In the aftermath of the takeover, the order seized all of Pomerelia (Eastern Pomerania) and bought up the supposed Brandenburgian claims to the region in the Treaty of Soldin (1309).

The adjacent town developed from a market place of tradesmen and was granted Lübeck city rights by Duke Świętopełk II[6] in 1224.

[6] The margraves took over the town in 1270/1 from Wartislaw, but did not hand it over to Mestwin until the latter was able to force them out by concluding an alliance with Boleslaw Pobozny, duke of Greater Poland.

[9] In 1301, one year after Wenceslaus II of Bohemia had been crowned king of Poland, the princes of Rügen, who also claimed to be the heirs of Pomerelia, mounted an expedition.

[8][10] While the Norwegian king Haakon backed Rügen's claims, his 1302 call to the Hanseatic cities for aid remained without answer.

[8] In the summer of 1308, a rebellion was incited by the local Swienca family allied with Waldemar of Brandenburg, resulting in a Brandenburgian intervention which unseated the forces loyal to Łokietek, who later would become King of Poland.

While historians agree that the castle as well as the adjacent town were in the hands of the Teutonic Knights by late November 1308, the number of casualties and the extent of destruction is debated.

[17] According to Peter Oliver Loew the exact numbers can never be established,[17] however he agrees that all available data confirms that the city was destroyed during the conquest.

[22] According to Błażej Śliwiński at the time of events, Gdańsk with surrounding settlements had around 2000 to 3000 inhabitants[23] The forces of the order had arrived in two columns: one re-inforced the Polish garrison in the castle, the other one marched against the town from the south and raised a siege.

While the dispute was about the co-ordination of further action and unsettled payment, Arnold says that it was at the same time that "the order's policy changed from providing aid towards annexing Pomerelia and buying up existing legal claims," which was opposed by the population of Gdańsk.

The town, though still preferring Brandenburg rule, offered asylum to the garrison, and in relying on its Lübeck law charter refused to allow the Teutonic Knights to enter and to follow an order to lay down its fortifications.

[28] Soon after the takeover, on 19 June 1310, the Teutonic Knights faced charges that they had committed a massacre in a bull issued by pope Clement V: "Latest news were brought to my attention, that officials and brethren of the aforementioned Teutonic order have hostilely intruded the lands of Our beloved son Wladislaw, duke of Cracow and Sandomierz, and in the town of Gdańsk killed more than ten thousand people with the sword, inflicting death on whining infants in cradles whom even the enemy of faith would have spared.

[30] The respective bull contained other charges against the Teutonic Order, resulting from a dispute between its Livonian branch and the citizens as well as the archbishop of Riga, Friedrich von Pernstein.

[33][34] The Riga lawsuit was finally decided in the Teutonic Order's favor by Clement's successor John XXII after a hearing in Avignon in 1319.

[35] Under Władysław Łokietek and his successor Casimir III the Great an additional two lawsuits were filed against the order at the curia, both aiming at the return of Pomerelia.

[46] According to Peter Oliver Loew, older German historiography was more inclined to trust the Knights' claims and argued that a number of 10,000 is virtually impossible for a medieval town.

[50] Biskup in a later publication from 1993 writes that victims included defenders of the castle and burghers along with members of their families in addition to 100 murdered knights.

Nieß is also pointing out that in the subsequent capture of Tczew (Dirschau) by the order, the townspeople similarly had to sign an agreement to evacuate their homes, though this was not put into effect.

[56] When the Poles refused to accept monetary compensation for the Knights' takeover of the city, the Order resorted to conquering further towns like Świecie.

[11] The local colony of merchants and artisans was specifically attacked because they competed with the Knights' town of Elbing (Elbląg), a nearby city.

[59] The possession of Gdańsk and Pomerelia by the Teutonic Order was questioned consistently by the Polish kings Władysław I and Casimir the Great in legal suits in the papal court in 1320 and 1333.

[60] Later the Knights were forced to accept the fact that city defended its independence and was the largest and most important seaport of the region after overtaking Elbing.

Subsequently, it flourished, benefiting from major investment and economic prosperity in the Monastic state and Poland, which stimulated trade along the Vistula.

[citation needed] As a result, the city became a co-founder of the Prussian Confederation which formally petitioned Casimir IV Jagiellon, to incorporate Prussia, including Gdańsk, into the Kingdom of Poland in 1454.

When the area was disputed between Weimar Germany and the Second Polish Republic, the Poles recalled the massacre quoting the number of 10,000 murdered.