appointed; namely, provincial masters of the several countries where
the order obtained possessions, who took rank next after the grand
master; and there were also many local officers as particular
circumstances required. The grand master was not absolute, but was
obliged to seek the advice of the chapter before taking any important
step, and if he were necessarily absent, he appointed a lieutenant to
act for him, who also governed the order after the death of the grand
master till his successor was elected.
After the death of Saladin disputes arose among his sons, and the
opportunity was seized of commencing a new crusade, the history of
which is well known, and in which the Teutonic Knights took an active
part. At this time (1197) Henry VI, Emperor of Germany, gave the
knights the monastery of the Cistercians, at Palermo, in Sicily, and
several privileges and exemptions--a transaction that caused
considerable disagreement between the Pope and the Emperor. The
knights were, however, finally confirmed in possession of the
monastery, and it became the preceptory or chief house of the order in
Sicily, where other property was gradually bestowed upon the knights.
Henry de Walpot, the first grand master, died at Acre, in 1200, and
was succeeded by Otho de Kerpen, who was an octogenarian at the time
of his election, but full of vigor and energy, which he displayed by
devoted attention to the duties of his office, and personal attendance
upon the sick in the hospitals. During the mastership of Otho de
Kerpen, an order of knighthood arose in the north of Europe, which was
afterward incorporated with the Teutonic order. Livonia, a country
situated on the borders of the Baltic, was at this time still pagan.
The merchants of Bremen and Lubeck, who had trading relations with the
inhabitants, desired to impart to them the truths and blessings of
Christianity, and took a monk of the name of Menard to teach them the
elements of the faith. The work succeeded, and Menard was consecrated
bishop, and fixed his see at Uxhul, which was afterward transferred to
Riga.
The mission, however, as it advanced, aroused the jealousy and
suspicion of the pagan nobles, and they attacked and destroyed the new
town, with its cathedral and other buildings. The Bishop appealed to
his countrymen for help. Many responded to his call, and, as there was
at that time no crusade in progress in Palestine, the Pope (1199) was
persuaded to accord to those who took up arms for the defence of the
Christians in Livonia the same privileges as were given to those who
actually went to the Holy Land.
In consequence of these events a military religious order was founded,
to assist in this war, called the Order of Christ, which was confirmed
by Pope Innocent III, in 1205. The knights wore a white robe, upon
which a red sword and a star were emblazoned. They maintained a
vigorous and successful conflict with the heathen, till circumstances
rendered it desirable that they should be incorporated with the
Teutonic Knights.
In the mean time the Latins had seized Constantinople, and set up
Baldwin, Count of Flanders, as emperor, and divided the Eastern Empire
among themselves. The Teutonic Knights received considerable
possessions, and a preceptory was founded in Achaia. Some time
afterward another was established in Armenia, where also the order had
obtained property and territory in return for service rendered in the
field. The order also received the distinction of adding to their
bearings the Cross of Jerusalem.
The valor of the knights, however, and the active part which they took
in all the religious wars of the day, cost them dear, and from time to
time their numbers were greatly reduced; so much so that when Herman
de Salza was elected grand master (1210) he found the order so weak
that he declared he would gladly sacrifice one of his eyes if he could
thereby be assured that he should always have ten knights to follow
him to battle with the infidels. The vigor of his administration
brought new life to the order, and he was able to carry on its mission
with such success that at his death there were no less than two
thousand German nobles who had assumed the badge of the order and
fought under its banner. Large accessions of property also came at
this time to the knights in Hungary, Prussia, Livonia, and elsewhere.
In 1214 the emperor Frederick I decreed that the grand master should
always be considered a member of the imperial court, that whenever he
visited it he should be lodged at the Emperor's expense, and that two
knights should always have quarters assigned them in the imperial
household. In 1221 the emperor Frederick II, by an imperial act, took
the Teutonic order under his special protection, including all its
property and servants; exempted them from all taxes and dues; and gave
its members free use of all pastures, rivers, and forests in his
dominions. And in 1227 Henry commanded that all proceedings in his
courts should be conducted without cost to the order. The King of
Hungary also, seeing the valor of the knights, endeavored to secure
his own possessions by giving them charge of several of his frontier
towns.
It would be unnecessary, as it would be tedious, to repeat all the
details of the crusades, the varying successes and defeats, in all of
which the Teutonic Knights took part, both in Syria and in Egypt,
fighting side by side with their brethren in arms, the Templars and
Hospitalers. They continued also their humane services to the sick and
wounded, as the following curious contemporary document shows. It
forms part of a charter, obtained by one Schweder, of Utrecht, who
says that, being at the siege of Damietta, "he saw the wonderful
exertions of the brethren of the Teutonic Order, for the succor of the
sick and the care of the soldiers of the army, and was moved to endow
the order with his property in the village of Lankarn."
It was during the siege of Damietta that the famous St. Francis of
Assisi visited the crusading army, and endeavored to settle a dispute
that had arisen between the knights and the foot soldiers of the army,
the latter being dissatisfied and declaring that they were unfairly
exposed to danger as compared with the mounted knights.
In 1226 the grand master was selected by the emperor Frederick and
Pope Honorius to be arbitrator in a dispute that had arisen between
them. So well pleased were they with his honorable and wise counsel
that, in recognition of his services, he and his successors were
created princes of the Empire, and the order was allowed to bear upon
its arms the Imperial Eagle. The Emperor also bestowed a very precious
ring upon the master, which was ever afterward used at the institution
of the grand master of the order. Again, in 1230, the Grand master was
one of the principal agents in bringing about a reconciliation between
the Emperor and Pope Gregory IX, whose dissensions had led to many
troubles and calamities.
It has already been mentioned that the King of Hungary bestowed upon
the knights some territory on the borders of his dominions, with a
view to their defending it from the incursions of the barbarous tribes
in the vicinity. The King's anticipations were amply realized. The
knights maintained order in the disturbed districts, and by their
presence put an end to the incursions of the predatory bands who came
periodically to waste the country with fire and sword. The land soon
smiled with harvests, and a settled and contented population lived in
peace and quietness.
But no sooner were these happy results attained than the King took a
mean advantage of the knights, and resumed possession of the country
which they had converted from a desert to a fruitful and valuable
district. The consequence was that the wild tribes renewed their
invasions, and the reclaimed country once more lapsed into desolation.
Then again the King made the border country over to the knights, who
speedily reasserted their rights, and established a settled government
and general prosperity in the dominion made over to them. This grant
and some others that followed were confirmed to the order by the bull
of Pope Honorius III in 1222.
A few years after this the Duke of Poland asked the aid of the order
against the pagan inhabitants of the country that was afterward
Prussia. These people were very savage and barbarous, and constantly
committed horrible cruelties upon their more civilized neighbors,
laying waste the country, destroying crops, carrying off cattle,
burning towns, villages, and convents, and murdering the inhabitants
with circumstances of extreme atrocity, often burning their captives
alive as sacrifices to their gods. The grand master consulted with his
chapter and with the Emperor on the proposed enterprise, and finally
resolved to enter upon it, the Emperor undertaking to secure to the
order any territory that they might be able to conquer and hold in
Prussia. Pope Gregory IX, in 1230, gave his sanction to the
expedition, and conferred on those concerned in it all the privileges
accorded to crusaders.
In the following year an army invaded Prussia and erected a fortress
at Thorn, on the Vistula, on the site of a grove of enormous oaks,
which the inhabitants looked upon as sacred to their god Thor. This
was followed, in 1232, by the foundation of another stronghold at
Culm. A successful campaign followed, and the castle of Marienwerder,
lower down the Vistula, was after some reverses and delays
successfully built and fortified. The grand master then established a
firm system of government over the conquered country, and drew up laws
and regulations for the administration of justice, for the coining of
money, and other necessary elements of civilization. Other fortified
places were built which gradually developed into cities and towns. But
all this was not effected without many battles and much patient
endurance, and frequent defeats and checks.
Nor did the knights forget the spiritual needs of their heathen
subjects. Mission clergy labored among them, and by their instruction,
and still more by their holy, self-denying lives, they succeeded in
winning many to forsake their idols and become Christians.
The order received an important accession to its ranks at this time
(1237) by the incorporation into it of the ancient Order of Christ, in
Livonia, which had considerable possessions. This was followed shortly
afterward by an agreement between the order and the King of Denmark,
by which the former undertook the defence of the kingdom against its
pagan neighbors.
In 1234 the order received into its ranks Conrad, Landgrave of
Thuringia and Hesse, a man who had led a wicked and violent life, but,
being brought to see his errors, made an edifying repentance, and
became a Teutonic Knight, and afterward was elected grand master. This
Conrad was brother to Louis of Thuringia, who was the husband of St.
Elizabeth of Hungary. After the death of Elizabeth, the hospital at
Marburg, where she had passed the latter years of her widowhood in the
care of the sick, was made over to the Teutonic Knights, and after her
canonization a church was built to receive her remains, and placed
under the care of the order.
In 1240 the knights received an earnest petition from the Duke of
Poland, for aid against the Turks, who were ravaging his dominions,
and by the enormous multitude of their hosts were able to defeat any
army he could bring into the field. The knights accepted the
invitation, and took part in a series of bloody and obstinate battles,
in which they lost many of their number. They had also a new enemy to
encounter in the Duke of Pomerania, who had been their ally, but who
now sided with the Prussians against them. In the war that ensued the
Duke was defeated, several of his strongholds were taken, and he was
obliged to sue for peace.
A few years afterward, however (1243), the Duke recommenced
hostilities, and with more success. Culm was besieged by him, and the
greatest miseries were endured by the inhabitants, the slaughter being
so great in the numerous conflicts before the walls that at last very
few men remained. The Bishop even counselled the widows to marry their
servants, that the population of the town might not become extinct.
The war was continued for several years with varying fortune, till a
peace was at last concluded, principally through the mediation of the
Duke of Austria.
About this time a disputed election caused a schism in the order, and
two rival grand masters for several years divided the allegiance of
the knights, till Henry de Hohenlohe was recognized by both sides as
master. During his term of office successful war was carried on in
Courland and other neighboring countries, which resulted in the spread
of Christianity and the advance of the power of the order. At the same
time, the Teutonic order took part in the crusades in Palestine, and
shared with the Templars and Hospitalers the successes and reverses
there.
It would be tedious to enter upon all the details of the conflicts
undertaken by the order against the Prussians and others; suffice it
to say that the knights, though often defeated, steadily advanced
their dominion, and secured its permanence by the erection of
fortresses, the centres about which cities and towns ultimately arose.
Among these were Dantzic, Koenigsberg, Elbing, Marienberg, and Thorn.
By the year 1283 the order was in possession of all the country
between the Vistula and the Memel, Prussia, Courland, part of Livonia,
and Samogitia; commanderies were established everywhere to hold it in
subjection, and bishoprics and monasteries were founded for the spread
of Christianity among the heathen population. In the contests between
the Venetians and the Genoese, the Teutonic Knights aided the former,
and in 1291, after the loss of Acre, the grand master took up his
residence in Venice.
About this time the Pope originated a scheme for the union of the
three orders of the Hospitalers, the Templars, and the Teutonic
Knights, into one great order, purposing at the same time to engage
the Emperor and the kings of Christendom to lay aside all their
quarrels, and combine their forces for the recovery once for all of
the Holy Land. Difficulties without number, which proved insuperable,
prevented the realization of this scheme. Among these was the
objection raised by the Teutonic Knights, that while the Hospitalers
and Templars had but one object in view--the recovery of Palestine,
their order had to maintain its conquests in the North of Europe, and
to prosecute the spread of the true faith among the still heathen
nations.
In 1309, when all hope of the recovery of the Christian dominion in
the East had been abandoned, and no further crusades seemed probable,
it was determined to remove the seat of the grand master from Venice
to Marienberg. At a chapter of the order held there, further
regulations were agreed upon for the government of the conquered
countries, some of which are very curious, but give an interesting
picture of the state of the people and of society at that period. Thus
it was commanded that no Jew, necromancer, or sorcerer should be
allowed to settle in the country. Masters who had slaves, and
generally Prussians, prisoners of war, were obliged to send them to
the parish church to be instructed by the clergy in the Christian
religion. German alone was to be spoken, and the ancient language of
the country was forbidden, to prevent the people hatching
conspiracies, and to do away with the old idolatry and heathen
superstitions. Prussians were not allowed to open shops or taverns,
nor to act as surgeons or accoucheurs.
The wages of servants were strictly settled, and no increase or
diminution was permitted. Three marks and a half a year were the wages
of a carpenter or smith, two and a half marks of a coachman, a mark
and a half of a laborer, two marks of a domestic servant, and half a
mark of a nurse. Masters had the right to follow their runaway
servants, and to pierce their ears; but if they dismissed a servant
before the end of his term of service, they must pay him a year's
wages. Servants were not allowed to marry during time of harvest and
vintage, under penalty of losing a year's wages and paying a fine of
three marks. No bargains were to be made on Sundays and festivals, and
no shops were to be open on those days till after morning service.
Sumptuary laws of the most stringent nature were passed, some of which
appear very singular. At a marriage or other domestic festival,
officers of justice might offer their guests six measures of beer,
tradesmen must not give more than four, peasants only two. Playing for
money, with dice or cards, was forbidden. Bishops were to visit their
dioceses every three years, and to aid missions to the heathen. Those
who gave drink to others must drink of the same beverage themselves,
to avoid the danger of poisoning, as commonly practised by the heathen
Prussians. A new coinage was also issued.
The next half-century was a period of general prosperity and advance
for the order. It was engaged almost incessantly in war, either for
the retention of its conquests or for the acquisition of new
territory. There were also internal difficulties and dissensions, and
contests with the bishops. In 1308 the Archbishop of Riga appealed to
Pope Clement V, making serious charges against the order, and
endeavoring to prevail upon him to suppress it in the same way as the
Templars had lately been dealt with. Gerard, Count of Holstein,
however, came forward as the defender of the knights. A formal inquiry
was opened before the Pope at Avignon in 1323. The principal charges
brought forward by the Archbishop were, that the order had not
fulfilled the conditions of its sovereignty in defending the Church
against its heathen enemies; that it did not regard excommunications;
that it had offered insolence to the Archbishop, and seized some of
the property of his see, and other similar accusations. The grand
master explained some of these matters, denied others, and produced an
autograph letter of the Archbishop's, in which he secretly endeavored
to stir up the Grand Duke of Lithuania to make a treacherous attack
upon some of the fortresses of the knights. The end of the matter was
that the case was dismissed, and there is little doubt that there were
serious faults on both sides.
The times were indeed full of violence, cruelty, and crime. The annals
abound with terrible and shameful records, bloody and desolating wars,
and individual cases of oppression, injustice, and cruelty. Now a
grand master is assassinated in his chapel during vespers; now a judge
is proved to have received bribes, and to have induced a suitor to
sacrifice the honor of his wife as the price of a favorable decision.
Wealth and power led to luxury and sensuality, the weaker were
oppressed, noble and bishop alike showing themselves proud and
tyrannical. There are often two contradictory accounts of the same
transaction, and it is impossible to decide where the fault really
was, when there seems so little to choose between the conduct of
either side.
The conclusion seems forced upon us that human nature was in those
days much the same as it is now, and that riches and irresponsible
authority scarcely ever fail to lead to pride and to selfish and
oppressive treatment of inferiors. When we gaze upon the magnificent
cathedrals that were rising all over Europe at the bidding of the
great of those times, we are filled with admiration, and disposed to
imagine that piety and a high standard of religious life must have
prevailed; but a closer acquaintance with historical facts dissipates
the illusion, and we find that then as now good and evil were mingled.
The history of the order for the next century presents little of
interest. In 1388 two of the knights repaired to England by order of
the grand master, to make commercial arrangements with that country,
which had been rendered necessary by the changes introduced into the
trade of Europe by the creation of the Hanseatic League. A second
commercial treaty between the King of England and the order was made
in 1409.
The order had now reached the summit of its greatness. Besides large
possessions in Germany, Italy, and other countries, its sovereignty
extended from the Oder to the Gulf of Finland. This country was both
wealthy and populous. Prussia is said to have contained fifty-five
large fortified cities, forty-eight fortresses, and nineteen thousand
and eight towns and villages. The population of the larger cities must
have been considerable, for we are told that in 1352 the plague
carried off thirteen thousand persons in Dantzic, four thousand in
Thorn, six thousand at Elbing, and eight thousand at Koenigsberg. One
authority reckons the population of Prussia at this time at two
million one hundred and forty thousand eight hundred. The greater part
of these were German immigrants, since the original inhabitants had
either perished in the war or retired to Lithuania.
Historians who were either members of the order or favorably disposed
toward it, are loud in their praise of the wisdom and generosity of
its government; while others accuse its members and heads of pride,
tyranny, luxury, and cruel exactions.
In 1410 the Teutonic order received a most crushing defeat at
Tannenberg from the King of Poland, assisted by bodies of Russians,
Lithuanians, and Tartars. The grand master, Ulric de Jungingen, was
slain, with several hundred knights and many thousand soldiers.
There is said to have been a chapel built at Gruenwald, in which an
inscription declared that sixty thousand Poles and forty thousand of
the army of the knights were left dead upon the field of battle. The
banner of the order, its treasury, and a multitude of prisoners fell
into the hands of the enemy, who shortly afterward marched against
Marienberg and closely besieged it. Several of the feudatories of the
knights sent in their submission to the King of Poland, who began at
once to dismember the dominions of the order and to assign portions to
his followers. But this proved to be premature. The knights found in
Henry de Planau a valiant leader, who defended the city with such
courage and obstinacy that, after fifty-seven days' siege, the enemy
retired, after serious loss from sorties and sickness. A series of
battles followed, and finally a treaty of peace was signed, by which
the order gave up some portion of its territory to Poland.
But a new enemy was on its way to inflict upon the order greater and
more lasting injury than that which the sword could effect. The
doctrines of Wycklif had for some time been spreading throughout
Europe, and had lately received a new impulse from the vigorous
efforts of John Huss in Bohemia, who had eagerly embraced them, and
set himself to preach them, with additions of his own. Several knights
accepted the teaching of Huss, and either retired from the order or
were forcibly ejected. Differences and disputes also arose within the
order, which ended in the arrest and deposition of the grand master in
1413. But the new doctrines had taken deep root, and a large party
within the order were more or less favorable to them, so much so that
at the Council of Constance (1415) a strong party demanded the total
suppression of the Teutonic order. This was overruled; but it probably
induced the grand master to commence a series of persecutions against
those in his dominions who followed the principles of Huss.
The treaty that had followed the defeat at Tannenberg had been almost
from the first disputed by both parties, and for some years appeals
were made to the Pope and the Emperor on several points; but the
decisions seldom gave satisfaction or commanded obedience. The general
result was the loss to the order of some further portions of its
dominions.