Instead of paying his knights for fighting at the Battle of Grunwald, Polish King Jagiello could have bought thirty Ferrari 599 GTOs.
The Polish King Wladyslaw Jagiello (Jogaila) who commanded the joint Polish and Lithuanian army against the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald in the year 1410 spent 30,000 grzywna to pay the knights, which amounts to approximately 37.5 million zloty (9.3 million euro) or an equivalent of thirty Ferrari 599 GTOs.
“About 15,000-16,000 Teutonic Knights and 30,000 Polish and Lithuanian knights fought in the Battle of Grunwald,” says historian Marek Janicki from Warsaw University. Although the Polish King had to spend a fortune to pays the knights, they themselves also had to bear high costs of the battle.
A complete set of knight’s armour cost up to 100 grzywny, which can be compared to the cost of 50 cows. A visor, for example, cost 4 grzywna, chainmail cost 2-7 grzywna, armour protecting one’s torso 9 grzywna and armour protecting one’s legs cost 4 grzywna. A shield was cheaper, costing 0.1-0.9 grzywna, an axe 0.75 grzywna and a bow 1.5-3.2 grzywna. The most expensive was a horse, which cost about 150 grzywna and a knight usually needed at least two horses – one for battle and another for carrying luggage. A knight also had to pay for food: during the four-month campaign which ended with the Battle of Grunwald, a knight probably spent about 3.5 grzywna on alimentation.
A monthly pay of a medieval Polish knight amounted to 100 grzywna, the equivalent of about 1,980 zloty (500 euro). On average, a knight had to work for two years in order to afford a horse. In spite of rather moderate pay and high battle costs, knights usually managed to turn a profit from war spoils.
“As many as 8,000 Teutonic Knights died in the Battle of Grunwald and they were well-armoured so Polish and Lithuanian knights had great loot,” says historian Marek Janicki from the University of Warsaw. The Polish Royal Treasury was also replenished as a result of the battle. Under the Peace of Thorn in 1411, which ended the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War, the Teutonic Order paid “sixty times the number of 100,000 Prague groschen or 20,000 kilograms of silver” in exchange for captives.
“The sum was so high that the Teutonic Knights barely were able to raise the money,” says Janicki.
The Battle of Grunwald took place on 15 July 1410. It was one of the most important battles in Medieval Europe and the largest battle involving armoured knights. The forces of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were led by King Wladyslaw Jagiello (Jogaila), aided by Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas, and the Knights of the Teutonic Order by the Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen. The battle was a complete defeat for the Teutonic Knights, who lost the area known as Dobrzyn Land and had to pay high war reparations. After the Battle of Grunwald, the Teutonic Knights were unable to recover their former might. (mg/mmj)
Source: Onet Biznes, photos: www.grunwald1410.pl
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