Teutonic Order

*"On the 15th of July 1410 near the village of Grünewald, took place one of the greatest battles of medieval Europe. Knights of Poland-Lithuania clashed with forces of Teutonic Order and their western allies, directly leading to decline and fall of this powerful knights' order, which Polish people still call "Krzyżacy" ~ the Teutons."*

**Teutonic Order** - full name **Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem** *(German: Orden der Brüder vom Deutschen Haus der Heiligen Maria in Jerusalem* or more often as simply *Deutscher Orden)* is a knights order created in peak of Crusades, charged with creating hospitals and protecting pilgrims as well as fighting the heavens in the Holy Land. Since year 1230 they moved their attention to north of Europe, where they created a powerful state, fighting Baltic and Prussian pagans.

### History

#### Origins

The history of the Teutonic Order begins during the Third Crusade. In 1189, European knights, summoned by Pope Clement VII, set out to the holy land, as almost the entire kingdom of Jerusalem was under the authority of Saladin (Salah-Ad-Din), leaving only Antioch, Tripoli and Tire in Christian hands. The orders of the Knights, Templars and Joannites, whose castle in Krak des Chevaliers resisted the attack of Saladin, play an important role in the battles of the holy land. Among the pilgrims to the Holy Land, there are many merchants from Bremen and Lübeck who, under the walls of the besieged Acre, set up a German hospital from the sails of their own ships. Soon French troops under the command of King Philip Augustus, the English under King Richard the Lionheart, and the scattered troops of the Holy Roman Empire, after the death of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in Cilicia, also appeared at the walls. In 1198, the order, whose seat was now Acre, was transformed into a knightly order, and Heinrich von Walpot becomes their first Grand Master. Pope Innocent III approves the creation of a new order, in military matters it is to follow the Templar rule, and in the treatment of the sick, the Knights Hospitaller rule, choosing black cross on a silver field as its sigil.

In year 1209, Herman von Salza becomes a new Grand Master, this brilliant tactician and diplomat is undoubtably a creator of transforming the Teutonic Order into the powerful organization. He owes much to his excellent contacts with the throne of the Hohenstaufen and his relationship with Pope Gregory IX, receiving many land and privileges. Their main seat in Holy Land becomes castle Montfort. The year 1229 is important in the further history of the order, when Emperor Frederick II obtained the return of Jerusalem in negotiations with the Sultan Al-Kamil. Crowned king of Jerusalem, he was accompanied only by Teutonic knights, as the emperor was still excommunicated, and other orders openly opposed him.

#### Time in Hungary

Herman von Salza wants to isolate the order from the unstable politics of the Holy Land. The capital of the order becomes Montfort Castle located on the border of today's Lebanon, from where the land in the holy land and European estates are supervised. After castle fell to Muslim forces, Grand Master moves back to Acre with the main officials of the order. However, in May 1291 this fortified city would be conquered as the last Christian holding in the Levant. During this period, Venice became the seat of the order and will remain so until 1309, when the Grand Master moves to Marienburg Castle.

At the same time as the crusades ended, Europe was experiencing a period of relative prosperity, the cities were developing and the atmosphere accompanying Crusades had influenced the development of the new style of architecture, Gothic . During this period, the order was looking for a place in Europe to found a monastic state and the plan was to obtain a small territory on the border of pagan lands and then expand towards them. It happens in 1211 when King Andrew II of Hungary invites the Teutonic Knights to defend its eastern border against the Cumans. They receive land Borca in German called Burzenland, and Kronstadt becomes the capital of the region. The presence of the Teutonic Knights was to protect the Hungarian Transylvania, but the Teutonic Knights, wishing to subjugate the territory to themselves, began to break the provisions made with the Hungarian king, starting to build stone strongholds prohibited by the privileges of Andrew II. This leads to a settlement in 1220 between Herman von Salza and Pope Gregory IX, which means that the land of Borca is directly subordinated to Rome, the Hungarian king, however, strongly opposed it. The papal court agreed with King and his son, Crown Prince Bella and in 1225 the Teutonic Knights left Burzenland.

#### Baltic Crusade

At the same time, the Baltic region was the last stronghold of paganism in Europe, the territories bordering the Polish Kingdom were inhabited mainly by the Prussian and Yotvingian tribes, further in the territories of today's Baltic states there were Lithuanians, Semiaglians, Curovs, Zengals, Zelas, Watgals, as well as Livs and Estas up to the border Republic of Novgorod. Attempts to convert the tribes despite the active missionaries among them were not successful except the Duchy of Jersiki, which was dependent on Polotsk. The Pope in 1193 the first crusade against the Baltic tribes, and in 1198 a crusade composed mainly of German knights, landed in the vicinity of today's Riga, but was defeated by the tribes of Livonia. The events of the crusade turned out to be the Bull "Divina Diispensatione" announced by Pope Eugene III, which equaled the status of a crusade to the Baltic Sea with that to the Holy Land. The new expedition was formed by Albert von Buxhövden, the first bishop of these lands and the founder of the city of Riga. Hanseatic merchants and volunteers quickly began to settle in the city, founded in 1201, and a year later, for a permanent military presence in these lands, the Order of the Knights of the Sword was established. The next 10 years they conquered the lands of Livs and Watgals, but the Knights of the Sword refused to obey the Bishop of Riga who called on the Danes to help. King Waldemar only occupied the lands of Estonia without giving the promised support to the bishop. The territory thus occupied by the Germans was called Terra Mariana in (Land of Virgin Mary), which until 1215 had the status of the Principality of the Holy Roman Empire, but lost when the Pope declared it subject only to Rome. The lands were a confederation of episcopal and monastic territories, and de jure head of these territories belonged to the bishop of Riga, but the Order of the Knights was the main strength of the region.