Editing Teutonic Order (section)

=== 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