Louis of Erlichshausen served as Grand Master from 1450 to 1467, a tenure defined almost entirely by catastrophe. The Thirteen Years' War, which erupted in 1454 when the Prussian Confederation invited Polish overlordship, stripped the Order of its western Prussian territories and bankrupted its treasury. Coinage from this period was struck under severe fiscal pressure, with the Order increasingly unable to pay its mercenary forces — soldiers who on at least one occasion seized Ordensburg castles as collateral for unpaid wages.
The Peace of Thorn in 1466 ended the war but forced the Order to cede Danzig, Elbing, and its own seat at Marienburg.
Louis of Erlichshausen served as Grand Master from 1450 to 1467, a tenure defined almost entirely by catastrophe. The Thirteen Years' War, which erupted in 1454 when the Prussian Confederation invited Polish overlordship, stripped the Order of its western Prussian territories and bankrupted its treasury. Coinage from this period was struck under severe fiscal pressure, with the Order increasingly unable to pay its mercenary forces — soldiers who on at least one occasion seized Ordensburg castles as collateral for unpaid wages.
The Peace of Thorn in 1466 ended the war but forced the Order to cede Danzig, Elbing, and its own seat at Marienburg.