During the 3rd Crusade, when Acre was besieged by the knights, merchants from Lübeck and Bremen founded a field hospital. Duke Frederick of Swabia transformed the hospital into a spiritual order, headed by Chaplain Conrad. The order was subordinate to the local bishop and was a branch of the Johannite Order. On February 6, 1191, Pope Clement III approved the founding of the Order. On December 21, 1196, the Order came under the patronage of Pope Celestine III under the name "Hospital of St. Mary of the Germans in Jerusalem."

On March 5, 1196, in the temple of Acre, a ceremony was held to reorganize the Order into a spiritual-knightly Order. The ceremony was attended by the Masters of the Hospitallers and Templars, as well as secular and clergy of Jerusalem. Pope Innocent III confirmed this event with a bull dated February 19, 1199, and defined the tasks of the Order: protecting the German knights, treating the sick, fighting the enemies of the Catholic Church. The Order was subject to the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor. The official name of the order is "Order of the Brothers of the Hospital of St. Mary of the German House in Jerusalem" (Ordo domus Sanctae Mariae Teutonicorum in Jerusalem).

In the 13th century The Teutonic Order fought against Muslims in Palestine. With the support of the Pope and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the Order acquired a number of lands in Asia Minor, Southern Europe and especially much in Germany. In 1211 the Order was invited to Hungary to defend Transylvania from the Cumans. In 1224 - 1225, due to the desire to create their own separate state on the territory of Hungary, the Order was expelled by the Hungarian king Endre II. According to the agreements of 1226-1230 with the Mazovian prince Konrad, the Order received ownership of the Kulm (Chelmen) and Dobrzyn (Dobryn) lands and the right to expand its influence on neighboring lands. The right to govern the captured Lithuanian and Prussian lands was confirmed in 1234 by Pope Gregory IX and in 1226, 1245, 1337 by Emperors Frederick II and Ludwig IV. In 1230, the first parts of the Order, 100 knights under the command of Master Hermann von Balk, built Neshava Castle on Kulm land and began to attack the Prussians. From the 4th decade of the 13th century. The Order was the main organizer and executor of the Crusades in the Eastern Baltic, declared by the Pope. In 1237, after the Battle of Saul, the Order of the Sword-Bearers was added to the order, reorganized into the Livonian Order. Until 1283, the Order, with the help of German, Polish and other feudal lords, captured the lands of the Prussians, Yotvings, and Western Lithuanians and occupied territories as far as the Neman. The Prussian uprisings of 1242 - 1249, 1260 - 1274 were suppressed. In the occupied territories in the 13th century. A German theocratic feudal state was formed. The capital of the Order was Acre, until it was moved to Venice in 1291. The capital and residence of the grandmaster in 1309 - 1466 was the city of Marienburg. 2/3 of the lands were divided into komturias, 1/3 were under the authority of the bishops of Kulm, Pamed, Semb and Varm. Between 1231 and 1242, 40 stone castles were built. Near the castles (Elbing, Königsberg, Kulm, Thorn) German cities were formed - members of the Hansa.

From 1283, under the pretext of spreading Christianity, the Order began to attack Lithuania. He sought to capture Samogitia and lands from the Neman in order to unite Prussia and Livonia. The strongholds of the Order's aggression were the castles of Ragnit, Christmemel, Bayerburg, Marienburg and Jurgenburg located near the Neman. Velena, Kaunas and Grodno were the centers of Lithuanian defense. Until the beginning of the 14th century. both sides staged small attacks on each other. The largest battles were the Battle of Medininka (1320) and the defense of Pilenai (1336). The devastated Lithuanian lands became the so-called. wild. The Order also attacked Poland. In 1308 - 1309, Eastern Pomerania with Danzig was captured, 1329 - Dobrzyn lands, 1332 - Kuyavia. In 1328, the Livonian Order transferred Memel and its surroundings to the Teutonic Order. In 1343, according to the Treaty of Kalisz, the order returned the occupied lands to Poland (except for Pomerania) and concentrated all its forces on the fight against Lithuania. In 1346, the Order acquired Northern Estonia from Denmark and transferred it to the Livonian Order.

The Order reached its greatest strength in the mid-14th century. during the reign of Winrich von Kniprode (1351 - 1382). The Order made about 70 major campaigns to Lithuania from Prussia and about 30 from Livonia. In 1362 his army destroyed Kaunas Castle, and in 1365 for the first time attacked the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius. In 1348 the great battle of Streva took place. In 1360 - 1380 major campaigns against Lithuania were carried out every year. The Lithuanian army made about 40 retaliatory campaigns between 1345 and 1377, one of which ended in the Battle of Rudava (1370). After the death of Algirdas (1377), the Order instigated a war between his heir Jogaila and Kestutis with his son Vytautas (Vytautas) for the princely throne. Supporting either Vytautas or Jogaila, the Order attacked Lithuania especially strongly in 1383 - 1394, and invaded Vilnius in 1390. For peace with the Order in 1382 Jogaila and in 1384 Vytautas renounced Western Lithuania and Zanemania. The Order strengthened even more, occupying the island of Gotland in 1398 (until 1411) and New Mark in 1402 - 1455. Against the Order’s aggression, Lithuania and Poland concluded the Treaty of Krevo in 1385, which changed the balance of power in the region not in favor of the Order. After the baptism of Lithuania (Aukštaitija) in 1387, the Order lost the formal basis for attacking Lithuania. According to the Treaty of Salina in 1398, Vytautas gave the Order the lands as far as Nevėžis. In 1401, the rebel Samogitians expelled the German knights from their lands, and the Order again began to attack Lithuania. In 1403, Pope Baniface IX forbade the Order to fight with Lithuania. From 1404, according to the Treaty of Rationzh, the Order, together with Poland and Lithuania, ruled Samogitia. In 1409 the Samogitians rebelled. The uprising served as the reason for a new decisive war (1409 - 1410) with Lithuania and Poland. The Order lost the so-called The Great War at the Battle of Grunwald; The Peace of Torun and the Peace of Meln obliged the Order to return Samogitia and part of the lands of the Jotvings (Zanemanje) to Lithuania.

Unsuccessful wars (with Lithuania and Poland in 1414, 1422, with Poland and the Czech Republic in 1431 - 1433) provoked a political and economic crisis; contradictions intensified between members of the Order on the one hand, secular feudal lords and townspeople who were dissatisfied with increased taxes and wanted to participate in government , with another. In 1440, the Prussian League was formed - an organization of secular knights and townspeople that fought against the power of the Order. In February 1454, the union organized an uprising and announced that all Prussian lands would henceforth be under the protection of the Polish king Casimir. Because of this, the Thirteen Years' War of the Order with Poland began. As a result, the Order lost Eastern Pomerania with Danzig, Kulm Land, Mirienburg, Elbing, Warmia - they went to Poland. In 1466 the capital was moved to Königsberg. In this war, Lithuania declared neutrality and missed the chance to liberate the remaining Lithuanian and Prussian lands. In 1470, Grandmaster Heinrich von Richtenberg recognized himself as a vassal of the Polish king. The Order's desire to free itself from Polish suzerainty was defeated (because of this, the war of 1521 - 1522 occurred).

In the 20-30s of the 16th century. During the beginning of the Reformation in Germany, Grandmaster Albrecht Hohenzollern and many brothers converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism. He secularized the Teutonic Order, declaring its territory his hereditary principality, which was called Prussia. On April 10, 1525, Albrecht recognized the Polish king Sigismund the Old as his vassal. The Teutonic Order ceased to exist as an independent state. During the Livonian War, the Livonian Order also ceased to exist.

Valeria Werd

Vocabulary: Tai - Termites. Source: vol. XXXIIa (1901): Tai - Termites, p. 752-755 () Other sources: MESBE : :

Warband- otherwise also called Prussian or German order, during its centuries-old existence, experienced several stages of development.

The I. T. Order was founded in 1128 in Jerusalem by a small circle of wealthy Germans with the goal of providing material assistance to sick and poor pilgrims of German origin. The small circle quickly grew into a whole society, whose members began to be called the brothers of St. Mary of Teutonia. Around 1189, the son of Frederick Barbarussa gave the new order a military character, gave it the Templar charter and a uniform (white cloak with a black cross) and called the T. order the House of St. Virgin of Jerusalem. In 1191, Pope Clement III approved the charter of the order, which began to be called simply the T. order. The first head of the order - or hogmeister, as they later came to be called - was Heinrich Woldbott. Having become a military institution, the T. order nevertheless retained its original character as a religious and charitable institution with many rules of monastic life. It was replenished mainly by members of German aristocratic families. The order did not play a big role in Palestine, since it immediately took the side of Frederick II and the Hohenstaufens in general in the latter’s struggle with the pope. Soon after the fall of Acre, the chief master of the T. order, Herman Salza, together with the knights, crossed to Venice, where he founded his residence. Frederick II and Pope Honorius III endowed the order with numerous lands in Germany and Italy. Each of them wanted to attract the T. order to their side. Zalza very deftly maneuvered between them, trying to somehow reconcile them. His main goal was to find an area where he could become an independent sovereign. Just at this time, the Hungarian king Andrew offered T. the Transylvanian region of Burza to the order from the years. Kreutzburg and Kronstadt under the condition of protecting it from Polovtsian raids, but soon took away the land from the order under the pretext of failure to fulfill its obligation. After this, in 1226, Prince Konrad of Mazovia offered T. the Kulm and Lebod lands to the Order for protection from the Prussians. Taught by previous experience, Salza obtained from Frederick II a charter for ownership of the Kulm land and the Prussian land in order to “introduce good customs and laws there to strengthen the faith and establish a prosperous peace between the inhabitants.” In 1228, a detachment of knights of the T. order came to the banks of the Vistula.

II. Conquest of Prussia, or Borussia. Prussia, otherwise Borussia, now a Prussian province of the Kingdom of Prussia, was inhabited by Prussians, or Borussians, a people of the Lithuanian tribe (see Prussians, East Prussia, Prussian Lithuanians). These were pagans with a fairly developed cult. In 1209, Bishop first began to spread Christianity in this country. Christian with the blessing of the Pope and with the assistance of Konrad, Prince of Mazovia. In 1215, the pope appointed Christian bishop and ruler of Prussia. Christians began to convene a crusade against the Prussians. The trip was not a success. Konrad of Mazowiecki, who patronized Christian, turned, as stated above, to the T. order, but Christian did not agree to recognize the order’s rights to the Kulm land and to Prussia. After much wrangling between Frederick II, the pope, Konrad of Mazowiecki and Christian T., the order managed to settle down. According to a secret agreement with Conrad T., the order received from the latter the ownership of the Kulm land (though this agreement was drawn up in very vague terms), previously given to Christian: the pope was informed of some articles of this agreement, and he authorized it. In 1231, an agreement was also concluded with Christian: T. the order recognized itself as his vassal, pledged to pay him tithes and give a significant part of Prussia if it could be conquered. From the same year, the gradual seizure of Prussian land began according to a specific plan: a certain area was conquered; castles and cities are built in it; residents are beaten; Settlers from Germany are recruited, and the conquered region becomes German. Thorn was built in 1231. Taking advantage of the fact that Christian was captured, the T. Order in 1234 received from the Pope the Kulm land and Prussia for eternal possession for the obligation to pay tribute. Since then, the popes have patronized with all their might the T. order, which took possession of Pomesania and all the fortifications to the mouth of the river. Nogat. In 1237 Balgas was captured, from where attempts were made to take control of Warmia. In the same year, the Livonian Order joined the T. Order. The T. Order had to collide with Russia in its aggressive aspirations; in 1242, Alexander Nevsky defeated his troops on the ice of Peipus. An uprising broke out. The position of T. of the order was precarious, especially since Christin by this time had been redeemed from captivity and laid claim to the possessions of the order; but the pope supported the order, and Christian soon died. In 1249, the dispute with the archiepiscopal authorities was finally resolved in favor of the order by Pope Innocent IV. The archbishop's see was moved to Riga; Kulm and Prussian bishops became independent and were appointed from members of the T. order. The pope zealously supported the order, urging the knights to join the brotherhood of the “brave Maccabees.” The conquest was successful. In 1254-55, the Bohemian king Ottokar launched a crusade against the Prussians, which ended with the expansion of the order's possessions and the founding of Königsberg. The population reconciled and began to accept Christianity, but the horrors of conquest and control caused a general uprising in 1260-61. under the leadership of the Lithuanian prince Mindaugas. The position of the order was critical. In vain did Popes Urban IV and Clement IV cry out for help to the order: anarchy reigned in Germany. True, Ottokar, at the insistence of the pope, set out on a crusade to “overcome the monster of former idolatry, resurrected in Prussia”; but his campaign was unsuccessful. The election of Rudolf of Habsburg saved the T. order. With the assistance of Rudolf, a whole stream of Germans moved from Germany, and the uprising was suppressed, covered in blood: in Pomesania all the inhabitants were killed, in Samland the population was partly exterminated, partly hid in the forests; Sudavia faces the desert; Courland and Semgallia are conquered and devastated. Thus, the T. Order, with the help of Germany and the Livonian Order, managed to take possession of a vast area from the lower Vistula to the borders of Lithuania in the East and to Mazovia in the South. Many castles and cities were founded - Elbing, Marienwerder, Marienburg, Goldingen, Vindawa, Mitawa, etc. d. Many German colonists were summoned, who sat partly on the land, partly in the cities; cities received the right of self-government (Magdeburg, Lübeck); many German nobles also arrived; The native population was reduced to serfdom and treated horribly - they were outlaws. “We will soon die and go to heaven,” said the unfortunate ones, “and we will torture the Germans there the same way they tortured us here on earth.” The war lasted, strictly speaking, about 55 years - from 1230 to 1285. By the beginning of the 14th century. Prussia was a real German province; even the left bank of the Vistula was in the hands of T. order, and here stood a flowering mountain. Danzig. The conquest of Prussia by T. by the order can serve as an illustration of the general nature of the seizure of Slavic lands by the Germans in the Middle Ages and the bloody Germanization of these lands. XIV century was the time of greatest prosperity of the order; conquests were consolidated, trade and industry grew, cities grew richer. . The T. order did not abandon its policy of conquests at the expense of Lithuania and Poland, but the order’s neighbors, in turn, united their forces. Poland achieved considerable strength under Władysław Lokietka; Lithuania gathered into one principality under the rule of Gediminas. In 1315, Gediminas concluded an alliance with Vladislav Loketok against the order. A long-term devastating war began between the T. order and Lithuania. The German nobility continued to come to the rescue and took part in the campaigns of the Teutons; but this help was of little importance for the order; it did not need it. Hochmeisters Feuchtwangen, Beffart and Orcelon energetically strengthened the power of the order. Under Lord Lothar of Brunswick, the knights devastated the lands of the Kuyavian bishop. The pope sent curses against “church robbers and murderers,” but the knights, the chronicle notes, ate calmly. In 1331, the war with Poland began and went on with varying success. In 1335, a peace was concluded in Vysehrad, according to which Poland retained Kuyavia and the Dobrzyn land, but Pomerellia, captured in the 13th century, remained with the T. order. Polish nobles did not recognize this peace. In 1336, the war with the Lithuanians resumed; The T. order besieged the Lithuanian castle of Pillitsen. The besieged, numbering about 4 thousand, killed each other so as not to be captured. In 1343, peace was finally concluded between Poland and the T. order. In 1333, Estland was donated to Louis, Margrave of Brandenburg, the son of the deposed Danish king Christopher II, by Otto, but Louis could not conquer it and turned to the Livonian Order, which was in vassal dependence on the T. order. Estland was conquered and completely devastated. The war with the Lithuanians and Russians from 1341 to 1351, at first unsuccessful for the order, ended in its victory in 1348. In 1361, a new war broke out with Lithuania; T. the order captured Kaupa (Kovno); in 1370, the Lithuanian princes Olgerd and Keistut suffered a strong defeat at the village. Runsau. In 1377, after the death of Olgerd, unrest began in Lithuania, in which the order intervened and brought power to Jogaila. In the XIV century. the organization of the order ended; the aspirations and sympathies of the differentiated classes became clear. The T. order, having become a de facto state, did not abandon its monastic coloring. The knights still took vows of chastity, obedience and poverty, but this was an empty formality: they wallowed in luxury, feasted and debauched. “Lock the door from the order knights,” the saying went. “At dinner,” says the chronicle, “the knights only talked about beautiful women and good horses.” At the head of the T. order was Hochmeister, elected by the senior knights. Under him, as an advisory and at the same time controlling institution, there was order chapter. The lands of the T. order in Germany were ruled by a special dignitary - Deutschmeister, who also supervised the cookmaster and alone had the right to collect general chapter. The latter judged the chief minister, could even deprive him of his rank, issued laws, and appointed higher dignitaries. The general chapter met once a year. The Hochmeister had 5 assistants: 1) Grand Commander, who was in charge of the finances of the T. order, 2) High Marshal- the head of military affairs, 3) the supreme hospitaller, 4) the supreme wardrobe master and 5) the order's treasurer. The Gochmeister was the supreme ruler; he also approved the Master of the Livonian Order. His assistants were a kind of ministers. All lands of the T. order were divided into regions governed by special contours. All positions were filled exclusively by knights of the order. The Order Chapter issued laws binding on everyone, failing to cope with the wishes of the population. Meanwhile, some classes of the population subject to the order became so strong that they demanded a share in power for themselves. First of all, the clergy, especially the Archbishop of Riga, were dissatisfied with their position. The discontent of the clergy was shared by the nobility and townspeople. The cities of Danzig, Königsberg, Thorn, Kulm, Braunsberg and others conducted large trade by sea and with Russia, participated in the Hanseatic League, and grew rich; The T. order sought to lay its hand on them, constrained their self-government, demanded a share of profits in trade, often violated Hanseatic laws, claimed the right to be the first to buy goods, in the event of a merchant’s bankruptcy considered itself his privileged creditor, etc. The result was strong discord in the state, especially dangerous at this time, since a difficult time was coming for T. of the order. The era of the struggle with Poland. Jagiello, having seized power into his own hands, constrained the Lithuanian princes. Vytautas, dissatisfied with this, turned to the T. order for help and in 1382 burned Vilna. Having married Jadwiga and thus uniting Lithuania with Poland, Jagiello made peace with Vytautas, who unexpectedly attacked the possessions of the T. order and captured Marienwerder. Soon things started to go wrong between Vytautas and Jagiel again. Vytautas went over to the side of the T. order, and constant raids began on both sides. In 1392, Vytautas received the grand-ducal throne in Lithuania and began to act against the T. order. The Order Chapter understood that peaceful relations between Poland and the Order were impossible and that it was necessary to prepare for a decisive war. He began by taking the Dobrzhinsky land from Vladislav, Duke of Oppel, as collateral for this loan. This was a bitter grudge for Jagiel, who considered this land his fief. From 1394 to 1398 the war continued, ending with Vytautas giving Zhmud to the order; but the Zhmudians rebelled. Vytautas intervened in the uprising; a new war began, lasting until 1404, when both sides reconciled on the fact that the Dobrzhinsky land passed to Poland, and Zhmud - to the order. The knights were tired of continuous wars; townspeople, German colonists, and villagers openly expressed dissatisfaction with the order's governance; The nobles formed a special union (the so-called. lizard union ) in defense of his class against the knights. The order's purchase of Driesen and the New March brought it back into conflict with Poland. To top it all off, after the death of the peace-loving Konrad Jungingen, his brother, Ulrich, a warlike and ardent knight, was chosen as master. In 1409, the troops of the order entered the Dobrzhinsky land. The Czech king Wenceslaus intervened in the feud and persuaded the opponents to conclude a truce. Jagiello and the T. Order took advantage of this time to better prepare for the fight. In 1410, Poland and Lithuania, with auxiliary detachments of Russians and Tatars, attacked the possessions of the T. order; On July 15, 1440, the famous battle of Grunwald and Tannenberg took place (see Battle of Grunwalden), which ended in the complete defeat of the T. order. The nobility, clergy and townspeople happily agreed to Jogaila's demand to submit. The confused knights did not even think about resistance, surrendered their castles and left for Germany. “Never heard of,” says the order’s chronicle, “such great infidelity and such rapid change; God punish them for this.” T. the order did not perish thanks to the energy of the commander of the Swedish Heinrich Plauen, who, with the help of the Livonian Order, forced Jogaila, in whose army illnesses began, to lift the siege of Marienburg. In 1411, the Peace of Thorns was concluded with Poland, according to which T. the order returned Zhmud and undertook to pay 100,000 marks. The townspeople, especially Danzig, openly expressed their hatred of the order. The knights coped with the city traffic, but due to the difficult economic situation, the order had to make concessions. In 1412, a state council was established to govern Prussia, consisting of knights, 20 nobles and 27 townspeople. Heinrich Plauen was deposed and Sternberg was chosen in his place, which was respectfully reported to Poland. Jagiello nevertheless undertook a campaign in 1414 and devastated Prussia. In 1422 a new war broke out; The knights could not resist the Poles and Lithuanians and made peace at Lake Mielna, finally giving Vytautas Zhmud, Sudavia, and the Poles - the entire right bank of the Vistula from the mouth to Pomerelli. In 1430, Vytautas died, having made peace with the T. order and even taking campaigns with it. A struggle began between Jagiel and Svidrigail, in which the order intervened. For this, in 1432, the irreconcilable enemy of the Order, Jagiello, in alliance with the Western Slavic princes, launched a campaign against Prussia, burned Dirschau, and besieged Danzig. In 1433, the Peace of Brest-Litovsk was concluded, according to which the T. Order ceded its conquests to Poland. Discord began within the order. Hochmeister Rusdorf was put on trial by Deutschmeister Saunsheim and deposed, but did not submit to the court. The Livonian Order refused to obey the T. Order. The townspeople and nobility formed in 1440. Prussian League who seized power into his own hands. During the reign of Konrad Erlichshausen T. the order recovered somewhat; Poland and Lithuania were busy with their own affairs and did not interfere in the affairs of the order. Under Conrad's nephew, Ludwig, the order began to quickly decline. Ludwig decided, with the help of the pope and the emperor, to destroy the Prussian Union (1453); then the leader of the union, Gabriel Baysen, turned to the Polish king Casimir and offered him power over Prussia. He agreed; The Prussian Union refused to obey the T. order and declared war on it. The Order recruited soldiers, called upon Rudolf, Duke of Sagan, for help, and with their help defeated the Poles; but the order had nothing to pay the mercenary troops, and in 1456 they handed over to the Poles Konigsberg, Memel and many other cities they had conquered from the Prussian Union. In 1457, Casimir entered Marienburg, but the knights soon took this city. In 1460 he surrendered to the Poles. In 1462, Casimir and the Prussian alliance defeated the knights at Czernowitz. In 1464, a peace was concluded in Thorn, according to which Poland received the Kulm land with all the cities, the Mechelaus region, Pomerellia with the years. Danzig, Marienburg, Elbing, etc.; the order recognized itself as a vassal of Poland; the chief minister took the oath to the Polish king and was approved by him; Poles received access to the order and the right to occupy positions of commanders. After the Peace of Thorn, the order eked out a miserable existence. The treasury was empty; there were no troops; everything was ruined; In addition, epidemics raged. The knights decided to choose one of the German princes as a master, counting on the help of the German emperor. In 1497, Frederick, the son of Albrecht, Duke of Saxony, was chosen, but Germany did not provide assistance, and Frederick, not wanting to swear allegiance to Sigismund, delayed his arrival in Poland and finally in 1507 left for Germany. In 1511, Albrecht of Brandenburg was elected master of the city. He also refused the oath, as a result of which in 1519. The Poles devastated all of Prussia. Then Albrecht decided to take advantage of the spread of the reformation in Prussia, in 1525 he secularized the order and received it from the Polish king as a fief as a duchy (see Prussia). The German Emperor deposed Albrecht, the pope excommunicated him from the church, but Albrecht did not give up his cause. T. the order ceased to exist as an independent state, having lasted for about five centuries. After the secularization of the T. order, many knights who remained faithful to Catholicism left for Germany, drew up a new charter of the order, and elected Walter f. -Kronberg and settled in the city of Merinnheim (in Franconia), which remained their main apartment until the final destruction of the order. The order could no longer acquire political significance and, over time, degenerated, so to speak, into a laboratory for supplying soldiers for money to anyone who wanted it. The T. order existed in such a pitiful form until the beginning of the 19th century, when it was finally destroyed by Napoleon’s decree. In Austria, a society was formed under this name, but it has the character of a purely religious association, the members of which, mainly aristocrats, take a vow of celibacy and chastity. Wed. “Scriptores rerum Prussicarum,” Richter, “Geschichte der deut. Osts. Prov.”; Voigt. “Geschichte Preussens”, as well as literature with the words Courland, Livonia, Lithuanian-Russian state, Prussia.

Warband

Sketch of history

For us in Russia, the Teutonic Order is clearly associated with German knights, crusaders, Germany, German expansion to the east, the battle of Prince Alexander Nevsky on Lake Peipsi with the dog knights, and the aggressive aspirations of the Prussians against Russia. The Teutonic Order is a kind of synonym for Germany for us.

However, this is not entirely true. The Order and Germany are far from the same thing. The historical essay offered to the reader traces the history of the Teutonic Order from its inception to the present day. True, since 1809 it is simply a shadow of the Order.

In some places I give explanations about moments little known to the Russian reader.

Some explanations and information are given before the text of the essay begins. While working on the sources, I encountered certain difficulties in translating proper names, the names of a number of localities and settlements, and castles. The fact is that these names are very different in English, German, Russian, Polish. Therefore, whenever possible, names and titles are given in translation and in the original language.
A number of names are known to me only in Russian, so they may differ from German, Polish or English names. In addition, over the centuries, some names have changed. This should be kept in mind.

First of all, about the name of this organization.

Official name in Latin (since this organization was created as a Catholic religious organization, and Latin is the official language of the Catholic Church) Fratrum Theutonicorum ecclesiae S. Mariae Hiersolymitanae.

Second official name in Latin Ordo domus Sanctae Mariae Teutonicorum in Jerusalem

In Russian - Warband

Full name in German - Bruder und Schwestern vom Deutschen Haus Sankt Mariens in Jerusalem
-the first version of the abbreviated name in German - Der Teutschen Orden
- common variants in German - Deutsche Orden And Deutsche Ritterorden.

In English - The Teutonuc Order of Holy Mary in Jerusalem.

In French - de L"Ordre Teutonique our de Sainte Marie de Jerusalem.

In Czech and Polish - Ordo Teutonicus.

The highest leaders in the Order in various circumstances and at various times bore the following names (titles):

Gross Meister. In Russian historical literature, the German word itself is usually used in Russian transcription “Grandmaster” or “Grand Master”. In general, the most correct word is “Grandmaster”. This is the title of the head of the order.

Meister. In Russian historical literature the term “magister” is usually used, although it would be more accurate to say “maister”. Usually this is the leader of a more or less significant territory belonging to the Order.

Landmeister. It is translated into Russian as “landmeister”, “leader”, “head”. In Russian historical literature the term "master" is usually used. This title was given to the representative of the Order who led the entire conquered Prussia.

Hoch- und Deutschemeister. Usually in Russian-language sources this title is also translated as Grandmaster or Grand Master. However, the main leaders of the Order began to be called this after the Order was expelled from Prussia in the first quarter of the 16th century and ceased to exist in two forms (the Order as an organization and the Order as a state). In general, the meaning of this title is the Head of the entire Order and the head of the Order in Germany.

Administratoren des Hochmeisteramptes in Preussen, Meister teutschen Ordens in teutschen und walschen Landen. This long title can be translated as "Administrator of the Chief Magistrate in Prussia, Master of the Teutonic Order in the Teutonic and controlled Lands (Regions)."
Hoch- und Deutschmeister. Can be translated as "High Meister and Meister of Germany"
Hochmeister. Can be translated into Russian as “Great Meister”, but is more often used in transcription as “Hochmeister”

Other senior leaders in the Order:

Grosskomtur- one might say, deputy grandmaster, organizer of execution of the grandmaster's decisions.
Marshall- the main leader of the military component of the Order. You could say - the Minister of Defense in the Order
Komtur aka Commandeur. In Russian the term “commander” is used, although the essence of this word means “commander”, “commander”. Komturstvo (commandership) is the minimum territorial-administrative unit (region, district) in the Order.
Drapier- the person responsible for all issues of weapons, supplies, support, accommodation, food, financing.
Spitler- a person responsible for the activities of hospitals, hotels, hospices, and charitable activities.
Tressler- head of the financial service of the Order. He is subordinate to the drapier
Capitularies. It is not translated into Russian, transcribed as “capitulier”. The essence of the title is the head of the chapter (meeting, conference, commission).
Rathsgebietiger. Can be translated as "member of the Council."
Deutschherrenmeister. It is not translated into Russian. Means roughly "Chief Master of Germany".
Balleimeister. It can be translated into Russian as “the head of the estate (possession).”

Other titles in German:
Fuerst. Translated into Russian as "prince", but the word "duke" is often used to denote foreign titles of similar rank.
Kurfuerst. It is translated into Russian as “Grand Duke”, but also in Russian historical literature the words “Archduke”, “Elector” are used.
Koenig. King.
Herzog. Duke
Erzherzog. Archduke

Motto of the Teutonic Order: "Helfen - Wehren - Heilen"(Help-Protect-Treat)

The highest leaders of the Order:

Residence in Acre from 1196 to 1230 in the Holy Land (held the title of Grandmaster):

1. 1196-1200 Heinrich von Walpot (Rhineland)
2. 1200- 1208 Otto von Kerpen (Bremen)
3. 1208-1209 Herman Bart (Holstein)
4. 1209-1239 Herman von Salza (Meissen)

Residence at Castle Starkenberg (Montfort) from 1230 to 1271 in the Holy Land (held the title of Grandmaster)

5. 1239 - 9.4.1241 Conrad von Thuringen
6. 1241 -1244 Gerhard von Mahlberg
7. 1244-1249 Heinrich von Hohenlohe
8. 1249-1253 Gunther von Wüllersleben
9. 1253-1256 Popon von Osterna
10. 1256-1273 Annon von Sangershausen

Residence in the city of Acre from 1271 to 1291 in the Holy Land (held the title of Grandmaster)

11.1273-1283 Hartman von Heldrungen
12.1283-1290 Burchard von Schwanden

Residence in Venice from 1293 to 1309 (held the title of Grandmaster)

13. 1292 -1296 Conrad von Feuchtwanger
14. 1297 - 1303 Godfrey von Hohenlohe

Residence in Marienburg from 1309 to 1457 (held the title of Grandmaster)

15. 1303-1311 Siegfried von Feuchtwanger
16. 1311-1324 Karl von Trier
17. 1324-1330 Werner von Orseln
18. 1331-1335 Luther von Brunswick
19. 1335-1341 Dietrich von Altenburg (Dietrich von Altenburg)
20. 1342-1345 Ludolf von König
21. 1345 -1351 Heinrich Duesemer von Arfenberg
22. 1351-1382 Winrich von Kniprode
23. 1382-1390 Konrad Zollner von Rothenstein.
24. 1391-1393 Conrad von Wallenrod
25. 1393-1407 Conrad von Jungingen
26. 1407 -15.7.1410 Ulrich von Jungingen
27. 1410 - 1413 Heinrich (Reuss) von Plauen
28. 1413-1422 Michel Küchmeister
29. 1422- 1441 Paul von Russdorff
30. 1441- 1449 Konrad von Erlichshausegn

Residence in Königsberg from 1457 to 1525 (held the title of Grandmaster)

31. 1450-1467 Ludwig von Erlichshausen
32. 1469-1470 Heinrich Reus von Plauen
33. 1470-1477 Heinrich von Richtenberg (Heinrich von Richtenberg)
34. 1477-1489 Martin Truchsez von Wetzhausen
35. 1489- 1497 Johann von Tiefen
36. 1498 -1510 Friedrich Sachsisch (Friedrich of Saxony)
37. 1511- 1525 Albrecht von Brandenburg-Ansbach

Residence in Marienthal from 1527 to 1801 (until 1529 the title of Meister, then Hoch and Deutschmeister)

38. 1527 -1543 Walther von Cronberg
39. 1543 - 1566 Wolfgang Schutzbar
40. 1566-1572 Georg Hund von Wenckheim
41. 1572 – 1595 Heinrich von Bobenhausen
42. 1595 – 1618 Maximilian von Oesterreich
43. 1619 - 1624 Karl von Habsburg
44. 1625-1627 Johann Eustach von Westernach (Johann Oistach von Westernach)
45. 1627-1641 Johann Kaspar von Stadion (Johann Kaspar von Stadion)
46. ​​1641-1662 Leopold Wilhelm von Oesterreich (Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (Habsburg))
47. 1662-1664 Karl Joseph von Oesterreich (Karl Joseph of Austria (Habsburg))
48.1664-1684 Johann Caspar von Ampringen (Johann Caspar von Ampringen)
49. 1684-1694 Ludwig Anton von Pfalz-Neuburg (Ludwig Anton of Palatinate-Neuburg
50. 1694-1732 Franz Ludwig von Pfalz-Neuburg (Franz Ludwig of Palatinate-Neuburg)
51. 1732-1761 Clemens August von Bayern (Clement August von Bayern)
52.1761-1780 Karl Alexander von Lothringen (Karl Alexander of Lorraine)
53. 1780-1801 Maximilian Franz von Osterreich (Maximilian Franz von Osterreich)

Residence in Vienna from 1800 to 1804 (title Hoch and Deutschmeister)

54. 1801-1804 Karl Ludwig von Osterreich (Karl Ludwig von Osterreich)

By decree of the Emperor of France and head of the Confederation of the Rhine, Napoleon Bonaparte, dated April 24, 1809. The Teutonic Order is dissolved.

Part I

Background of the Order.

The first crusade (1095-1099) to the Holy Land “for the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher”, which ended successfully with the founding of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Holy Land (Palestine), was mainly carried out by French knights and to some extent Italian. The participation of the Germans was very insignificant.

Since there are very few written sources of that time, the background to the emergence of the Teutonic Order is taken to be the legend of a certain German merchant from Lübeck, who had settled in the Holy Land somewhat earlier and sheltered a seriously wounded German knight in his house in Jerusalem in 1099. In subsequent years, the merchant and his wife expanded their merciful activities, and with the blessing of Patriarch Stephen of Jerusalem, they opened in their house something like a hospice or hotel for German pilgrims and chose the Holy Virgin Mary of Jerusalem as their heavenly patroness.

The couple bequeathed their entire fortune and house to German monks, and after death it became known as the Hospital of St. Mary of Jerusalem.

How reliable this information is is unknown. The only document whose authenticity is questioned by many historians is dated December 9, 1143. This is the bull of Pope Celestine II on the transfer of the hospital of St. Mary of Jerusalem to the jurisdiction of the Order of the Hospitallers of St. John (the Order is known to us as the Order of Malta).

The 13th-century Bishop of Acre, Jacques de Vitry, in his historical work mentions the existence of the hospital in 1118 or 1128.

Within the framework of this article, it makes no sense to list all the versions and vague data of historians arguing about the origins of the Teutonic Order. The following facts are more or less reliable:

1. In the middle of the 12th century, there was a hospital for German pilgrims in Jerusalem.

2. The hospital was headed by a German leader.

3. The hospital was subordinated to the Order of Hospitallers of St. John (Maltese).

After the capture of Jerusalem by Muslims under the leadership of Saladin in 1187, the hospital, like all other Christian organizations in the city, ceased to exist.

Actually, it is hardly legal to connect this hospital in Jerusalem with the Teutonic Order, which was formed several years later in the city of Acre. These are simply attempts to make the Order more ancient than it actually was.

In 1189, the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and the army he assembled took part in the Third Crusade and on August 29, 1189. began the siege of the Syrian fortress of Acre.

Reference.

The city of Acre is located in Western Galilee (Israel) and is located approximately 18 km north of the city of Haifa, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Also known under the names Acre, Saint Jean d'Acre. In European languages ​​it is known under the names Acre, St. Jean d'Acre.
The first mention of this city dates back to approximately 1456 BC. e.

End of help.

The birth of the Order.

During the siege, merchants from Lübeck and Bremen organized a field hospital for the wounded crusaders. Documents from that time indicate that the German hospital was located “behind the cemetery of St. Nicholas between the mountain and the river.”

The King of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan, signed a charter, according to which the hospital was given the right to organize a hospice in Acre after the city was taken. There is no exact dating for this charter.

Most likely this took place between August 29, 1189 and mid-September 1190. This charter mentions the name Sibrad(Ziebard?) as the head of a German hospital.

Many historians call Sibard the first leader of the Order, although he did not yet exist as such. True, the modern historian of the Order, Guy Stair Sainty, names the creators of the hospital in Acre as certain chaplain Conrad and Canon Voorchard.

Pope Clement III, with his bull dated February 6, 1191, proclaimed the hospital as the “Teutonic Brotherhood of the Church of St. Mary of Jerusalem (Fratrum Theutonicorum ecclesiae S. Mariae Hiersolymitanae).

It can be assumed that from that time on the hospital was a monastery treating wounded and sick Germans>. Or a hospital monastery.

After the capture of Acre on July 13, 1191. the hospital moved beyond its walls and began to be called St. Mary's Hospital in Jerusalem.

Why the hospital is “…in Jerusalem” and not in “…Acre” remains unclear. Perhaps because most of the staff were employees of the hospital, which ceased to exist in 1187.

The hospital quickly becomes a kind of representative of the Holy Roman Empire of the Germans. In any case, the hospital receives the support and patronage of Frederick of Swabia, brother of the head of the empire, Henry VI.
The Germans who come to Acre stay in the hospital; through it they maintain contact with each other, store their gold and property. The hospital receives many gifts, land, and buildings.

February 2, 1192 Pope Celestine III issues a document officially confirming the existence of an independent “German Hospital in Acre.” The head of the hospital in the document is referred to in one place as “Prior of the German hospital operating in Acre”, and in another as Meister.
The name is also indicated - Gerard (Gerhard?).

From the author. A number of historians, who really want to make the Teutonic Order more ancient than it actually is, believe that since Gerhard is called a master, this indicates that the Order already exists. It seems that this base is pulled by the hair.
And further. For some reason, the word Meister is translated as “master”. I intend to name it as it sounds in German.

It is unclear at what time the hospital began to have military power. It can be assumed that in those difficult and lawless times, any organization or society should have had armed guards to protect them from robbers and other lovers of other people's property, with which the surrounding area was infested.

In any case, already in 1193, the King of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan, entrusted the hospital with the protection and defense of one of the fortifications of Acre in the event of an enemy attack. And since 1198 the hospital is responsible for the defense of the fortress tower of the Shatres, the city gate of St. Nicholas.

5 March 1196 The ceremony of transforming the Hospital into a spiritual Order took place in the Temple of Acre.

The ceremony was attended by the Masters of the Hospitallers and Templars, as well as secular and clergy of Jerusalem.

Pope Celestine III December 2, 1196 issues a bull recognizing the existence m Onashian Order of St. Mary of Germany of Jerusalem.

The Order is now subordinate only to the Holy Roman See and the Holy Roman Emperor. The Charter of the Order requires that they have the Charter of St. Augustine.

Pope Innocent III, with his bull of February 19, 1199 assigns the Order the status military monastic order.

The Pope defined the tasks of the Order:
*protection of German knights,
*treatment of wounded and sick crusaders,
*fighting the enemies of the Catholic Church.

From now on, there are three categories in the Order - brother knights-monks, brothers priests and ministers (they are also called sergeants).
Brother knights-monks are assigned the order's attire - a blue or white tunic, a white cloak with a black cross on the left shoulder, and sergeants are given a gray tunic with a black cross without an upper end on the left shoulder (in fact, in shape it is not a cross, but the letter T).

On other types of clothing, order crosses could be placed on the chest and/or back.

However, one cannot expect the knights to wear clothes exactly. In the 12th century, the concept of a “uniform form of clothing” did not yet exist.

The Charter of Military Affairs was copied from the Charter of the Order of the Hospitallers; the Charter of the Order of the Templars was taken as a model for the ecclesiastical and secular regulations.

Thus The founding date of the Teutonic Order as a military one can be considered February 19, 1199.

The Order quickly gains strength and importance. It is worth explaining that at this time the Order was a kind of military-religious community, consisting primarily of representatives of the feudal classes.

The centerpiece of the society was the grandmaster's residence in Acre.

At the same time, both those donated by monarchs, dukes, and those transferred to the possession of the Order by persons who joined the Order come into the possession of the Order. These landholdings were called komturstvos.

In 1200, the Order created its commanders on the territory of the Holy Roman Empire in Sontag (Styria), two hospitals in Halle and Thuringia.

In 1202 a hospital was established in Bozen.

In 1204 commanders in Vienna and Prague.

In 1206 a hospital in Sicily.

In 1207 he became commander in Reichenbach (Hesse).

In 1209, command of Nuremberg, possessions in Greece.

In 1210 he was appointed commander in Aichach and Regensburg (Bavaria).

From the author. Historians of the Teutonic Order, like historians of other military-monastic Orders, among many of which the Teutonic, Maltese and Templar Orders are the largest and most powerful, do not really explain or analyze the reasons for the emergence and rapid development of the Order movement itself.

They give unconvincing justifications. They say that the knights of Europe, being very religious and therefore very pure in their motives, were inspired by the idea of ​​“liberating the Holy Sepulcher from the infidels” and selflessly, out of the motives of the True Faith of Christ, took up arms, sacrificing their lives and property in the name of the Lord God.

But the crusades themselves were organized by the monarchs of Europe and to conquer Palestine they used the armies they created and subordinated to them, the basis of which and the main striking force were secular knights.

Orders began to emerge in Palestine itself as independent military-monastic communities under the jurisdiction of the Roman Holy See.

Yes, they interacted with the monarchs of Jerusalem, fought against Muslims along with secular knights, and were stationed on lands belonging to monarchies, but the Orders were not integral elements of medieval states.

I think there are two real reasons and prerequisites for this.

1. The real motive for the Crusades was the elementary greed of European feudal lords, the desire to enrich themselves at the expense of the prosperous rich Middle East. Simply put, live and get rich through robbery and robbery.

Some lovers of robbery, mainly from among small and especially small feudal lords, were dissatisfied with the fact that during the robbery campaigns the main income went to the treasury of the monarchs. Simply put, they were unhappy with the way the loot was being distributed.

In addition, their interests often diverged from the interests of the monarchs. That is why the deprived robbers began to form gangs, which would then grow into knightly Orders.

In order to avoid persecution by the monarchs of Jerusalem and other principalities that arose in Palestine, the Orders resorted to the patronage of the Pope.
The Holy Roman See was in dire need of its own military strength in order to resist the pressure of the monarchs of Europe, and in money that could come from the Orders.

However, the existence of the Orders was also convenient for the monarchs. Well-armed, well-trained, permanently existing and with competent command, the Orders compared favorably with the actual militia that emperors and dukes had.

Let me remind you that according to the usual European legal law of those times, the overlord had the right to gather vassals under his banner only for a very limited period (on average two to six months). The rest of the time his military forces were very limited. As a rule, this is the garrison of the castle in which the feudal lord lived with his family. Well, maybe two or three more castles. Mercenaries were very expensive.

But the Monarch did not incur any expenses for the maintenance of the knightly Order. The Order lived and fed at its own expense.
And at the same time, the Order was stationed on its territory, which means it was somehow dependent on the monarch.
Moreover, the military interests of both coincided for the most part.

2. In those unstable times, it was difficult to be a small or medium-sized feudal lord and maintain one’s possessions. It was necessary to be someone's vassal, i.e. seek the protection of a larger and stronger feudal lord. And they constantly quarreled and fought with each other. In case of defeat of the overlord, the vassal was easily and quickly deprived of his fief, which the victorious overlord gave to one of his own confidants. And his own overlord could at any moment take away his fief from his vassal. Back then they didn’t treat the weak on ceremony.

In such conditions, joining the Knightly Order and legally transferring your fief into its possession meant acquiring the patronage of a powerful organization, with which even kings were not very willing to quarrel. It means gaining confidence in the future, security and stability of your life, the life of your family and your peasants.
Yesterday's seemingly independent, but actually dependent on any stronger neighbor, petty feudal lord, now became a knight and commander of the Order, and his fief became the commander of the Order.

Is it necessary to ask why during this historical period the knightly Orders are developing so rapidly, feudal lords are very willing to join them, why the commands and possessions of the Orders are growing like mushrooms in these years, and above all in Europe?

Thus, within a few years, the Teutonic Order developed as a Religious Armed Forces comparable to the Order of the Hospitallers and the Order of the Templars (the latter is also known as the Order of the Holy Temple or Templars). The Germanic character of this new Order and its protection by the German Emperor and the German Dukes gave it the opportunity to gradually assert its actual independence from the Order of the Johannites (also known as the Hospitallers). The first imperial decree came from the German king Otto IV, who took the Order under his protection on May 10, 1213, and this was followed almost immediately by further confirmation by King Frederick II of Jerusalem on September 5, 1214. These imperial confirmations strengthened the independence of the Teutonic Knights from the Hospitallers. In the middle of the 14th century, this independence will be confirmed by the Papal See.

Some forty knights were admitted into the Teutonic Order at its founding by King Frederick of Swabia of Jerusalem (Frederick von Swabia), who chose their first master on behalf of the Pope and Emperor.

Knights of the new brotherhood were required to be of German blood (although this rule was not always observed), which was unusual for the Crusader Orders based in the Holy Land. They were chosen from among the noble class, although this latter obligation was not formally included in the rule initially.

First Grandmaster of the Order Heinrich von Walpot (died 1200), was from the Rhineland. Some sources call him Heinrich Walpot von Bassenheim. In the history of the Order, he will become the first holder of the title “Grandmaster”.

He drew up the first statutes of the Order in 1199, which were approved by Pope Innocent III in the bull "Sacrosancta romana" of February 19, 1199. They divided the members into two classes: knights and priests, who were required to take three monastic vows - poverty, celibacy and obedience - as well as promise to help the sick and fight unbelievers.

Unlike knights, who from the beginning of the thirteenth century had to prove "ancient nobility", priests were exempt from this obligation. Their function was to send Holy Mass and other religious services, give communion to knights and the sick in hospitals and follow them like doctors to war. The priests of the Order could not become masters, commanders or vice-commanders in Lithuania or Prussia (i.e. where the fighting took place), but could become commanders in Germany. To these two ranks a third class was added - service personnel (Sergeants, or Graumantler), who wore similar clothing, but in a grayer shade than pure blue and had only three parts of the cross on their clothing to indicate that they were not full members of the fraternity .

The knights lived together, slept in bedrooms on simple beds, ate together in the dining room, and had no more than enough money. Their clothing and armor were similarly simple but practical, and they worked daily to train for battle, maintain their equipment, and work with their horses.

The Grandmaster was elected, as in the Order of the Ioannites, and as in other Orders his rights were limited to the knights.
The grandmaster's representative (chief) commander, to whom the priests were subordinate, ruled the Order in his absence.
The marshal (chief), also subordinate to the master, was the superior officer in command of the knights and regular troops, and was responsible for ensuring that they were properly equipped.
The hospitalier (chief) was responsible for the sick and wounded.
The drapier was responsible for construction and clothing, the treasurer managed property and finances.

Each of these latter leaders was elected for a short term, changing annually. As the Order spread throughout Europe, it became necessary to appoint provincial masters for Germany, Prussia and later Livonia with the corresponding main leaders.

Walpot was succeeded by Otto von Kerpen from Bremen, and the third was Herman Bart from Holstein, which suggests that the knights of the Order came from all over Germany.

The residence of all grandmasters of the Order until 1230 was in the fortress of Acre, where, in addition to the Teutons, there were many different organizations and institutions. As the Order developed and became more established, this became less and less convenient and was increasingly considered incompatible with the status and prestige of the Order.

Back in 1220, the French knight de Milly sold his estate of Monfort and the surrounding lands to the Teutonic Order. At this place, the Teutons built a powerful fortress, which they gave the name Starkenberg. Actually, this is a translation into German of the French word Montfort, which in turn means Strong Mountain in Russian. The fortress is located in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, approximately 35 km northeast of the city of Haifa and 16 km south of the border with Lebanon. Those. near the Acre fortress.

In the photo on the left: the ruins of the Starkenberg (Monfort) fortress at the end of the 20th century.

In 1230, the fourth and most distinguished grandmaster of the Order, Herman von Salza from Meissen, moved his residence from Acre to the newly built order fortress Starkenberg.

Formation of the Teutonic Order.

The fourth Grandmaster of the Order, Herman von Salza, was born in Thuringia sometime between 1170 and 1180. in the family of a small feudal lord. This class in Germany was called ministerials. As the youngest son, he could not inherit the estate. So he went to Palestine and joined the Teutonic Order. Apparently this happened around 1196. It can be assumed that the young von Salza was among the first knight-monks of the Order.

We can only assume that von Salza was an excellent analyst and realized much earlier than others that there was no future for Christian states in Palestine.
This land turned out to be not as generous as the Europeans believed when they launched the Crusades. The resistance of the Muslim rulers of these lands turned out to be much stronger, and their military capabilities much greater than expected.
The local population of Jews and Muslims did not at all strive to become Christians, and the settlement of Palestine by Christians from Europe was a failure. The difficult and unsuitable climate for Europeans, barren land, lack of water, and endless skirmishes with flying Muslim troops led to a rapid decline in the number of Christian subjects of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
In addition, the idea of ​​​​crusades to the Holy Land began to fade and fade, since they did not bring the dividends that they wanted.

In 1209 (1210?) von Salza became grandmaster of the Order. He turned out to be a skilled diplomat and was able to significantly strengthen the prestige of the Order. From the very first years of his reign, von Salza began to make efforts to spread the influence of the Order in Europe and prepare the ground for the move of the entire Order to European lands

His mediation in conflicts between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor ensured the Order the patronage of both, increasing the number of knights, giving it wealth and property.

Under his leadership the Order received no less than thirty-two Papal confirmations or grants of privileges and no less than thirteen Imperial confirmations.

Von Salz's influence extended from Slovenia (then Styria), through Saxony (Thuringia), Hesse, Franconia, Bavaria and Tyrol, with castles in Prague and Vienna. There were also possessions on the borders of the Byzantine Empire, in Greece and in present-day Romania. By the time of his death, the Order's influence extended from the Netherlands in the north to the west of the Holy Roman Empire, southwest to France, Switzerland, further south to Spain and Sicily, and east to Prussia.

Salza received a golden cross from the King of Jerusalem as a sign of his supremacy after the outstanding conduct of the knights at the siege of Damietta in 1219.

By imperial decree of January 23, 1214, the grandmaster and his representatives were given the rights of the Imperial Court. As owners of direct fiefs, they enjoyed a seat on the Imperial Council with princely rank from 1226/27.

On January 23, 1214, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II declared Grandmaster von Salz and his future successors full members of the imperial court.

The presence of the Order in medieval Europe enabled it to play a significant role in local political events. Despite the restriction of affiliation with the German aristocracy, German rule extended into Italy, and especially into Sicily under the German kings Henry VI and Frederick II Barbarossa, who established convents of the Order in places distant from Germany.

Teutonic Order in Palestine.

By 1215, the situation in Palestine had deteriorated sharply. The new king of Jerusalem, Jean de Brieni, tried unsuccessfully to strengthen the kingdom and maintain its borders. The Egyptian Sultan al-Adil slowly but persistently conquered areas of territory.
Concerned about what was happening, Pope Honorius III declared the Fifth Crusade, which began in 1217. The Teutonic Order took an active part in this campaign.
The greatest success of the campaign was the capture of the Damietta fortress by the crusaders on November 5, 1219, after which the new Sultan of Egypt, Malik al-Kamil, sued for peace. However, a split occurred in the camp of the crusaders. The papal legate demanded the continuation of the campaign, while the king of Jerusalem, Jean de Brieni, who was supported by the Teutonic Order, was inclined towards peace. In addition, most of the monarchs of Europe, busy with their inter-dynastic problems, did not show any enthusiasm and were not eager to defend Jerusalem for Jean de Brieny. The Fifth Crusade gradually faded away.

Only under strong pressure from Pope Gregory IX, who threatened excommunication, did Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II begin the Sixth Crusade in 1228.
The diplomatic skill of von Salz made it possible, without major battles, to obtain concessions from the Sultan of Egypt under the treaty concluded in Jaffa on February 18, 1229. managed to return previously lost lands to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II also becomes King of Jerusalem. The coronation took place on March 14, 1229.

The main role in Frederick's success in the Sixth Crusade was played by the Teutonic Order and its Grandmaster von Salza.
As a reward, the Order receives Toron Castle, the former palace of the King of Jerusalem, and vast lands near Sidon.

More or less lasting peace reigned in Palestine.

The first attempt of the Teutonic Order to gain a foothold in Europe.

The Order at the beginning of the 13th century had a strong position in Europe, but the meaning of its existence, like other Orders, was the armed struggle for the spread of Christianity, the expansion of the rule of the Holy Roman Church, and the subordination of more and more countries and peoples to the Roman Throne. Without this, the Order risked turning into simply a large feudal lord, competing with the royal houses of Europe. This would lead to political and armed strife and the collapse of the Order.

From the author. It seems that, unlike the leaders of the Hospitallers and Templars, the grandmasters of the Teutonic Order, almost 70 years before the expulsion of Christians from the Holy Land, understood and took into account two fundamental factors:
1. Any military-monastic Order exists and enjoys the support of Rome and European kings only as long as there is an external danger to Catholic Christianity in the person of infidels, or rather, as long as the Order spreads Catholicism among other peoples.
2. The Order should not concentrate only in one territory, but should promote Catholicism in different directions. In at least two geographic directions

This will save the Teutonic Order from collapse after Christians left the Holy Land at the end of the 13th century. Failure to understand these two factors would lead the Templar Order to defeat and death already in 1307, although it was the strongest and largest among all, possessing large military forces and enormous finances.
The second most important and powerful Order of the Hospitallers will instantly lose all its significance and, having barely gained a foothold on the island of Malta, will quickly degenerate into the de facto maritime border service of Europe in the Mediterranean. The Order of Malta will never again play any serious political or military role.

Realizing this, von Salza looked for the area of ​​application of the Teutons in Europe. However, finding this area in a fully Christianized Europe proved difficult.

It helped that the Hungarian kingdom was experiencing enormous difficulties on its southern border, which was constantly subject to raids by the Cumans (in various sources called Huns, Pechenegs, Cumans)

Reference.
Polovtsy, Polovtsy (in European and Byzantine sources - Cumans) are a Turkic-speaking nomadic people. At the beginning of the 11th century, they advanced from the Volga region to the Black Sea steppes, displacing the Pechenegs - the Oguzes - from there. Having subjugated these tribes, the Polovtsians crossed the Dnieper and reached the mouth of the Danube, thus becoming the masters of the Great Steppe from the Danube to the Irtysh, which from that time began to be called the Polovtsian steppe.

End of help.

The danger from the Cumans became so significant that King Andrew II of Hungary in 1211 invited the knights to station themselves on the border of Transylvania in its southeastern part. He gave the Order full ownership of the region of Bartsa (Burzeland) with an area of ​​​​about 1,500 square meters. kilometers.
Fulfilling its mission the Order in the period until 1222. built four stone fortresses and began to populate these lands with German colonists and develop trade. In fact, a state independent of the Hungarian kingdom was formed.

And it was precisely during this period that the danger to Hungary from the Polovtsians abruptly disappeared. The Polovtsians themselves were now threatened by the Tatar-Mongol invasion from the east and they had to fight for their existence. Moreover, the Polovtsians began to seek shelter and protection from the Tatar-Mongols in Hungary
Under these conditions, King Andras demanded that Burzeland be returned to the crown. Despite the fact that the Order was supported by the Pope, the knights had to leave Burzeland in 1225. The position of the Roman Throne was undermined by the fact that, under the threat of extermination by the Tatar-Mongols, the Cumans almost completely fled to the territory of Hungary and began to accept Christianity en masse.
And from here the Order lost the basis for its presence in Transylvania.

The Order's first attempt to establish itself in Europe was unsuccessful.

From the author. The Hungarian failure was not due to the mistakes of the grandmaster or the inability of the knights to achieve military victories. It’s just that the reason for the Order’s presence there disappeared in Transylvania. The Cumans, who had previously threatened the southern borders of Hungary under the onslaught of the Tatar-Mongols from the east, were forced to flee to Hungarian territory, ask the king for asylum and, under the pressure of circumstances, convert to Christianity.

The Teutonic Order leaves the Holy Land.

The life of Hermann von Salz ended on March 20, 1239 in the town of Balletta in Anulia. By this time, the Teutonic Order already had a strong position both in Europe and in Palestine.

Landgrave of Thuringia Conrad von Thuringen becomes von Salz's successor. Let us recall that the main residence of the grandmasters of the Teutonic Order since 1230 was the fortress Starkenberg (Monfort), although von Salza practically never lived in his residence, torn between the court of Frederick II, Rome and Acre.

As early as 1235, Pope Gregory IX began to push for a new Crusade to the Holy Land.

From the author. What a stark difference there is between what is preached in the Bible and the actual practice of the Church. It was the Holy Roman Church in the early Middle Ages that was constantly the main initiator and causative agent of bloody wars. It was she who forever quarreled the two most important religions of the world - Islam and Christianity. It is thanks to the Catholic Church that the irreconcilable hostility between Muslims and Christians has extended into the 21st century from the 9th century.
After all, before the First Crusade in Palestine, Jews, Christians and Muslims lived peacefully with each other. The sultans and sheikhs did not oppress local Christians and did not prevent pilgrims from Europe from visiting the Holy Places. In a word, they treated other people's beliefs with respect.

In 1239, a crusader army of 1000-1500 knights, mainly from France, arrived in Acre. The fragile peace between Muslims and Christians, which von Salza had achieved with great difficulty in 1229, collapsed. In response, the ruler of Transjordan (the name of the area that has existed since the beginning of the 20th century), al-Nazir Daoud, attacks the city of Jerusalem and takes it by storm.
The Crusaders decide to attack Ascalon. The Sultan of Egypt immediately advances his troops to Gaza. In the battle of November 13, 1239, the crusaders were defeated and only the internecine conflicts of the Muslim rulers allowed the Christians to achieve a truce in 1240 on very favorable terms.
A worthy student of von Salz, Grandmaster Conrad, managed to take advantage of the discord and drive a wedge between the Egyptian Sultan and the rulers of Syria, who had entered into an alliance with the crusaders.

By the time of the death of Fr. Salz, there were fewer knights of the Order in Palestine (several hundred) than in European commanders.

The head of the Palestinian commander had a residence in the Starkenberg fortress (Montfort).
The Order at that moment owned fifty lands near the fortress; in Acre there is a temple, a hospital, several residential buildings, part of the fortress wall with the German Tower.
There is a hospital in the city of Jerusalem.
In the vicinity of the city of Tyre, the Order owned forty villages.

In Palestine in the early forties, a complex political situation was developing due to the constant struggle between Christian rulers for dominance. There was no less political squabbling between the Muslim rulers.

A whole series of various types of alliances followed, in which political and economic interests came to the fore, and not at all religious ones.

The situation became even more aggravated when the Egyptian Sultan was able to take advantage of the forces of the Khorezmians, who were being squeezed out of Khorezm by the Tatar-Mongols.

At the beginning of July 1244, the Khorezmians invaded Palestine and besieged the city of Jerusalem. August 23, 1244 Jerusalem fell and its defenders were killed.

Under these conditions, the crusaders were able to unite and give battle on October 17, 1244 near Gaza, in which all three Orders took part.
The battle, known in historical sources as the Battle of Forbia, ended in the complete defeat of the Christians.
312 of the 348 Knights Templar died along with the grandmaster.
Of the 350 Knights Hospitaller, 325 died, and the grandmaster was captured.
Of the Teutonic knights, only three remained alive.

Grandmaster Konrad showed cowardice and fled from the battlefield. It cost him his post. He was removed from power by the Grand Chapter. He was replaced by Gerhard von Mahlberg, and in 1244 Heinrich von Hohenlohe was elected as the new grandmaster.

During this period, the gradual expulsion of Christians from Palestine began.

In 1247, the army of the Egyptian Sultan invades the Holy Land and captures Tiberias and Ascalon.

The Teutons, together with other Orders, are trying to stay in Palestine. Several hundred Teutonic knights arrive from Europe under the command of Meister Eberhard von Seinsham. IN

1248 The Seventh Crusade begins, organized by the French. The main goal of the campaign was the defeat of Egypt as the main enemy of Christians in Palestine. After several victories, the Crusader army was defeated in 1250.

King Louis the Saint of France, who led the campaign and the army of the crusaders, highly appreciated the participation of the Teutonic Order in the campaign. He added a four-petalled lily on a golden Jerusalem cross to the coat of arms of the Order, donated 2 thousand zloty coins and several estates in France.

Beibars, the Sultan of Egypt and Syria, began to systematically squeeze Christians out of Palestine in 1263. First he conquers Galilee, on February 27, 1265 Caesar came under his rule, and on April 29 the city of Asuf.

In 1266, the Sultan tried to capture Starkenberg (Montfort), but the Teutons managed to repel the attack.

In 1268, the Sultan captured Jaffa and Beaufort, then Antioch.

On July 12, 1271, Baybars forces the main residence of the Teutonic Order, Starkenberg Castle (Montfort), to capitulate. The knights are allowed to leave the fortress and go to Acre.

For 20 years until 1291, the main residence of the Order was again in Acre. Moreover, the residence is located in only one fortress tower.

The presence of the Order in Palestine from this moment on is only nominal.

Indeed, since 1226, during the lifetime of von Salz, the main sphere of application of forces became the Baltic states, and above all Prussia.

Numerous political events, in which the Tatar-Mongols were a significant argument, led to the fact that the Sultan of Egypt in April 1291 besieged Acre, which was defended by all three Orders and secular crusaders.

The fighting of the Teutonic knights in Acre until 1290 was led by Grandmaster Burchard von Schwande himself, then by Master Conrad von Feuchtwanger.

18 May 1291 Acre fell. The Knights of the Order, who managed to escape the massacre and reach the ships, fled to Venice.

The Teutonic Order left the Holy Land forever.

Sources and literature

1.Guy Stair Sainty. THE TEUTONIC ORDER OF HOLY MARY IN JERUSALEM (Site www.chivalricorders.org/vatican/teutonic.htm)
2. Heraldic collection of the Federal Border Guard Service of Russia. Moscow. Border. 1998
3. V. Biryukov. The Amber Room. Myths and reality. Moscow. Publishing house "Planet". 1992
4. Directory - Kaliningrad. Kaliningrad book publishing house. 1983
5. Borussia website (members.tripod.com/teutonic/krestonoscy.htm)
6.A.Bogdan.Teutonic Knights. Eurasia. St. Petersburg, 2008
7. V. Urban. Warband. AST. The keeper. Moscow. 2003

The state founded by the Germans in the Baltic region has reached its natural limits: the sea to the north and west, strong peoples to the east and south, i.e. Rus' and Lithuania. It seemed that the time for peaceful internal development had come for him. But that wasn't really the case. External enemies threatened from all sides. The Danish king did not at all think of abandoning his claims to Estonia; Novgorod Rus' was only waiting for an opportunity to reverse its losses; Lithuanian power, dangerous for the Germans, arose in the south; the conquered tribes were restrained from uprising only by the fear of cruel retribution. Meanwhile, the tide of crusaders from Germany gradually decreased, and the Livonian Germans had to be content with almost their own means in the fight against the surrounding enemies. With the death of Bishop Albert, that mind and that iron will, which still held together the diverse composition of the new state, disappeared from the historical stage. After Albert, the Order of the Swordsmen clearly sought to become superior to their feudal master, the Bishop of Riga, and to turn the conquered region into their direct possession, i.e. put Livonia in the same relationship as Prussia was then in with the Order of the Teutonic Knights. Hence it is natural why the Livonian Order began to look for support from this side. Albert had barely time to pass into eternity when Master Volkvin sent envoys to the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Hermann Salza, proposing a close alliance and even a merger of two neighboring orders.

The conquest of Prussia by the Poles, once begun by Bolesław the Brave and some of his successors, was lost during the fragmentation of Poland into fiefs and internal turmoil. Moreover, the Polish regions themselves began to suffer from the invasions and robberies of the neighboring Prussians, and the Polish princes, who opposed the pagans, often suffered defeats from them. At the same time, for a long time the missionaries’ attempts to continue the work begun by Vojtech and Brun remained in vain; some of them also found a painful death in Prussia. Only two centuries after these two apostles, i.e. at the beginning of the 13th century, one monk from the Danzig Cistercian monastery, named Christian, managed to found a Christian community in Prussian Kulmia, which lay on the right side of the Vistula and jutted out like a wedge between the Slavs of Poland and Pomerania. This Christian, to some extent, was to Prussia what Albert Buxhoeveden was to Livonia. The famous Pope Innocent III elevated him to the dignity of Prussian bishop, entrusted him with the patronage of the Archbishop of Gniezno, as well as the princes of Poland and Pomerania, and generally provided the same active, skillful support for the establishment of the Catholic Church in Prussia as in Livonia.

In the neighboring Polish region of Mazovia, Konrad, the youngest son of Casimir the Just, reigned then, not distinguished by any valor. Taking advantage of his weakness, the Prussians intensified their attack on his lands. Instead of a courageous defense, Conrad began to buy off their raids. They even tell the following story about this. One day, not having the means to satisfy the greed of the robbers, he invited his nobles with their wives and children to a feast, during the feast he ordered to secretly take the horses and outer clothing of the guests and send it all to the Prussians. Under such circumstances, the cowardly Conrad willingly followed the advice of Bishop Christian and voluntarily installed the worst enemies of the Slavs, the Germans, in his land. The idea of ​​this was suggested by the successes of the Order of the Sword Bearers, which had just been founded in Livonia. First, Conrad and Christian, with the permission of the pope, tried to found their own order to fight the pagans. Their order received possession of the Dobryn castle on the Vistula and the right to half of all the lands that it would conquer in Prussia. But he turned out to be too weak for such a task and soon suffered such a strong defeat from the Prussians that he no longer dared to move beyond the walls of his castle. Then Conrad, on the advice of Christian and some of the Polish bishops and nobles, decided to call upon the Teutonic Order to tame the fierce neighbors.

History of the Teutonic Order before arrival in the Baltics

Hermann von Salza. Sculpture at Malbork Castle

This order was founded by the Germans shortly before that time in Palestine, in honor of the Mother of God, following the example of the Italian Johannites and the French Templars. He took monastic vows with the obligation to attend to the sick and fight the infidels. True, his exploits in Palestine did little to help the Kingdom of Jerusalem; but he was endowed with various possessions in Germany and Italy. Its importance rose a lot, thanks in particular to the grandmaster Hermann Salza, who knew how to gain equal respect from both Frederick II of Hohenstaufen and his opponents, that is, the popes. In 1225, the ambassadors of the Prince of Mazovia came to him in Southern Italy and invited the Order to move to the Kulm and Lubavsk regions under the condition of war with the Prussian pagans. Such a proposal, of course, could not but please the grandmaster; but he was in no hurry to agree, taught by experience. Around that time, the Ugric king Andrew II similarly called upon the Teutonic knights to fight the Polovtsians and gave the order possession of the Transylvania region; but then, noticing the danger that threatened from the installation of a military and power-hungry German squad, he hastened to remove the Teutons from his kingdom. Obviously, the Ugrians had a greater instinct for self-preservation than the Poles.

The Teutonic grandmaster was not so much concerned about the baptism of pagans as he had in mind to found his own independent principality. He began by asking the order from Emperor Frederick for a charter for complete possession of the Kulm land and all future conquests in Prussia; for according to the German concepts of that time, Poland itself was considered a fief of the German Empire. Zalza wanted to place the future principality under the direct supremacy of the empire, and not of Poland. Then he entered into lengthy negotiations with Konrad Mazowiecki about the conditions for transferring the order to the Kulm region. The fruit of these negotiations was a whole series of acts and charters, with which the short-sighted Polish prince granted the Teutons various rights and privileges. Only in 1228, for the first time, a significant detachment of Teutonic knights appeared on the borders of Poland and Prussia under the command of the provincial master Herman Balk to take the Kulm land into the possession of the order. Before starting the fight against the pagans, the Germans continued their negotiations with Conrad, until the treaty of 1230 received from him confirmation of eternal, unconditional ownership of this area. At the same time, they tried to protect themselves from the claims of the aforementioned Prussian Bishop Christian, who thought that the Teutonic Order would be in the same relationship with him as the Livonian Order was with the Bishop of Riga. At first, the order recognized the bishop's fief rights to the Kulm land and undertook to pay him a small tribute for it. A favorable case for the order soon helped him completely free himself from these feudal relationships. Bishop Christian with a small retinue carelessly delved into the land of the pagans to preach the Gospel and was captured, in which he languished for about nine years. The clever Herman Salza, who remained in Italy and from there managed the affairs of the order, persuaded Pope Gregory IX to recognize the Prussian possessions of the Teutons as the direct spiritual fief of the papal throne, which eliminated the claims of the Kulm bishop. In addition, with the consent of the pope, the remnants of the Dobrynka knights and their estates were included in the Teutonic Order. In this region, as well as in the land of the Baltic and Polabian Slavs, the Catholic Church was the main ally of Germanization.

Knights of the Teutonic Order in Prussia

The supreme patron of the order, the Pope, zealously called on the crusaders from neighboring countries, Poland, Pomerania, Holstein, Gotland, etc., to a common struggle against the Prussian pagans and granted these crusaders the same privileges and absolution as those who went to Palestine. His call did not go unanswered. In Western and Central Europe at that time there was still a strong belief that nothing pleases God more than the conversion of pagans to Christianity, at least through sword and fire, and that this is the surest way to wash away all past sins. The Teutonic Knights began the conquest and forced baptism of Prussia with the help of neighboring Catholic sovereigns who brought crusading squads, especially with the help of the Slavic princes of Poland and Pomerania, who, more than the Germans, worked in favor of Germanization. The knights secured every step they took by building stone castles and, first of all, of course, tried to take possession of the lower reaches of the Vistula. Here Toruń was the first stronghold of the order, followed by Helmno (Kulm), Marienwerder, Elbing, etc. The Prussians defended stubbornly, but could not resist the new force, which enjoyed superior military art, weapons, unity of action and was generally well organized. In order to further strengthen its rule, along with the construction of fortresses, the order actively introduced German colonization, calling for settlers to their cities, endowing them with trade and industrial benefits and, in addition, distributing plots of land on fief rights to settlers of the military class. To establish the new faith, the Germans paid special attention to the younger generation: they tried to capture children and sent them to Germany, where the latter received education in the hands of the clergy so that, upon returning to their homeland, they would be zealous missionaries of Catholicism and Germanization. During the conquest of Prussia, almost the same cruelties, devastation and enslavement of the natives were repeated as we saw during the conquest of Livonia and Estonia.

The Livonian master Volkvin approached this Teutonic, or Prussian, order with a proposal to join forces and sent ambassadors to Italy to the grandmaster for this purpose. But the first proposal was made at a time when the Teutonic Order had barely settled in the Kulm region and was just beginning its aggressive activities. Livonia was separated from it by still independent Lithuanian tribes; the union of two knightly orders could lead to the union of their enemies for a common resistance. Herman Salza wisely declined the offer for now, but did not give up hope. A few years later, negotiations on the union were resumed, and in Marburg, the main German refuge of the Teutons, a meeting of the order's chapter took place in the presence of Volkvin's ambassadors. Here the majority of the Teutons spoke out against the union. Their order consisted mainly of members of old noble families, seasoned, pious people, proud of their vows and strict discipline; while the ranks of the Sword Bearers were filled with the sons of Bremen and other Low German traders, various seekers of adventure and prey, people who were superfluous in their homeland. Rumors had already spread to Germany about their dissolute life and such despotic treatment of the natives, which made Christianity itself hateful to the latter and sometimes forced them to return to paganism. The Teutons looked down on the Sword Bearers and were afraid to humiliate their order with such comradeship. From Marburg the case was transferred again to Italy for consideration by the grandmaster. Herman Salza this time turned out to be more inclined towards the union and submitted the question of it to the permission of Pope Gregory IX.

Meanwhile, an event occurred that accelerated this matter. Master Volkvin with a strong army undertook a campaign into the wilderness of Lithuanian lands. The Lithuanians secretly gathered in the surrounding forests, from where they suddenly emerged and surrounded the Germans from all sides. A desperate battle took place on the day of Mauritius in September 1236. In vain the knights exclaimed: “Forward, with the help of St. Mauritius!” They were completely defeated. Master Volquin himself, forty-eight order knights and many free crusaders remained at the battle site. The Order was saved only by the fact that Lithuania did not take advantage of its victory and, instead of moving to Livonia, turned against Rus'. After that, the Sword Bearers intensified their requests for a union, which was finally accomplished by their ambassadors with the permission of Gregory IX at his residence of Viterbo, in May 1237. The Livonian knights accepted the charter of the Teutonic Order; they had to change their order cloak with a red sword to a Teutonic white mantle with a black cross on the left shoulder.

The governor of Salz in Prussia, Herman Balk, was appointed the first regional master (landmaster) in Livonia. One of his first acts here was to conclude an agreement with Voldemar II. In the dispute between the order and the Danish king for Estonia, the pope leaned towards the king, and the grandmaster conceded. According to the concluded agreement, the order returned to Denmark the coastal regions of the Gulf of Finland, Verria with the city of Wesenberg and Garria with Revel. In the latter city, Valdemar appointed a special bishop for his Estonian possessions. But he was no longer able to oust the German knights from here, who received lands and various privileges from the order. On the contrary, in order to attract this military class to his side, he tried to satisfy its greed and lust for power with new privileges and rights to enslave the natives. In general, Danish rule existed in that region for about another century, but did not take deep roots. German Balk restored the importance of the Sword Bearers with a successful war with neighboring Novgorod Rus. But soon both he and Grandmaster Salza himself died (1239).

Joint wars of the Teutonic and Livonian orders in the Baltic states

Things got worse for the united order. He had to fight at the same time with Russia, Lithuania and his former ally - the Pomeranian prince Svyatopolk. The new Livonian Landmaster Von Heimburg suffered especially sensitive defeats from the Russian hero Alexander Nevsky. These defeats were accompanied by a desperate uprising of the Kurons and Semigallians. Both tribes, as we have seen, submitted quite easily to German rule and accepted priests. But they soon became convinced that the missionaries' promises to leave their property and personal freedom alone were only empty words, that German rule and German Christianity meant all kinds of extortions and oppression. Taking advantage of the cramped position of the order, the Kurons rebelled; They killed their bishop and those priests whom they had managed to capture, drove out or killed the Germans who had settled among them, and entered into an alliance with the Lithuanian prince Mindaugas. The Semigallians also rebelled behind them.

Dietrich von Grüningen managed to suppress this uprising, whom the new Teutonic grandmaster Heinrich von Hohenlohe appointed Landmaster of Livonia and supplied with significant military resources. The stern, energetic Grüningen crossed the land of the Kurons with fire and sword and forced them to ask for peace with terrible devastation. They had already managed to return to their old gods, but now they were forced to hand over hostages and again perform the rite of baptism (1244). The following year, the war resumed when Mindovg came with the Lithuanian army to the aid of the oppressed. However, in a decisive battle on the heights of Amboten, he was defeated.

Conquests of the Teutonic Order in the Baltic States. Map

Having reconquered Curonia and Zemgallia, the Germans established their dominion here by fortifying the old native cities and building new stone castles on the outskirts and inside the country at all the most important points. Thus, there arose: Vindava, at the mouth of the river of the same name, Pilten, higher on the right bank of the same river, even higher - Goldingen on its left bank, opposite the place where it forms a picturesque waterfall; then Dondangen and Angernminde on the northern edge of Curonia; Gazenpot, Grobin and the newly fortified Amboten in the south, on the borders with Lithuania, etc. Some of these castles became the residence of commanders and Vogts, i.e. order or episcopal governors, equipped with sufficient armed force to maintain obedience in their districts. In Zemgall around that time there were the German fortresses of Selburg on the left bank of the Dvina and Bauska - on the border with Lithuania, at the confluence of the Musa and Memel. This confluence forms the Aa River (Semigalskaya, or Kuronskaya), on the left bank of which, among the low-lying terrain, the foundation of the Mitau Castle was soon laid. With the new conquest of the Kurons and Zemgales, they were already deprived of the rights that were promised to them by the original treaties. The Germans took advantage of the uprising to enslave them completely, i.e. convert into the same serfdom that had already been established in Livonia and Estonia. Thus, the Livonian Order, thanks to its union with the Teutonic Order, managed to strengthen the hitherto shaky German rule in the Baltic region, repel hostile neighbors and completely enslave the native peoples. With the help of the same connection, he almost achieved the goal of his other aspirations: he became more independent in his relationship to episcopal power and to the clergy in general, recognizing over himself only the supreme, very distant power of the emperor and the pope. But his struggle with the bishops, which had subsided during the external danger, was subsequently resumed due to disputed fiefs, income and various privileges.

The city of Riga took a very prominent place in this struggle. Thanks to its advantageous position on a large trade route, as well as close connections with Gotland and the Low German cities, Riga quickly began to grow and become rich. The bishops of Riga, who soon received the archbishop's title, awarded significant citizens for various services with fiefs, or plots of land, in the surrounding area, and endowed the city itself with such privileges that it received almost complete internal self-government. This city government of Riga was modeled after its metropolis, Bremen, and was concentrated in the hands of two guilds, the large or merchant guild and the small or craft guild. Next to them a third guild arose, under the name of the Blackheads; it initially admitted only unmarried citizens who had distinguished themselves in wars with native pagans, and this institution became the core of the city's own armed force. In addition to his civilian militia, he often kept mercenary troops. Having significant military resources, Riga was able to provide its archbishop with very effective assistance in his fight against the order and to some extent balance the forces of these two rivals. Its importance rose even more when it joined the famous Hanseatic League.

Visitors to northeastern Poland, formerly inhabited by warlike Prussian tribes, can see a large number of impressive Gothic-style castles or picturesque ruins. The power of their walls should make tourists wonder about the dark secrets and fascinating stories of this land, which witnessed the rise and fall of the Teutonic Order.

Full name of the order: Order of the Hospital of St. Mary of the German House in Jerusalem (Latin: Ordo domus fratrum Sanctae Mariae hospitalis Theutonicorum in Jerusalem). In Poland, because of the emblem - a black cross on a white background, they were simply and briefly called “people of the cross”. For their lawlessness, robberies and murders of innocent people, the Teutonic Knights are still remembered here in a negative light.

The Teutonic Order was created in Acre during the 3rd Crusade in order to care for the wounded crusaders. The official date of its creation is considered to be 1191 od when Pope Clement III officially confirmed the existence of the Teutonic Order. Once the Order conquered vast territories around the city, the number of its members increased dramatically. In subsequent years, especially during the time of the Grand Master Hermann von Salza (in the illustration), The activities of the Order went far beyond medical care. The Order wanted to occupy the same economic and political positions as the Knights Templar, and von Salz even dreamed of creating a powerful and independent monastic state. For these purposes it was necessary to find a suitable place in Europe. At first, in the early years of the thirteenth century, the knights of the Order tried to settle in Transylvania, where they were invited by King Andras II of Hungary in order to protect the country from invaders. However, when it turned out that the lands leased to them were transferred by Order as a fief of the Pope, the wise king drove the Teutons out of the country in 1225.

Attacks on Prussia

Then, in 1226, they received another invitation - this time they were called by Conrad, the Polish prince of Mazovia, whose northern lands were constantly attacked by the Prussians, who lived between the lower Vistula and the lower Niemen (in the territory of modern Poland this place is known as Warmian-Masurian voivodeship). These were the warlike tribes of the Balts, who were culturally and linguistically related to the Lithuanians and Latvians.

Prussian tribes in the 13th century

Since neither the Polish princes nor the Cistercians could cope with them in their mission to Christianize the population,
it seemed that the Knights of the Order were ideally suited to help them in this situation (unfortunately, Prince Conrad did not ask the King of Hungary for advice). The goal was the Christianization of Prussia (but in essence, it was its conquest), so this mission was approved by Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX. They allowed the Teutons to turn the captured lands into their state, which was to become part of the Roman Empire, and, at the same time, the fief of the Prince of Masovia. In reality, these plans were directed against the intentions of the deceived prince. In the illustration: Prussian soldiers.

The first representatives of the Teutonic Order - they were seven knights led by Herman von Balck - appeared on the territory of Poland in 1230. Having received a lease of land in Chełmno from Conrad, the Teutons founded their first fortified settlement there, which in 1233 received city rights and the name Toruń.

Teutonic castle in Toruń

Having settled in Torun, the knights of the Teutonic Order began the conquest of Prussia. Their plan was based on eliminating the enemy in scattered pockets of resistance, immediately building fortifications on acquired lands, and consolidating the reign of terror. Thanks to these tactics, a well-organized group of castles and fortresses with agricultural and forest estates around them was quickly founded, which were directly controlled by knights and a population of peasants from Masovia. The Czech and German Prussians managed to bravely defend themselves, so the period of conquest of their lands lasted until 1283, after which the tribes destroyed by the Teutons ceased to exist.

Knights of the Teutonic Order

The insatiable religious state, however, did not intend to stop at its conquests and sent an army against Lithuania (to the east) and ... Poland, which entailed far-reaching political consequences for both countries - very undesirable for the state of the Order. Lithuania provided the Order with an ideal justification against accepting Christianity, and in fact, increasing the borders of the Teutonic state. Realizing this danger, Lithuania decided to accept Baptistism from the hands of the Poles and create a Polish-Lithuanian union, which took place in 1385 in the city of Krevo. (As a result, the pagan ruler of Lithuania, Jogaila, married the Polish queen, Jadwiga of Anjou, taking the name Vladislav. He later laid the foundation for a new Polish royal dynasty). This act of the Lithuanians deprived the monastery of the official right to continue the conquest of Lithuania and expand its borders in the east.

State of the Teutonic Order from 1260 to 1410

Conflicts with the Poles

The economic growth policy directed against Poland led to numerous armed conflicts. When in 1308 King Władysław Loketek (Władysław the Short) asked the Knights of the Teutonic Order to help defend the city of Danzig from the Bradenburgers, they turned it - after massacres of the townspeople - into an illegal takeover of Danzig Pomerania (which separated Poland from the Baltic Sea). In 1309, the Teutonic Malbork Castle located there became the residence of the Grand Master.

Malbork Castle, view at the beginning of the 20th century

In 1327, the Order sacked the regions of Kuyavia and Greater Poland, killing women and children; in 1342 the Order's troops reached Poznań. No amount of peace negotiations could convince the Teutons (who had always received the support of the rulers of Western Europe) to return the captured lands, which ultimately led to the outbreak of war in 1409. This war finally destroyed the political and economic power of the Order. It was then that the famous Battle of Grunwald took place (July 14, 1410).

Battle of Grunwald, Jan Matejko

Battle of Grunwald in the film Knights of the Teutonic Order (1960
year)

The Polish-Lithuanian army, led by Vladislav Jagiello, defeated the knights of the Teutonic Order (their Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen was killed right during the battle), but the final collapse of the Order was still far away. In the years from 1414 to 1421 and from 1431 to 1435, other wars took place - as a result of the last war, Prussia was annexed to Poland. But the Order did not give up so easily. Attempts to restore sovereignty led to a new Polish-Teutonic War, which lasted from 1519 to 1521. Another defeat in 1525 forced Grand Master Albert of Hohenzoller to accept Lutheranism, turning the religious state into a secular duchy, and forced him to pay tribute to the Polish king Sigismund the Old.

You should know that since 1327, Livonia (currently Latvia and Estonia) was part of the Teutonic Order, based on the Order of the Brothers of the Sword, and enjoyed a certain autonomy. The alliance with Russia in 1554 led to Polish intervention and, consequently, from 1558 to 1570 the Lithuanian-Russian War. As a result of these events, the Livonian religious state was also secularized, the southern part becoming the secular Duchy of Courland and Semigallia as a fief of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was led by the last Grand Master, Gotthard Ketler, who founded his own dynasty. The rest of the Order's lands were included in the common borders of Poland and Lithuania, some went to Denmark.

Recent history

“Knights of the Teutonic Order”, Alexander Ford, 1960

The negative stereotype towards the Teutons has persisted to this day. The best evidence is the controversy surrounding the project to reconstruct the statue of Hermann von Bulk in Elbląg, while he was the founder of the city. However, despite the crime, fraud and recklessness, there are also positive aspects associated with the Teutonic Order. City layouts according to modern German principles became the model for many newly built Polish cities, such as Warsaw. And the influx of Western knights to fight the pagans introduced Poland to the knightly culture of Western Europe.

Attractions

The castles of the Teutonic Order that remain today, or their impressive ruins, attract large numbers of tourists to north-eastern Poland. They were built of brick (and later stone) in the Gothic style, combining monasteries and fortresses, making them unique in Europe. They are built on small hills, often next to rivers or lakes, usually in a quadrangle shape. The largest Polish, as well as European, medieval fortress is the castle of the Teutonic Order in the city of Malbork - fortified so much that it is impossible to get close to it (even King Jagiello could not capture it during the Battle of Grunwald). Other important fortresses are the castles in the towns of Gniew, Kwidzyn, Golub Dobrzyn, Bytów, Frombork, Lidzbark Warmiński, Pasłęk, Morag, Dzialdowo, Nidzica, Szczytno, Kętrzyn, Barcyany and Węgorzewo.

Castle in Kętrzyn / photorodzinna-turystyka.pl

Today, many of them are not only museums, but also modern hotels, places of concentration of Knightly Brotherhoods. In the summer, various historical events take place here, shows such as “Light and Sound”, tournaments, and in Malbork - a reconstruction of the siege of the city. Many castles are associated with interesting legends, and sometimes at midnight the frightening spirits of deceased knights of the Teutonic Order can appear here.

Medieval Festival of Masuria, 2010 – tournament of knights in the castle in the city of Ryn / photo:rodzinna-turystyka.pl

The most important outdoor event is the annual reenactment of the Battle of Grunwald/ grunwald1410.pl

Renata Glushek

Translation into Russian: Anna Dedyukhina