Today In Pop Culture: The Battle Of… Danzig?

By Jeffery X Martin

The year is 1577. All throughout a dirty black summer, the soldiers loyal to Stephen Báthory, the Polish-Lithuanian, laid siege to the city. The inhabitants of the city didn’t recognize Báthory’s authority and had resolved to let themselves die if they couldn’t keep possession of their home.

These sworn enemies of the Báthory kingdom were known as Danzigers, and they all lived in the city of Danzig.

That’s right. Today marks the end of the Siege of Danzig.

Danzig, originally known as Samhain, was important throughout the countryside, known for being the only exporter of lo-fi punk music based on horror and science fiction movies, which hadn’t been invented yet. Although offers were made to make Samhain a larger city, by signing with Lord Richard of Rubin, The Danzigers refused until medieval bassist Eerie Von could be safely moved within the city walls.

Danzig’s first album, known simply as Danzig, included many songs directed against the Bathory leadership. The songs “Am I Demon” and “Evil Thing” particularly drew the ire of the Báthorys, as Stephen Báthory believed those songs to be about him. Their second album, Lute-cifuge, also angered Báthory with tunes like “Blood and Tears” and “Pain in the World.”

While both of these albums were well-received by critics, who cited Danzig’s masterful use of fife and pennywhistle, Báthory’s anger burned against Danzig, and he gathered his troops and marched against Danzig. He laid siege to the city in May of 1577.

What no one expected was the resilience of Danzig. Some thought they would only last a short time, but they managed to outlast their critics. But not even good press could help them on December 16, when 5,000 Danzigers met the Bathory forces on the battlefield. Although Danzig had planned to go out and kill that night, they were instead forced to kiss the skull by suffering a tremendous defeat. This loss also led to Danzig being dropped by Rubin’s record label. A lawsuit was filed soon after for unpaid royalties and for casting unreleased demos into the mouth of abandonment.