The subjugation of the Old Prussians lasted from 1231 to 1283 and was accompanied by several violent uprisings. The campaigns saw the construction of new castles. From 1309 the Grand Master resided in the Marienburg (today Malbork Castle), the largest brick fortress in Europe, which was never conquered.
In Livonia the Order’s advance to the east ended in 1242 with the defeat against a Russian army under Alexander Nevsky. After the victory over the Old Prussians, the knights fought against the Lithuanians, who were at that time still pagan.
The Teutonic Order is known above all for its knights and mighty castles. In the self-perception of the Order the "fight against the pagans" prevailed in the conflicting priorities of its spiritual and sovereign duties.
The later mostly noble knights had to provide their own horses and equipment on joining the Order. They fought in heavy armour and were considered invincible with their powerful war horses, even though the lighter equipment of their opponents was often more advantageous in forests and swamps.
Illustration:
The conquests of the Teutonic Order in Prussia, their building of castles and establishing of towns.
The advancement of the Order initially followed the course of the Vistula and then the Baltic Sea coastline. Defeats of the Order in Livonia also caused uprisings by the Old Prussians (1242-1249 and 1260-1274) and brought about the destruction of castles and loss of large parts of already conquered land and repeatedly endangered the rule of the Order. Due to constant reinforcements from the west, however, the Order remained successful.
Settlers mainly from Brandenburg, Pomerania and Silesia came in the wake of the conquests and set up new villages and towns in addition to the already existing settlements of the Old Prussians.