The
Teutonic Order was a crusading
order of knights under religious vows which was formed at the end of the
12th century in Palestine to give medical aid to pilgrims to the holy places.
They received papal orders for crusades to take and hold Jerusalem for
Christianity. They were based at Acre.
When the mission of the order in Palestine was going to be over, Teutonic
Knights moved their headquarter to Venice. As the only way to continue
their mission seemed to them changing operation theatre to Eastern Europe
on the border with pagan nations. The Knights offered their services to
the local Christian rulers posing to be religiously motivated mercenaries.
Nevertheless, they hoped that leveraging their influence in the Holy Roman
Empire could help them become territorial proprietors of the newly conquered
lands.
In 1211 Andrew II of Hungary accepted their services. They were granted
the district of Burzenland in Transylvania. Andrew had been involved in
negotiations for the marriage of his daughter with the son of Hermann,
the Landgrave of Thuringia. The latter's vassals included the family of
Hermann of Salza, the new master of the Teutonic Order. Led by a brother
called Theoderich they provided defended the Kingdom of Hungary from the
neighbouring Cumans. In 1224 they petitioned Pope Honorius III to be placed
directly under the authority of the papal see, rather than the Kingdom
of Hungary. King Andrew responded by expelling them in 1225
At the same time Konrad I Mazowiecki, ruler of one of the parts of Poland,
suffered when pagan Old Prussians occupied Culmerland. In order to restore
this province and conquer Prussia, Konrad hired the Knights, giving them
Culmerland as a fief (1226). However, in 1234 the Order received privileges
from the emperor that made them independent rulers of Culmerland and Prussia.
Rulers of Poland resented this, as they perceived those provinces as part
of Poland.
Thanks to the income from the land owned by the Order in Western Europe
and its lack of scruples, the war of attrition against Prussians had already
been finished when the state of Teutonic Order conquered or slaughtered
all Prussians. This was one of the first cases of genocide against native
people, carried out by Christians.
They ruled over much of the Baltic for several centuries, losing power
finally in the mid 16th century. In addition they founded numerous cities
all over Central and Eastern Europe.
The Order began to lose influence during the late Middle Ages, as the
Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania was found. Soon the Order was involved
in many wars against Poland, Lithuania and the Tatars. The biggest battle
of the Teutonic Knights was the Battle of Tannenberg (1410) (in Polish,
Battle of Grunwald), which they lost.
Later, the burghers of Prussia rose up against the Catholic Teutonic
order and their power waned further. The emperor Maximilian I had made
an agreement with the Polish king and in 1525, the grand master of the
order, Albrecht of Brandenburg, converted to Lutheranism and swore allegiance
to the Polish king, who made him the Duke of Prussia. This Polish king
was also the grand duke of Lithuania, Sigismund I, and was Albrecht of
Brandenburg's uncle.
The new Grand Magistery was then established in Württemberg and members
of the Habsburg family continued as grand masters over the Order's considerable
holdings in Germany until 1809, when the Order lost its last secular holdings.
The order continued to exist, headed by Habsburgs through the First World
War, and today operates primarily as a charitable organization.
Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order, 1191-present
-
Heinrich I Walpot von Bassenheim 1198-1200
-
Otto von Kerpen 1200-1206
-
Heinrich II von Tunna 1206-1209
-
Hermann von Salza 1209-1239
-
Konrad I of Thuringia 1239-1240
-
Gerhard von Malberg 1241-1244
-
Heinrich III von Hohenlohe 1244-1249
-
Günther von Schwarzenberg 1249-1253
-
Poppo von Osterna 1253-1257
-
Hanno von Sangershausen 1257-1274
-
Hartmann von Helbrungen 1274-1283
-
Burkhard von Schwanden 1283-1290
-
Konrad II von Feuchtwangen 1290-1297
-
Gottfried von Hohenlohe 1297-1302
-
Siegfried von Feuchtwangen 1302-1310
-
Karl Bessart 1311-1324
-
Werner von Orselen 1324-1330
-
Lothar of Brunswick 1331-1335
-
Dietrich von Altenburg 1335-1341
-
Ludolf Konig von Wattzau 1342-1345
-
Heinrich IV Dusener von Arfberg 1345-1351
-
Winrich von Kniprode 1351-1382
-
Konrad III Zollner von Rothstein 1382-1390
-
Konrad IV von Wallenrode 1391-1393
-
Konrad V von Juningen 1393-1407
-
Ulrich von Jungignen 1407-1410
-
Heinrich V von Reuss 1410-1413
-
Michael Kuchenmeister von Sternburg 1414-1422
-
Paul Belenzer von Ruszdorf 1423-1440
-
Konrad VI von Erlichshausen 1441-1449
-
Ludwig von Erlichshausen 1450-1467
-
Heinrich VI von Reuss 1467-1470
-
Heinrich VII Reffle von Richtenberg 1470-1477
-
Martin Truchsetz von Wetzhausen 1477-1489
-
Johann von Tieffen 1489-1497
-
Friedrich of Saxony 1497-1510
-
Albert of Brandenburg 1510-1525
-
Walter von Cronberg 1527-1543
-
Wolfgang Schutzbar 1543-1566
-
Georg Hundt von Weckheim 1566-1572
-
Heinrich VIII von Bobenhausen 1572-1590
-
Maximilian of Austria 1590-1618
-
Karl I of Austria 1619-1624
-
Johann Eustach von Westernach 1625-1627
-
Johann Kaspar I von Stadion 1627-1641
-
Leopold Wilhelm of Austria 1641-1662
-
Karl Josef of Austria 1662-1664
-
Johann Kaspar II von Ampringen 1664-1684
-
Ludwig Anton of Palatinate-Neuburg 1685-1694
-
Ludwig Franz of Palatinate-Neuburg 1694-1732
-
Clemens August of Bavaria 1732-1761
-
Charles Alexander of Lorraine 1761-1780
-
Maximilian Franz of Austria 1780-1801
-
Karl II of Austria 1801-1804
-
Anton Viktor of Austria 1804-1835
-
Maximilian of Austria-Este 1835-1863
-
Wilhelm Franz Karl of Austria 1863-1894
-
Eugen Ferdinand Pius Bernhard of Austria 1894-1923
-
Dr. Norbert Klein 1923-1933
-
Paul Heider 1933-1936
-
Robert Schälzky 1936-1948
-
Dr. Marian Tumler 1948-1970
-
Ildefons Pauler 1970-1988
-
Dr. Arnold Othmar Wieland 1988-2000
-
Bruno Platter 2000-present
See also
External link
