Teutonic OrderFrom TinWiki.orgThe Teutonic Order was one of the three major knightly or military orders that originated and evolved during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The Templars and Hospitallers are the other major orders. The military orders were thought to be the “true orders” of the Roman church that was governed by regulations that are similar to those governing monks, these were generally variants of the Benedictine or Augustinian Rules. Technically though the Order was answerable only to the pope. A lot of knights later became a monk but instead of being in monasteries they were found in military fortifications. Members of most orders took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Their name in different languages includes:
[edit] Origins of the Teutonic OrderEarly in the twelfth century a wealthy German couple had built a hospital in Jerusalem to care for poor and sick pilgrims who spoke German. The hospital was dedicated to the Virgin Mary; the German hospital apparently was affiliated with the Hospital of St. John, at least, in the observance of the rule of St. Augustan. After Saladin's conquest of Jerusalem in 1187, there are no more records of the German hospital there. There is no indication that the German hospital ever had a military mission. During the Third Crusade (probably 1190) Germans from Lubeck and Bremen had established a field hospital for the German soldiers that were reportedly using the ship sails as a cover from the elements. Duke Frederick of Swabia placed his chaplain Conrad in charge of the hospital and soon transformed the organization into a religious order responsible to the local Latin bishop. Some scholars have questioned its authenticity; Pope Clement III (1187- -1191) was said to have approved the Order on February 6, 1191. The Order was taken under Pope Celestine III's (1191--1198) protection on December 21, 1196, with the name of the "Hospital of St. Mary of the Germans in Jerusalem." The name is possibly the only connection with the earlier German hospital but some have argued a more direct relationship with the earlier hospital. A ceremony that was said to be held on March 5, 1198, had altered the Order's raison d’être. The patriarch of Jerusalem, the king of Jerusalem, the head of the crusading army, and the masters of the Templars and the Hospital of St. John attended the celebration that established the Teutonic Knights as a military order. A bull by Pope Innocent III (1198--1216) dated February 19, 1199, confirmed the event and specified that the Order would now care for the sick according to the rule of the Hospitallers. It was to conduct its other business by following the Templar rule and would wear the Temple's distinctive white cloak. Its black cross would differentiate the Teutonic Order from the Temple.
[edit] The making of the OrderIn the first twenty years of its existence, the institutional structure of the Order developed and stabilized. The Teutonic Order Began to follow the lead of the Templars and Hospitallers in doing this they created a system of provinces. Unlike monastic orders that were composed of independent abbeys, the Teutonic Knights had a chain of command with commanderies (house, Kommende) at the lowest level. Provinces or bailiwicks (Ballei, Komturei) were parts of "countries" that composed the Order as a whole. In 1264 it adopted its first independent rule was adopted. The officials that governed the Teutonic Order at the various levels were commander (Komtur, preceptor) at the local level, province commander (Landkomtur), national commander (Landmeister), and grand master (Hochmeister, magister). The general chapter elected the highest leadership positions (including grand master, grand commander [Grosskomtur], marshal [Ordensmarschall], draper or quartermaster [Trapier], Hospitaller [Spittler], and treasurer [Tressler]. This mostly German-speaking order was said to be composed of various and distinct classes: Knight, priests and other brothers (lay brothers, sisters, and "familiars"). Many people supported the professed members of the Order these ranged from auxiliary knights to slaves. The highest ranked were secular knights that served the Order for free. The Turcopoles (Greek for "son of Turk") were originally lightly-armed, half-breed cavalry whose name applied to Turkish mercenaries employed in the Byzantine army, in later times the term was adopted by the military orders. The attendants of the Order were referred to as squires (Knechte), and sargents-at-arms. Footsoldiers were usually coerced from the local peasantry. Sister-aids (halpswesteren) were employed as domestics as were halpbrüderen; they took religious vows. Married and single lay domestics also were employed by the Order. Artisans and laborers (e.g., gardeners, carpenters, and masons) worked for charity or wages. There were many serfs and slaves that were owned by the Order. [edit] Membership grows rapidlyThe possessions and wealth of the Teutonic Order grew very fast and its member’s numbers skyrocketed, especially under the Grand Master Hermann von Salza (c. 1210--1239). He was very successful when it came to gaining favours for the Order because he became a confidante to both the ruling popes and the German emperor Frederick II (1211--1250). The successors to Von Salza also did well. Between 1215 and 1300, one or more commanderies were founded each year, usually through gifts. The Teutonic Order was eventually invited into Greece (1209), Hungary (1211), and Prussia (1226) by various rulers to perform military duties on their behalf. In the Peloponnesus the Frankish Prince of Achaia provided fiefs near Kalamata for the Teutonic Knights this was done in return for their military services; there are traces of the Order's service there until at least 1500. King Andrew II (1205--1235) who was the Hungarian king decided to expel the Order in 1225 when it became what he thought was a threat to his rule. The proceeding conquest of Prussia had began in 1230 (after the Order's Grand Master was named prince of the Holy Roman Empire) and had lasted until 1283. The order's members could be found in other places including the Mediterranean and western Europe: Armenia, Cyprus, Sicily, Apulia, Lombardy, Spain, France, Alsace, Austria, Bohemia, the Lowlands, Germany, and Livonia. Only in what was considered the frontier areas (the Holy Land, Armenia, Greece, Hungary, Prussia, Spain, and Livonia) was military service required of members. When 1221 came around the German Order had been given the same privileges that the Templars and Hospitallers were given by Pope Honorius III (1216--1227). Both of the senior orders fought the autonomy of the Teutonic Order until about 1240. The German Order may not have quite equaled in wealth and possessions as the other two military orders, but it became the only other order to rival them in international influence and activity. [edit] The Baltic’sIn Acre in 1291 the crusaders were defeated and the Teutonic Order had begun to move its headquarters to Venice, a long-time ally. In 1309, the Order had moved again, this time to Marienburg in Prussia. Here the Order had subdued the pagan inhabitants and established a theocratic form of government. In 1937 the position of the Knights that were in the Baltic region had strengthened when the Brothers of the sword (schwertbr(der) from Livonia decided to join the Teutonic Order. The history surrounding the German Knights in both Prussia and Livonia is full of revolts, uprisings, raids, conquests, victories and defeats. During the fourteenth century, dozens of towns and about 2000 villages had been created in Prussia by the Order. The Order had been very successful in trade, for example, as a Hanseatic League participant; it provided Western Europe with some of its cheapest grain. The nations of Poland and Lithuania, known enemies of the Order, became stronger and stronger in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. In 1410 at Tannenberg, the Order had been crushed in a battle that was against a coalition led by these very powers. The result of this defeat was that the Order became bankrupt and its military had been reduced significantly, as were there political capabilities [edit] The French Revolution and AfterAs the French government expanded its political control in the 1790's, the Order had begun to lose its commanderies in Belgium and those that were west of the Rhine (1797). Many east of the Rhine were lost in 1805. In 1809, Napoleon decided to dissolve the Order in all countries under his dominion, leaving only the properties in the Austrian Empire. The Order had to exist secretly for a number of years until 1839 even in Austria until the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I decided to reconstitute the Order as the Order of the Teutonic Knights (Deutscher Ritterorden). The mission that the Order was to fulfill was the caring for wounded soldiers. The "Honorable Knights of the Teutonic Order" was founded in 1866, and the Knights were required to provide annual contributions for hospitals. The Marianer des Deutschen Ordens, for women, was then created in 1871. In 1914, some 1,500 sponsors from the Austrian nobility began to support the caregiving efforts of the Order. During World War I, the Order was said to have taken care of around 3,000 wounded soldiers in their facilities. In 1923, masters of the Order could be allowed to descend from among the clerics as well as the "knighthood" for the first time. Under National Socialist rule, the Order was dissolved in Austria in 1938 and Czechoslovakia in 1939. The leaders of the Third Reich had greatly abused the history of the Teutonic Order and after World War II; the Order again began to settle in Germany. Its possessions that were taken from them in Austria were later returned. The Order that resides in Italy has changed very little. A great deal of support for the caretaking and missionary Order has been found in Germany, Austria, Italy, Belgium, and even in North and Central America. The Order's headquarters, treasury, and archives are now said to be located in Vienna, Austria. [edit] External Links[edit] Relevant Discussion Threads |
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