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Teutonic Knights
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The '''Teutonic Order''' (
German language German: ''Deutscher Orden'', "German Order";
Latin: ''Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum Ierosolimitanorum'', "Order of the Teutonic House of Mary in Jerusalem";
Hungarian language Hungarian: ''Német Lovagrend'', "German Knighthood";
Polish language Polish: ''Zakon Krzyżacki'', "The Order of the Crossbearers" ) was a German
Crusade crusading military order under
Roman Catholic Church Roman Catholic religious vows formed at the end of the
12th century in
Acre, Israel Acre in
Palestine. They wore white surcoats with a black cross.
Image:Teutonic order charge.jpg Giuseppe Rava.html" title="Meaning of right right|thumb|400px|''The Charge of the Teutonic Knights at Lake Peipus'', by [[Giuseppe Rava.html" title="Meaning of thumb|400px|''The Charge of the Teutonic Knights at Lake Peipus'', by [[Giuseppe Rava">right|thumb|400px|''The Charge of the Teutonic Knights at Lake Peipus'', by [[Giuseppe Rava">thumb|400px|''The Charge of the Teutonic Knights at Lake Peipus'', by [[Giuseppe Rava">right|thumb|400px|''The Charge of the Teutonic Knights at Lake Peipus'', by [[Giuseppe Rava
After Christian forces were defeated in the
Middle East, the Order moved to
Transylvania in
1211, but were expelled in
1225. The knights moved to
Prussia, where they created the independent
Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights Teutonic Order state. After basing itself in Prussia, the Order launched many attacks, accompanied by great cruelty to the peasantry, against the Kingdom of Poland and the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. These attacks were declared as being in the name of spreading Christianity, but had no real basis; Poland was already a Christian nation and Lithuania was well into the process of converting to Christianity. Nevertheless the so-called purpose of these attacks attracted support from the papacy and western European countries. It is a fair assessment that by the time the Order was situated in Prussia, it was more interested in the power, lands and plunder attained through warfare than the spreading of a Christian faith that was largely already in place (Pichel, 1975).
In
1410 at the
Battle of Grunwald (
Tannenberg), a united Polish-Lithuanian army decisively defeated the Order and broke its military power. The Order was forced to put in place high taxation, but did not give the cities sufficient requested representation. Thus the power of the Order steadily declined until
1525 when its Grand Master,
Albert of Prussia Albert of Brandenburg, resigned and converted to
Lutheranism, in order to be able to assume the title and rights of
hereditary Duke of Prussia. The Grand Masters continued to preside over the Order's considerable holdings in Germany until
1809, when
Napoleon ordered its dissolution and the Order lost its last secular holdings. However, the Order continued to exist, headed by
Habsburgs through the
World War I First World War, and today operates primarily with
charity charitable aims.
Foundation
The Order was formed in 1190 by
Germans German merchants in Palestine to give medical aid to pilgrims at the holy places. They received
Papacy Papal orders for crusades to take and hold
Jerusalem for
Roman Catholicism Latin Christianity. They were based at
Acre, Israel Acre.
When the mission of the Order in Palestine was nearing its end, the Teutonic Knights moved their headquarter to
Venice and offered their services to Christian rulers confronted with hostile non-Christian neighbors. In
1211,
Andrew II of Hungary Andrew II of
Kingdom of Hungary Hungary accepted their services and granted them the district of
Burzenland in
Transylvania. Andrew had been involved in negotiations for the marriage of his daughter with the son of Hermann, the Landgrave of
Thuringia, whose
vassals included the family of
Hermann of Salza, the new Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. Led by a brother called Theoderich, the Order defended Hungary against the neighbouring
Cumans. In
1224 they petitioned
Pope Honorius III to be placed directly under the authority of the Papal See,rather than of the King of Hungary. King Andrew responded by expelling them in
1225.
Image:Marienburg 2004 Panorama.jpg center|thumb|640px|Panorama view of the Order's Castle Marienburg in Malbork
Teutonic Order in Prussia
Image:Peter Janssen, Kaiser Friedrich II.jpg Peter Janssen thumb|right|''Frederick II allows the Order to invade Prussia'', by [[Peter Janssen|P. Janssen.html" title="Meaning of P. Janssen.html" title="Meaning of thumb|right|''Frederick II allows the Order to invade Prussia'', by [[Peter Janssen|P. Janssen">thumb|right|''Frederick II allows the Order to invade Prussia'', by [[Peter Janssen|P. Janssen">P. Janssen.html" title="Meaning of thumb|right|''Frederick II allows the Order to invade Prussia'', by [[Peter Janssen|P. Janssen">thumb|right|''Frederick II allows the Order to invade Prussia'', by [[Peter Janssen|P. Janssen
In
1226 Konrad I Mazowiecki Konrad I,
duke of
Masovia in west-central
Poland, appealed to the Knights to defend his borders and subdue the pagan Baltic
Prussian people Prussians. The Teutonic Order waited until they received official imperial authorisation.
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II bestowed the Order a special imperial privilege to possession of Prussia including Culmerland (
Golden Bull of Rimini). Soon the Teutonic Knights assimilated the smaller Order of Dobrin, which had been earlier established by Konrad of Masovia. The conquest of Prussia was accomplished with great bloodshed over more than 50 years, during which the native
Prussian people Prussians, who remained unbaptised, either fell in battle, were subjugated, enslaved, or forced into exile facing extermination. The Prussians, who became christianized, received same rights as the newcomer settler from other parts of Germany. The conversion to Christianity was largely nominal and usually did not entail more than
baptism. They were sometimes unwilling to convert
pagans, as non-Christians could be used for labor. The Order transferred its headquarters to the brick castle of ''Marienburg'' (
Malbork) on the
Nogat River south of Danzig (
Gdańsk) in
1309.
Image:Zamek krzyzacki w Malborku.jpg Malbork.html" title="Meaning of left left|thumb|150px|Drawing of the Teutonic Knights' castle in [[Malbork (Marienburg) .html" title="Meaning of thumb|150px|Drawing of the Teutonic Knights' castle in [[Malbork">left|thumb|150px|Drawing of the Teutonic Knights' castle in [[Malbork (Marienburg) ">thumb|150px|Drawing of the Teutonic Knights' castle in [[Malbork">left|thumb|150px|Drawing of the Teutonic Knights' castle in [[Malbork (Marienburg)
The Order did conquer Prussia and continued to rule it under permits it managed to receive issued by both the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor as a
sovereignty sovereign Prussia under the Teutonic Order Teutonic Order state, comparable to the arrangement of the
Knights Hospitallers in
Rhodes and later in
Malta.
Previous documents in 1224 had put Terra Prussia ''Preussenland'' inhabitants as ''Reichsfreie'' under authority of the emperor and the empire and the church directly and later in 1224 the pope had announced to all christendom that he assigned bishop
William of Modena as legate to Prussia etc.
The Order induced the
immigration of thousands of
colonists (mostly
Germans Flemish and
Dutch people Dutch from the
Holy Roman Empire and
Masovians, centuries later named
Masurians, to make up for great losses to the Plague and in place of the partially exterminated local population, the survivors of whom were assimilated through
Germanization. The settlers founded numerous towns and cities on places of former Prussian settlements, and built a number of castles (''
Ordensburgen'') from which the Order could continue its attacks on the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, with whom the Order was often at war during the
14th century 14th and
15th century 15th centuries as well as uprising of local people against the invaders. Many people found refuge before, during and after the Reformation. Among the cities of the Order was Königsberg (now
Kaliningrad,
Russia), founded in
1255 in honor of King
Otakar II of Bohemia Otakar II of
Bohemia atop a destroyed Prussian settlement. Many knights from western Europe, including some from
England and
France, journeyed to Prussia to participate in the wars with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, whose western part (most of modern Lithuania) remained non-Christian until the end of the
14th century, much later than the rest of eastern Europe.
Image:Krzyzac3.jpg Battle of Grunwald.html" title="Meaning of right right|thumb|250px|Teutonic Knights before the [[Battle of Grunwald, screenshot from the Polish movie ''Krzyżacy''.html" title="Meaning of thumb|250px|Teutonic Knights before the [[Battle of Grunwald">right|thumb|250px|Teutonic Knights before the [[Battle of Grunwald, screenshot from the Polish movie ''Krzyżacy''">thumb|250px|Teutonic Knights before the [[Battle of Grunwald">right|thumb|250px|Teutonic Knights before the [[Battle of Grunwald, screenshot from the Polish movie ''Krzyżacy''
When the
Livonian Order was absorbed into the Teutonic Order in
1237, its territorial rule extended over Prussia,
Livonia,
Semigalia, and
Estonia. Their next aim was to convert
Russian Orthodox Church Orthodox Russia to
Roman Catholicism, but after the knights suffered a disastrous defeat in the
Battle on Lake Peipus (
1242) at the hands of Prince
Alexander Nevsky of
Novgorod Republic Novgorod, the idea had to be dropped.
In
1337 Emperor
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV granted the Order the imperial privilege to conquer all Lithuania and Russia. The crusading rationale for the Order's state finally ended when Lithuania officially converted to Christianity after
1386, however the Order's attack continued unabated.
The
Grand Duke of Lithuania, Jogaila, was
baptism baptised, married the Queen
Jadwiga of Poland Jadwiga of Poland, and became
King of Poland,
Władysław II Jagiełło Władysław II. This initiated an alliance between the two countries and created a potentially formidable opponent for the Teutonic Knights. The Order managed to play Jogaila and his cousin
Vytautas the Great Vytautas against each other, but this strategy failed as Vytautas began to suspect the Order was planning to annex parts of his territory.
King
Albert of Sweden Albert of
Sweden conceded
Gotland to the Order as a
pledge (similar to a
fiefdom), with the understanding that they would eliminate the piratical
Victual Brothers from their strategic island base. An invasion force under Grand Master
Konrad von Jungingen conquered the island in
1398, destroyed
Visby, and drove the Victual Brothers out of Gotland and the
Baltic Sea.
Battle of Grunwald or Tannenberg
Image:Grunwald bitwa.jpg Battle_of Grunwald.html" title="Meaning of right right|thumb|250px|''[[Battle of Grunwald'', by
Jan Matejko, 1878.html" title="Meaning of thumb|250px|''[[Battle of Grunwald">right|thumb|250px|''[[Battle of Grunwald'', by
Jan Matejko, 1878">thumb|250px|''[[Battle of Grunwald">right|thumb|250px|''[[Battle of Grunwald'', by
Jan Matejko, 1878
In
1410 at the
Battle of Grunwald (also known as the battle of
Tannenberg), a united Polish-Lithuanian army, led by
Władysław Jagiełło and Vitautas, decisively defeated the Order and broke its military power. The Grand Master,
Ulrich von Jungingen, and most of the Order's higher dignitaries fell on the battlefield. The Polish-Lithuanian army then besieged the capital of the Order, Marienburg (Malbork) castle, but was unable to take it. When peace was made, the Order managed to retain essentially all of its territories.
In
1454 the
gentry and burghers of western Prussia rose up against the Order in the "War of the Cities" or
Thirteen Years' War, at the end of which the Order recognized the
Jagiellon Poland Polish crown's rights over Prussia's western half (subsequently
Royal Prussia) while retaining eastern Prussia under nominal Polish overlordship (
Second Treaty of Toruń,
1466).
End of the Monastic state in Prussia
Image:Grunwald Wojciech Kossak.jpg Wojciech Kossak.html" title="Meaning of right right|thumb|250px|''Battle of Grunwald'', by [[Wojciech Kossak.html" title="Meaning of thumb|250px|''Battle of Grunwald'', by [[Wojciech Kossak">right|thumb|250px|''Battle of Grunwald'', by [[Wojciech Kossak">thumb|250px|''Battle of Grunwald'', by [[Wojciech Kossak">right|thumb|250px|''Battle of Grunwald'', by [[Wojciech Kossak
Eastern Prussia (subsequently
Ducal Prussia) was also lost to the Order when in
1525 its Grand Master,
Albert of Prussia Albert of Brandenburg, after another unsuccessful war with Poland, converted to
Lutheranism and assumed from the Polish King the title and rights of
hereditary Duke of Prussia (as a vassal of the Polish Crown).
A new Grand Magistery was then established in
Mergentheim in
Württemberg, and the Grand Masters, often members of the great German families (and, after
1761, by members of the House of
Habsburg-Lorraine), continued to preside over the Order's considerable holdings in Germany until
1809, when
Napoleon Bonaparte ordered its dissolution and the Order lost its last secular holdings.
The order, headed by
Habsburgs through the
World War I First World War, today operates primarily as a
charity charitable organization.
Quote
Description of conditions between the Teutonic Knights and the Lithuanians, from ''[http://www.chivalricorders.org/vatican/teutonic.htm The Teutonic Order of Holy Mary in Jerusalem]'' by Guy Stair Sainty:
''Enslavement of pagan prisoners by the knights was likewise seen as perfectly acceptable, non-Christians not being considered to have the same rights as Christians. A description by an Austrian poet, Peter Suchenwirt, quoted by Ekdahl, [13] well illustrates these horrifying events, not so dissimilar, perhaps, to recent events in Bosnia Herzegovina: "Women and children were taken captive; What a jolly medley could be seen: Many a woman could be seen, Two children tied to her body, One behind and one in front; On a horse without spurs Barefoot had they ridden here; The heathens were made to suffer: Many were captured and in every case, Were their hands tied together They were led off, all tied up - Just like hunting dogs". One can only wonder at the astonishing use of the word "jolly"! These slaves were then used to supplement the local labor force but, usefully did not require payment and so were often preferred to the Prussian natives who needed to be paid or granted land. By enslaving the Lithuanian prisoners as much needed manual laborers, there ceased to be any incentive to convert them as, once they became Christians, they could no longer be abused in this fashion.''
Cultural references
*The Order and its relations with its neighbours (
Poland, the Duchy of
Masovia and the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania) are the main subject of a
novel ''Krzyżacy'' (or, in
English language English, ''The Knights of the Cross'') by the Polish author and
Nobel Prize winner
Henryk Sienkiewicz
*During World War II Nazi propaganda and ideology made frequent use of the Teutonic Knights imagery seeing their actions as predecessor to Nazi conquest of the
Lebensraum
*The Order also appears in
James A. Michener's ficticious novel ''
Poland (novel) Poland'', who wrote in this book that Poland should have conquered Prussia.
Grand Masters (''Hochmeister'') of the Teutonic Order, 1198–present
Image:Feldaltar MK1888.png thumb|Field altar of the Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order
*
Heinrich I Walpot von Bassenheim 1198–
1200
*
Otto von Kerpen 1200–
1206
*
Heinrich II von Tunna 1206–
1209
*
Hermann von Salza 1209–
1239
*
Konrad I of Thuringia 1239–
1240
Image:TeutonicCoA.png right|thumb|300px|Coat of Arms of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order.
*
Gerhard von Malberg 1241–
1244
*
Heinrich III von Hohenlohe 1244–
1249
*
Günther von Schwarzenberg 1249–
1253
*
Poppo von Osterna 1253–
1257
*
Hanno von Sangershausen 1257–
1274
*
Hartmann von Helbrungen 1274–
1283
*
Burkhard von Schwanden 1283–
1290
*
Konrad II von Feuchtwangen 1290–
1297
*
Gottfried von Hohenlohe 1297–
1302
*
Siegfried von Feuchtwangen 1302–
1310
*
Karl Bessart 1311–
1324
*
Werner von Orselen 1324–
1330
*
Lothar von Braunschweig 1331–
1335
*
Dietrich von Altenburg 1335–
1341
*
Ludolf Konig von Wattzau 1342–
1345
*
Heinrich IV Dusener von Arfberg 1345–
1351
*
Winrich von Kniprode 1351–
1382
*
Konrad III Zollner von Rothstein 1382–
1390
*
Konrad IV von Wallenrode 1391–
1393
*
Konrad V von Juningen 1393–
1407
*
Ulrich von Jungingen 1407–
1410
*
Heinrich von Plauen 1410–
1413
*
Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg 1414–
1422
*
Paul Belenzer von Ruszdorf 1423–
1440
*
Konrad VI von Erlichshausen 1441–
1449
*
Ludwig von Erlichshausen 1450–
1467
*
Heinrich VI von Reuss 1467–
1470
*
Heinrich VII Reffle von Richtenberg 1470–
1477
*
Martin Truchsetz von Wetzhausen 1477–
1489
*
Johann von Tieffen 1489–
1497
*
Friedrich of Saxony (1473-1510) Friedrich of Saxony 1497–
1510
*
Albert of Prussia Albrecht of Brandenburg 1510–
1525
*
Walter von Cronberg 1527–
1543
*
Wolfgang Schutzbar 1543–
1566
*
Georg Hundt von Weckheim 1566–
1572
*
Heinrich VIII von Bobenhausen 1572–
1590
*
Maximilian III of Austria Maximilian of Austria Habsburg 1590–
1618
*
Karl I of Austria (1619) Karl I of Austria 1619–
1624
*
Johann Eustach von Westernach 1625–
1627
*
Johann Kaspar I von Stadion 1627–
1641
*
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria 1641–
1662
*
Karl Josef of Austria 1662–
1664
*
Johann Kaspar II von Ampringen 1664–
1684
*
Ludwig Anton of Palatinate–Neuburg 1685–
1694
*
Ludwig Franz of Palatinate–Neuburg 1694–
1732
*
Klemens August of Bavaria 1732–
1761
*
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine 1761–
1780
*
Maximilian Franz of Austria 1780–
1801
*
Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria 1801–
1804
*
Anton Viktor of Austria 1804–
1835 (becomes hereditary to
List_of_rulers_of_Austria#Emperors_of_Austria Imperial House of Austria)
*
Maximilian of Austria–Este 1835–
1863
*
Wilhelm Franz Karl of Austria 1863–
1894
*
Eugen Ferdinand Pius Bernhard of Austria 1894–
1923 (end of hereditary status)
*Dr.
Norbert Klein 1923–
1933
*
Paul Heider 1933–
1936
*
Robert Schälzky 1936–
1948
*Dr.
Marian Tumler 1948–
1970
*
Ildefons Pauler 1970–
1988
*Dr.
Arnold Othmar Wieland 1988–
2000
*Dr.
Bruno Platter 2000–
as of 2004 present
See also
*
Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights
*
Drang nach Osten
*
Knights Templar
*
Knights Hospitaller (Knights of
Rhodes and Knights of
Malta)
*
Livonian Brothers of the Sword (Sword Brethren)
*
Order of Dobrzyń
*
History of Prussia
*
Iron Cross
Coat of arms gallery
Image:Teutonic order COA drawing.png
Image:Den tyske ordens skjold.jpg
Image:Ordre teutonique logo.gif
Castles of the Teutonic Order
Image:Malbork zamek zblizenie.jpg|Castle Marienburg in Malbork, Poland.
Image:Marienburg1.jpg|Castle Marienburg in Malbork, Poland.
Image:Marienburg2.jpg|Castle Marienburg in Malbork, Poland.
Image:Marienburg3.jpg|Castle Marienburg in Malbork, Poland; inside the Grand Master's Palace.
Image:Golub-Dobrzyn2.jpg|Castle in Golub-Dobrzyń, Poland.
Image:AldenBiesen01.jpg|Castle in Alden Biesen in Bilzen, Belgium.
Image:Brancastle.jpg|Bran Castle in Bran, Romania Bran, Romania
Image:Zamok Akko Acre БелÑ?евъ.jpg|Tower in City of Acre Acre, Israel.
Teutonic seals and coins
Image:Seal-grandmaster-teutonic order 1-640x640.jpg
Image:Teutonic Order Coin B ubt.jpeg
Image:Teutonic Order Coin A ubt.jpeg
References
*Pichel, Charles L. Thourot (1975) ''Samogitia.'' Wilkes-Barre, PA, Maltese Cross Press.
*Military Heritage did a feature on the Battle of Lake Peipus and the holy Knights Templar and the monastic knighthood Hospitallers (Terry Gore, Military Heritage, August 2005, Volume 7, No. 1, pp.28 to 33).
*Sainty, Guy Stair, ''[http://www.chivalricorders.org/vatican/teutonic.htm The Teutonic Order of Holy Mary in Jerusalem]'', as accessed
19 October 2005
External links
{{Commons|Teutonic Order}}
-
The order's homepage in Germany
-
The order's homepage in Austria
-
http://www.chivalricorders.org/vatican/teutonic.htm
-
William Urban account of Crusades
Category:Teutonic Knights
Category:Orders of knighthood
Category:Orders of knighthood of Germany Teutonic Knights
Category:States of the Holy Roman Empire
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cs:Řád nÄ›meckých rytÃřů
da:Tyske Orden
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es:Orden Teutónica
eo:Ordeno de germanaj kavaliroj
fr:Ordre teutonique
it:Cavalieri Teutonici
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nl:Duitse Orde
ja:ドイツ騎士団
no:Den tyske Orden
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pl:Zakon krzyżacki
pt:Cavaleiros Teutónicos
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Teutonic Knights
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Category:History of Prussia
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