Luther von Braunschweig

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Luther von Braunschweig (also known as Lothar von Braunschweig) was the 18th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights between 1331 to 1335.

Lothar von Braunschweig was born in 1275 to the Duke of Brunswick Albrecht the Great and Adelaide, the sister of a north Italian vassal, Boniface of Monferatto. He came from the House of Welf and was the youngest of the siblings and was being designated to join the monastic order. He joined the Teutonic Order in 1300 and his career started with a stint at the castle in Christburg and in 1308 he became the komtur of Golub. A year later he became the house komtur of Christburg and in 1313 the house komtur of Marienburg. In 1314 he became the Grand Armourer and the komtur of Christburg.

At the same time he founded several town and colonized southern Prussia. Lothrr von Braunschweig became the 18th Grand master of the Teutonic Order during the Polish-Teutonic war after the tragic death of Grand Master Werner von Orseln on February 17th, 1331. Von Braunschweig continued the conquest of Kuiavia and ordered Dietrich von Altenburg to invade Greater Poland. During the invasion, the Teutonic Knights went as far south as Kalisch, destroying the land around them. The Battle of Plowce of 1331 did not stop the Teutonic Order from further invasions. In May of 1332, the Teutonic army captured Brześć Kujawski and Inowrocław and new komturships were formed in Kuiavia. Despite the war, Luther von Braunschweig tried to avoid any unnecessary military actions. He was concentrating on reforming the religious life as well as was writing poems and teologic books. Von Braunschweid order the redesign of the Malbork Castle to make it look more like a resident of an emperor rather than a monastery. He redesigned the Chapel of St. Anna and built the mausoleum of the Grand Masters underneath it.

Luther von Braunschweid died on April 18th, 1335 in Stuhm during one of his trips and was buried in a cathedral in Königsberg.