte Herkus the leader of the uprising to stop the extermination of Prussia wrote a letter to the Pope offering a complete subjection of Prussia to Christian faith. The Papacy ignored the letter and still called the Knights to continue their crusades. Prussians stood to fight with all the knights of Europe, as well as Czech king and his entourage. The fight ended in 1283. The conquest lasted 53 years. It cost the Prussians the loss of about 50% of the population. Please take into account that about 10% of the Prussians during the conquest escaped to Polish and Lithuanian territories. Approximately 80 000 Prussians were exterminated during the conquest. They were also forced to take an active part in the Teutonic military "adventures" against Poland. Prussian duty was to work in the estates of the Teutonic Knights and bishops.

Economic discrimination was already well-known pledge to control and enslave indigenous people.

Nobody cared about education, culture, language or any rights of Prussians. They had no ally in their humiliation, abuse and numerous persecutions.
The seventeenth century, was the century in which the German power under the name of Prussia was established. Along with that the class of Junker landlords arrived , while indigenous people were living in miserable conditions. Such conditions together with starvation, diseases, continually were reducing the population of Prussia.

Germany brought the bubonic plague in the early eighteenth century decimated the poorest part of Prussians. Prussians were decimated and it is possible that 50% of the Prussian population did not survive the epidemic.

The nineteenth century under the leadership of Bismarck, it was a huge conglomeration of Germanic Prussia, with a number of offensive wars. The remaining population of Prussia outclasses to zero. Prussian language disappears, and with it their identity.

The entire German Prussia was regarded as the cradle of Prussian abomination among other nations. Across Europe, the word Prussian was disgusting.
But in fact, only few know, that the name of Prussia related to indigenous people, who ceased to exist on the grounds of the fact that it was done by Germans.

Today we have in Poland about 7,000 people who bear that name.

Such is the fate of Prussia, evaluation I leave with you.

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