Blazon of the Order of Teutonic Knights.

Blazon of the order's Grand Master.

The Banderia Prutenorum is a manuscript of 48 parchment sheets, 18.6 by 29.3 cm (7.3 by 11.5 in), composed by Jan Długosz, illuminated by Stanisław Durink, listing 56 vexillae, or banners, of the Order of Teutonic Knights. The title is Latinized German, probably Blazons of the Prussians, where Banderia^[1] may be related to bänder, military decorations, and Prutenorum is the genitive plural of Pruteni, Prussians (referring to German rather than the earlier Baltic Prussians). Image File history File links Den_tyske_ordens_skjold. ... Image File history File links Den_tyske_ordens_skjold. ... German parchmenter, 1568 Parchment is a material for the pages of a book or codex, made from fine calf skin, sheep skin or goat skin. ... Jan DÅ‚ugosz Jan DÅ‚ugosz, also known as Joannes Longinus or Joannes Dlugossius (1415-1480) was a Polish historian (a chronicler) and a secretary of Bishop Zbigniew OleÅ›nicki of Kraków. ... A banner is a flag or other piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or other message. ... Teutonic Knights Castle in Malbork (Marienburg) The Teutonic Order (German: Deutscher Orden, Latin: Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum) was a crusading order of knights under Roman Catholic religious vows which was formed at the end of the 12th century in Palestine to give medical aid to pilgrims to the holy... The genitive case is a grammatical case that indicates a relationship, primarily one of possession, between the noun in the genitive case and another noun. ... The Prussian people, or (old) Prussians, were Indo-European Balts inhabiting the area around the Curonian and Vistula Lagoons (i. ...

Długosz translated the work from Latin into Old Polish, rendering the name into Chorągwie Pruskie. Chorągwie can be banner, standard, or regiment. The heraldic term blazon in English is probably the exact meaning. The closest approximation in modern English, which is less concerned with heraldry, is "insignia". This is an article about Heraldry. ... Heraldry in its most general sense encompasses all matters relating to the duties and responsibilities of officers of arms. ...

Historical circumstances of the Banderia

The work describes the gonfalons, or battle flags,^[2] collected from the field after the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 AD. This battle was the long-anticipated major confrontation of the order with the forces of Poland-Lithuania, who had conquered vast stretches of Eastern European territory down to the Black See. A gonfalon is an ensign or flag emblematic of royalty. ... Combatants Kingdom of Poland Grand Duchy of Lithuania Teutonic Order Commanders Władysław II Jagiełło, Vytautas the Great Ulrich von Jungingen Strength 39,000 27,000 Casualties Unknown 8,000 dead 2,000 captured The Battle of Grunwald or Battle of Tannenberg took place on July 15, 1410...

The east-baltic Lithuanians had received great power by combining with the slavic Poles, who had since their first existence as dukes since the 960's attempted to conquer surrounding peoples. They were aided in this by the popes, who set up crusades against the pagans of Europe. The Teutonic Order, among other orders, was commissioned and directly subject to the popes. They had succeeded in subjecting the western Balts (including Prussians) and set up the Teutonic Order State of Prussia. The battle took place inside Prussia at Tannenberg and Grunfelde, where the Teutonic Order knights were decisively defeated in a battle referred to as Battle of Grunwald by the joint forces of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Duchy and Kingdom ruled by Jogaila) and allies. Teutonic Knights, charging into battle. ... The Baltic Sea The Balts or Baltic peoples (Latvian: balti, Lithuanian: baltai), defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between lower Vistula and upper Dvina and Dneper. ... Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 Prussia (German: ; Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Lithuanian: ; Polish: ; Old Prussian: Prūsa) was, most recently, a historic state originating in East Prussia, an area which for centuries had substantial influence on German and European history. ... Combatants Kingdom of Poland Grand Duchy of Lithuania Teutonic Order Commanders Władysław II Jagiełło, Vytautas the Great Ulrich von Jungingen Strength 39,000 27,000 Casualties Unknown 8,000 dead 2,000 captured The Battle of Grunwald or Battle of Tannenberg took place on July 15, 1410... ...

At the end of the battle the major officers of the order lay dead on the field beside the standards under which they had fought. Some units escaped with their standards. The Banderia does not describe all the order's flags. The flags were collected and stored at Wawel Cathedral in Cracow. They are known to have been there in 1603, after which they disappeared. Wawel Cathedral Wawel Cathedral Wawel Cathedral – in full, the Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Wenceslaus – is Polands national sanctuary. ... Motto: none Voivodship Lesser Poland Municipal government Rada miasta Kraków Mayor Jacek Majchrowski Area 326,8 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 757,500 (2004 est. ...

Composition

It was probably the Polish historian, Jan Długosz, who commissioned the painter, Stanisław Durink of Cracow, to illustrate the flags in 1448. Długosz then wrote the Latin descriptions. The work thus has the format of a catalog, with an illumination and Latin entry for each flag. Jan DÅ‚ugosz Jan DÅ‚ugosz, also known as Joannes Longinus or Joannes Dlugossius (1415-1480) was a Polish historian (a chronicler) and a secretary of Bishop Zbigniew OleÅ›nicki of Kraków. ... Motto: none Voivodship Lesser Poland Municipal government Rada miasta Kraków Mayor Jacek Majchrowski Area 326,8 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 757,500 (2004 est. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... In the strictest definition of illuminated manuscript, only manuscripts decorated with gold or silver, like this miniature of Christ in Majesty from the Aberdeen Bestiary (folio 4v), would be considered illuminated. ...

The flag is decorated with a heraldic blazon identifying the comturia, or district, from which the soldiers of that unit came. The blazon might appear in any circumstances, such as in a coat of arms or on a shield, or in any conspicuous place. Its function was that of identification. The rules of heraldry were undoubtedly followed. A modern coat of arms is derived from the medi val practice of painting designs onto the shield and outer clothing of knights to enable them to be identified in battle, and later in tournaments. ...

The title raises a few questions of language and society. In it a Polish scholar and historian is calling the conquerors of the Prussians by that very name, even though at the beginning of their conquest they found the name odious to them. Old Prussian speakers still lived in substantial numbers in east Prussia. As they were not excluded from military service, some must have fought for the order, and yet they are not distinguished from the Germans in any way.

Banderium is in origin neither Latin nor Polish. Its use by a Polish historian indicates that it was in general use in the Latin of Prussia. (Medieval Latin is generally regionalized.) The place names also are in their Germanic forms rather than their Polish ones. Why Długosz chose that form of Latin is not clear.

Location of the manuscript

By some miracle the manuscript survived World War II, even though it was being kept at Malbork by the Nazis for political purposes, and is currently located in the library of Jagiellonian University, except when it goes on tour. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom France Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Charles de Gaulle Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian... Malbork Castle 2003. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... Jagiellonian University (Polish: Uniwersytet Jagielloński, often shortened to UJ) is located in Krakow, Poland, and has been ranked by the Times Higher Education Supplement as the best Polish university. ...

Notes on the work

In the scholarly Latin of manuscript technology, a recto page is "on the right side." The verso or "turned side" (the other side of the page) is therefore a left-hand page. This terminology has nothing to do with Długosz. The recto of a broadsheet, pamphlet or any printed document is the side that is meant to be read first or the right-hand page of a folded sheet. ... The verso of a broadsheet, pamphlet or any printed document is the side that is meant to be read second or the left-hand page of a folded sheet. ...

Durink states the width (latitudo) and length (longitudo) of each flag in units he calls ulne (classical ulnae). These must be cubits rather than ells; i.e., one ulna is 18 inches by today's standard ell. The flags are generally longer than they are wide. Cubit is the name for any one of many units of measure used by various ancient peoples. ... An ell, when used as a unit of length, is usually 45 inches, i. ...

Page 1 recto bears the following introduction:

Pro libraria universitatis studii Cracouiensis datum per dominum Johannem Dlugosch. Descriptio Prutenicae cladis seu crucigerorum sub Jagellone per Joannem Dlugosz canonicum Cracoviensem. Banderia Prutenorum anno domini millesimo quadringentesimo decimo in festo Divisionis Apostolorum erecta contra Polonie regem Wladislaum Jagyelno et per eundem regem prostrata et Cracouiam adducta ac in ecclesia catedrali suspensa, que, ut sequitur, in hune modum fuerunt depicta.

A translation directly from the Latin is:

"Given to the library of the university of study of Cracow by the master John Dlugosch. Description of the Prussian ruin or (the ruin) of the cross-bearers through Jagiello by John Dlugosz, canon of Cracow. The blazons of the Prussians in the year of the Lord 1410 in the holiday of the Divisio Apostolorum (Dispersal of the Apostles), which were erected against the king of Poland, Wladislaw Jagiello, and were cast down by the same king and brought to Cracow and hung in the church cathedral, were depicted in this manner, as follows."

The description to which Długosz refers is contained in the Latin notes with the flags.

Comturiae mentioned in the work

Culm, Pomesania, Graudenz, Balgi, Schonze, Stargard, Sambia, Tuchel, Stuhm, Nessau, Westphalia, Rogasen, Elbing, Engelsburg, Strasburg, Chelm, Brettchen and Neumark, Braunsberg. A culm was originally a stem of any type of plant. ... Pomesania is the former name of an area now in northern Poland, in the vicinity of the cities of Elblag (Elbing) and Malbork (Marienburg), to the east of the lower Vistula river. ... Motto: Grudziądz- miasto na szczęście Voivodship Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodship Municipal government Rada Miasta Grudziądz Mayor Andrzej Wiśniewski Area 58,7 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 102 800 none 1751/km² Founded City rights - - Latitude Longitude 53° 29 N 18° 46 E... Starogard GdaÅ„ski (Kashubian/Pomeranian: Starogarda; German Preussisch Stargard) is a town in Eastern Pomerania in north-western Poland with 50,700 inhabitants (1998). ... Sambia (German: ; Polish: ; Russian: ) is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, on the south-eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. ... Tuchola is a town in Pomerania, northern Poland in the center of Tuchola forests. ... Westphalia (German: Westfalen) is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Münster, Bielefeld, and Osnabrück and included in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. ... Motto: none Voivodship Warmia-Masuria Municipal government Rada Miejska w Elblągu Mayor Henryk Słonina Area 83,32 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 130. ... Brodnica is a town in northern Poland with 27,400 inhabitants (1995). ... Chełm is a town in eastern Poland with 68,595 inhabitants (2004). ... Neumark can refer to a region in western Poland, see Neumark (region) a city in Thuringia, see Neumark, Thuringia a municipality in Saxony, see Neumark, Saxony the former German name of Nowe Miasto Lubawskie, Poland This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might... Braniewo is a city in northeastern Poland: Warmia - Mazury voivodship). ...

Notes of this article

1. ^ According to Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Gothic has bandwa, "sign", from which Germanic *bandwa-, "sign", is reconstructed. From this comes Late Latin banderia, which Webster's hypothesizes has a Latin formative suffix, -arium. It could as well be from a Germanic plural. Banner comes from it, but the earlier meaning was not the cloth but the signs. Blazon has a similar origin from a different but synonymous root, *bhel-, at least in the sense of "sign." In Middle English it has the connotation of shield, but this also is a secondary development. Heraldry originates with the Roman army, who put their unit signs on shields but not flags. Banderia therefore imitate the shield blazons in cloth. Royal and national "blazons" go beyond the original intent, which was only unit identification, and are therefore a later development.
2. ^ The original Germanic *gundfanon- meant "battle-flag". According to Webster's Third New International Dictionary, this descends through Old High German gunfano, "war flag" to Middle French and modern English gonfanon, a very rare word, and through Italian gonfalone to English gonfalon, synonymous with gonfanon. The modern terms have ceased to mean battle flags except when historians use them to refer to battle flags.

Besides its original meaning, of or relating to the Goths (Gothos, Getas), a Germanic tribe and thus the Gothic language and the Gothic alphabet, the word Gothic has been used to refer to distinctly different things: From a Renaissance perspective (originally Italian, gotico, with connotations of rough, barbarous), it conveyed... This is an article about Heraldry. ... Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the... The term Old High German (OHG, German: Althochdeutsch) refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. ... A war flag is a flag used by military forces. ... Middle French (French: ) is a historical division of the French language which covers the period from (roughly) 1340 to 1611 [1]. It is a period of transition during which: the French language becomes clearly distinguished from the other competing Oïl languages which are sometimes subsumed within the concept of... A gonfalon is an ensign or flag emblematic of royalty. ...

External links

• Facsimile of Banderia Prutenorum, pages 1 recto through 11 recto.
• Facsimile of Banderia Prutenorum, pages 10 verso through 20 verso.
• Facsimile of Banderia Prutenorum, pages 20 verso through 30 verso.
• Facsimile of Banderia Prutenorum, pages 30 verso through 40 verso.
• Facsimile of Banderia Prutenorum, pages 40 verso through 48 verso.
• Flags in the 'Banderia Prutenorum' Manuscript. Flags of the World site.