Wojciech of Bnin in Captivity, Held by the Teutonic Knights. Epistographic Documentation

Abstract

This text publishes five letters relating to the period as a prisoner of war of the Castellan of Ląd, Wociech of Bnin, who was captured by the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Chojnice on 18 September 1454. The first letter, written in Poznań on 27 December 1454, relates to Wojciech’s own request to postpone the date of his return to captivity, which he had been released from on his word of honour as a knight, in connection with the need heal a wound or a blow that he had received in the abovementioned battle. Three subsequent letters are addressed to the Grand Master of the Order, Ludwik von Erlichshausen, all written on the same day (5 February 1455) in Warsaw. They contain the requests of two duchesses of Mazovia (Anna and Barbara) and of prominent magnates from their circle to free Wojciech from captivity in exchange for an unnamed notable of the order, who was then in Polish hands. The final letter, from 4 April 1455, was also written in Warsaw. In it, the Mazovian Duchess Anna once again requests the Grand Master to release Bniński from captivity. Wojciech personally delivered this letter to Malbork on 22 April 1455, and he was most likely released from captivity as a prisoner of war after that date.