Teutonic Knights Teutonic Knights Castle in Malbork (Marienburg) The Teutonic Order (German: Deutscher Orden, Latin: Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum) was a crusading order of knights under Roman Catholic religious vows which was formed at the end of the 12th century in Palestine to give medical aid to pilgrims to the holy places. They received Papal orders for crusades to take and hold Jerusalem for Christianity. They were based at Acre. When the mission of the order in Palestine was nearing its end, the Teutonic Knights moved their headquarter to Venice. Despite the fact that their mission of conquering the Holy Land was ended, they wanted to introduce the idea of religious crusades to Eastern Europe, on the border with pagan nations. The Knights offered their services to the local Christian rulers posing as religiously motivated mercenaries. Nevertheless, they hoped that using their influence in the Holy Roman Empire could help them become territorial proprietors of the newly conquered lands. In 1211, Andrew II of Hungary accepted their services. They were granted 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. The latter's vassals included the family of Hermann of Salza, the new master of the Teutonic Order. Led by a brother called Theoderich, they defended the Kingdom of Hungary from the neighbouring Cumans. In 1224 they petitioned Pope Honorius III to be placed directly under the authority of the Papal See, rather than the Kingdom of Hungary. King Andrew responded by expelling them in 1225. At that time Konrad I Mazowiecki, duke of Mazovia in what is now east-central Poland, appealed to the Knights to defend his province and conquer the native tribes in Prussia, giving it the Chelmno Land as a fief (1226) for the time until the conquest was over. The Order's conquest of Prussia was accomplished with great bloodshed over more than 50 years, during which the native Old Prussians were subjugated and forced to adopt Christianity. Eventually the Order transferred its headquarters to a huge brick castle it built at Malbork (Marienburg) on the Nogat River south of Gdansk (Danzig). The Order did not surrender Prussia to Poland; instead it was converted into Teutonic Order state, which in principle was against the rules of a Chivalric Order. The Order instigated the immigration of many thousands of colonists from Germany and the Netherlands, founded numerous towns and cities, and built massive castles, called Ordensburgen in German, to defend the settlements against attacks from Lithuania and Poland, with which the Order was at war many times during the 14th and 15th centuries. Among cities founded by the Teutonic Order was Königsberg (1255), later capital of the German province of East Prussia (Ostpreussen) and, after World War II, the Soviet Russian city of Kaliningrad. Many knights from western Europe, including some from England and France, journeyed to Prussia to participate in punitive raids against Lithuania, which remained non-Christian ("heathen") until the end of the 14th century, much later than the rest of eastern Europe. The crusading rationale for the existence of the Teutonic state finally ended when Lithuania officially converted to Christianity after 1386. The grand duke of Lithuania, Jogaila, was baptised and then married the queen of Poland Jadwiga, hence becoming as Ladislaus II the king of Poland. This initiated an alliance between the two countries and created a formidable opponent for the Teutonic Knights. In 1410 at the Battle of Grunwald a combined Polish-Lithuanian army completely destroyed the Order's army and hence broke its military power. The Grand Master of the Order and most of its higher dignitaries fell on the battlefield. Following the battle the capital of the Order, Malbork, was besieged by the Polish-Lithuanian army but managed to hold out. Despite the defeat on the battlefield, when peace was made the Order managed to keep essentially all of its territories. In 1454 gentry and the burghers of western Prussia rose up against the Order in the "War of the Cities" or Thirteen Year War, at the end of which the Order recognized Polish crown rights over Prussia's western half (subsequently Royal Prussia) while retaining eastern Prussia under nominal Polish overlordship (Second Treaty of Thorn, 1466). Eastern Prussia (subsequently Ducal Prussia) was also lost to the Order when in 1525 its grand master, Albert of Brandenburg, converted to Lutheranism and assumed the rank of hereditary Duke of Prussia. The new Grand Magistery was then established in Württemberg and members of the Habsburg family continued as grand masters over the Order's considerable holdings in Germany until 1809, when the Order lost its last secular holdings. The order continued to exist, headed by Habsburgs through the First World War, and today operates primarily as a charitable organization. The Order and its relations with its neighbours (Poland, the Duchy of Masovia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) are the main motive in a novel by the Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz, called Krzyzacy (or, in English, The Teutonic Knights). The Teutons were well known for their ability to hold out during a siege. Grand Masters (Hochmeister) of the Teutonic Order, 1191-present 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 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 Kuchenmeister von Sternburg 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 1497-1510 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 of Austria 1590-1618 Karl I of Austria 1619-1624 Johann Eustach von Westernach 1625-1627 Johann Kaspar I von Stadion 1627-1641 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 Clemens August of Bavaria 1732-1761 Charles Alexander of Lorraine 1761-1780 Maximilian Franz of Austria 1780-1801 Karl II of Austria 1801-1804 Anton Viktor of Austria 1804-1835 Maximilian of Austria-Este 1835-1863 Wilhelm Franz Karl of Austria 1863-1894 Eugen Ferdinand Pius Bernhard of Austria 1894-1923 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 Bruno Platter 2000-present See also Knights Templar Knights Hospitaller (Knights of Rhodes and Knights of Malta) Livonian Brothers of the Sword (Sword Brethren) External links The order's homepage A description of the Teutonic Knights Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. 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