| The building of the castle of Marienburg (Marlbork | | | | entertainments at the Marienburg Castle became |
| in Polish), on the delta of the Vistula, was of great | | | | more magnificent. Banquets lasted two days and |
| importance for the future of the Teutonic Knights | | | | two nights, with fiddlers, trumpeters, and |
| Order. It was an impressive medieval fortified | | | | rope-dancers entertaining the guests. |
| castle, with lofty walls and its great statue of the | | | | At the beginning of the 15th century, the Grand |
| Virgin, twenty-six feet high. | | | | Master Conrad of Jungingen tried to limit the |
| In September 1309, the Grand Master held his | | | | luxury displayed by the knights, but they began to |
| solemn entry in the castle, where he established | | | | mock at his preachings and to write satiric verses |
| his residence, moving from the gentle Venice. | | | | on the wall, telling him that he had better become |
| The golden age of the Teutonic Knights was in | | | | a monk or nun. |
| the time of the Grand Master Winrich von | | | | Conrad of Jungingen had done his best to stave |
| Kniprode (1351 -1382). | | | | off these excesses, although he was constantly |
| Agriculture and trade were flourishing at home | | | | opposed by his knights. On his death-bed, he |
| and armies were successful in the field. Winrich | | | | asked the knights to not choose his brother as his |
| made the Marienburg a centre for science and | | | | successor. He knew his brother well: a brave, |
| learning, and he founded a Latin school which he | | | | fearless warrior, but with a thirst for war. |
| maintained at his own cost. | | | | His warnings were forgotten, and when the army |
| At Winrich's death, the order was famous for its | | | | of the Teutonic Knights Order marched out to |
| gun foundry and for its falcon training. Orders for | | | | fight the Poles, Ulrich of Jungingen was in |
| artillery came from great distances. Gunpowder, | | | | command. At the battle fought on the Polish |
| too, was manufactured in large quantities. | | | | frontier, near the village of Tannenberg, in 1410 |
| All through the 14th century the Teutonic Knights | | | | A.D., the Order suffered the most disastrous |
| order flourished, its strength grew, but the old, | | | | defeat, marking the beginning of its decline. |
| simple way of living was vanishing. The | | | | |