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Teutonic Knights
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Teutonic Knights were members of the order of the Teutonic Knights of the Hospital of the Blessed Virgin. The Teutonic Knights were a military-religious order of knights that restricted membership to Germans. They were part of the original Hospitallers, but under Hermann von Salza they split from the main branch and founded their own order, taking on a very distinctive white cloak bearing a stark black cross on the left shoulder. Upon the fall of Acre in 1291 they retired to Venice where Emperor Frederick II commissioned them to convert the heathens in Prussia, Lithuania, and Estonia, becoming a very successful order headquartered in Marienburg from 1309-1509.
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The Teutonic Knights were powerful and ferocious advocates of holy war. Their history is suffused with crusading, campaigning and struggle. Feared by their enemies but respected by medieval Christendom, the knights and their Order maintained a firm hold over the Baltic and northern Germany and established a formidable regime which flourished across Central Europe for 300 years. This major new book surveys the gripping history of the knights and their Order and relates their rise to power; their struggles against Prussian pagans; the series of wars against Poland and Lithuania; the clash with Alexander Nevsky's Russia; and the gradual stagnation of the order in the fourteenth century. The book is replete with dramatic episodes - such as the battle on frozen Lake Peipus in 1242, or the disaster of Tannenberg - but focuses primarily on the year-after-year struggle to maintain power, fend of incursions and raiding bands and to launch crusades against unbelieving foes. And it was the crusade - with knights demonstrating their valour, daring and knightly worth - which chiefly characterised and breathed life into this militant, conquering Holy Order.
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The Teutonic Knights had strong armed forces. In the Baltic area, people were still heathens and therefore the Order wanted to conquer Livonia and Estonia. They threatened Poland and Lithuania and controlled Gotland during the years 1398-1408. The fleet of the Teutonic Knights could be seen all over the southern Baltic region. When the Order gained control of an area, they would build castles. Then the German aristocracy arrived, took possession of the farm-land, and began to control trade.
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To give it its full name, the "Order of the Teutonic Knights of St Mary's Hospital in Jerusalem", the order was originally a simple hospital created by merchants from Bremen and Lübeck during the Siege of Acre (Palestine) in 1191. The Order of the Teutonic Knights was transformed into a military order in 1198 and was officially recognized by the pope in 1199. Closely related to the Curia, it modeled its organization on the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem and included the Templars' techniques in its evangelization process. All the members were of German nobility and wore a white cloak decorated with a black cross. The Rule was enacted in 1244 and listed the hierarchical order of the different members (brother-knights, priests and servants), placing them under the authority of a Grand Master. The Grand Master was elected for life and was assisted by five dignitaries: the Grand Commander, the Marshal, the Treasurer, the Hospitaller and the Quartermaster.
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While Poland and Lithuania were growing in power, that of the Teutonic Knights dwindled through infighting. They were forced to impose high taxes in order to pay a substantial indemnity but did not give the cities sufficient requested representation in the administration of their state. The authoritarian and reforming Grand Master Heinrich von Plauen was forced from power and replaced by Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg, but the new Grand Master was unable to revive the Order's fortunes. After the Gollub War the Knights lost some small border regions and renounced all claims to Samogitia in the 1422 Treaty of Melno. Austrian and Bavarian knights feuded with those from the Rhineland, who likewise bickered with Low German-speaking Saxons, from whose ranks the Grand Master was usually chosen. The western Prussian lands of the Vistula River Valley and the Neumark were ravaged by the Hussites during the Hussite Wars.[15] Some Teutonic Knights were sent to battle the invaders, but were defeated by the Bohemian infantry.
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The Teutonic Knights were originally known as the "Order of the Knights of the Hospital of St. Mary of the Teutons in Jerusalem." The order was formed during the siege of Acre during the Third Crusade. The generally accepted date of their formation is 1190 or 1191. Latterly the Order moved to Eastern Europe. Here the order gained prominence in the area.
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Teutonic Knights