Symbolism of the Teutonic Order The Middle Ages is a symbolic era. And the point is not that this era symbolizes something in itself, but that the life of medieval people consisted of symbols, symbols were everywhere and played a huge role. One of the clear examples of the special meaning of symbols in those days are the spiritual and knightly orders - each of them had not only its coat of arms and flag, but also a detailed system of symbols to designate various positions and duties within the order. Not without special symbolism in the life of the Teutonic Order. It is well known that the main symbol of the Teutonic Order was a black cross on a white background. Currently, the symbol of the organization, which bears the name of the Teutonic Order, is a black enamel Latin cross with a white enamel border, covered with a helmet with black and white feathers. But only those who are interested in the history of the classical Order know that each level of the Teutonic hierarchy had its own symbols, and this symbolism was reflected in the robes worn by the Teutons. Everyone belonging to the Teutonic Order had such an appearance, from the Grand Master to the mercenary soldiers: the Grand Master of the Order had his own coat of arms, which was based on the Order's black cross with a yellow border, on which a smaller and yellow cross was “superimposed”. colors. In the center of the cross was a yellow shield with a black eagle, the symbol of the German imperial house - the Teutonic Order and its Grand Master personally recognized his vassalage in relation to the German emperor in military and political terms; landmaster of the Order (the next most important position, in fact, the plenipotentiary deputy grand master in one of the three order territories - German Landmaster, Landmaster in Prussia, Landmaster in Livonia) - his symbol, according to researchers, was an order black cross, over which was superimposed a white cross that follows its contours; the Grand Marshal of the Order in terms of symbolism is still a mysterious figure: there are at least two versions of his personal coat of arms. The first is the same coat of arms as that of the Grand Master, but without the yellow cross superimposed on the order cross. The second - there was a yellow superimposed cross, but the border reached only the middle of each of its crossbars; the grand komtur (in fact, the deputy grand master for staff assignments) and the komtur (heads of the smallest administrative units of the state of the Teutonic Order, commanders) did not have separate coats of arms or types of attire, but they had special wands that symbolized their powers as representatives of the judiciary; full-fledged knights of the Teutonic Order, knight brothers, were to be dressed in completely white clothes and cloaks, on which black order crosses were to be applied both on the chest and on the back; the so-called half-brothers or servant brothers had an intermediate position in the Teutonic Order, therefore there is no consensus on the symbolism of this category. According to one of the hypotheses, the servant brothers did not have their own “overalls”, there was only a recommendation to dress in secular plain clothes, either gray, or white, or black. In addition, there is an assumption that, in accordance with the internal hierarchy among the half-brothers, some of them may have had obligatory gray cloaks with a black T-shaped cross sewn on the shoulder; the sergeants, that is, the commanders of the detachments of mercenary warriors, as a uniform by which they could be distinguished on the battlefield from enemy soldiers, had white cottas (a kind of tunic-shaped outerwear with narrow sleeves) and gray raincoats with a T-shaped cross; for hired soldiers (often referred to as bollards), for the same reasons as for sergeants, white “shields” with black T-shaped crosses applied to the bottom were sewn onto their clothes. The clothes themselves were recommended to be plain black, so that the stripes with crosses were more noticeable. In addition, it must be clarified that the shape of the various crosses used in the symbolism of the Teutonic Order changed several times during the history of the Order.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit!

The straight black cross of the Hohmeister (Supreme Master) of the Teutonic Order of the Ever-Virgin Mary on a white field had in the center a black single-headed eagle of the "Holy Roman Empire (German nation)" on a golden shield. On this black cross was superimposed a narrower gold cross of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, founded by the crusaders in the Promised Land (the so-called "Cross of the Emperor Constantius" - according to ancient legend, the Roman Emperor Constantius, the son of the first Christian Emperor - the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles King Constantine the Great -, in the sky above Jerusalem saw a cross of just such a form), most often having a form referred to in heraldry as “crutch”, “gallows-shaped” or “reinforced” (with transverse bars at the ends of the arms of the cross), ending at the ends with golden heraldic lilies.

The appearance of a black single-headed imperial eagle on the coat of arms of the Hohmeister of the "Teutons" was associated with the bull of the Roman-German Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen of 1226, which granted the Teutonic Supreme Master the hereditary rights of a sovereign sovereign sovereign in conquered Prussia (which was not part of the "Holy Roman Empire") and the title prince (in German: “fuerst”, Fuerst, in Latin: “princeps”, princeps) of the “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation” (in the order possessions of the “Teutons” that were part of the Empire). Traditionally, the eagle on the gold heart shield of the Teutonic Grand Master was entirely black. Only in the last years of the twentieth century, there was a tendency to depict a black eagle with a red "weapon" (beak and paws), as on the coat of arms of modern Germany (FRG).

The Golden Jerusalem Cross was bestowed upon the Supreme Masters of the Teutonic Order of the Ever-Virgin Mary by King Guido (n) Lusignan of Jerusalem, along with a number of privileges for the merits of the Teutonic Knights in the fight against the Saracens (Muslim Arabs and Turks) in the Holy Land. The golden lilies at the ends of the cross in the coat of arms of the Supreme Master of the Teutonic Order received similar merits from the French crusader king Louis IX Saint. By the middle of the 14th century, during the heyday of the Teutonic Order in Prussia, this magnificent coat of arms, already far from the original monastic simplicity, adorned white vestments, armor, a shield, horse blankets, the Large and Small banners of the Supreme Master (and from the middle of the 15th century until today - a richly decorated neck cross on a chain or on a black ribbon and a metal cross, which the Hochmeisters wear on the left chest, as a kind of equivalent of an order star).

From the beginning of the XV century. the process of formation of a new, four-part, official coat of arms of the Teutonic Hochmeister begins to be observed, which includes the emblem of the Order of the Ever-Virgin Mary (a black cross on a white field) in combination with the family (family) coat of arms of the master. By the time being described, a similar “four-part” composition, including both of these coats of arms, already existed in the Order of the Hospitallers-St. John. For the first time, a coat of arms of this type, minted on coins and carved on the fortress walls, appeared among the ioannites (who were called in the described period "knights of Rhodes", or "Rhodian knights" - at the location of their then order residence) under the Grand Master Pierre d'Aubusson, who led Order of Saint John in 1478-1503.

In the Teutonic Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the inclusion of the family coats of arms of the Supreme Masters in the order seal occurred at the end of the 15th century. But if the official coat of arms of the Grand Masters of the Order of the Joannites was a combination of the coat of arms of the Order with the family coat of arms of the Master, then in the shield of the four-part official coat of arms of the Teutonic Hochmeisters, depicted on the seal, the family coat of arms of the Supreme Master of the “Teutons” was not combined with the coat of arms of the Order of the Virgin Mary (a straight black cross on white field), but with the initial official coat of arms of the Supreme Master described above (the same as on the “small” seals, starting from the 30s-40s of the XIV century and on the banner of the Supreme Master of all the “Teutons”). The coats of arms of 34 Supreme Masters of the Teutonic Order (in the illustrations with portraits of the Hochmeisters) given in the Daubman Chronicle of 1565 are four-part shields containing in parts I and IV a cross from the official coat of arms of the Supreme Master (but without a heart shield with a single-headed eagle), and in II and III parts - his family coat of arms. The four-part coat of arms of the Supreme Masters is also repeated on the shield and chest of the “portrait” illustrations of the Hochmeisters. Later, the cross of the Supreme Master on the coat of arms (including the heart shield with a single-headed eagle) served to divide the coat of arms into parts, on which the order and family emblems were located.

In the so-called "Habsburg period" of the history of the Teutonic Order, when it was under the auspices of the Emperors of the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" (and later, from 1806 - the Emperors of Austria) from the Habsburg dynasty, it was called the Teutonic Knights Order, almost becoming a dynastic The Order of the House of Habsburg and was headed by the archdukes (princes) of this House, a black single-headed eagle on the heart shield of the coat of arms of the head of the Order (officially called Goh-und Deutschmeisterm during this period, that is, the Supreme Master and Master of Germany) at one time (judging by the surviving stiandarts) was replaced by the same black, but only a double-headed eagle (as on the arms of the Emperors of the Habsburg dynasty); however, later the eagle again became one-headed. In addition, it was during the “Habsburg period” of the history of the Order of the Virgin Mary that the originally completely black Hochmeister eagle on the heart shield for some time had weapons (as the beak and paws are called in the heraldic language) of red color (as on the modern state emblem of Germany).

The large official coat of arms of the Gohund Deutschmeister of the Teutonic Knightly Order - Archduke from the Habsburg dynasty - with the chain of the knightly Order of the Golden Fleece (the Highest Order of the Austrian Empire) around the shield is depicted in the illustration placed by us in the title of this miniature. On the chest of the eagle is crowned with a knight's helmet with 3 white and 2 black ostrich feathers, a coat of arms three times divided, in the first field of which the coat of arms of the Habsburgs was depicted, in the second - the coat of arms of (New) Austria, in the third - the coat of arms of Lorraine. The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Hungary (more precisely: the combined coat of arms of Old and New Hungary) is placed in the I field of the large coat of arms, in the II - the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia (Czech Republic), in the III - the combined coat of arms of the kingdoms of Galicia and Lodomiria, in the IV - the coat of arms of Old (Lower) Austria .

This is the end and glory to our Lord!

Symbolism of the Teutonic Order

The Middle Ages is a symbolic era. And the point is not that this era symbolizes something in itself, but that the life of medieval people consisted of symbols, symbols were everywhere and played a huge role. One of the clear examples of the special meaning of symbols in those days are the spiritual and knightly orders - each of them had not only its coat of arms and flag, but also a detailed system of symbols to designate various positions and duties within the order. Not without special symbolism in the life of the Teutonic Order.

It is well known that the main symbol of the Teutonic Order was a black cross on a white background. Currently, the symbol of the organization, which bears the name of the Teutonic Order, is a black enamel Latin cross with a white enamel border, covered with a helmet with black and white feathers. But only those who are interested in the history of the classical Order know that each level of the Teutonic hierarchy had its own symbols, and this symbolism was reflected in the robes worn by the Teutons. Everyone belonging to the Teutonic Order had this appearance, from the Grand Master to the mercenary soldiers:

the Grand Master of the Order had his own coat of arms, which was based on the order's black cross with a yellow border, on which a smaller and yellow cross was “superimposed”. In the center of the cross was a yellow shield with a black eagle, the symbol of the German imperial house - the Teutonic Order and its Grand Master personally recognized his vassalage in relation to the German emperor in military and political terms;
landmaster of the Order (the next most important position, in fact, the plenipotentiary deputy grand master in one of the three order territories - German Landmaster, Landmaster in Prussia, Landmaster in Livonia) - his symbol, according to researchers, was an order black cross, over which was superimposed a white cross that follows its contours;
the Grand Marshal of the Order in terms of symbolism is still a mysterious figure: there are at least two versions of his personal coat of arms. The first is the same coat of arms as that of the Grand Master, but without the yellow cross superimposed on the order cross. The second - there was a yellow superimposed cross, but the border reached only the middle of each of its crossbars;

the grand komtur (in fact, the deputy grand master for staff assignments) and the komtur (heads of the smallest administrative units of the state of the Teutonic Order, commanders) did not have separate coats of arms or types of attire, but they had special wands that symbolized their powers as representatives of the judiciary;
full-fledged knights of the Teutonic Order, knight brothers, were to be dressed in completely white clothes and cloaks, on which black order crosses were to be applied both on the chest and on the back;
the so-called half-brothers or servant brothers had an intermediate position in the Teutonic Order, therefore there is no consensus on the symbolism of this category. According to one of the hypotheses, the servant brothers did not have their own “overalls”, there was only a recommendation to dress in secular plain clothes, either gray, or white, or black. In addition, there is an assumption that, in accordance with the internal hierarchy among the half-brothers, some of them may have had obligatory gray cloaks with a black T-shaped cross sewn on the shoulder;
the sergeants, that is, the commanders of the detachments of mercenary warriors, as a uniform by which they could be distinguished on the battlefield from enemy soldiers, had white cottas (a kind of tunic-shaped outerwear with narrow sleeves) and gray raincoats with a T-shaped cross;
for hired soldiers (often referred to as bollards), for the same reasons as for sergeants, white “shields” with black T-shaped crosses applied to the bottom were sewn onto their clothes. The clothes themselves were recommended to be plain black, so that the stripes with crosses were more noticeable. In addition, it must be clarified that the shape of the various crosses used in the symbolism of the Teutonic Order changed several times during the history of the Order.

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Brief historical outline

© Guy Stair Sainty
© Translation from English and additions by Yu.Veremeev

From a translator. For us in Russia, the Teutonic Order is unambiguously associated with German knights, crusaders, Germany, German expansion to the east, the battle of Prince Alexander Nevsky on Lake Peipsi with knight dogs, and the aggressive aspirations of the Prussians against Russia. The Teutonic Order for us is a kind of synonym for Germany. However, this is not entirely true. The Order and Germany are far from being the same thing. In the historical essay offered to the reader by Guy Steyr Santi, translated from English with additions made by the translator, the history of the Teutonic Order is traced from its inception to the present day. Yes Yes! The order still exists today.

The translator in some places gives explanations about moments little known to the Russian reader, provided the text with illustrations, additions and corrections from other historical sources.

Some explanations and references are given before the beginning of the text of the essay. In addition, the translator encountered certain difficulties in translating proper names, names of a number of localities and settlements, castles. The fact is that these names are very different in English, German, Russian, Polish. Therefore, names and titles are, if possible, given in translation and in the original language (English) or German, Polish.

First of all, about the name of this organization.
Official name in Latin (because 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 -
In German, the full name is Bruder and Schwestern vom Deutschen Haus Sankt Mariens in Jerusalem
- the first version of the abbreviated name in German - Der Teutschen Orden
- a common variant in German - Der Deutsche Order.
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):
meister. It is translated into Russian as "master", "leader", "head". In Russian historical literature, the term "master" is usually used.
Gross Meister. It is translated into Russian as "great master", "great master", "supreme leader", "supreme leader". In Russian historical literature, the German word itself is usually used in the Russian transcription "Grandmaster" or "Grand Master".
Administratoren des Hochmeisteramptes in Preussen, Meister teutschen Ordens in teutschen und walschen Landen. This long title can be translated as "Administrator of the Main Magistrate in Prussia, Master of the Teutonic Order in the Teutonic and controlled Lands (Regions)".
Hoch- und Deutschmeister. Can be translated as "Supreme Master and Master of Germany"
hochmeister. Can be translated into Russian as "Grand Master", but more often used in transcription as "Hochmeister"

Other senior leaders in the Order:
commander. In Russian, the term "commander" is used, although the essence of this word means "commander", "commander".
capitularies. It is not translated into Russian, it is transcribed as "capitulier". The essence of the title is the head of the chapter (meetings, conferences, commissions).
Rathsgebietiger. Can be translated as "Council Member".
Deutscherrenmeister. It is not translated into Russian. Means approximately "Chief Master of Germany".
balleimeister. It can be translated into Russian as "master of the estate (possession)".

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

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

The highest leaders of the Order (known to the author of the essay and the translator):
1. 19.2.1191-1200 Heinrich von Walpot (Rhineland)
2. 1200-1208 Otto von Kerpen (Bremen)
3. 1208-1209 Herman Bart (Holstein)
4. 1209-1239 Herman von Salza (Meissen)
5. 1239-9.4.1241 Conrad Landgraf von Thuringen
6. 1241 -1244 Gerhard von Mahlberg
7. 1244-1249 Heinrich von Hohenlohe
8. 1249-1253 Gunther von Wüllersleben
9. 1253-1257 Popon von Osterna
10. 1257-1274 Annon von Sangershausen
11. 1274-1283 Hartman von Heldrungen
12.1283-1290 Burchard von Schwanden
13. 1291-1297 Conrad von Feuchtwangen
14. 1297 - 1303 Godfrey von Hohenlohe
15. 1303-1311 Siegfried von Feuchtwangen
16. 1311-1324 Kard von Trier
17. 1324-1331 Werner von Orslen
18. 1331-1335 Luther von Brunswick
19. 1335-1341 Dietrich von Altenburg
20. 1341-1345 Ludolf König
21. 1345 -1351 Heinrich Dusemer
22. 1351-1382 Winrich von Kniprode
23. 1382-1390 Conrad 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 Russdorf
30. 1441- 1449 Konrad von Erlichshausen
31. 1450-1467 Ludwig von Erlichshausen
32. 1469-1470 Heinrich Reuss von Plauen
33. 1470-1477 Heinrich von Richtenberg (Heinrich von Richtenberg)
34. 1477-1489 Martin Truchses von Wetzhausen
35. 1489- 1497 Johann von Tiefen
36. 1498 -1510 Furst Friedrich Sachsisch (Prince Friedrich of Saxony)
37. 13.2.1511-1525 Markgraf Albrecht von Hohenzollern (Brandenburg)
38. 1525 -16.12.1526 Walther von Plettenberg
39. 12/16/1526 -? Walther von Cronberg
40.? - 1559 von Furstenberg
41. 1559 -5.3.1562 Gothard Kettler
42. 1572-1589 Heinrich von Bobenhausen
43. 1589- 1619 Ezherzog Maximilian Habsburg (Archduke Maximilian)
44. 1619-? Erzherzog Karl Habsburg (Archduke Karl Habsburg)
?. ?-? ?
?. 1802 - 1804 Erzherzog Carl-Ludwig Habsburg (Archduke Karl-Ludwig)
?. 30.6.1804 -3.4.1835 Erzgerzog Anton Habsburg (Archduke Anton Habsburg)
?. 1835-1863 Erzperzog Maximilian Austria-Este (Habsburg)
?. 1863-1894 Erzherzog Wilhelm (Habsburg)
?. ? -1923 Erzherzog Eugen (Habsburg)
?. 1923-? Monsignor Norbert Klein
? ?- 1985 Ildefons Pauler
? 1985 - Arnold Wieland

Part I

Forerunner of the Order was a hospital founded by German pilgrims and crusader knights between 1120 and 1128, but destroyed after the fall of Jerusalem in 1187 during the Second Crusade.

With the arrival two years later of the Knights of the Third Crusade (1190-1193), many of whom were Germans, a new hospital was formed near the Syrian fortress of Saint Jean d "Acre (Acre) for soldiers who were wounded during the siege (approx. translator - the fortress in Russian historical literature is called Acre, Acre, in English Acre. It was taken by the knights in 1191. The hospital was built on the land of St. Nicholas from boards and sails of ships that transported participants in the campaign to the Holy Land. and Canon Wurhard. Note by the translator.) Although this hospital had no connection with an earlier hospital, its example may have inspired them to restore Christian rule in Jerusalem. They adopted the name of the city as part of their name, along with Our Lady Mary, whom they considered The Knights later proclaimed Saint Elisabeth of Hungary also patroness after her canonization in 1235, and in the custom of many knights They also proclaimed Saint John as their patron, as the patron of nobility and chivalry.

The new institution with the status of a spiritual order was approved by one of the German knightly leaders, Prince Friedrich of Swabia (Furst Frederick von Swabia) November 19, 1190, and after the capture of the fortress of Acre, the founders of the hospital found her a permanent place in the city.

According to another version, during the 3rd crusade, when Acre was besieged by the knights, merchants from Lübeck and Bremen founded a field hospital. Duke Friedrich of Swabia transformed the hospital into a spiritual Order, headed by the chaplain Conrad. The order was subordinate to the local bishop and was a branch of the Order of St. John.

Pope Clement III approved the Order as "fratrum Theutonicorum ecclesiae S. Mariae Hiersolymitanae" by his papal bull of February 6, 1191.

March 5, 1196 in the temple of Acre, a ceremony was held to reorganize the Order into a spiritual and knightly Order.

The ceremony was attended by the masters of the Hospitallers and the Templars, as well as the 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: the protection of the German knights, the treatment of the sick, the fight against the enemies of the Catholic Church. The order was subject to the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor.

Over the years, the Order developed into a Religious Armed Force comparable to the Order of the Hospitallers and the Order of the Knights Templar (translator's note - the latter is also known as the Order of the Holy Temple or Templars), although initially subordinate to the Master of the Hospital (Der Meister des Lazarettes). This submission was confirmed by a bull of Pope Gregory IX dated January 12, 1240, under the title "fratres hospitalis S. Mariae Theutonicorum in Accon". The Germanic character of this new hospital Order and its protection by the German emperor and the German dukes enabled it to gradually assert its de facto independence from the Order of St. John. 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 fourteenth century this independence was confirmed by the Holy See.

Approximately forty knights were accepted into the new 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. The knights of the new brotherhood had to be of German blood (although this rule was not always respected), which was unusual for Crusader Orders based in the Holy Land. They were chosen from people of the noble class, although this last obligation was not formally included in the original rule. Their uniform was a blue mantle (cloak), with a black Latin cross, worn over a white tunic, recognized by the Patriarch of Jerusalem and confirmed by the Pope in 1211. (From the translator.- In the figure there is a Latin cross worn by the knights of the Teutonic Order on cloaks)

The waves of German knights and pilgrims who participated in the third Crusade brought considerable wealth to the new German Hospital as newcomers. This enabled the knights to purchase the Joscelin estate and soon build the fortress of Montfort (lost in 1271), a rival to the great fortress of Krak des Chevaliers. Not so numerous in the Holy Land compared to the Templars, the Teutonic Knights, however, wielded great power.

First Master of the Order Heinrich von Walpot (died 1200) was from the Rhineland. 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 against unbelievers. Unlike the knights, who from the beginning of the thirteenth century had to prove "ancient nobility", the priests were exempted from this obligation. Their function was to celebrate holy mass and other religious services, to give communion to the knights and the sick in hospitals, and to follow them as medics to war. Priests of the Order could not become masters, commanders or vice-commanders in Lithuania or Prussia (i.e., where hostilities were fought. Approx.translator), but could become commanders in Germany. Later, a third class was added to these two ranks - service personnel (Sergeants, or Graumantler), who wore similar clothes, but a grayer shade than pure blue and had only three parts of a cross on their clothes to indicate that they were not full members. brotherhood.

The knights lived together in bedrooms on simple beds, ate together in the dining room, had no more than enough money. Their clothing and armor were similarly simple but practical, they toiled daily, trained for battle, looked after their equipment, and worked with their horses. The master - the title of grandmaster appeared later - was elected, as in the Order of the Johnites, and, as in other Orders, his rights were limited to knights. The representative of the master, the (chief) commander, to whom the priests were subordinate, managed the Order in his absence. The marshal (chief), also subordinate to the magister, was the chief in command of the knights and ordinary 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 building and clothing, the treasurer managed the property and finances. Each of these last leaders was elected for a short term, rotating annually. As the Order spread throughout Europe, it became necessary to appoint provincial masters for Germany, Prussia and later Livonia, with their respective chief leaders.

Valpota 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 most prominent early master was the fourth, Herman von Salza (1209-1239) from near Meissen, who by his diplomatic measures greatly increased the prestige of the Order. His mediation in conflicts between the Pope and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire provided the Order with the patronage of both, increasing the number of knights, giving him wealth and property. During his reign, the Order received no less than thirty-two papal confirmations or grants of privilege and no less than thirteen imperial confirmations. Master 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 near 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. Salz received a golden cross from the king of Jerusalem as a sign of his superiority, after the knights' outstanding performance at the siege of Damietta in 1219.

By imperial decree of January 23, 1214, the grand master and his representatives were given the rights of the Imperial Court; as owners of immediate fiefs they enjoyed a seat on the Imperial Council in princely rank from 1226/27. The princely rank was subsequently awarded to the master of Germany and, after the loss of Prussia, to the master of Livonia.

The Order's presence in medieval Europe enabled it to play a significant role in local political events. Despite the limitation of belonging to the German aristocracy, German rule spread to Italy, and especially to Sicily under the German kings Henry VI and Frederick II Barbarossa, who established convents of the Order in places far from Germany. Sicily was ruled by the Saracens until it was conquered by the Norman dynasty of Hauteville, but with the collapse of that dynasty it came under the dominion of the Germanic dukes.

The first Teutonic hospital of Saint Thomas in Sicily was confirmed by the German emperor Henry VI in 1197, and in the same year the emperor and empress granted the request of the knights to own the church of Santa Trinita in Palermo.

The Teutonic Knights initially established themselves in Eastern Europe in 1211 after King Andrew of Hungary invited the knights to settle on the border of Transylvania. The warlike Huns (Pechenegs), who also plagued the Byzantine Empire in the south, were a constant threat, and the Hungarians hoped that the knights would provide support against them. King Andrew granted them considerable autonomy in the lands for Christian missionary work, but he found their excessive demands for greater independence unacceptable, and in 1225 demanded that the knights leave his lands.

In 1217, Pope Honorius III (Honorius III) announced a crusade against the Prussian pagans. The lands of the Polish prince Konrad of Masovia were captured by these barbarians and in 1225 he, in desperate need of help, asked the Teutonic Knights to come to his aid. He promised the master the possession of the cities of Culm (Kulm) and Dobrzin (Dobrin), which the master Salza accepted with the condition that the knights could retain any territories of the Prussians captured by the Order.

Granted by the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire to the Masters of the Order, the Royal Rank in 1226/27 in the "Golden Bull" gave the knights sovereignty over any lands they seized and fixed as direct fiefs of the empire.

In 1230, the Order built the Neshava castle on Kulm land, where 100 knights were accommodated, who began to attack the Prussian tribes. In 1231 - 1242 40 stone castles were built. Near the castles (Elbing, Königsberg, Kulm, Thorn) German cities were formed - members of the Hansa. Until 1283, with the help of German, Polish and other feudal lords, the Order seized the lands of the Prussians, Jotvings, and Western Lithuanians and occupied territories as far as the Neman. The war to drive the pagan tribes out of Prussia alone went on for fifty years. The war began with a detachment of crusaders, headed by Landmeister Hermann von Balk. In 1230, the detachment settled in the Masurian castle of Neshava and its environs. In 1231, the knights crossed to the right bank of the Vistula and broke the resistance of the Prussian Pemeden tribe, built the castles of Thorn (Torun) (1231) and Kulm (Chelmen, Kholm, Chelmno) (1232) and until 1234 fortified themselves on Kulm land. From there, the Order began to attack the neighboring Prussian lands. The crusaders tried in the summer to ruin the occupied area, to defeat the Prussians in the open field, to occupy and destroy their castles, and also to build their own in strategically important places. When winter approached, the knights returned home, and left their garrisons in the built castles. The Prussian tribes defended themselves one by one, sometimes united (during the uprisings of 1242 - 1249 and 1260 - 1274), but they never managed to free themselves from the power of the Order. In 1233 - 1237 the crusaders conquered the lands of the Pamedenes, in 1237 - the Pagudens. In 1238, they occupied the Prussian stronghold of Honeda and built the castle of Balgu (Balga) in its place. Near it in 1240 the united army of Warm, Notang and Barth Prussians was defeated. In 1241 the Prussians of these lands recognized the authority of the Teutonic Order.

The new campaign of the knights was caused by the uprising of the Prussians in 1242 - 1249. The uprising occurred due to violations by the Order of the agreement, according to which representatives of the Prussians had the right to take part in managing the affairs of the lands. The rebels entered into an alliance with the East Pomeranian prince Sventopelk. The allies liberated part of Bartia, Notangia, Pagudia, devastated the Kulm land, but could not take the castles of Thorn, Kulm, Reden. Having been defeated several times, Sventopelk concluded a truce with the Order. On June 15, 1243, the rebels defeated the crusaders at the Osa (a tributary of the Vistula). About 400 soldiers died, including the marshal. At the Council of 1245 in Lyon, representatives of the rebels demanded that the Catholic Church stop supporting the Order. However, the church did not listen to them, and already in 1247 a huge army of knights of various Orders arrived in Prussia. At the request of the pope, Sventopelk made peace with the Order on November 24, 1248.

On February 7, 1249, the Order (it was represented by the assistant grand master Heinrich von Wiede) and the Prussian rebels in the castle of Christburg concluded an agreement. With the approval of the Pope, the archdeacon of Lezhsky Yakov acted as an intermediary. The treaty stated that the Pope of Rome would grant freedom and the right to be priests to the Prussians who converted to Christianity. Baptized Prussian feudal lords could become knights. Baptized Prussians were given the right to inherit, acquire, change and bequeath their movable and immovable property. It was possible to sell real estate only to their equals - the Prussians, Germans, Pomeranians, only it was necessary to leave a pledge to the Order so that the seller would not run away to the pagans or other enemies of the Order. If someone Prussian did not have heirs, his land became the property of the Order or the feudal lord on whose land he lived. The Prussians were given the right to sue and be defendants. Only a church marriage was considered legal marriage, and only a person born from this marriage could become an heir. Pamedens promised in 1249 to build 13 Catholic churches, varms - 6, notangs - 3. They also pledged to provide each church with 8 ubs of land, pay tithes, and baptize their compatriots within a month. Parents who did not baptize a child were to have their property confiscated, unbaptized adults were to be expelled from places where Christians live. The Prussians promised not to conclude treaties against the Order and to participate in all its campaigns. The rights and freedoms of the Prussians were to continue until the Prussians violated their obligations.

After the suppression of the uprising, the crusaders continued to attack the Prussians. The Prussian uprising of 1260 - 1274 was also crushed. Although the Prussians defeated the crusaders at Kryukai on November 30 (54 knights died), until 1252 - 1253 the resistance of the Warm, Notang and Barth Prussians was broken. In 1252 - 1253 the crusaders began to attack the Sembi.

The largest campaign against them under the command of Přemysl II Otakar took place in 1255. During the campaign, on the site of the Sembian town of Tvankste (Tvangeste), the knights built the Königsberg fortress, around which the city soon grew.

Until 1257, all the lands of the Sembi were captured, and ten years later, all of Prussia. Soon the Great Prussian Uprising broke out, wars with Western Lithuanians continued. The strengthening of the power of the Order in northeastern Europe lasted one hundred and sixty years until the beginning of the Polish-Lithuanian intervention. This crusade was very costly to the nations and took the lives of thousands of knights and soldiers.

The merging of the Teutonic Order with the Knights of the Sword (or Knights of Christ as they were sometimes called) in 1237 was of great importance. The Knights of the Sword were smaller in number, but they were more of a military brotherhood founded in Livonia in 1202. The founder of the Order of the Sword is Bishop of Riga Albert von Appeldern. The official name of the Order is "Brothers of Christ's Knighthood" (Fratres militiae Christi). The order was guided by the laws of the Knights Templar. Members of the Order were divided into knights, priests and employees. Knights most often came from families of small feudal lords (most of them were from Saxony). Their uniform is a white cloak with a red cross and sword. Employees (squires, artisans, servants, messengers) were from free people and townspeople. The head of the order was the master, the most important affairs of the order were decided by the chapter. The first master of the order was Winno von Rohrbach (1202 - 1208), the second and last was Folquin von Winterstatten (1208 - 1236). In the occupied territories, the swordsmen built castles. The castle was the center of the administrative division - castelatura. By agreement in 1207, 2/3 of the occupied lands remained under the authority of the Order, the rest was transferred to the bishops of Riga, Ezel, Derpt and Courland.

They were originally subordinate to the Archbishop of Riga, but, with the unification of Livonia and Estonia, which they ruled as sovereign states, they became fairly independent. The disastrous defeat they suffered at the Battle of Sauler (Saul) on September 22, 1236, when they lost about a third of their knights, including their master, left them in an uncertain position.

The remnants of the sword-bearers in 1237 were attached to the Teutonic Order, and its branch in Livonia was called the Livonian Order. The official name is the Order of St. Mary of the German House in Livonia (Ordo domus sanctae Mariae Teutonicorum in Livonia). Sometimes the knights of the Livonian Order are called Livonian crusaders. At first, the Livonian Order was closely associated with the center in Prussia. Association with the Teutonic Order ensured their survival, and henceforth they had the status of a semi-autonomous region. The new Master of Livonia has now become the Provincial Master of the Teutonic Order, and the united knights have adopted the Teutonic insignia.

The earliest Livonian knights came mainly from the south of Germany. But, after joining the Teutonic Order, the Livonian Knights increasingly came from areas in which the Teutonic Knights had a significant presence, mainly from Westphalia. In fact, there were no knights from local families, and most of the knights served in the East, spent several years there before returning to the Order's castles in Germany, Prussia, or before the loss of Acre in Palestine. It was not until the middle of the fourteenth century that it became customary to appoint a master of Livonia when the rule of the Teutonic Order was more settled and service there became less onerous. However, by the middle of the 15th century, a struggle began within the Livonian Order between supporters of the Teutonic Order (the so-called Rhine Party) and supporters of independence (Westphalian Party). When the Westphalian Party won, the Livonian Order practically became independent of the Teutonic Order.

Master Salza died after these campaigns and was buried at Barletta, in Apulia; and his short-lived successor, Conrad Landgraf von Thuringen, commanded the knights in Prussia and died three months later after receiving horrific wounds at the battle of Whalstadt (April 9, 1241) after only one year as a master.

The reign of the fifth master was short-lived, but his successor Heinrich von Hohenlohe (1244-1253) managed the Order very successfully, having received confirmation from the Holy Roman Emperor in 1245 about the possession of Livonia (Livonia), Courland (Courland) and Samogitia (Samogitia). Under Master Hohenlohe, the knights received a number of privileges governing the rule and monopoly use of possessions in Prussia.

He also built the Order Castle Marienburg (Malbork, Mergentheim, Marienthal), the Order's capital in West Prussia, which he and a colleague conquered for the Order in 1219. In accordance with a charter of August 20, 1250, Saint Louis IX of France provided four gold "fleurs lys" to be placed at each extremity of the Master's Cross.

Under the eighth master Popon von Osterna (1253-1262), the Order greatly strengthened its rule in Prussia, establishing rule over Sambia (Sambia). The process of resettlement of peasants from Germany to Prussia accelerated after the Order created a more harmonious administrative division of its lands and appointed feudal stewards from among the knights for each administrative unit.

Under the next master, Annon von Sangershausen (1262-1274), the Order's privileges were confirmed by Emperor Rudolf of Habsburg (Habsburg), and in addition, the knights were allowed by the Pope to retain their possessions and property after the end of their service. This was an important privilege, because it ensured the replenishment of the lands by settled knights, who previously could not alienate their property because of their vows. They were also allowed to participate directly in trade, previously forbidden by their vow of poverty. By another privilege in 1263 they were granted a valuable monopoly of the grain trade in Prussia.

The Order did not adhere to the Peace of Christburg with the Prussians. This provoked an uprising that began on September 20, 1260. It quickly spread to all Prussian lands except Pamedia. The uprising was led by local leaders: in Bartia - Divonis Lokis, in Pagudia - Auktuma, in Sembia - Glandas, in Warmia - Glapas, the leader of Notangia Herkus Mantas was the most prominent. In 1260 - 1264 the initiative was in the hands of the rebels: they set fire to German estates, churches, castles of the Order. On January 22, 1261, the troops of Herkus Mantas defeated the army of the Order near Königsberg. The rebels occupied a number of small castles, but could not capture the strategically important Thorn, Königsberg, Kulm, Balga, Elbing. In the summer of 1262, the Lithuanian troops of Treneta and Švarnas attacked Mazovia - an ally of the Order - and the Kulm land and Pamedia that remained under the rule of the Order. In the spring of 1262 Herkus Mantas defeated the Crusaders near Lyubava. Since 1263, the uprisings did not receive any more help from Lithuania, since internecine wars began there. But from 1265 the Order began to receive help from Germany - many knights went to protect the Crusaders. Until 1270, the Order suppressed an uprising in Sembia, where part of the Prussian feudal lords went over to the side of the crusaders. In 1271, the Barts and Pageduns defeated the army of the Order near the Zirguna River (12 knights and 500 soldiers were slaughtered). In 1272 - 1273 the Jotvingi under the command of Skomantas plundered the Kulm land. Exhausted by a long uprising, the Prussians could no longer resist the soldiers of the Order replenished every day. For the longest time, until 1274, the uprising was held in Pagudia.

By the end of the thirteenth century, with the capture of a compactly located large territory of Prussia, the Teutonic Order actually becomes a state, although its vast possessions, in addition, exist throughout Europe.

After the death of the tenth master Hartman von Heldrungen in 1283, the Order was firmly established in Prussia, having a huge number of subjects from among the newly converted Christians. Moving eastward, the knights built many castles and fortresses, which required good garrisons and maintenance. This became an increasingly burdensome burden for the civilian population (mostly peasants) who needed people to work their fields and farms. Numerous duties (construction and maintenance of castles) distracted young people from working on the ground. Their participation as foot soldiers in numerous campaigns of knights led to catastrophic losses among the common population. This led to frequent revolts against the rule of the knights. For the uprisings, the knights turned the Lithuanians into slaves or subjected them to terrible executions. The enslavement of pagan prisoners by knights was considered perfectly acceptable, because. non-Christians were not seen as having rights. These slaves were then used to supplement the local labor force, and often, instead of paying for work, soldiering, or granting land, German peasants were paid off as prisoners. By enslaving the Lithuanian prisoners, they received many necessary physical laborers, but with the adoption of Christianity, this opportunity to replenish free labor was lost, and the Order could no longer pay off the soldiers for their service and the peasants for their food supplies.

While the Teutonic Knights played their main role in the Christianization of northeastern Europe, they paid little attention to its southeastern borders. In the second quarter of the thirteenth century, Europe faced the horror of the threat of Mongol invasion. Their westward expansion from their barren homeland between China and Russia was terrible for those who got in their way. They had no respect for the civilians who suffered terribly under them. They destroyed cities, carried away livestock, killed men, and raped or killed women. In 1240 they besieged and destroyed the splendid city of Kyiv, the capital of the Ukraine, and from there advanced towards Poland and Hungary. The Teutonic Knights could not pay due attention to this struggle even when, in 1260, in alliance with the Russian Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky, the Order decided to defeat the hordes of the Mongols. Unfortunately, everywhere their rule in Eastern Europe meant that the knights were often forced to deal with uprisings in their own lands, especially in Prussia. Every time a crusade was proclaimed against the Mongols, the knights had to return to defend their own territories from internal rebellion or Lithuanian persecution.

Together with other crusaders and Christian kingdoms during the next crusade in the Holy Land, the knights of the Order suffered huge losses at the battle of Sepet (Sephet) in 1265, defending the monastery of Montfort. Even after making peace with the Templars and Hospitallers - with whom they had often quarreled during the previous half century - the situation of the Order did not improve.

In 1291, after the loss of the fortress of Acre, which up to that time could be considered the capital of the Order, the knights retreated first to the island of Cyprus and then to Venice, where they recruited a small group of Italian knights in their commandery of Santa Trinita (Santa Trinita), which temporarily until 1309 year became the main capital of the Order. Then the Grand Master's residence moved to Marienburg Castle (Malbork, Mergentheim, Marienthal, Marienburg) in West Prussia, built back in 1219. 2/3 of the lands were divided into commanders, 1/3 were under the authority of the bishops of Kulm, Pamed, Semb and Varma. Their master, Conrad von Feuchtwangen, who had previously been a provincial master in Prussia and Livonia, was fortunately in Acre when he was elected and was able to demonstrate his general abilities to his fellow knights, fighting the barbarians of Prussia. These efforts proved insufficient. He connected them with his wanderings and spent his later years trying to quell the strife between the provincial lords who had ordained the partitions of later years.

After his death in 1297, the Order was led by Godfrey von Hohenlohe, whose reign was spoiled by quarrels among his subordinates, while the struggle against the pagans extended into Lithuania.

Since 1283, in order to spread Christianity, the Order began to attack Lithuania. He sought to seize Samogitia and the lands near the Neman in order to connect Prussia and Livonia. The strongholds of the Order were the castles of Ragnit, Christmemel, Bayerburg, Marienburg and Jurgenburg located near the Neman. Until the beginning of the 14th century. both sides organized small attacks on each other. The largest battles were the Battle of Medininka (1320) and the defense of the city of Pilenai (1336).

The Battle of Medinica took place on July 27, 1320. The army of the Order consisted of 40 knights, the Memel garrison and the conquered Prussians. Marshal Heinrich Plock commanded the army. The army attacked the Medininkian lands and part of the crusaders went to plunder the surroundings. At this time, the Samogitians unexpectedly hit the main enemy forces. The marshal died, 29 knights, many Prussians. The order did not attack the Medininkian lands until the conclusion of truces with Gediminas in 1324 - 1328.

Defense of the city of Pilenai. In February 1336, the Lithuanians defended themselves from the crusaders and their allies in the Pilėnai castle. Pilenai is often identified with the Punsk settlement, but most likely it was in the lower reaches of the Neman. On February 24, the crusaders and their allies surrounded Pilėnai. The army was commanded by Grandmaster Dietrich von Altenburg. According to the chronicle of the Crusaders, there were 4,000 people in the castle, headed by Prince Margiris. A fire broke out. A few days later, the defenders of the castles were no longer able to defend themselves. They made a fire, threw all their property there, then killed the children, the sick and the wounded, threw them into the fire and died themselves. Margiris stabbed himself in the basement, having previously stabbed his wife. The castle burned down. The crusaders and their allies returned to Prussia.

The Order also attacked Poland. In 1308 - 1309, East Pomerania with Danzig was captured, 1329 - Dobzhinsky lands, 1332 - Kuyavia. In 1328 the Livonian Order handed over Memel and its environs to the Teutons. The crusade to Christianize Eastern Europe was complicated by some of the local rulers, especially the kings of Poland, who feared the power of the Order, and in 1325 Poland made an alliance directly with the pagan Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas (Guedemine).

In 1343, under 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. Fortunately, in 1343 Poland and the Order had equal strength and while the Lithuanians resumed the fight against the Order with all the forces at their disposal, the knights were ready.

On February 2, 1348, a battle took place between the Crusaders and the Lithuanians near the Streva River. The army of the Order (the number of warriors, according to various sources, ranges from 800 to 40,000 people), under the command of Grand Marshal Siegfried von Dachenfeld, invaded Aukshtaitija on January 24 and plundered it. When the crusaders were returning, they were attacked by the Lithuanians. With a quick counterattack, the army of the Order forced the Lithuanians to retreat along the ice-bound Streva River. Many Lithuanians died. After an unsuccessful campaign in Lithuania in 1345, this victory raised the morale of the crusaders.

The Order reached its greatest strength in the middle of the 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 the Kaunas castle, and in 1365 for the first time attacked the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius.

In 1360 - 1380 major campaigns against Lithuania were made every year. The Lithuanian army made about 40 retaliatory campaigns in 1345 - 1377. One of them ended with a battle near Rudava (Rudai, Rudau) in Sambia (Sambia) on February 17, 1370, when the commanded Lithuanian army under the command of Algirdas and Kestutis occupied the castle of Rudau (owl Melnikov, 18 km north of Kaliningrad). The next day, the army of the Teutonic Order under the command of Grandmaster Winrich von Kniprode approached the castle. According to the chronicles of the crusaders, the Lithuanians were utterly defeated (the death toll ranges from 1,000 to 3,500 people). The Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd with seventy thousand Lithuanians, Samogits, Russians and Tatars were completely defeated in this battle. The number of dead crusaders is indicated from 176 to 300, 26 knights died along with Grand Marshal Heinrich von Schindekopf and two commanders. True, some historians believe that the Lithuanians won, since the chronicle is silent about the course of the battle and prominent crusaders died in the battle. According to other sources, Algirdas lost more than eleven thousand killed along with his standard, while the Order lost twenty-six commanders, two hundred knights and several thousand soldiers.

After the death of the Lithuanian prince Algirdas (1377), the Order kindled a war between his heir Jogaila and Kestutis with his son Vytautas (Vytautas) for the princely throne. Supporting either Vytautas or Jagiello, the Order attacked Lithuania especially strongly in 1383-1394, and in 1390 invaded Vilnius. For peace with the Order in 1382 Jagiello and in 1384 Vytautas renounced Western Lithuania and Zanemanya. The order strengthened even more, occupying the island of Gotland in 1398 (until 1411) and in 1402 - 1455 New Mark. They gradually destroyed the areas ruled by the Grand Duke of Lithuania, taking them under their own control.

In 1385, Lithuania and Poland concluded the Treaty of Kreva against the Order, which changed the balance of power in the region not in favor of the Order. In 1386 Olgerd's heir, Jagiello (Jagellon), married Hedwig (Jadwiga), heiress of Poland, took the name Wladislav (Vladislav) and Christianized the Lithuanians, thus uniting the two royal powers. After the baptism in 1387 Lithuania (Aukštaitija) the Order lost the formal basis for attacking Lithuania.

On October 12, 1398, Grand Duke Vytautas and Grand Master Konrad von Jungingen concluded the Treaty of Saline on the island of Saline (at the mouth of the Nevezhis). Vytautas wanted to calmly seize Russian lands, which he already succeeded in capturing part of the Black Sea coast. In addition, he did not recognize the suzerainty of Poland and was afraid of the pretender to the throne, Shvitrigaila, who sought help from the Order. In exchange for the fact that the Order would not support them, Vytautas gave him Samogitia up to Nevėžys and half of Suduva. The treaty ceased to operate in 1409 - 1410.

In 1401, the rebellious Samogitians expelled the German knights from their lands, and the Order again began to attack Lithuania. In 1403, Pope Banifacius IX forbade the Order to fight with Lithuania.

On May 23, 1404, the Polish King Jagiello, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas concluded an agreement with the Grand Master Konrad von Jungingen on the Vistula Island near the Racionzhek castle. He ended the war of 1401 - 1403 between the Order and Lithuania. Poland received the right to return the Dobzhinsky land, the border with Lithuania remained the same as it was after the Salina Treaty. The order abandoned claims to the Lithuanian lands and Novgorod. During the lull in the wars with the Order, Lithuania captured more and more Russian lands (in July 1404 Vytautas took Smolensk).

Poland was now at the height of her power. Christianity was firmly established in Eastern Europe, which threatened the very existence of the Teutonic Knights. with the Christianization of this part of Europe, the meaning of the missionary activity of the order was lost. (From the translator. - Events on the borders of the possessions of the Order and Poland at the end of the fourteenth - beginning of the fifteenth century are well described in the novel by G. Senkevich "The Crusaders").

After the unification of Lithuania and Poland, the Teutonic Knights soon lost the support of the church and neighboring duchies. Conflicts with the Archbishop of Riga worsened relations with the church in the first half of the century. These strife intensified as the Order's mission of baptizing Gentiles was exhausted.

The transformation of Lithuania's rule provided the last support for the Pope, who ordered the knights to reach a settlement. Disputes between the knights and the new Polish-Lithuanian alliance increased, however, the knights even found themselves engaged in a war between two other Christian states, Denmark and Sweden.

A provisional peace signed in favor of the Order in 1404 led to the sale of the cities of Dobrzin and Ziotor by the Polish king, but although the Order's wealth was never greater, this was its last success. Since 1404, under the Treaty of Rationz, the Order, together with Poland and Lithuania, ruled Samogitia.

The Order now alone controlled a vast area with two million one hundred and forty thousand inhabitants of Prussia, but they were offended by many even German ducal houses, and he was afraid of his neighbors, as the Polish state became more centralized and sought convenient access to the Baltic Sea. The Order turned to Germany and the Emperor of Austria for support, and conflict was inevitable.

In 1409 the Samogitians revolted. The uprising served as a pretext for a new decisive war (1409 - 1410) with Lithuania and Poland. Lithuania and Poland were fortified and prepared to resume the fight. Despite interventions by the kings of Bohemia and Hungary, Jagellon (Wladislav) was able to amass a vast force of about 160,000 men. This included Russians, Samogitians, Hungarians, Silesian and Czech mercenaries along with the forces of the Duke of Mecklenburg and the Duke of Pomeranian (also Duke of Stettin, which shared a border with the Order). The knights, with only 83,000 men, were outnumbered two to one. Despite this, the Battle of Tanenberg (Battle of Grunwald) took place on July 15, 1410. At the beginning of the battle, the knights were successful, destroying the right wing of the Lithuanian forces, but they were gradually pushed back. When their brave grandmaster Ulrich von Jungingen was taken down in the center of the fight, dying of wounds to his chest and back, the fight was lost. In addition to their leader, they lost two hundred knights and about forty thousand soldiers, including the chief commander Conrad von Liechtenstein, Marshal Friedrich von Wallenrod, and many commanders and officers, while Poland lost sixty thousand killed. The Order lost the so-called. The Great War in 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 (Zanemanye) to Lithuania.

The order could have been completely destroyed if it were not for Schwerz's commander Heinrich (Reuss) von Plauen, who was sent to defend Pomerania and now quickly returned to support the defenses in Marienburg. He was quickly elected vice-grandmaster and the fortress was saved.

Plauen was now elected grandmaster and in Torun, concluded on February 1, 1411 an agreement with the king of Poland, ratified by a papal bull a year later. The agreement returned to the parties all their territories, with the condition that Samogitia (Samogitia) would be ruled by the king of Poland and his cousin Vytautas (Witold) the Grand Duke of Lithuania (now a Polish vassal) during their lifetime, after which they would be returned to the knights. It was also required that both sides try to convert their remaining pagans to Christianity.

Unfortunately, the Polish king immediately refused to fulfill his promise to release the prisoners of the order - whose number exceeded those captured by the knights - and demanded a huge ransom of 50,000 florins. This foreshadowed further deterioration in the relationship; Poland sought to eliminate the knightly threat to its borders.

On September 27, 1422, near Lake Meln, in the camp of Lithuanian and Polish troops, a peace treaty was concluded between Lithuania and Poland on the one hand and the Teutonic Order on the other, after the unsuccessful war of 1422 for the Order. During the Hussite movement in the Czech Republic, Emperor Zygmant could not help the Order, and the allies forced him to agree to a peace treaty. The Order finally abandoned Zanemanya, Samogitia, Neshavsky lands and Pomerania. In the possession of the Order were the lands on the right bank of the Neman, the Memel region, the Polish seaside, Kulm and Mikhalavskaya lands. On March 30, 1423, Zygmant confirmed the agreement, in exchange for which Poland and Lithuania pledged not to support the Hussites. This treaty ended the wars of the Order with Lithuania. But the agreement, which entered into force on June 7, 1424, did not satisfy either side: Lithuania was losing western Lithuanian lands, the Teutonic and Livonian Orders divided the territory between Palanga and Sventoji. These borders remained until the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

Numerous negotiations and agreements failed to bring about a compromise, while much smaller conflicts gradually reduced the Order's territories. The order was relieved a little by the strife among the members of the Polish royal family over who should rule in Lithuania, but this problem was resolved between them after four years in 1434.

Wladislav III, who succeeded that same year, acquired the Hungarian throne in 1440, becoming the dominant power in the region.

Casimir IV, who became king in 1444, made one of his sons his heir and purchased the throne of Bohemia (Bohemia) for another. The great problem facing Polish royalty, and which ultimately led to the limitation of the power of the eighteenth century monarchy, was how to balance between the great magnates with their vast privileges; what they need to promise to ensure their loyalty. This inherent weakness was skillfully exploited by the knights and delayed their possible defeat.

Unsuccessful wars (with Lithuania and Poland in 1414, 1422, with Poland and the Czech Republic in 1431 - 1433) provoked a political and economic crisis, aggravated contradictions between members of the Order on the one hand, secular feudal lords and townspeople, who were dissatisfied with increasing taxes and wanted to participate in government , with another. In 1440, the Prussian Union was formed - an organization of secular knights and townspeople, which 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 auspices of the Polish king Casimir. Meanwhile, the Prussians themselves rebelled against the authority of the Order, and in 1454 the war broke out again. It was a conflict that the knights could not extinguish without outside support.

The Thirteen Years' War of the Order with Poland began. With the weakening of the Teutonic Order after the Battle of Gruwald, the desire of the cities and petty chivalry of Pomerania and Prussia to overthrow the power of the Order intensified. The forces of the Prussian Union within a few weeks captured the most important cities and castles of Prussia and Pomerania. However, the outbreak of the war took on a protracted character. The order skillfully used the financial difficulties of the Polish king, received support from Denmark, who feared the establishment of Poland on the Baltic Sea. Despite stubborn resistance, the Order was defeated. The war ended with the Peace of Torun. Peace between Casimir IV and Grandmaster Ludwig von Erlichshausen was concluded on October 19, 1466 in Thorn.

As a result, the Order lost the Eastern Pomerania with Danzig, Kulm land, Mirienburg, Elbing, Warmia - they moved to Poland. In 1466 the capital was moved to Königsberg. In this war, Lithuania declared neutrality and missed the chance to liberate the rest of the Lithuanian and Prussian lands. Finally, in accordance with the agreement in Torun (Torun) dated October 19, 1466 between the Order and Poland, the knights agreed to give the Poles Kulm (Chlumets)), their first possession in Prussia, along with the eastern part of Prussia, Michalow (Michalow), Pomerania (Pomerania ) (including the port of Danzig (Danzig)) and the capital of the Order of the fortress Marienburg (Marienburg).

Since October 1466, the Teutonic Order as a state becomes a vassal of the Polish crown.

In 1470 Grandmaster Heinrich von Richtenberg recognized himself as a vassal of the Polish king.

After the loss of Marienburg, the capital of the Order moves to Königsberg Castle in East Prussia. Although they retained some sixty cities and fortresses, the grand master had to recognize the Polish king as his feudal overlord and recognize himself as a vassal, although the grand master simultaneously held the title of emperor, nominal overlord of Prussia and prince of the Austrian empire. The grandmaster was recognized as a prince and a member of the Royal Council of Poland. The Grand Master confirmed the Papal authority in spiritual matters, but achieved the condition that no part of the agreement could be annulled by the Pope, which violated Catholic Church law, since. religious orders are subordinate to the Holy See. The power of the knights was now under mortal danger.

The next four Grand Masters, thirty-first to thirty-fourth in succession, were unable to prevent new conflicts with Poland, although some of the territories they had previously lost were regained. In 1498, they chose as thirty-fifth Grand Master Prince Friedrich of Saxony, the third son of Albert the Brave, Duke of Saxony whose older brother George had married the sister of the King of Poland. By choosing the throne of one of Germany's largest royal houses, the knights hoped to maintain their position by negotiating, especially over the controversial issue of whether they should consider themselves vassals of the Polish state.

The new grand master petitioned the imperial court, which decided that the Polish king could not interfere with the grand master's free exercise of his power in Prussia. Frederick's tactics were aided by the frequent change of Polish kings (there were three) between 1498 and his death in 1510.

The choice of a prince from a large royal family was so successful that the knights decided to repeat it. This time, their choice proved to be a disastrous mistake. On February 13, 1511, they elected Margrave Albrecht von Hohenzollern (Brandenburg). Like his predecessor, Albert refused to obey the Polish king Sigismond (Sigismund), but was rebuked by the Emperor Maximilian of Austria, who, by agreement of 1515 with Sigismund, demanded that the Order comply with the agreements of 1467. Albert still refused to obey Sigismund, and instead signed a treaty of mutual protection with Tsar Vasily III of Russia. In return for issuing Neumarck to Brandenburg for the sum of 40,000 florins, Albert was also able to guarantee support for the Joachim estate. In accordance with the Treaty of Torun on April 7, 1521, he agreed that the issue of Poland's authority over the Order would be submitted to arbitration, but events caused by Luther's heresy disrupted the trial and it never took place. The desire of the Order to free itself from Polish suzerainty was defeated (because of this, the war of 1521 - 1522 took place).

Martin Luther's challenge to the established spiritual order led to further loss of military and political power by the Order. Luther March 28, 1523 called on the knights to break their oaths and take wives. The Bishop of Sambia, who held the administrative posts of Regent and Chief Chancellor of Prussia, was the first to renounce his oaths and delivered a sermon on Christmas Day 1523 inviting the knights to imitate him. At Easter, he celebrated a new rite, which caused great damage to the Catholic faith in which he was brought up and ordained as a shepherd. Grandmaster Albrecht von Hohenzollern stood aloof at first, but by July 1524 decided to renounce his vows, married and raised Prussia to a duchy with his reign.

In July 1524, under Grandmaster Margrave Albrecht von Hohenzollern of Brandenburg, the Teutonic Order ceases to exist as a state, but remains a powerful religious and secular organization with large possessions. The Order loses its most important possession - Prussia and the knights are forced to leave these lands forever.

(From the translator. - How similar it is to what happened in the USSR in the late eighties - early nineties of the XX century. The top leaders of the Communist Party, who were supposed to be the guardians and defenders of the communist ideology, were the first to betray it, both for the sake of self-interest and their personal authorities destroyed the state)

After the Treaty of Krakow on April 10, 1525, Albrecht converted to Lutheranism and swore allegiance to the King of Poland, Sigismund the Old, who recognized him as Duke of Prussia with the right of direct or joint hereditary transmission. Livonia remained temporarily independent under the rule of Master Walther von Plettenberg, who was recognized as a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire.

The new Master of Germany now assumed the title of Master of the Teutonic Order in Germany and Italy. Already as Prince of the Austrian Empire and Master of Germany, he established the Order's capital at Mergentheim in Württemberg, where it remained until the decay of the Holy Roman Empire.

Weakened with age, he did not hold on to power and resigned, leaving Walther von Cronberg on December 16, 1526, who combined the positions of the head of the Order with the position of master of Germany. Now he was approved by the Holy Roman Emperor, but with the title "Master of the Teutonic Order in German and in Italy, pro-Administrators of the Grand Magistery" with the requirement that all the commanders of the Order and the master of Livonia showed him respect and obedience as the Grand Master of the Order. This title in German was later changed to: "Administratoren des Hochmeisteramptes in Preussen, Meister Teutschen Ordens in teutschen und walschen Landen", which remained the title of the head of the Order until 1834.

At the congress of 1529, Cronberg resigned the seat of Master of Germany, advancing in seniority to obtain the position of Grand Master, after the Archbishop of Salzburg and before the Bishop of Bamberg (Bamberg).

On July 26, 1530, Cronberg was formally elevated to the dignity of Emperor of Prussia in a solemn ceremony, intended to directly challenge the Hohenzollern (Hohenzollern) power, but this had little actual effect.

The Order still continued to receive priests and nuns, who proved to be diligent and humane ministers, but the religious members were really separated from the laymen and knights, who were not required to live in the monasteries of the Order. The order did not lose all of its Protestant members or possessions, however, in a number of places in its parishes, the church denomination changed. In Livonia, although Master von Plettenberg remained loyal to the Catholic Church, he was incapable of resisting the granting of toleration to the reformed churches in 1525. The Order thus became a tri-denominational (Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist) institution with a Chief Magistrate and main offices supported by the Catholic nobility. Lutheran and Calvinist knights were given equal rights under the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648, with a seat and a vote in the General Assembly. Only the Protestant district of Utrecht declared full independence in 1637.

A proposal in 1545 to unite the Teutonic Knights with the Knights of the Order of St. John was not accepted. Meanwhile, the main diplomatic efforts of the Order were concentrated on the restoration of their statehood in Prussia, a project that still did not materialize. Livonia continued to be ruled by the knights, but their rule was weak due to encirclement by Russia and Poland.

In 1558 Gotthard Kettler was elected assistant master, and in 1559 master after the resignation of master von Furstenberg. Once again, the Order unwittingly made an unfortunate choice. While Kettler was a capable soldier, in 1560 he secretly converted to the Lutheran faith. The following year, after behind-the-scenes negotiations, he was recognized by the Polish king as the Duke of Courland and Semigalla (Courland und Semigalla) by agreement of November 28, 1561, with the right to inherit. This state included all the territories formerly ruled by the knights between the Dvina River, the Baltic Sea, Samogitia and Lithuania. This ended the existence of the Order in the north of Eastern Europe.

On March 5, 1562, Kettler sent an envoy to take back to the King of Austria the insignia of his dignity as Master of Livonia, including a cross and a great seal, intending to transfer to the King the titles and privileges of the Teutonic Knights, the keys of Riga, and even his knightly armor, as proof of his renunciation of the title of Grand Master of the order.

(From the translator.- Thus, since 1562, the Order has been more of an Austrian than a German organization.)

In 1589, the fortieth Grand Master, Heinrich von Bobenhausen (1572-1595) transferred the reign to his deputy, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, without formal abdication. This transfer was ratified by the latter's brother the Emperor of Austria on August 18, 1591, and Maximilian was now entitled to take oaths of loyalty from members and monks of the Order. At the disposal of the Austrian emperor, the knights then provided 63,000 florins, one hundred and fifty horses and a hundred foot soldiers along with knights from each province of the Order, to fight the Turks as they rampaged through southeastern Europe. This, of course, was a small fraction of what they could have put up in the past, but the territorial losses of the previous century had seriously impoverished them, significantly reducing the number of knights and priests. The order was now firmly united with the Austrian royal house of Habsburg, and after Maximilian, from 1619, Archduke Karl was the master. Of the remaining years before the fall of the Austrian Empire, there were eleven grand masters, of which four were archdukes, three princes of the House of Bavaria, and one prince of Lorraine (brother of Emperor Francis I of France).

Thus, while the Order's military strength was merely a shadow of its earlier strength, prominence, and the position of its grandmasters, membership in the Order was a testament to high standing among the royal houses. At this time, stricter rules excluded the replenishment of members of the minor nobility.

On February 27, 1606, Grand Master Maximilian gave the Order new statutes that were to govern the Order until the reforms of the nineteenth century. They included two parts. The first part contained rules in nineteen chapters, which listed religious obligations, communal, holidays, customs, servicing sick colleagues, the behavior of the priests of the Order and the regulation of their duties, and relations between members. The second part, in fifteen chapters, was devoted to the ceremonies for the arming and reception of the knights, and the obligations to fight the infidel on the Hungarian frontier and elsewhere, the behavior of each body, the administration, the burial rites of the dead members, including the grand master himself, the choice of his successor and the circumstances, in which the knight could leave the Order. The charter restored the main mission of the Order against the Pagans and restored its spiritual significance for Catholic members.

Unfortunately, by the second quarter of the eighteenth century, the concept of the Christian Crusade was abandoned by the great powers. Having lost its historical mission and most of its military functions, the Order fell into decline and was now busy providing for its regiment in the service of the Archdukes of Austria, Holy Roman Emperors and providing accommodation for knights and priests.

The Napoleonic Wars proved disastrous for the Order, as they were for every traditional Catholic institution. By the Treaty of Luneville of February 9, 1801 and the Amiens Agreement of March 25, 1802, his possessions on the left bank of the Rhine, with an annual income of 395,604 florins, were distributed among the neighboring German monarchs. In compensation, the Order was given episcopates, abbeys and nunneries of Voralberg in Austrian Swabia and nunneries in Augsburg and Constance. Its grandmaster, Archduke Carl-Ludwig, took office without taking oaths, but nevertheless brought his rights to the Order. The order was given a ninth vote in the Council of Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, although a proposal to replace the title of Grand Master with that of Elector was never made, and the corruption of the Holy Roman Empire soon made this title nominal.

On June 30, 1804, Karl-Ludwig left the chief magistrate to his assistant Archduke Anton (Anton), who made this title simply an honorary title.

By Article XII of the Pressburg Agreement of December 26, 1805 between Austria and France, all property of the chief magistrate in the city of Mergentheim and all order titles and rights became owned by the Austrian imperial house.

The new grandmaster, Archduke Anton, was the son of the Austrian emperor Leopold II (Leopold II) and the brother of Francis I (Francis I) of Austria, and had already been elected archbishop of Munster (Munster) and archbishop of Cologne. On February 17, 1806, Emperor Francis I confirmed Brother Anton's title as Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, confirming the result of the Pressburg Agreement until such time as this title becomes a hereditary dignity. At the same time, he also placed some restrictions on part of the Covenant, to the detriment of the Order. The sovereign status of the Order as recognized in the Treaty of Pressburg was limited to the fact that any prince of the Austrian Imperial House who would in the future hold the title of Grand Master would be fully subordinate to the Emperor of Austria. No attempt was made to consult the Holy See and this decision was a violation of ecclesiastical Catholic law. In the meantime, the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine on 12 July 1806 cost the Order the loss of several more Commanderies, given variously to the Kings of Bavaria and Württemberg, and to the Grand Duke of Baden.

In accordance with Napoleon's decree of April 24, 1809, the Order was dissolved in the territories of the Confederation, and Mergentheim was transferred to the King of Württemberg as compensation for the losses suffered by his nobles, supporters of Napoleon. The only surviving possessions of the Order were those that were in the territory of Austria. These were three commanderships assigned to the chief commander and eight other commanderships, one convent, the possession of Adige and the Mountains. The Commandership of Frankfurt in Saxony (Sachsenhausen) was retained. In Austrian Silesia, two commanderies and some districts were preserved, but the Namslau Commandery in Silesian Prussia was lost, which was confiscated by the commission of the separation of the church from the state of Prussia on December 12, 1810. Despite requests from the Order for the enforcement of the Pressburg Treaty, the Congress of Vienna in 1815 refused to return anything lost by the Order in the previous twenty years.

The decision regarding the Order was delayed until February 20, 1826, when the Austrian Emperor Francis asked Metternich to determine whether the Order's autonomy within the Austrian state should be restored.

By this time, in addition to the grand master, the Order included only four knights. The Order urgently needed regeneration or it would disappear. In accordance with the decree of March 8, 1834, the Austrian Emperor returned to the Teutonic Knights all the rights that they enjoyed under the Pressburg Agreement, annulling the restriction on those rights that had been imposed in accordance with the Decree of February 17, 1806. The Order was declared as an "Autonomous, Religious and Military Institute" under the auspices of the Austrian Emperor, with the Archduke as "Supreme and German Master" (Hoch- und Deutschmeister) and the status of "direct fief of the Austrian and Empire". Moreover, Archduke Anton was the sovereign ruler of the order, and his heirs had to ask the emperor's permission for sovereignty.

The order now had one class of knights who could prove their knightly lineage in sixteen generations of exclusively German or Austrian states, subsequently the requirement was reduced to four generations in the last two hundred years and it was mandatory to be Catholic.

This class was divided into major commanders (abolished by the reform of April 24, 1872), chief capitularies (Capitularies), commanders and knights. Knights were thought to be religiously subordinate to the head of the Order, while the statutes governing their behavior were based on those of 1606, restoring knightly symbols and ancient ceremonies, many of which had become moribund.

After a further reform of July 13, 1865, anyone who could prove a noble German origin could be admitted to the number of Knights of Honor and they wore a slightly modified cross. The main commandery of the Order was to include the chief commander of the order district of Austria, the chief commander of the Adige and Mountains, the chief commander, and the chief capitular (Capitular) of the shaper of the district of Franconia (Franconia) and the chief capitular of the shaper of the district of Westphalia (Westphalia), with the right of the grand master to increase the number chief capituliers at his discretion.

A further restriction would have imposed on the Imperial House of Austria the duty of choosing a grand master (or appointing a deputy) and, if there were no archdukes among the members of the house, to choose the prince most closely associated with the imperial house. Although the Emperor of Austria failed to defend the Order against Napoleon, the restoration of some independence of the Order was undoubtedly his achievement. Emperor Francis died on March 3, 1835 and Grandmaster one month later, on April 3.

The Order chose Archduke Maximilian of Austria-Este (1782-1863), brother of the Duke of Modena, as Grand Master. Maximilian became a member of the order in 1801 and became a full member of the order in 1804. The new Emperor of Austria (Ferdinand I), Ferdinand I, issued a decree of July 16, 1839, confirming the privileges granted by his father, the rules and Statutes of 1606, which did not contradict the status of the Order as an Austrian fief.

Another Imperial Patent, dated June 38, 1840, defined the Order as an "Independent Religious Institute of Chivalry" and a "direct imperial fief" for which the Austrian Emperor is supreme leader and protector. The order was given free control of its own estates and finances independent of political control and, while the knights were regarded as religious figures, the earlier documents confirming the right of the knights to their estates and property remained valid. Their wealth could be increased by inheritance, but gifts larger than three hundred florins received by them would have to be approved by the grandmaster. In addition, if a knight died without leaving a will, then his property was inherited by the Order.

The priests of the Order were not supposed to be alone, but they were required to live away from their relatives. In 1855, more than two hundred years after the disappearance of the convents of the Order, the position of the Order's hospitalier was restored and the organization of the sisters of the Teutonic Order and the grand master gave several buildings for the sisters at their own expense.

Confident of restoring the rights of the Order outside of Austria, and especially in Frankfurt, they were now occupied by religious brothers and sisters. Having lost their military functions, although the Knights were entitled to wear military uniforms, the Order now specialized in a religious, humanitarian and philanthropic mission in the spirit of "brotherly consciousness" and was engaged in the evacuation and treatment of the wounded and sick in the wars of 1850-1851 and 1859 (with Italy), 1864 and 1866 (with Prussia) and in the World War of 1914-18. The reforms brought about by Archduke Maximilian served to revive the spiritual powers of the Order, with about fifty-four priests received during his twenty-eight year reign.

(From a translator. Thus, having lost Prussia in the middle of the 16th century, the Order began to gradually lose its military forces and the function of a military-religious organization, and by the middle of the 19th century it finally turned into a religious and medical organization. Chivalry and military attributes remained simply as a tribute to tradition and historical memory.)

Many ancient formations of the Order, which were about to fall apart, were restored and the Order's churches in Vienna produced many valuable relics and religious miracles. By the time of his death in 1863, Grandmaster Maximilian had given away more than 800,000 florins to support sisters, hospitals and schools, and 370,000 to the Teutonic priests.

In order to enable the Order to cope with requests for its services, its next leader with the title of Hoch und Deutschmeister, Archduke Wilhelm (1863-1894), (joined the order in 1846), introduced by decree of March 26, 1871 a special category of "knights and ladies of the Virgin Mary." These knights and ladies were not full members of the Order, but had the right to wear one of the variants of the Order's cross. This category was originally limited to the Catholic nobles of the two Monarchies, but by decree of November 20, 1880, was expanded to include Catholics of any nationality. With a bull dated July 14, 1871, Pope Pius IX confirmed the ancient statutes and rules, along with new reforms. In a papal letter dated March 16, 1886, Pope Leo XIII approved the reforms of the Rite drawn up by the Grand Master, which were then approved by the general assembly of the Order on May 7, 1886 and sanctioned by the Austrian Emperor on May 23.

They revealed all the virtues of the Order to those who took simple oaths, canceling the category of solemn oaths for the future, but not canceling the solemn oaths of those who had already taken this obligation. This meant that while knights still had to take vows of poverty, obedience and aid, they could leave the Order and, if they wished, marry after leaving the Order. This condition did not extend to the priests of the Order, whose membership was indefinite.

In 1886, the Order was headed by a leader with the title "Hoch- und Deutschmeister", members of the council (Rathsgebietiger), three chief capituliers (Capitularies). The Order consisted of eighteen full knights, four members were in simple oaths, one novice, twenty-one knights of Honor, more than one thousand three hundred knights of the Virgin Mary, seventy-two priests, most of whom were in solemn oaths, and two hundred and sixteen sisters.

During the last two-thirds of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century, the Order increased its active role in the Austrian region, especially in Austrian Silesia and Tyrol. With schools and hospitals under its care, maintained by the locals, during the war the Order earned itself a privileged position within the Two Monarchies (Germany and Austria). The First World War, in which the Order especially distinguished itself, led to the fall of the Austrian monarchy and the loss of the leading role of the nobility in Austria. The hostility towards the royal house of Habsburg on the part of the new republican regimes in Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia led to hostility towards everything connected with this house; including the Order. The threat of Bolshevism and growing anti-Catholicism led to the destruction of any organization that could be considered anti-democratic, which created a danger to the Order. The preservation of the Order in its old form was no longer possible and the possessions of the Order, perceived as the dynastic property of the royal house, were in danger of being confiscated by the vengeful republican states.

However, according to ecclesiastical Catholic law, the Order was independent as an autonomous religious institution and could not be regarded as part of the Habsburg heritage. However, the last grand master of the house of Habsburg, Archduke Eugen (died 1954), now forced into exile along with all members of the dynasty, was forced to leave and announce his resignation to the Pope in 1923.

Before his resignation, he convened a general meeting in Vienna to select a new leader and, at his suggestion, Cardinal Norbert Klein (Monsignor Norbert Klein), priest of the Order and bishop in the city of Brno (Brunn, Brno) was elected as a deputy.

The Austrian government and representatives of the Order could now enter into negotiations and, fortunately, the understanding that the Order was primarily a religious institution prevailed, even though some representatives of the church were still against the Order. The papacy was now held by Fr Hilarion Felder, who could investigate complaints against the Order within the church.

The argument that, since the Order was originally created as an infirmary, and therefore should be part of the Order of Malta, was rejected and the investigation considered in favor of the Teutonic Order that it could be managed independently. Now saved as Mary's Hospital Religious Organization in Jerusalem he accepted the papal sanction of the new administration on 27 November 1929.

The new government restored it as a completely religious Order of priests and nuns, headed by the "Supreme and German Master" (Hoch und Deutschmeisteren), who must be a priest with the title and seniority of Abbot with the right to a purple cap. This made it possible to maintain its independence from local authorities and directly depend on the Holy See.

The order was now divided into three categories - brothers, sisters and parishioners. The brothers are divided into two categories - 1) brother priests and brother clerks, who take a lifetime oath after three years of probation, and 2) novices, who obey the rules and give simple oaths for six years. The sisters make perpetual vows after a probationary period of five years. Catholic priests and parishioners who serve the Order on request and who work well - they are divided into two categories. The first of these are the Knights of Honor, there are very few of them (then nine, including the last Cardinal Franz König and the last Sovereign Prince Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein, Archbishop Bruno Heim and Duke Maximilian of Bavaria) who have a prominent social position at all and must be has great merits before the Order. The second of these are worshipers of the Virgin Mary numbering about one hundred and fifty and, in addition to serving Catholics, must serve the Order in general, including financial commitment.

The results of the Reformation and, ultimately, the exclusive limitation of belonging to the Catholic Church brought the Order under Austrian control into order.

But the military traditions of the Order were reflected in Prussia with the establishment in 1813 of the award (order) "Iron Cross", the appearance of which reflected the symbol of the Order. Prussia appropriated the history of the Teutonic Order as the source of Prussian military traditions, although it was this exclusively Protestant state that destroyed the ancient Christian Order.

This tradition was further perverted by the Nazis, who, after the occupation of Austria on September 6, 1938, arrogated to themselves the right to be considered the heirs of the Order. During the capture of Czechoslovakia the following year, they also appropriated the Order's possessions there, although the Order's hospitals and buildings in Yugoslavia and southern Tyrol were preserved. The Nazis, activated by Himmler's fantasies of reviving the German military elite, then attempted to recreate their own "Teutonic Order" as the highest manifestation of the spirit of the Third Reich. It included ten men led by Reinhard Heydrich and several of the more notorious Nazi criminals. It goes without saying that this organization had nothing to do with the Teutonic Order, although it appropriated its name. At the same time, as they persecuted the priests of the Order, they also persecuted the descendants of those Prussian families who had once been knights of the Order (many of them fought against Hitler).

The possessions of the order in Austria were returned after the war, although it was not until 1947 that the decree on the liquidation of the Order was formally annulled. The order was not restored in Czechoslovakia, but was significantly revived in Germany.

It has retained its headquarters in Vienna, and, although directed by the abbot as a Hochmeister, is composed chiefly of sisters; which is unique among Catholic religious orders - the sisters are united under the authority of a church that is part of another part.

The Order maintains with its nuns only one full hospital in Friesach in Carinthia (Austria), and one nursing home in Cologne, but is nevertheless represented in other hospitals and nursing homes in Bad Mergenthem, Regensburg and Nurermberg.

The current Hochmeister, chosen after the resignation of the eighty-five-year-old Ildefons Pauler in mid-1988, is the most reverend Dr. Arnold Wieland (born 1940) (Arnold Wieland), previously leader of the Italian Brethren.

The order is distributed in the regions of Austria (with thirteen priests and brothers and fifty-two sisters), Italy (with thirty-seven priests and brothers and ninety sisters), Slovenia (with eight priests and brothers and thirty-three sisters), Germany (with fourteen priests and brothers and one hundred and forty-five sisters) and, earlier, in (Moravia-Bohemia) Moravia-Bohemia (ex-Czechoslovakia). The order is divided into three (possessions) Bailiwicks - Germany, Austria and south Tyrol, and two commanderies - Rome and Altenbiesen (Belgium).

There are approximately three hundred and eighty members of the Society of St. Mary in the possession of Germany under the direction of Deutschherrenmeister Anton Jaumann, comprising seven commanderies (Donau, Oberrhein, Neckar und Bodensee, Rhine und Main, Rhine und Ruhr, Weser und Ems, Elbe und Ostsee, Altenbiesen), sixty five in Austria under the Master of the Estate (Balleimeister) Dr. Karl Blach, forty-five in Tyrol under the Master of the Estate (Balleimeister) Dr. Otmar Parteli, and fourteen in the command of Am Inn und Hohen Rhein. And twenty-five members in the Italian Commandery Tiberiam. There are a handful of St. Mary's members outside of Germany, Austria and Italy. It now has fewer than twenty members in the United States. The symbol of the Order is a Latin cross in black enamel with a white enamel border, covered (for the Knights of Honor) with a helmet with black and white feathers or (for members of the society of St. Mary) with a simple circular decoration of a black and white sash.

Sources

1 Guy Stair Sainty. THE TEUTONIC ORDER OF HOLY MARY IN JERUSALEM (Site www.chivalricorders.org/vatican/teutonic.htm)
2. Heraldic collection of the FPS 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. Website "Borussia" (members.tripod.com/teutonic/krestonoscy.htm)

Even before the advent of Christianity, the cross, which has been widely used since the time of Ancient Egypt, was called the main sign. At the moment, it is customary to distinguish about 4 dozen types of such symbols, which differ in the mutual arrangement of the crossbars, their proportions, as well as the presence of decorative elements. Among them is the Teutonic Cross.

A few words about the Order

The Teutonic cross is the main symbol of the association of knights of the same name, which arose in 1190 in Palestine during the Third Crusade. Initially, a group of German pilgrims, led by chaplain Konrad and canon Vurhard, established a hospital on the outskirts of the Acre fortress, where they treated the wounded and sick knights from Germany. Soon, spiritual patronage of the hospital was taken over by the Church of St. Virgin, and a little later Pope Clement III established the brotherhood of St. Mary of the Teutonic. After the German knights distinguished themselves during the assault on Acre, Duke Frederick of Swabia received permission to transform it into the eponymous spiritual and knightly order, placing Conrad at the head of the chaplain. The Teutons were only subordinate to the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope. Returning to Europe at the beginning of the 13th century, they settled in the town of Eschenbach.

The meaning of symbolism in the life of spiritual and knightly orders

Were an era when special importance was attached to signs. They carried various functions, from mystical to informative. Symbols played a particularly important role in the life of military formations, including their coat of arms and flag, not only the organizations themselves had. There was also an elaborate system of symbols used to designate positions and duties within the order itself.

Teutonic cross: description

This symbol, which first appeared on the clothes, flags and armor of the knights of the order in Palestine, has undergone some changes over time. Initially, it was a simple one on a white field. Later improvements began to appear. Today, the symbol of the organization that calls itself the Teutonic Order is a black-enamelled Latin with a white border that overlays a helmet with black and white feathers.

Crosslet

There is another symbol that is associated with the German knights. It's about crossover. Some also call it the Teutonic cross. It is a perfectly symmetrical symbol. The silhouette of the crosslet is based on a Greek cross, on the branches of which there are small crossbars. It is believed that it is endowed with a deep symbolic meaning. In particular, religious literature mentions that small crosses at the ends of the crossbars point to the four Gospels of Christ. At the same time, in paganism, the usual Teutonic cross means the unity of 4 elements.

Hierarchical signs

As already mentioned, the main cross of the Teutonic Order was far from its only symbol. Various categories of members of the organization also had their signs. They wore them on clothing and armor, similar to how modern military men indicate their ranks on their uniforms, using stars or other figures on shoulder straps.

Grand Master

The head of the order was the owner of his own coat of arms. Its basis was the Teutonic Cross (you already know the meaning of the symbol) with a yellow border. On top of it was "superimposed" another one of the same. It was smaller and yellow in color. In addition, in the center of the second cross was a small shield with a black eagle. The latter symbolized the German imperial house. Thus, the Teutonic Cross of the Grand Master meant the recognition of his senior representative as the sovereign of the order.

Landmaster of the Order

This position had a territorial binding. For example, the landmaster in Prussia was the plenipotentiary deputy of the grand master on the lands of this historical region. In order for their own and foreign knights, as well as ordinary people to know who they are dealing with, the bearers of this title sewed a black Teutonic cross on their robes (see photo above), on top of which a second one was superimposed of the same, but smaller and white.

Insignia of the Grand Marshal of the Order

Depending on the historical period, the knights who bore this title used different types of hierarchical coat of arms. Initially, it did not differ from the one worn by the Grand Master, but there was no yellow cross on it. Later it appeared, but the colored border reached only the middle of each of the crossbars.

Symbols of the Great Commanders

In the modern sense, this position meant Deputy Grand Master for small assignments. In addition, the commanders led the administrative units of the state of the Teutonic Order of the lowest rank. They did not have separate coats of arms, but they carried with them special staffs with a cross, symbolizing their authority to administer justice.

Insignia of full knights

This group formed the backbone of the Teutonic Order. She was supposed to wear an all-white robe. From above, they put on cloaks of the same fabric, on which, both on the back and on the chest, Teutonic crosses were depicted.

half brothers

Since they were not considered full knights, they were not allowed to wear special uniforms. However, even among this category of members of the Teutonic Order there was a certain hierarchy. Higher-ranking half-brothers were allowed to wear gray cloaks. A black T-shaped cross was sewn on them in the shoulder area.

Sergeants

Such a junior command staff was provided only for detachments of mercenaries. They were ordered to wear white tunics with narrow sleeves, over which gray cloaks with a sewn T-shaped cross were thrown over.

Mercenaries or Knights

In order to distinguish such warriors from enemy soldiers in battle, small white “shields” with T-shaped crosses were sewn onto their plain black clothes. Their location in different periods was different (on the chest, on the back, on the shoulder, etc.).

"Iron Cross"

An order with this name was established in March 1813. His sketch was created by the king himself. He took the Teutonic cross as the basis for his creation. The symbolism was extremely simple: the award was intended to encourage those Germans who fiercely fought for the liberation of their country from Napoleonic occupation, so Frederick sought to remind fellow citizens of the golden period of German knighthood.

The Iron Cross was later revived by Adolf Hitler. He ordered to place a swastika in its center, and engrave the number "1939" at the bottom.

In 1940, knightly varieties of this award were also established, thereby the Fuhrer further confirmed the continuity of traditions and the connection of his regime with the Teutonic Order. Interestingly, the highest of these orders, which was decorated with gold diamonds and swords, was awarded to only one person - Hans Ulrich Rudel - the legendary pilot of the German Luftwaffe. He received it for putting out of action the Soviet battleship Marat for a long time and knocking out several hundred tanks of the Red Army.

Now you know what the Teutonic cross looks like and are familiar with its varieties. This means that, looking at historical engravings or miniatures, you can determine who the depicted knight is: a bollard, commander, sergeant, marshal, or Grand Master.