The Teutonic Knights became a vassal of the Crown following the Second Peace of Thorn (now Toruń) of 1466 concluded between Poland and the Order. Successive Grand Masters were obliged to pay homage and tribute and offer military assistance in case of war. Hans von Tieffen was Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights from 1489 to 1497. Jan Olbracht (John I Albert) summoned the Master of the Teutonic Knights to pay him his due homage when he ascended the Polish throne in 1493.

The ceremony in which Hans von Tieffen paid homage to Jan Olbracht was held in the castle on Góra Przemysła (Przemysł Hill) in Poznań on 29 May 1493. This might have been subdued compared with the Prussian Homage that Albrecht (Albert) Hohenzollern paid King Zygmunt I (Sigismund I) in the marketplace in Cracow in 1525 but it nevertheless remains a source of pride for the people of Poznań. In 1993, a commemorative plaque of this homage of more than 500 years previous was immured into the wall of Poznań Castle. We might add that Tieffen’s successor, the Saxon Duke Friedrich, refused to pay homage and the next Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Albrecht Hohenzollern was forced to submit after a devastating war. The homage the Teutonic Knights paid in Poznań was therefore the last homage they paid the Polish crown that was even remotely voluntary.