Editing Teutonic Order (section)

===Decline===
[[File:Jan_Matejko,_Bitwa_pod_Grunwaldem.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Battle of Grunwald]]]]
In 1410, at the [[Battle of Grunwald]] a combined Polish–Lithuanian army, led by [[Władysław II Jagiełło]] and [[Vytautas]], decisively defeated the Order in the [[Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War]]. Grand Master [[Ulrich von Jungingen]] and most (50 out of 60) of the Order's higher dignitaries fell on the battlefield. The Polish–Lithuanian army then began the [[Siege of Marienburg (1410)|Siege of Marienburg]] ([[Malbork]]), the capital of the Order, but was unable to take [[Malbork Castle|Marienburg]] owing to the resistance of [[Heinrich von Plauen]]. When the [[Peace of Thorn (1411)|First Peace of Thorn]] was signed in 1411, the Order managed to retain essentially all of its territories, although the Knights' reputation as invincible warriors was irreparably damaged.

While Poland and Lithuania were growing in power, that of the Teutonic Knights dwindled through infighting. They were forced to impose high taxes to pay a substantial indemnity <!--Previously listed as "£850,000" with conversions into U.S. dollars and euros at 2007 rates, but converting this into other currencies at 2007 exchange rates is more misleading than helpful. What is needed is some idea of what the figure was in the original currency before it was converted into pounds (and pounds as of when?), and of what sort of sum it was in the context of the time.--> but did not give the cities sufficient requested representation in the administration of their state. The authoritarian and reforming Grand Master Heinrich von Plauen was forced from power and replaced by [[Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg]], but the new Grand Master was unable to revive the Order's fortunes. After the [[Gollub War]] the Knights lost some small border regions and renounced all claims to [[Samogitia]] in the 1422 [[Treaty of Melno]]. [[Austrians|Austrian]] and [[Bavarians|Bavarian]] knights feuded with those from the [[Rhineland]], who likewise bickered with [[Low German]]-speaking [[Saxons]], from whose ranks the Grand Master was usually chosen. The western Prussian lands of the [[Vistula]] River Valley and the Brandenburg Neumark were ravaged by the [[Hussite]]s during the [[Hussite Wars]].<ref>Westermann, p. 93</ref> Some Teutonic Knights were sent to battle the invaders but were defeated by the [[Bohemia]]n infantry. The Knights also sustained a defeat in the [[Polish-Teutonic War (1431–1435)]].

[[File:Teutonic Order 1466.png|thumb|left|Map of the Teutonic state in 1466]]

In 1440, the [[Prussian Confederation]] was founded by gentry and burghers of the State of the Teutonic Order. In 1454, it rose up against the Order and asked Polish King [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]] to incorporate the region into the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Kingdom of Poland]], to which the King agreed and signed an act of incorporation in [[Kraków]].{{sfn|Górski|1949|p=54}} Mayors, burghers and representatives from the region pledged allegiance to the Polish King during the incorporation in March 1454 in [[Kraków]].{{sfn|Górski|1949|pp=71–72}} This marked the beginning of the [[Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)|Thirteen Years' War]] between the Teutonic Order and Poland. The main cities of the incorporated territory were authorized by Casimir IV to mint Polish coins.{{sfn|Górski|1949|p=63}} Much of Prussia was devastated in the war, during the course of which the Order returned Neumark to Brandenburg in 1455 to raise funds for war. Because Marienburg Castle was handed over to mercenaries in lieu of their pay, and eventually passed to Poland, the Order moved its base to [[Königsberg]] in [[Sambia Peninsula|Sambia]]. In the [[Second Peace of Thorn (1466)]], the defeated Order renounced any claims to the territories of [[Gdańsk Pomerania|Gdańsk/Eastern Pomerania]] and [[Chełmno Land]], which were reintegrated with Poland,{{sfn|Górski|1949|pp=88–90, 206–207}} and the region of Elbląg and Malbork, and the [[Prince-Bishopric of Warmia]], which were also recognized as part of Poland,{{sfn|Górski|1949|pp=91–92, 209–210}} while retaining the eastern territories in historic Prussia, but as a [[fief]] and [[protectorate]] of Poland, also considered an integral part of "one and indivisible" Kingdom of Poland.{{sfn|Górski|1949|pp=96–97, 214–215}} From now on, every Grand Master of the Teutonic Order was obliged to swear an oath of allegiance to the reigning Polish king within six months of taking office.{{sfn|Górski|1949|pp=96–97, 214–215}} The Grand Master became a prince and counselor of the Polish king and the Kingdom of Poland.{{sfn|Górski|1949|pp=96, 103, 214, 221}}

After the [[Polish–Teutonic War (1519–1521)]], the Order was completely ousted from Prussia when Grand Master [[Albert I, Duke of Prussia|Albert of Brandenburg]] converted to [[Lutheranism]] in 1525. He secularized the Order's remaining Prussian territories and assumed from his uncle [[Sigismund I the Old]], King of Poland, the hereditary rights to the [[Duchy of Prussia]] as a personal vassal of the Polish Crown, the [[Prussian Homage]]. Ducal Prussia retained its currency, laws and faith. The aristocracy was not present in the Sejm.

Although it had lost control of all of its Prussian lands, the Teutonic Order retained its territories within the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and [[Livonia]], although the Livonian branch retained considerable autonomy. Many of the Imperial possessions were ruined in the [[German Peasants' War]] from 1524 to 1525 and subsequently confiscated by Protestant territorial princes.<ref>Christiansen, p. 248</ref> The Livonian territory was then partitioned by neighboring powers during the [[Livonian War]]; in 1561 the Livonian Master [[Gotthard Kettler]] secularized the southern Livonian possessions of the Order to create the [[Duchy of Courland]], also a vassal of Poland.

After the loss of Prussia in 1525, the Teutonic Knights concentrated on their possessions in the Holy Roman Empire. Since they held no contiguous territory, they developed a three-tiered administrative system: holdings were combined into [[commandry (feudalism)|commanderies]] that were administered by a [[komtur|commander]] (''Komtur''). Several commanderies were combined to form a [[bailiwick]] headed by a ''Landkomtur''. All of the Teutonic Knights' possessions were subordinate to the Grand Master, whose seat was in Bad Mergentheim.

[[File:2005-11-03 Bad Mergentheim Deutschordensschloss Seitenansicht.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Castle of the Teutonic Order in [[Bad Mergentheim]]]]

There were twelve German bailiwicks:
* [[Thuringia]];
* [[Alden Biesen Castle|Alden Biesen]] (in present-day [[Belgium]]);
* [[Hesse]];
* [[Saxony]];
* [[Westphalia]];
* Franconia;
* Koblenz;
* Alsace-Burgundy;
* [[An der Etsch|An der Etsch und im Gebirge]] (in [[County of Tyrol|Tyrol]]);
* Utrecht;
* Lorraine; and
* Austria.

Outside of German areas were the bailiwicks of
* Sicily;
* Apulia;
* Lombardy;
* Bohemia;
* "Romania" (in [[Greece]]); and
* Armenia-Cyprus.

The Order gradually lost control of these holdings until, by 1809, only the seat of the Grand Master at Mergentheim remained.

Following the abdication of Albert of Brandenburg, [[Walter von Cronberg]] became ''Deutschmeister'' in 1527, and later Administrator of Prussia and Grand Master in 1530. Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] combined the two positions in 1531, creating the title ''Hoch- und Deutschmeister'', which also had the rank of [[Fürst|Prince of the Empire]].<ref>Seward, p. 137</ref> A new Grand Magistery was established in Mergentheim in [[Württemberg]], which was attacked during the German Peasants' War. The Order also helped Charles V against the [[Schmalkaldic League]]. After the [[Peace of Augsburg]] in 1555, membership in the Order was open to Protestants, although the majority of brothers remained Catholic.<ref>Urban, p. 276</ref> The Teutonic Knights became tri-denominational, with Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed bailiwicks.

The Grand Masters, often members of the great German families (and, after 1761, members of the [[House of Habsburg-Lorraine]]), continued to preside over the Order's considerable holdings in Germany. Teutonic Knights from Germany, Austria, and Bohemia were used as battlefield commanders leading mercenaries for the [[Habsburg monarchy]] during the [[Ottoman wars in Europe]].

The military history of the Teutonic Knights was to end in 1805 by the Article XII of the [[Peace of Pressburg (1805)|Peace of Pressburg]], which ordered the German territories of the Knights converted into a hereditary domain and gave the Austrian Emperor responsibility for placing a Habsburg prince on its throne. These terms had not been fulfilled by the time of the [[Treaty of Schönbrunn]] in 1809, and therefore [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]] ordered the Knights' remaining territory to be disbursed to his German allies, which was completed in 1810.