Szczytno

Szczytno grew among the lakes of Masuria beside a fortress built by the Teutonic commander Ortolf von Trier in the mid-fourteenth century. Polish settlers arrived from neighbouring Mazovia, and a route between Warsaw and Königsberg encouraged the settlement's growth. In 1370 Lithuanian forces led by Kęstutis destroyed the wooden fort, which was rebuilt in stone. The castle changed hands during the wars between Poland and the Order; after the Peace of Toruń in 1466 it remained under the Order as a Polish fief.