Editing Teutonic Order (section)

==History==
[[File:Deutscher Orden in Europa 1300.png|thumb|Extent of the Teutonic Order in 1300]]
[[File:TeutonicOrder1422.png|thumb|Teutonic and Livonian Orders in 1422]]

The fraternity which preceded the formation of the Order was formed in the year 1191 in [[Acre, Israel|Acre]] by German merchants from [[Bremen]] and [[Lübeck]]. After the [[Siege of Acre (1189–1191)|capture of Acre]] they took over a hospital in the city in order to take care of the sick and began to describe themselves as the Hospital of St. Mary of the German House in Jerusalem.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Teutonic Order {{!}} religious order |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Teutonic-Order|access-date=2022-02-17|website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> [[Pope Clement III]] approved it and the Order started to play an important role in [[Outremer]] (the general name for the [[Crusader states]]), controlling the port tolls of Acre. In 1211, during the second, much weaker [[Kingdom of Jerusalem#The Kingdom of Acre|Crusader kingdom in the Holy Land]], but still long before its [[Siege of Acre (1291)|final demise in 1291]], the Order was invited to the [[Burzenland]] (southeastern [[Transylvania]]) to help defend the southeastern borders of the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] against the [[Kipchak people|Cumans]]. The Order invited German planters to help build up settlements to provide support. As the Order pushed back the invaders, the settlements expanded. King [[Andrew II of Hungary]] became concerned he was losing influence. So, in 1225, after Pope Honorius III's papal bull claiming his authority over the Order's territory in Transylvania and its tax exemption toward the king, Andrew expelled the Order.{{sfn|Sterns|1985|pp=361–362}}

The Order's next assignment concerned [[Konrad I of Masovia]], who was settling a frontier around [[Prussia (region)|Prussia]], a region named for the [[Old Prussians|Prussians]] who lived there. Konrad was unable to stop the Prussian raids and the [[Order of Dobrzyń|Dobrzyń knights]] he had gathered for this purpose were defeated, in 1228. So, in coordination with the Holy Roman Empire and Konrad, the [[Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights|Grand Master]] [[Hermann von Salza]] and his Teutonic Order arrived in the region, in 1230. Along with Konrad's forces, the Order pushed back the Prussians and began to push further to conquer and Christianize them.

Through the [[Golden Bull of Rimini]] and [[Treaty of Kruszwica]], the Order asserted its claims to the territory that was now secure, the [[Chełmno Land]] (also: Ziemia Chełmińska or Kulmerland). From this, the Order created the independent [[State of the Teutonic Order]], to which conquered territory was continuously added. Through the incorporation of the [[Livonian Brothers of the Sword]] and further crusading, the added territory included [[Livonia]]. Over time, certain kings and dukes of Poland would challenge the Order's land claims, specifically Chełmno Land and, later, [[Pomerelia]] (also Pomorze Gdańskie or Vistula Pomerania), [[Kuyavia]], and [[Dobrzyń Land]].

Following the [[Christianization of Lithuania]], the Order State was no longer crusading.  It was instead recruiting planters from the Holy Roman Empire and a fighting force to augment feudal levies. There were also wars against the [[Kingdom of Poland (1138–1320)|Kingdom of Poland]], the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], and the [[Novgorod Republic]]. Through its control of port cities and trade, specifically with the [[Hanseatic League]], the Order State built up its economic base. The Order State also built ships and had a naval presence in the [[Baltic Sea]]. In 1410, a Polish-Lithuanian army decisively defeated the Order State and broke its military power at the [[Battle of Grunwald]]. However, the Order State successfully defended its capital in the following [[Siege of Marienburg (1410)|Siege of Marienburg]] ([[Malbork]]) and was saved from collapse.

In 1515, [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]] made a marriage alliance with [[Sigismund I the Old|Sigismund I]] of Poland-Lithuania. Thereafter, the empire did not support the Order against Poland. In 1525, Grand Master [[Albert, Duke of Prussia|Albert of Brandenburg]] resigned and converted to [[Lutheranism]], becoming [[Duke of Prussia]] as a vassal of Poland. Soon after, the Order lost Livonia and its holdings in the Protestant areas of Germany.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.deutscher-orden.de/GB/all_geschichte_start.php#aufstieg | title = History of the German Order | access-date = 2011-01-30 | work = Teutonic Order, Order of the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary's Hospital in Jerusalem | quote = The 15th and early 16th century brought hard times for the Order. Apart from the drastic power loss in the East as of 1466, the Hussite attacks imperiled the continued existence of the bailiwick of Bohemia. In Southern Europe, the Order had to give up important outposts – such as Apulia and Sicily. After the coup d’état of Albrecht von Brandenburg, the only remaining territory of the Order were the bailiwicks located within the empire. | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110718225727/http://www.deutscher-orden.de/GB/all_geschichte_start.php#aufstieg | archive-date = 2011-07-18}}</ref> The Order did keep its considerable holdings in Catholic areas of Germany until 1809, when [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]] ordered its dissolution and the Order lost its last secular holdings.

However, the Order continued to exist as a charitable and ceremonial body. It was outlawed by [[Nazi Germany]] in 1938,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.chivalricorders.org/vatican/teutonic.htm | title = The Teutonic Order of Holy Mary in Jerusalem | access-date = 2011-01-30 | last = Sainty | first = Guy Stair | work = Almanach de la Cour | publisher = www.chivalricorders.org | quote = This tradition was further perverted by the Nazis who, after the occupation of Austria suppressed it by an act of 6 September 1938 because they suspected it of being a bastion of pro-Habsburg legitimism.}}</ref> but re-established in 1945.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.deutscher-orden.de/GB/D_neubeginn.php | title = Restart of the Brother Province in 1945 | access-date = 2011-01-30 | work = Teutonic Order, Order of the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary's Hospital in Jerusalem | publisher = deutscher-orden.de | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110718225753/http://www.deutscher-orden.de/GB/D_neubeginn.php | archive-date = 2011-07-18}}</ref> Today it operates primarily with charitable aims in [[Central Europe]].

The Knights wore white [[surcoat]]s with a black cross. A [[cross pattée]] was sometimes used as their [[coat of arms]]; this emblem was later used for military decoration and insignia by the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] and Germany as the [[Iron Cross]]. The motto of the Order was: "Helfen, Wehren, Heilen" ("Help, Defend, Heal").<ref name="Demel">{{cite book | last1 = Demel | first1 = Bernhard | title = Der Deutsche Orden Einst Und Jetzt: Aufsätze Zu Seiner Mehr Als 800 jahrigen Geschichte | volume = 848 | editor-first = Friedrich |editor-last=Vogel | series = Europäische Hochschulschriften: Geschichte und ihre Hilfswissenschaften | publisher = Peter Lang | year = 1999 | location = Frankfurt-am-Main | page = 80 | isbn = 978-3-631-34999-1}}</ref>

{{Wide image|Marienburg 2004 Panorama.jpg|900px|The Order's [[Malbork Castle|Marienburg Castle]], [[Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights]], now [[Malbork]], Poland}}

=== Foundation ===
[[File:Hermann von Salza Painting.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|[[Hermann von Salza]], the fourth Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (1209–1239)]]
[[File:Reliquary made in Elbing in 1388 for Teutonic komtur Thiele von Lorich, military Trophy of Polish king Wladislaus in 1410.png|thumb|[[Reliquary]] made in [[Elbing]] in 1388 for Teutonic komtur Thiele von Lorich, military trophy of Polish king Wladislaus in 1410.]]

In 1143, [[Pope Celestine II]] ordered the [[Knights Hospitaller]] to take over management of a German hospital in [[Jerusalem]], which, according to the chronicler Jean d'Ypres, accommodated the countless German pilgrims and crusaders who could neither speak the local language nor Latin (''patriæ linguam ignorantibus atque Latinam'').<ref>[[Monumenta Germaniae Historica]], SS Bd. 25, S. 796.</ref> Although formally an institution of the Hospitallers, the pope commanded that the prior and the brothers of the ''domus Theutonicorum'' (house of the Germans) should always be Germans themselves, so a tradition of a German-led religious institution could develop during the 12th century in the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]].<ref>Kurt Forstreuter. "Der Deutsche Orden am Mittelmeer". ''Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte des Deutschen Ordens, Bd II''. [[Bonn]] 1967, S. 12f.</ref>

After the loss of Jerusalem in 1187, some merchants from [[Lübeck]] and [[Bremen]] took up the idea and founded a field hospital for the duration of the [[Siege of Acre (1189–1191)|Siege of Acre]] in 1190, which became the nucleus of the order; [[Pope Celestine III]] recognized it in 1192 by granting the monks [[Augustinians|Augustinian Rule]]. However, based on the model of the [[Knights Templar]], it was transformed into a military order in 1198 and the head of the order became known as the [[Grand Master of the Teutonic Order|Grand Master]] (''magister hospitalis''). It received papal orders for crusades to take and hold Jerusalem for Christianity and defend the Holy Land against the Muslim [[Saracen]]s. During the rule of Grand Master [[Hermann von Salza]] (1209–1239) the Order changed from being a [[Palliative care|hospice]] brotherhood for pilgrims to primarily a military order.

The Order was founded in Acre, and the Knights purchased [[Montfort Castle]], northeast of Acre, in 1220. This castle, which defended the route between Jerusalem and the [[Mediterranean Sea]], was made the seat of the Grand Masters in 1229, although they returned to Acre after losing Montfort to Muslim control in 1271. The Order received donations of land in the [[Holy Roman Empire]] (especially in present-day Germany and [[Italy]]), [[Frankokratia]], and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

[[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor]], elevated his close friend Hermann von Salza to the status of ''[[Fürst|Reichsfürst]]'', or "Prince of the Empire", enabling the Grand Master to negotiate with other senior princes as an equal. During Frederick's coronation as [[King of Jerusalem]] in 1225, Teutonic Knights served as his escort in the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]]; von Salza read the emperor's proclamation in both French and [[German language|German]]. However, the Teutonic Knights were never as influential in [[Outremer]] as the older [[Knights Templar]] and [[Knights Hospitaller]].

Teutonic Order domains in the Levant: 
* In the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]]: 
** [[Montfort Castle]] (''Starkenberg''), 1220–1271; inland from [[Nahariya]] in Northern Israel
** [[Mi'ilya]] (''Castellum Regis''), 1220–1271; near Montfort
** [[Khirbat Jiddin]] (''Judin''), 1220–1271; near Montfort
** [[Cafarlet]], 1255–1291; south of [[Haifa]]
** the [[Toron|Lordship of Toron]] and [[Joscelin III, Count of Edessa|Lordship of Joscelin]] in Northern Israel and Southern Lebanon, both owned by the Teutonic Knights 1220–1229 but under Muslim rule during that period. The Knights retained Maron, a vassal of Toron, after 1229, and in 1261 acquired another Toron-Ahmud, another vassal lordship. They also leased (1256) and bought (1261) the stronghold of [[Achziv]] (''Casale Umberti'', Arabic ''Az-Zīb'') on the coast north of [[Nahariya]]. 
** the Lordship of the [[Chouf District|Schuf]], an offshoot of the [[Lordship of Sidon]], 1256–1268; inland from modern [[Sidon|Saida]] in Lebanon
* In the [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia]]: 
** [[Amouda]], 1212–1266; near modern [[Osmaniye]], Turkey
** [[Düziçi]] (''Aronia''), 1236–1270s; near Amouda

=== Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary ===
[[File:Codex Manesse Tannhäuser.jpg|thumb|[[Tannhäuser]] in the habit of the Teutonic Knights, from the ''[[Codex Manesse]]'']]

In 1211, [[Andrew II of Hungary]] accepted the services of the Teutonic Knights and granted them the district of [[Burzenland]] in [[Transylvania]], where they would be exempt from fees and duties and could administer their own justice. Andrew had been involved in negotiations for the marriage of his daughter with the son of Hermann, Landgrave of [[Thuringia]], whose vassals included the family of Hermann von Salza. Led by a brother called Theoderich or Dietrich, the Order defended the south-eastern borders of the Kingdom of Hungary against the neighbouring [[Cumans]]. Many forts of wood and mud were built for defence. They settled new German peasants among the existing [[Transylvanian Saxons|Transylvanian Saxon]] inhabitants. The Cumans had no fixed settlements for resistance, and soon the [[Teutons]] were expanding into their territory. By 1220, the Teutonics Knights had built five castles, some of them made of stone. Their rapid expansion made the Hungarian nobility and clergy, who were previously uninterested in those regions, jealous and suspicious. Some nobles claimed these lands, but the Order refused to share them, ignoring the demands of the local bishop. 

After the [[Fifth Crusade]], King Andrew returned to Hungary and found his kingdom full of resentment because of the expenses and losses of the failed military campaign. When the nobles demanded that he cancel the concessions made to the Knights, he concluded that they had exceeded their task and that the agreement should be revised, but did not revert the concessions. However, Prince Béla, heir to the throne, was allied with the nobility. In 1224, the Teutonic Knights, seeing that they would have problems when the Prince inherited the Kingdom, petitioned [[Pope Honorius III]] to be placed directly under the authority of the [[Papal See]], rather than that of the King of Hungary. This was a grave mistake, as King Andrew, angered and alarmed at their growing power, responded in 1225 by expelling the Teutonic Knights, although he allowed the ethnically German commoners and peasants settled here by the Order to remain and these became part of the larger group of the Transylvanian Saxons. Lacking the military organization and experience of the Teutonic Knights, the Hungarians failed to replace them with adequate defence against the attacking Cumans. Soon, the steppe warriors would be a threat again.<ref>Urban, p.{{page?|date=July 2023}}</ref>

===Prussia===
{{Main|Prussian Crusade}}
In 1226, [[Konrad I of Masovia|Konrad I]], Duke of [[Masovia]] in [[north-eastern Poland]], appealed to the Knights to defend his borders and subdue the pagan Baltic [[Old Prussians]], allowing the Teutonic Knights use of [[Chełmno Land]] as a base for their campaign. This being a time of widespread crusading fervor throughout Western Europe, Hermann von Salza considered [[Prussia (region)|Prussia]] a good training ground for his knights for the wars against the [[Muslim]]s in [[Outremer]].<ref>Seward, p. 100</ref> With the [[Golden Bull of Rimini]], Emperor Frederick II bestowed on the Order a special imperial privilege for the conquest and possession of Prussia, including Chełmno Land, with nominal papal sovereignty. In 1235 the Teutonic Knights assimilated the smaller [[Order of Dobrzyń]], which had been established earlier by [[Christian of Oliva|Christian]], the first Bishop of Prussia.

[[File:Peter Janssen, Kaiser Friedrich II.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]] allows the order to invade Prussia'', by [[Peter Janssen|P. Janssen]]]]

The [[conquest of Prussia]] was accomplished with much bloodshed over more than fifty years, during which native Prussians who remained unbaptised were subjugated, killed, or exiled. Fighting between the Knights and the Prussians was ferocious; chronicles of the Order state the Prussians would "roast captured brethren alive in their armour, like chestnuts, before the shrine of a local god".<ref>Seward, p. 104</ref>

The native nobility who submitted to the crusaders had many of their privileges confirmed by the [[Treaty of Christburg]]. After the [[Prussian uprisings]] of 1260–83, however, much of the Prussian nobility emigrated or were resettled, and many free Prussians lost their rights. The Prussian nobles who remained were more closely allied with the German landowners and were gradually assimilated.<ref>Christiansen, pp. 208–209</ref> Peasants in frontier regions, such as [[Sambia Peninsula|Samland]], had more privileges than those in more populated lands, such as [[Pomesania]].<ref>Christiansen, pp. 210–211</ref> The crusading knights often accepted [[baptism]] as a form of submission by the natives.<ref>Barraclough, p. 268</ref> Christianity along western lines slowly spread through Prussian culture. Bishops were reluctant to have pagan Prussian religious practices integrated into the new faith,<ref>Urban, p. 106</ref> while the ruling knights found it easier to govern the natives when they were semi-pagan and lawless.<ref>Christiansen, p. 211</ref> After fifty years of warfare and brutal conquest, the end result was that most of the Prussian natives were either killed or deported.<ref>''The German Hansa'' P. Dollinger, p. 34, 1999 Routledge {{ISBN?}}</ref>

[[File:Teutonic Order 1260.png|thumb|Map of the Teutonic state in 1260]]

The Order ruled Prussia under [[Golden Bull of Rimini|charters]] issued by the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor as a [[sovereignty|sovereign]] [[monastic state of the Teutonic Knights|monastic state]], comparable to the arrangement of the Knights Hospitallers in [[Rhodes]] and later in [[Malta]].

To make up for losses from the [[Black Death|plague]] and to replace the partially exterminated native population, the Order encouraged [[immigration]] from the Holy Roman Empire (mostly [[Germans]], [[Flemish people|Flemish]], and [[Dutch people|Dutch]]) and from Masovia ([[Polish people|Poles]]), the later [[Masurians]]. These included nobles, burghers, and peasants, and the surviving Old Prussians were gradually assimilated through [[Germanization]]. The settlers founded numerous towns and cities on former Prussian settlements. The Order itself built a number of castles (''[[Ordensburg]]en'') from which it could defeat [[Prussian uprisings|uprisings of Old Prussians]], as well as continue its attacks on the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, with which the Order was often at war during the 14th and 15th centuries. Major towns founded by the Order included [[Toruń|Thorn (Toruń)]], [[Chełmno|Kulm (Chełmno)]], [[Olsztyn|Allenstein (Olsztyn)]], [[Elbląg|Elbing (Elbląg)]], [[Klaipėda|Memel (Klaipėda)]], and [[Königsberg]], founded in 1255 in honor of King [[Otakar II of Bohemia]] on the site of a destroyed Prussian settlement.

===Livonia===
{{Main|Livonian Crusade}}
[[File:Paide ordulinnuse varemed 2013.JPG|thumb|Ruins of the Teutonic Order's castle in [[Paide]], Estonia]]

After suffering a devastating defeat in the [[Battle of Saule]], the [[Livonian Brothers of the Sword]] were absorbed by the Teutonic Knights in 1237. The Livonian branch subsequently became known as the [[Livonian Order]].<ref name="Plakans">{{cite book |last1=Plakans |first1=Andrejs |title=A Concise History of the Baltic States |year=2011 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0521833721 |pages= 44–45 }}</ref>

Although the [[Northern Crusades]] were aimed at pagan [[Balts]] and [[Finns]], rather than Orthodox Russians, several unsuccessful attempts were made to persuade Novgorod to convert to Catholicism after the capture of [[Tartu]].{{sfn|Nicolle|1997|pages=11–15}} Livonian missionary and Crusade activity in Estonia caused conflicts with [[Novgorod Republic|Novgorod]], which had also attempted to subjugate, raid and convert the pagan Estonians.{{sfn|Martin|2007|pages=175–219}} Hoping to exploit Novgorod's weakness in the wake of the Mongol and Swedish invasions, the Teutonic Knights penetrated deep into Novgorodian territory;{{sfn|Martin|2007|pages=175–219}} however, in 1242, they were defeated in the [[Battle of the Ice]] at the hands of Prince [[Alexander Nevsky]]. The ''[[Livonian Rhymed Chronicle]]'' describes the events:{{sfn|Nicolle|1997|pages=60–61}}

{{Blockquote|text=
There is a city in Russia called Novgorod, and when its king [Alexandre] heard what had happened he marched towards Pskov with many troops. He arrived there with a mighty force of many Russians to free the Pskovians and these latter heartily rejoiced. When he saw the Germans he did not hesitate long. They drove away the two Brothers, removed them from their governorship and routed their troops. The Germans fled and allowed the land to revert to the Russians. Thus it went for the Teutonic Knights, but if Pskov had been protected it would have benefited Christianity until the end of the world. It is a mistake to take a fair land and fail to occupy it properly. It is deplorable, for the result is sure to be disastrous. The king of Novgorod then returned home.{{sfn|Nicolle|1997|pages=60–61}}
|source=''Livonian Rhymed Chronicle''
}}

Over the next decades the Order focused on the subjugation of the [[Curonians]] and [[Semigallians]]. In 1260 it suffered a disastrous defeat in the [[Battle of Durbe]] against [[Samogitians]], and this inspired rebellions throughout Prussia and Livonia. After the Knights won a crucial victory in the [[Siege of Königsberg]] from 1262 to 1265, the war had reached a turning point. The Curonians were finally subjugated in 1267 and the Semigallians in 1290.<ref name="Plakans"/> The Order suppressed a [[St. George's Night Uprising|major Estonian rebellion]] in 1343–1345, and in 1346 purchased the [[Danish Estonia#Duchy of Estonia|Duchy of Estonia]] from [[Denmark]].

===Against Lithuania===
{{main|Lithuanian Crusade}}
The Teutonic Knights began to direct their campaigns against pagan [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]] (see [[Lithuanian mythology]]), due to the long existing conflicts in the region (including constant incursions into the Holy Roman Empire's territory by pagan raiding parties) and the lack of a proper area of operation for the Knights, after the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at [[Siege of Acre (1291)|Acre in 1291]] and their later expulsion from Hungary.<ref name="SEWARD, 1995">{{cite book |last1=Seward|first1=Desmond |title=The monks of war : the military religious orders |date=1995 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=England |isbn=0140195017 |page=98 |edition=2nd, Rev.|ref=SEWARD, 1995}}</ref> At first the knights moved their headquarters to [[Venice]], from which they planned the recovery of Outremer;<ref>Christiansen, p. 150</ref> this plan was, however, soon abandoned, and the Order later moved its headquarters to Marienburg, so it could better focus its efforts on the region of Prussia. Because "[[Lithuania proper|Lithuania Propria]]" remained non-Christian until the end of the 14th century, much later than the rest of eastern Europe, the conflicts were dragged out over a longer time, and many Knights from western European countries, such as [[England]] and [[France]], journeyed to Prussia to participate in the seasonal campaigns (''reyse'') against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1348, the Order won a great victory over the Lithuanians in the [[Battle of Strėva]], severely weakening them. In 1370 it won a decisive victory over Lithuania in the [[Battle of Rudau]].

Warfare between the Order and the Lithuanians was particularly brutal. It was common practice for Lithuanians to torture captured enemies and civilians. It is recorded by a Teutonic chronicler that they had the habit of tying captured knights to their horses and having both of them burned alive, while sometimes a stake would be driven into their bodies or the knight would be flayed. Lithuanian pagan customs included ritualistic human sacrifice, the hanging of widows, and the burying of a warrior's horses and servants with him after his death.<ref name="SEWARDm 1995">{{cite book |last1=Seward |first1=Desmond |title=The Monks of War: The Military Religious Orders |date=1995 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=England |isbn=0140195017 |page=100 |edition=2nd, Rev.|ref=SEWARD, 1995}}</ref> The knights would also, on occasion, take captives from defeated Lithuanians, whose condition (as that of other war captives in the Middle Ages) was extensively researched by Jacques Heers.<ref name="HEERS, 1981">{{cite book |last1=Heers |first1=Jacques |title=Esclaves et domestiques au Moyen Age dans le monde méditerranéen |date=1981 |publisher=Fayard |location=France |isbn=2213010943 |edition=|ref=HEERS, 1981}}</ref> The conflict had much influence in the political situation of the region and was the source of many rivalries between Lithuanians or Poles and Germans; the degree to which it impacted the mentalities of the time can be seen in the lyrical works of men such as the contemporary [[Archduchy of Austria|Austrian]] poet [[Peter Suchenwirt]].

Overall, the conflict lasted over 200 years (although with varying degrees of active hostility during that time), its front line extending along both banks of the [[Neman River]], with as many as twenty forts and castles between [[Seredžius]] and [[Jurbarkas]] alone.

===Against Poland===
{{Main|Teutonic takeover of Danzig}}
[[File:Pommerellen.png|thumb|Pomerelia (''Pommerellen'') while part of the [[monastic state of the Teutonic Knights]]]]

A dispute over the claims to [[Pomerelia]] embroiled the Order in further conflict at the beginning of the 14th century. Duke [[Władysław I the Elbow-high]] of Poland wanted the region, citing inheritance from [[Przemysł II]]. He was opposed by some [[Pomerania]]n nobles, but also a [[Christopher II of Denmark|Danish prince]], who supported the Margrave of [[Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal|Brandenburg]]'s claim that the region had been granted to Brandenburg as a fief by King [[Wenceslaus III of Bohemia|Wenceslaus]]. Forces from Denmark and Brandenburg had tried and failed to take the site in 1301 and 1306 but, in the summer of 1308, Brandenburg's forces tried again, targeting the present-day site of [[Gdańsk]], where a rebellion had erupted in their favor. Władysław pressed the Teutonic Order for help and the Teutonic Knights, led by Grand Master [[Siegfried von Feuchtwangen]], drove Brandenburg out. The Knights requested payment in exchange and Władysław refused.

By November, the Order forces under a Prussian Landmeister [[Heinrich von Plötzke]] took the site for themselves. According to some sources, they [[Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk)|massacred the town's inhabitants]], although the exact extent of the violence is unknown and widely recognized by historians to be an unsolvable mystery. The estimates range from 60 rebellious leaders, reported by dignitaries of the region and Knight chroniclers, to 10,000 civilians, a number cited in a papal bull (of dubious provenance) that was used in a legal process installed to punish the Order for the event; the legal dispute went on for a time, but the Order was eventually absolved of the charges. In the [[Treaty of Soldin (1309)|Treaty of Soldin]], the Teutonic Order purchased the castles of Gdańsk, [[Świecie]], and [[Tczew]] and their hinterlands from the margraves for 10,000 marks on 13 September 1309.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The New Cambridge medieval history|url=https://archive.org/details/newcambridgemedi00allm|url-access=limited|date=1995–2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|author=McKitterick, Rosamond|isbn=0521362911|location=Cambridge [England]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newcambridgemedi00allm/page/n773 752]|oclc=29184676}}</ref>

Control of Pomerelia allowed the Order to connect their monastic state with the borders of the Holy Roman Empire. Crusading reinforcements and supplies could travel from the Imperial territory of [[Hither Pomerania]] through Pomerelia to Prussia, while Poland's access to the Baltic Sea was blocked. While Poland had mostly been an ally of the knights against the pagan Prussians and Lithuanians, the capture of Pomerelia turned the kingdom into a determined enemy of the Order.<ref>Urban, p. 116</ref>

The capture of Gdańsk marked a new phase in the history of the Teutonic Knights. The persecution and abolition of the powerful Knights Templar, which began in 1307, worried the Teutonic Knights, but control of Pomerelia allowed them to move their headquarters in 1309 from Venice to [[Malbork|Marienburg (Malbork)]] on the [[Nogat River]], outside the reach of secular powers. The position of Prussian Landmeister was merged with that of the Grand Master. The Pope began investigating misconduct by the knights, but no charges were found to have substance. Along with the campaigns against the Lithuanians, the knights faced a vengeful Poland and legal threats from the Papacy.<ref>Christiansen, p. 151</ref>

The [[Treaty of Kalisz (1343)|Treaty of Kalisz of 1343]] ended the open war between the Teutonic Knights and Poland. The Knights relinquished [[Kuyavia]] and [[Dobrzyń Land]] to Poland, but retained [[Chełmno Land]] and Pomerelia with Gdańsk (Germanized as ''Danzig'').

===Battle of Legnica===
In 1236, the [[Knights of Saint Thomas]], an English order, adopted the rules of the Teutonic Order. A contingent of Teutonic Knights of indeterminate number is traditionally believed to have participated at the [[Battle of Legnica]] in 1241 during the [[first Mongol invasion of Poland]]. The combined Polish-German army was crushed by the Mongol army and their superior tactics, with few survivors.<ref>''The Mongols and the West, 1221–1410'', Peter Jackson, Routledge, New York, 2018, pp. 66–78</ref><ref>''The Rise and Fall of the Second Largest Empire in History'', Thomas Craughwell, Quayside Publishing Group, Massachusetts, 2010, pp. 193–195</ref><ref>''Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongolian Empire'', Christopher Atwood, Indiana Univ. Press, Bloomington, 2004, p. 79</ref>

===Height of power===
[[File:Teutonic Order 1410.png|thumb|Map of the Teutonic state in 1410]]

In 1337, Emperor [[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Louis IV]] allegedly granted the Order the imperial privilege to conquer all Lithuania and Russia. During the reign of Grand Master [[Winrich von Kniprode]] (1351–1382), the Order reached the peak of its international prestige and hosted numerous European crusaders and nobility.

King [[Albert of Sweden]] ceded [[Gotland]] to the Order as a pledge (similar to a [[fiefdom]]), with the understanding that they would eliminate the pirating [[Victual Brothers]] from this strategic island base in the [[Baltic Sea]]. An invasion force under Grand Master [[Konrad von Jungingen]] conquered the island in 1398 and drove the Victual Brothers out of Gotland and the Baltic Sea.

In 1386, Grand Duke [[Jogaila]] of Lithuania was [[baptism|baptised]] into Christianity and married Queen [[Jadwiga of Poland]], taking the name Władysław II Jagiełło and becoming King of Poland. This created a [[Polish–Lithuanian union|personal union]] between the two countries and a potentially formidable opponent for the Teutonic Knights. The Order initially managed to play Władysław II Jagiełło and his cousin [[Vytautas the Great|Vytautas]] against each other, but this strategy failed when Vytautas began to suspect that the Order was planning to annex parts of his territory.

The baptism of Jogaila began the official conversion of Lithuania to Christianity. Although the crusading rationale for the Order's state ended when Prussia and Lithuania had become officially Christian, the Order's feuds and wars with Lithuania and Poland continued. The [[Lizard Union (medieval)|Lizard Union]] was created in 1397 by Prussian nobles in Chełmno Land to oppose the Order's policy.

In 1407, the Teutonic Order reached its greatest territorial extent and included the lands of [[Prussia (region)|Prussia]], [[Pomerelia]], [[Samogitia]], [[Courland]], [[Livonia]], [[Estonia]], [[Gotland]], [[Hiiumaa|Dagö]], [[Saaremaa|Ösel]], and the [[Neumark]], pawned by Brandenburg in 1402.

===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.