Wolter von Plettenberg

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Wolter von Plettenberg, painting around 1700
Wolter von Plettenberg grants Riga religious freedom (stained-glass window in the Riga dome cathedral)
National Museum in Warsaw
Personal coat of arms

Wolter (or Walter) von Plettenberg (c. 1450 – February 28, 1535) was the Master (Landmeister) of the

Baltic German
.

Biography

Wolter von Plettenberg was born in Welver (in Meyerich Castle), Westphalia. Belonging to the House of Plettenberg, he was the first child of his father Berthold von Plettenberg and his mother Gosteke Lappe, but had at least seven siblings. He went to work at the Fort of Narva at the age of ten and joined the Teutonic Order when he was about 14. In 1489 he was elected to marshal of the Order (Landmarschall), in 1491 he fought successfully against the city of

Muscovite Russia. After negotiations in 1498 failed, Plettenberg chose to prepare for pre-emptive attack against Pskov
, which was then still a formally independent state, but under heavy influence from Moscow. In 1500 Plettenberg made an alliance with
crusading bull against the Russians in order to acquire funding from the sale of indulgences
, but his efforts were in vain.

In the war with Russia (1501-1503), Plettenberg showed himself to be a talented and skilled commander. His strength lay in his skillful use of heavy

Livonian Confederation of 8,000 foot and 4,000 horse defeated an about two times stronger army of Russians.[2] But without the promised help of the Lithuanians, Plettenberg was unable to conquer Pskov and only burned the stronghold of Ostrov
. During the winter of 1501–1502, the Russians harshly ravaged Eastern Livonia and many Livonian dignitaries wanted to make peace with
Ivan III
and Livonia on the terms of status quo ante bellum was concluded.

During the

Cesis
at St. John's church.

Legacy

Traditionally, both

Walhalla memorial
.

Two books have been written that focus on Plettenberg: Hans-Friedrich Blunck's Wolter von Plettenberg, Deutschordensmeister in Livland (1938) and Mia Munier-Wroblewski's Zeitenwende, Ein Deutschordensroman (1939). Additionally, Plettenberg has been featured in several fictional works.[5]

Many sculptures have been made of Plettenberg. The most famous is a bust located in the

Walhalla memorial and a wooden statue located in Riga
.

In 2015, the Bank of Latvia located in Riga issued a collector coin on the 500th anniversary of the Riga Castle that depicted the castle along with Plettenberg and the Virgin Mary.[6]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-351-94715-2
    .
  2. ^ Wilhelm Lenz believes these numbers most probable, numbers as high as 40,000 are quite unlikely to be true (In: Die Auswärtige Politik des livländischen Ordensmeisters Walter von Plettenberg bis 1510. Riga, 1929, p. 33).
  3. ^ this number comes from one Order's document, numbers as high as 40,000 to 90,000 are again highly improbable (Lenz, p. 43–44)
  4. ^ Heinrich Bosse Aufklärung und Biedermeier Mustern Plettenberg. Wolter von Plettenberg - der grösste Ordensmeister Livlands. Lüneburg: Nordostdeutsch
  5. ^ Michael Garleff. Plettenberg-Staffes in the Library of Literature. Wolter von Plettenberg - der grösste Ordensmeister Livlands. Hrsg. von Norbert Angermann, Lüneburg: Nordostdeutsches Kulturwerk, 1985.
  6. ^ "500 Years of the Riga Castle". Latvijas Banka. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
Preceded by Master of the Teutonic Order in Livonia
1494–1535 		Succeeded by
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