[July 15] Ulrich von Jungingen, grand master of the Teutonic Knights

Date of Birth: 1360

Royal House: Jungingen

Predecessor: Konrad von Jungingen
Reign: 1407 — 1410
Summary: Born to a Swabian noble house, Ulrich and his brother, Konrad, joined the Teutonic Knights and moved to Prussia in the 1480s. Konrad was elected Grand Master in 1393 and Ulrich benefited greatly from that promotion. In 1396, he became the komtur (commander) of Balga where he remained for eight years. Ulrich was instrumental in the treaty to obtain Gotland Island from Denmark in 1398. He also was a diplomat for the Order assigned to the Polish-Lithuanian Treaty of Salynas which brought the Duchy of Samogitia to the Order. Konrad made his brother the military leader of the Teutonic Knights in 1404 and assigned him a larger komtur at Königsberg. During his three years there, he suppressed multiple uprisings by the native Samogitian people and he retained his control via bribes to local officials and direct violent oppression. When Konrad died suddenly in 1407, Ulrich was nominated as his successor.


Despite his vast experience, Ulrich failed to resolve the Samogitia problem well. At the same time, new problems had arisen with Poland over disputed lands and the Poles were willing to attack Prussia without a moment's notice. Ulrich, knowing that a war was imminent, forged a quick alliance with Hungary, bought mercenaries from Germany, and declared war on Poland in the summer of 1409. This was the start of the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War. It began well for the Order, with Ulrich's forces laying successful sieges against Dobrzyn and Kuyavia, but Ulrich's allies were indifferent. At the Battle of Grunwald, the two armies met and stared across the battlefield. Ulrich, in an attempt to antagonize the Polish king, sent over two swords with a death threat. The Lithuanians attacked and the Poles followed behind. Ulrich, certain of his victory, led the charge of his rearguard and almost captured the Polish king. Unfortunately, his attack had left vulnerable and he did not realize that most of the Order's army had regrouped behind him. His unit was surrounded and he was killed  in action. The Polish king allowed the body of the Grand Master to be returned to the Order before laying siege to Marienburg a few days later. He was succeeded by Heinrich von Plauen, a Teutonic Knight made famous for saving Castle Marienburg.

Date of Death: 15 July 1410
Successor: Heinrich von Plauen

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Rudolph I, king of the Romans (1291)
• Wilhelm, duke of Austria (1406)
• René, prince of Orange (1544)
• Shimazu Takahisa, daimyo in Japan (1571)
• George IV, king of the United Kingdom & Ireland (1830)

[March 20] Hermann von Salza, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights

Date of Birth: circa 1165

Predecessor: Heinrich von Tunna

Reign: 1210 – 1239

Summary: Hermann was probably one of the initial founding members of the Order of the Teutonic Knights, a chivalric order formed to serve against the Muslims in the Crusades. He probably first saw action at the Siege of Acre during his late teens. During the Crusade of 1197, Hermann was a witness to the coronation of Amalric II, king of Jerusalem. The Order was re-established in late 1197 under Heinrich Walpot von Bassenheim with the mission to secure Latin properties in the Holy Land. Hermann's role in these early years of the order are unknown, but he became Grand Master at the latest in 1210 when he served in the coronation of John of Brienne as king of Jerusalem.

Hermann was a long-time friend of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and served as Frederick's mediator in  the Papal curia from 1222 until his death. Conveniently, Hermann was also respected by Pope Honorius III who granted the Teutonic Knights equal status with the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar. Hermann was a fighter of a grand master and led the Knights on a crusade in Transylvania to defend the native Hungarians and Romanians from the Cumans. But the Hungarian nobility were displeased with the Knights and the Order left in 1225. During this time, Hermann himself went with Frederick II on the Fifth Crusade and encouraged the undertaking of the Sixth Crusade a few years later. It was partially with Hermann's encouragement that Frederick married Yolanda of Brienne so that the emperor could later claim the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Upon his return, Konrad I, king of Masovia, requested the help of the Teutonic Knights to subdue the Old Prussians from Estonia. The Order agreed and moved north and began their campaign from 1230 onwards. In 1237, the Order expanded to include the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. The Knights grew tired of their oft-absentee Grand Master and recalled him in 1238, forcing him to retire. He died in 1239 at his estate at Salerno, Italy. Frederick II and the pope had a falling out within days.

Date of Death: 20 March 1239

Successor: Conrad of Thuringia

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Alexios III, emperor of Trebizond (1390)
• Henry IV, king of England (1413)
• Albert, duke of Prussia (1568)
• Mathias, Holy Roman Emperor (1619)
• Juliana, queen of the Netherlands (2004)

[March 18] Magnus, king of Livonia

The region of Livonia before it became a kingdom in 1570

Parents: Christian III, king of Denmark, and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg

Date of Birth: 14 August 1540

House: Oldenburg

Reign: 1570 – 1578

Summary: Born to the Danish Oldenburg family in Copenhagen, Magnus was the second son of the reigning king of Denmark. He spent much of his early adult years in Germany, touring German courts. In 1559, the prince-bishop of Ösel-Wiek in Livonia sold his lands to Frederick II, the brother of Magnus and new king of Denmark. The king deeded these lands to Magnus but forced the prince in exchange to renounce his rights to the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein which were hereditary in the Oldenburg family. Magnus agreed and in 1560 arrived in Ösel-Wiek with a small army and was proclaimed bishop. The problem was that the Russians had already invaded parts of Livonia in 1558 and were pushing ever westward toward Magnus's holdings. Magnus responded by purchasing the nearby Bishopric of Courland without permission of his brother. He also began pushing into neighboring states which threatened Swedish security. A new war broke out known as the Nordic Seven Years' War which raged until 1570. Magnus's territories were in the midst of the fighting and he was relatively powerless to do anything. During this time, his allegiance to his brother began to waver. Ivan IV of Russia finally decided to act and annexed all of Livonia in exchange for promoting Magnus to king of the territory. Magnus arrived in Moscow on 10 June 1570 to accept the Livonian crown.

Magnus, thus, became a vassal of the Russian Empire but all of Livonia was not in Russian or Livonian hands. Magnus returned to his newly raised kingdom with an army of 20,000 Russian soldiers to attempt the conquest of the remainder of Livonia from the Swedes. Within a year, Magnus began to regret his move and gave up on his siege of the Swedes. The support from his brother was failing as Ivan increasingly looked to be the worst of his two foes. In 1577, Magnus attempted to go independent of both Denmark and Russia. Ivan responded by attacking the king and taking him prisoner. When Magnus was released the next year by the king of Poland, Stefan Batory, he was forced to renounce all his titles and give them to the Poles. Magnus spent the last years of his life in exile in Courland where he died a vassal of the Polish king. In 1662, his body was returned to Denmark and reburied at Roskilde Cathedral.

Date of Death: 18 March 1583

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Alexander Severus, emperor of Rome (235)
• Edward the Martyr, king of England (978)
• Honorius III, pope of Rome (1227)
• Ivan IV, tsar of Russia (1584)
• George I, king of Greece (1913)
• Farouk I, king of Egypt (1965)
• Umberto II, king of Italy (1983)
• Shenouda III, pope of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church (2012)
• George Tupou V, king of Tonga (2012)