Who were the Teutons?
- Davit Grigoryan
- Jun 29, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: Feb 4
The Crusades are one of the most important events in medieval history. They caused an unprecedented surge of religious patriotic feelings among the population of both Europe and the Muslim world. Many rulers and generals became famous on the battlefields of the Crusades, such as Richard The Lionheart and his opponent Salahaddin. These religious wars also seriously changed the tactics and weapons of the knights, gave the world new countries, the so-called state of the Crusaders, and caused the emergence of spiritual knightly orders.
There were many of these organizations, but only three were the largest. We know these spiritual knightly orders from history: the Templars, the Johannites, and the Teutons. Who were the Teutons? How was this spiritual knightly order formed and why did it fall? In this article, we will find answers to those questions.
Order of the House of St. Mary of the Teutonic in Jerusalem
Teutonic, also known as German or Germanic order, was founded in Palestine in 1190 during the Third Crusade. That is why, it is considered the youngest of the three largest spiritual knightly organizations. Its full name sounds like "Order of the House of St. Mary of the Teutonic in Jerusalem". Who exactly founded this organization isn’t known for certain.
There are two versions of the formation of the German order. The first says that during the Third Crusade, German chaplains founded a hospital near the city of Acre for their wounded compatriots. According to the second version, this organization was born from a brotherhood founded by German merchants.
The goals of this brotherhood were to help the poor and sick Germans. This brotherhood soon acquired an influential patron, Frederick of Swabia, and became a spiritually knightly order, known as the Teutonic. But if you think the German knights immediately became independent, you need clarification.
In the first months of its existence, this organization was part of the Order of St. John. A year later, the Brotherhood of St. Mary of Jerusalem became independent, and 9 years after its formation, the Pope granted the Teutonic Order full autonomy. The new organization of knights of monks was established not only by the head of the Catholic Church but also by the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. This meant that the head of the German state could use it for his own political or personal purposes.
But what is the structure of the Teutonic Order? At the head of this spiritual knightly organization, like many others like it, is the Grand Master. A significant difference between this community of German knights and others is that the General Capital, a meeting of all members of the order, limits the power of the head of this organization. It follows from this that the position of Grand Master was not for life and often the head of the order was decided due to resignation. The second person in the order after the Grand Master was the Landmeister, that is, the deputy head of the order for a certain territory. In total, the Teutons had three landmasters, the German landmaster, the Prussian landmaster, and the Livonian landmaster. After the Landmaster came to Landkomtur, the territory's governor belonged to the Order and at the very bottom of the hierarchy was Komtur, that is, the head of the district. There were also several positions in the Teutonic Order. And so the order is formed, its structure is determined, but what next?
The Rise of the Teutonic Knights
The further history of the German knights is inextricably linked with Eastern Europe. The Teutons first appeared in this region in the first half of the 13th century, and already at the beginning of the next century, they became full-fledged masters of the city of Nuremberg. In 1210, the knights of this order began to actively use European politics, supposedly to fight the pagans, in fact, to expand their territories. In 1211, the Hungarian king Andrew II invited the Teutons to protect the borders of his state from the Cumans.
One of the key moments in the history of the Teutonic Order is their conquest of Prussia. Just imagine, in the thirteenth century, Europe has been professing Christianity for several centuries, but pagans live practically in its very center. Moreover, any peaceful Christianization of these pagans does not lead to the desired results. This state of affairs, of course, did not suit the European monarchs, and therefore in 1222, the Prussian Crusade began. The combat experience of the Teutonic knights allows them to successfully capture this territory. There would be no Germany at all if they had not conquered the lands of Prussia. On the occupied lands, knights build many castles, such as Königsberg, and convert the population of these territories to Christianity. With the conquest of this Eastern European land, the rise of the German spiritual knightly organization began.
In the 13th century, the Teutonic Order assimilated the remnants of the brotherhood of the Knights of the Sword and captured Lvonia, Gdansk, and the Eastern Seaboard, and became a state. The capital of this state was the city of Marienburg, the modern Polish city of Malbork. The beginning of the rise of this organization is invariably associated with one of its great masters, Hermann von Salza.
Very difficult relations developed between the German Order and the Russian principalities. In 1240, one of the Teutonic units invaded northern Russia, captured Pskov, and moved on to the territory of the Novgorod principality. To quickly receive punishment from the troops led by Alexander Nevsky, they left the north of Russian lands. Two years later, they again attempted to seize the Novgorod lands. Again, operational units under the leadership of the same Alexander Nevsky dealt a crushing blow to the Germans. The significance of this battle was invaluable because after it the Teutons signed peace with the Russian prince and refused to invade the borders of Russia.
The second Russian principality that faced the expansion of the German Order was Galicia–Volhynia. First, Prince Daniil Romanovich defeated the Crusaders in the battle of Dragichin and then became their ally in the war against one of the Baltic tribes.
But the Grand Duchy of Lithuania suffered the most from the raids of the Teutonic knights. The Germans in Lithuania also suffered a number of crushing defeats, but at the same time persistently tried to seize this state. Why? It seems to us that the answer is very simple: the seizure of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania meant the establishment of complete control of the German spiritual knightly order over the Baltic states. The knights slightly weakened their onslaught on Lithuania only at the end of the 14th century after the marriage of the Lithuanian prince to the Polish princess and the unification of these two states.
What Led to the Fall of the Teutonic Order?
According to the laws of history, after any rise comes fall and the same thing happened with the Teutonic Order. The beginning of its end was two major military conflicts between these knights and the Polish kingdom in the first half of the 15th century. The first of those wars began in 1409, its key battle was the famous Battle of Grunwald. Most historians consider the defeat of the Teutonic knights to be the defeat in the Battle of Grunwald. They say that the victory of the united Polish-Russian-Lithuanian forces over the troops of the Teutonic Order was the largest event in the centuries-old struggle of the Slavic and Baltic peoples for independence. This battle stopped for a long time the aggression of the German feudal lords against the Polish, Lithuanian, and Russian lands and undermined the power of the Teutonic Order.
The result of defeat in the great war for the Teutons was the deterioration of discipline within the order, the refusal of the brothers to obey the orders of the Grand Master, and increased tax oppression. In addition, the order state, as the losing side, lost some of its lands. The Teutonic Order finally ceased to exist as an independent state after the 13-year war and recognized itself as a vassal of the Polish kingdom. True, as a spiritual knightly organization, this organization continued to exist.
A serious blow to the German order was dealt by its last Grand Master, Albert of Hohenzollern. Who came to Protestantism and resigned as Grand Master. At the same time, Prussia became the first Protestant state in Europe. The Teutons finally ceased to exist by order of Napoleon Bonaparte, who dissolved them in 1809. But this organization turned out to be surprisingly tenacious. A quarter of a century later, the Teutonic Order was restored, although now as an exclusively charitable monastic organization.
You may be surprised, but this order still exists today. In the twentieth century, he survived the persecution of the Nazis and a new revival; the last Grand Master at the moment is Frank Boyard. Its members are mainly monks.
But what are the reasons for the death of the Teutonic Order as a state? The first reason is the emergence of a strong rival, the Polish Kingdom. Second, a series of serious crushing defeats was inflicted on the knight by Russian, Lithuanian, and Polish troops. These defeats led to the demoralization of ordinary members of the order and became the beginning of the struggle for independence of the territories that were part of this state. Reason number three for the change of religious course by the leadership of this organization. The fourth reason is the decline of the era of the Crusades and, as a consequence, the uselessness of spiritual knightly orders.
This is the brief history of the Teutonic Order, a unique organization that became not just an influential association of knights and monks, but also an entire state.
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