Kuno came from the Frankish family of Lichtenstein. The exact time of his birth and entry into the Teutonic Order is not known. Lichtenstein is mentioned for the first time as bailiff of the Samland between 1389 and 1392. [1] From 1392 to 1396 he was Commander of Ragnit. [2] In view of the constant Lithuanian threat to this administration, the leadership of this commandery, located far to the east, was generally only guaranteed by specially qualified knights. Lichtenstein was then Komtur von Mewe until 1402. [3]
In 1404 he was appointed Grand Commander by Grand Master Konrad von Jungingen, one of the five major officers of the order. [4] He thus acted as the Grand Master's deputy. This important office was confirmed to him under the elected Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen in 1407.
In the battle of Tannenberg, Kuno von Lichtenstein commanded the right wing of the order's army and thus the majority of the order's Western European "guests" under the banner of St. George. Among them were Duke Conrad VII. "The old white man" from Oels and Casimir, younger son of Duke Swantibor III. from Pomerania-Stettin with their entourage. After the Grand Master's death, he tried to assert the battlefield. As a result of being surrounded by superior Polish-Lithuanian forces, his wing was cut off and the Grand Commander was killed.
According to Johannes Longinus, Kuno von Lichtenstein was considered by contemporaries to be one of the most skilled swordsmen in the known world. [5]