Editing Klaipėda (section)

===Teutonic Knights===
In the 1240s, [[Pope Gregory IX]] offered King [[Haakon IV of Norway|Håkon IV]] of [[Norway]] the opportunity to conquer the peninsula of [[Sambia]].{{cn|date=September 2024}} However, after Grand Duke [[Mindaugas]] of [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]], the [[Teutonic Knights]] and a group of [[crusade]]rs from [[Lübeck]] moved into Sambia and accepted Christianity.{{cn|date=September 2024}} These groups founded a fort in 1252 called ''Memele castrum'' (or ''Memelburg'', "[[Memel Castle]]"). The fort's construction was completed in 1253, and Memel was garrisoned with troops of the [[Teutonic Order]], administered by [[Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights|Deutschmeister]] [[Eberhard von Seyne]]. Documents for its founding were signed by Eberhard and Bishop Heinrich von Lützelburg of [[Courland]] on 29 July 1252 and 1 August 1252.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

[[File:Klaipeda dom Sukieliu 18.jpg|thumb|left|Preserved historic [[timber framed]] architecture]]
[[File:Seal of viceregent in Klaipėda, 13th century.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Seal of viceregent in Klaipėda, 13th century]]
[[File:Komtursiegel Memel (1409).jpg|thumb|left|150px|Seal of Klaipėda as of 1409 depicting bell towers of the [[Church of St. John, Klaipėda|Churches of St. John]], St. Mary and St. Nicholas]]
Master [[Conrad von Thierberg]] used the fortress as a base for further campaigns along the river [[Neman]] and against [[Samogitia]]. Memel was unsuccessfully besieged by [[Sambians]] in 1255, and the Sambians surrendered in 1259. Memel was also colonized by settlers from [[Holstein]], Lübeck and [[Dortmund]]. Hence, Memel also being known at the time as ''Neu-Dortmund'', or "New Dortmund". It became the main town of the Diocese of Curonia, with a cathedral and at least two parochial churches, but the development of the castle became the dominant priority. According to different sources, Memel received [[Lübeck city rights]] in 1254<ref>''Klaipėda city information portal''. "[http://www.klaipeda.lt/klaipeda/selectPage.do?docLocator=73ECC9E7534011D8A343746164617373&categoryId=168&pathId=224 History] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927015116/http://www.klaipeda.lt/klaipeda/selectPage.do?docLocator=73ECC9E7534011D8A343746164617373&categoryId=168&pathId=224 |date=2007-09-27 }}". Retrieved 11 April 2006.</ref> or 1258.<ref>Magocsi, Paul Robert. ''Historical Atlas of Central Europe''. [[University of Washington Press]]. Seattle, 2002. p. 41. {{ISBN|0-295-98146-6}}.</ref> Following it Klaipėda's status was quite extraordinary as only three cities in the [[State of the Teutonic Order]] had Lübeck city rights.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pučinskas |first1=Saulius |last2=Žulkus |first2=Vladas |title=Klaipėdos pilis. Gynybinis paveldas Lietuvoje. I dalis |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqstADxAdiE |website=YouTube.com |access-date=8 September 2024 |date=9 January 2023 |language=lt |quote=Quote starting since 7:00}}</ref>

In the spring and summer of 1323, a Lithuanian army led by Grand Duke [[Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania|Gediminas]] came up the [[Neman]] and sieged the castle of Memel, while later he marched to other Prussian, Latvian, Estonian territories controlled by the Order, eventually forcing the Order to sue for a truce in October 1323.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gediminas |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/gediminas/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=26 March 2023 |language=lt |archive-date=3 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203203439/https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/gediminas/ |url-status=live}}</ref> While planning a campaign against [[Samogitia]], Memel's garrison of the Teutonic Order's [[Livonia]]n branch was replaced with knights from the [[Prussia]]n branch in 1328. Threats and attacks by [[Lithuanians]] greatly slowed down the town's development; the castle was sacked by Lithuanian tribes in 1360, and in 1379 the reconstructed castle and town were both sacked once again.<ref name="KlaipedaMle"/> In 1409, the castle was rebuilt and in 1422–1441 the strengthening of the castle's fortifications continued when eventually its [[Rampart (fortification)|ramparts]] reached 7 meters height.<ref name="KlaipedaMle"/>

After the [[Battle of Grunwald]], the dispute between the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] and the [[Teutonic Order]] on Samogitia started.<ref name="BaturaVytautas">{{cite book |last1=Batūra |first1=Romas |title=Places of Fighting for Lithuania's Freedom: in the expanse of Nemunas, Vistula and Dauguva Rivers |date=2010 |publisher=[[General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania]] |location=[[Vilnius]] |page=7 |url=http://www.tb.lt/Leidiniai/sisteminis_katalogas/Humanitariniai%20mokslai/Istorija/2010-places%20of%20fighting.pdf |access-date=10 April 2023 |archive-date=29 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029090124/http://www.tb.lt/Leidiniai/sisteminis_katalogas/Humanitariniai%20mokslai/Istorija/2010-places%20of%20fighting.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Vytautas the Great]] wanted the border to be the [[Neman River]], while the Teutonic Order wanted to have [[Veliuona]] and Klaipėda in the right side of the river.<ref name="BaturaVytautas"/> Both sides agreed to accept the prospective solution of [[Emperor Sigismund]]'s representative [[Benedict Makrai]] in 1413. He decided that the right side of Nemunas ([[Veliuona]], Klaipėda) were to be owned by Lithuania. Makrai is known to have stated:<ref>{{cite journal |journal=[[:de:Altpreußische Monatsschrift|Altpreußische Monatsschrift]] |year=1907 |volume=44 |title=Preußische Urkunden in Rußland |author=[[:de:August Robert Seraphim|August Seraphim]] |page=80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lH0VAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22nec%20magister%20et%20ordo%22&pg=PA80 |language=de, la |access-date=12 April 2023 |archive-date=22 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422102650/https://books.google.com/books?id=lH0VAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA80&dq=%22nec%20magister%20et%20ordo%22 |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{blockquote|''We find that the Memel Castle is built in the land of Samogitians. Neither [[Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights|Master]], nor the Order was able to prove anything opposing.''}}

Nevertheless, no agreement was concluded and fighting continued until the [[Treaty of Melno]] in 1422 stabilized the border between the Teutonic Order and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for the next 501 years. However, two miles of Lithuanian territories, including Klaipėda, was left for the Order.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dundulis |first1=Bronius |title=Melno taika |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/melno-taika/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=10 April 2023 |language=lt |archive-date=23 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323185023/https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/melno-taika/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1454, King [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]] incorporated the region to the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Kingdom of Poland]] upon the request of the anti-Teutonic [[Prussian Confederation]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Górski |first=Karol |title=Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych |year=1949 |publisher=Instytut Zachodni |location=Poznań |language=pl |page=54}}</ref> After the subsequent [[Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)]] the city became a part of Poland as a [[fief]] held by the Teutonic Knights,<ref>Górski, pp. 96–97, 214–215</ref> and thus located within the [[Polish–Lithuanian union]]. The rebuilt town received [[Kulm law]] city rights in 1475.<ref name="KlaipedaMle">{{cite web |last1=Purvinas |first1=Martynas |title=Klaipėda |url=https://www.mle.lt/straipsniai/klaipeda |website=Mažosios Lietuvos enciklopedija |access-date=10 April 2023 |language=lt |archive-date=1 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201034339/https://www.mle.lt/straipsniai/klaipeda |url-status=live}}</ref>