← HistoryExtra podcast
HistoryExtra podcast
The Teutonic Order: everything you wanted to know
00:54:54
Aleks Pluskowski charts the rise and fall of the mighty medieval crusading corporation
Loading summary
Transcript43 lines
- [00:00]
Emily Brifitt
It's Spring Black Friday at the Home Depot. So what are you working on? If you're sprucing up your lawn, you know there's no such thing as too much mulch, so don't miss this special. Buy five bags of Scott's EarthGrow mulch for only $10 at the home Depot. Promote healthier soil, prevent weeds, and beautify your yard with mulch that maintains its color for up to 12 months. Shop 14 days of deals during spring Black Friday, now through April 16th at the Home Depot.
- [00:30]
Alex Plaskowski
McDonald's meets the Minecraft universe with one of six collectibles and your choice of a Big Mac or 10 piece McNuggets with spicy nether Flame sauce. Now available with a Minecraft movie meal.
- [00:42]
Emily Brifitt
At participating McDonald's for a limited time. A Minecraft movie only in theaters. Wow, this house is cute, but can I really get in the game in this economy? I do have savings and I am responsible. Ugh, I should bury it. I'm being wild. But what if I'm not being wild though? Could I actually Score a kick off your home buying journey with Zillow's new buyability tool? It makes it easy to find out.
- [01:07]
Alex Plaskowski
What you can afford so you can.
- [01:09]
Emily Brifitt
Get off the bench and onto the playing field with confidence. Check your buyability only on Zillow. This episode is brought to you by Lifelock. It's tax season and we're all a bit tired of numbers, but here's one you need to hear. $16.5 billion. That's how much the IRS flagged for possible identity fraud last year. Now here's a good number. 100 million. That's how many data points LifeLock monitors every second. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it, guaranteed. Save up to 40% your first year@lifelock.com podcast terms apply. Welcome to the History Extra podcast. Fascinating historical conversations from the maker of BBC History magazine. Emerging from the crusading endeavors in the Holy Land, the Teutonic Order was one of the great military orders established in the 12th century. Its influence spread far and wide, and its members negotiated with popes and emperors. Speaking to Emily Brifitt, Alex Plaskowski explores how a humble field hospital went on to establish itself as one of the most significant religious corporations of medieval Europe. Of all the medieval military orders, the Teutonic Order is up there amongst the most famous, alongside ones like the Templars, the Hospitallers. If you could sum up the teutonic order in 60 seconds or so, what would it be?
- [02:43]
Alex Plaskowski
Well, they start off as a Field hospital during the third crusade at Acre in 1190. They are catering to German crusaders and they become militarized quite quickly within a decade. And they become part of, as you said, the Templars and Hospitallers general defense of what is known as the Latinist Crusader states. But soon after, they become involved in other frontiers of medieval Christian Europe. And at that point they shift their focus to Eastern Europe, where they conquer and carve out large swathes of territory through crusading and Christianizing the indigenous pagan Baltic population. And they establish these powerful states in what become known as Prussia and Livonia. And this leads to a new front of crusading that dominates the late medieval period in that region of Europe. And then eventually they find themselves in trouble. They become involved in wars with neighbors, particularly Poland and Lithuania, and eventually they begin to decline and their leaders adopt Lutheranism, firstly in Prussia in the early 16th century and then later in Livonia. And then the order basically shrinks back and becomes a clerical institution, largely focused in what is the Holy Roman Empire, Germany, parts of Austria, and continues really in this form until it's dissolved by Napoleon at the beginning of 19th century. And then it's sort of reinstated, revived by the Austrian emperor, and it's continued in that incarnation through to the present day, really, as a charitable and medical institution connected with the Catholic Church.
- [04:23]
Emily Brifitt
An excellent summary there of the Order and certainly some points on the timeline that we are going to be talking about. Now, a piece of context that we really need here is the Teutonic Order is sort of a shorthand for the Order's name really, isn't it? What is its long name? What's its full name?
- [04:42]
Alex Plaskowski
Its full name is the Hospital of St. Mary of the Germans in Jerusalem, which is a bit of a mouthful. Teutonical disease.
- [04:49]
Emily Brifitt
Yeah, definitely. Where does that name come from?
- [04:53]
Alex Plaskowski
So there was at one point a German hospital named after Saint Mary in Jerusalem that has murky origins, but it was under the governance of the hospitals at one point in the 12th century, and then it was abandoned after the conquest of Jerusalem in 1187 by Saladin. But there is still this memory of Jerusalem. And so the Teutonic Order, when it's beginning as this humble field hospital, wants to connect itself to the greater aim, which with the Crusades, has always been the conquest of Jerusalem. And so to try to legitimize themselves, they link to this former hospital in Jerusalem, and this becomes more about a sort of, I suppose, a mythological connection.
- [05:42]
Emily Brifitt
And can we just have a look at those early origins? Could we get some Clarity. What was their exact purpose?
- [05:48]
Alex Plaskowski
Okay, so with the Third Crusade, you've got a huge German contingent arriving by land and by sea. And it's famously connected to Frederick Barbarossa, who dies while crossing the river Saleif before he can reach the Holy Land. And a large part of the army go home. But a lot of German crusaders, especially the ones coming by sea, arrive and start participating in the siege of Acre. And. And they find that they are suffering from a lack of hospital care, because the Hospitallers, who essentially have a monopoly on this, are catering primarily to French speaking Crusaders. And so the German crusaders, particularly a group from Bremen and Lubeck, set up their own field hospital to cater for German crusaders. And it's partly a language thing, it's partly a communication thing. Obviously you have a lot of casualties during the siege, and then you obviously start to have people dying and requiring burial. And eventually the Teutonic order are given permission to bury the dead. And so they start fulfilling this really important role that essentially the Hospitallers are already fulfilling in the Levant. And this makes them indispensable. And I can name drop here Frederick of Swabia, who is basically the brother of the new Holy Roman Emperor, Henry vi. And he asks the hospital, the German hospital, to arrange his burial as he's dying there. And in exchange, or rather to support them, he asks his brother, the Emperor, to basically confirm the hospital's foundation and seek papal support. So it's really the beginning of the establishment of this hospital, which then starts attracting endowments and more support from the German Emperor, from German nobility, from the papacy. And at that point it comes under papal protection and becomes, if you like.
- [07:44]
Emily Brifitt
A proper hospital, as you said earlier, they are a military order. What led this order down the path of militarisation?
- [07:53]
Alex Plaskowski
Right. Well, it's the same issue that the other two big orders down the path of militarisation, and that is a shortage of manpower to defend the Crusader states and them in particular, because there is increasing German involvement in the Crusades at this point. And in fact, Emperor Henry VI launches his own crusade. He doesn't make it. He actually dies in Sicily before he can get there. This seems to be a running theme with German crusading leaders. But the crusaders who are there, the German crusaders who are there basically make the case that we need more military support. And here you've got a hospital organization that has experience of fighting, of, well, at least being in a Crusader environment. Can we militarize them? And everybody thinks this is a great idea. The King of Jerusalem thinks this is A great idea. The local nobility think this is great, and so they adopt the model of the Templars. The Templars essentially set them up with their rule, with their framework and with their first members. And then the Pope confirms this the following year. So the official confirmation comes a little later in 1199. And at this point they're given their mission, which is essentially the same as the hospitals and the Templars. It's a sort of fusion of the two. To look after pilgrims, to care for the sick, but also to defend the holy sites of Christendom. And at that point they join the other two orders and become the third major military order in the Holy Land.
- [09:27]
Emily Brifitt
Are there any big differences that our listeners should know about between the Teutonic Order and the Hospitallers, the Templars and other military orders of the same?
- [09:37]
Alex Plaskowski
So the Teutonic Order are the smallest to begin with at this time. The Hospitallers and Templars can field a lot more in terms of troops. So they're almost seen like the smaller minor partner in this relationship. And the Hospitallers make attempts to try to control them for this reason. But I suppose distinctively, they recruit from the Empire from German speaking regions, hence the name Teutonic Latin for German, German Order. And their lands become focused at this time in those regions, in the imperial regions, whereas the Templars and Hospitallers have lands much more broadly distributed, particularly in Western Europe. And then later on, I suppose they become much more distinctive when they become involved in Northern Europe and Northeastern Europe in a way, but the Templars and the Hospitallers do not. So they all end up carving up their individual niches. But I suppose the Teutonic Order is distinctive primarily because of its linguistic and ethnic background. Worth just mentioning that they didn't exclusively recruit from German speakers, but they did predominantly do that. And then in Northern Europe, that becomes the dominant membership.
- [10:47]
Emily Brifitt
Now, you mentioned there about the hospital is trying to control them. We definitely need to talk about that. How exactly did they come into that tension with the Hospitallers?
- [10:58]
Alex Plaskowski
Well, the Hospitallers, I suppose, like to think they had a monopoly over systems of welfare, but also burial, which is a lucrative business in the medieval period, especially for the nobility in the Levant. And so this new hospital appears and the Hospitalists think, well, okay, they're connecting themselves to this hospital in Jerusalem that we controlled, so therefore they really should come under our wing. And you have these attempts at trying to control the Teutonic Order, but it's worth bearing in mind these come and go. So when the Teutonic Order are militarized, they're given part of a Hospitaller rule, and that is something the Hospitallers grant acquiesced to. So obviously getting on at that point, and then later on, you can see the Hospitallers again going on. Actually, could the Pope possibly confirm the fact that we're in charge of a Teutonic Order? And this coincides with a Teutonic Order getting a lot of endowments from the Emperor, from the Empire. And you can see the hospitals are a bit jealous. They don't like the fact that this new order is rising and building up resources and lands and privileges. But again, a few years later, everything's back to normal. They're getting on together, they're collaborating on the Fifth Crusade. And then I suppose a final pivotal point is 1258, when all three military orders sign, essentially, a mutual pact to work together to defend what is left of the Crusader state states in the Levant. They've seen the writing on the wall, they realise there's no point bickering, there's no point fighting amongst themselves, so they'll be there to assist each other in that final defence.
- [12:35]
Emily Brifitt
This brings me on to something I wanted to ask you about, about their relationship with the Holy Roman Emperor and the papacy. How does that work?
- [12:43]
Alex Plaskowski
So they obtain consistently imperial support for their organization through privileges and grants of land. And privileges may be tax exemption. Grants of land could be territories that produce income or properties, and the same with a papacy, I suppose. They get privileges, they get exemptions, they get a certain level of independence through all these donations and grants. But it's worth mentioning, this is an unstable and tempestuous relationship and it really does vary from year to year and from ruler to ruler. So they manage to antagonize both the Pope and the Emperor at different points, depending who it is. And so it goes backwards and forwards. And they're playing this very complicated political game where they're steering between these two powerful figures, trying to appease both. And as some of your listeners may know, this is also a time when the Emperor and the papacy are at each other's throats as well sometimes. And so you have disputes between the two. And the Teutonic Order have to be very careful who they side with. They try to appease both. And that's one of the things that historians have pointed to, is that they're very successful at negotiating this tricky path and they become really good diplomats, really good politicians.
- [14:01]
Emily Brifitt
The Teutonic Order come to be involved in Transylvania in the 13th century. How exactly does this come about and what was their role and influence there?
- [14:10]
Alex Plaskowski
Okay. So in Transylvania, they're invited by the Hungarian king, Andrew II to protect his eastern frontier of his realm, the realm of Hungary, from incoming pagan nomadic groups called Cumans, who are raiding Christian settlements in those borderlands. Now, Andrew has connections to the imperial court through his wife Gertrude, and their daughter Elizabeth is betrothed to the Duke of Thuringia, which is also where the master of a Teutonic Order of a time comes from, and their close friends. So through these sort of networks and circles, you can imagine that somebody suggests of a Hungarian king, you've got a bunch of German settlers living in Transylvania who are under threat. Why don't you bring in a German speaking military order who are not as preoccupied maybe as the Templars and the Hospitallers? And so they're approached in this way, and the Teutonic Order accept and they start garrisoning and building castles in Transylvania. And they're very successful at doing this.
- [15:14]
Emily Brifitt
In what ways were they successful?
- [15:17]
Alex Plaskowski
So they build approximately five castles in little over a decade. They're given permission to do this by the Hungarian king, and it's a privilege. And they're given land, they're given money that goes with the land. And they start to encourage settlers to come in and develop the land. There are existing German settlers there as well. And so their economic base is built up and they create a center which is called Marienburg. And we'll come back to that name a little later on Mary's castle. But they're a little too successful insofar as they start to branch out beyond the lands they've been given. They take the battle to the Cumans, and we don't really know the details. We have some hints they're taking the Holy War, the crusade to the pagan Cumans, they're forcibly baptizing them, but they're building strongholds in these lands as well. And that's too much for the Hungarian King and the Hungarian nobility. There's perhaps a fear that they're becoming a bit too powerful, they're overreaching themselves. But there's also this idea that maybe they're actually stopping the Cubans from being Christianized, because at this time the Dominican order is very involved and invested in missionary activity in Hungary. And we can imagine that they are perhaps seeing the Teutonic Order's assaults as clashing with their own agenda. And this all ends up coming together and the Teutonic Order is expelled by force. In 1224, the Hungarian king turns up with an army, kills a bunch of members of the order, causes tons of damage and drives them out, confiscates their lands. So it's a relatively short episode, only 14 years, but they make an impression, a really strong impression, Almost sets precedent for what happens later on.
- [17:01]
Emily Brifitt
Most people relate them very specifically to military action in the Baltic region. How did they make that transition to be in that region?
- [17:09]
Alex Plaskowski
Very quickly to explain what's going on in that region, we'll start with Prussia, because that's where they become involved in first. But essentially, northern Europe has become a crusading frontier, officially, really, since the Second Crusade, since the mid 12th century against groups called the Wends, pagan Slavs, in what is today northern Germany. This sets a precedent for crusading activity that spreads across the Baltic region now in what is today Poland. The northeastern corner of modern Poland is at the time a region that is referred to as Prussia, which is occupied by a range of what we call Baltic pagan groups who are raiding across the borders into Polish territories. And Poland is subdivided into principalities. At this point, there is an overarching leadership, what's called the high duke. There were Polish kings at various points, but the principalities are split and subdivided between various rulers who are related to each other. And these rulers variously fight with each other, but also try to hold back Prussian attacks and expand their own territorial ambitions into these pagan lands. So that's the backdrop, and we can go straight to 1222, when the Duke of Silesia, which is the sort of western province of the Polish principalities, basically leads a campaign that involves the Templars and members of a Teutonic Order against the Prussians. This is the first time we think they become involved, and he grants them some estates as a result of that. And they're focusing on this frontier region that is what's referred to as a castellany. In other words, it's a sort of province that is governed by the Principality of Mazovia. Mazovia is probably the most powerful principality in Poland at this time. And its duke, called Conrad, famously, then invites the Teutonic Order to secure that frontier and retake this castellani that's been overrun by the pagan Prussians. And it takes a while, because the Teutonic Order at this point spread quite thin. They're involved in, as we heard, Transylvania. They're involved in the Levant. They've got all sorts of internal problems going on. And so they're quite hesitant to become fully committed to this new territory in northern Poland on the frontier of Mazovia. But eventually they are persuaded. They're persuaded because after a lot of Wrangling. They're basically given that land in exchange for securing it. And this is something maybe burnt by the Transylvanian experience. They figure, okay, we're going to have our own land and we're going to get guarantees from the Emperor and from the Pope and then from the Duke of Mazovia who has this land. So they then become involved and from 1230 they install a garrison on the border in 1229, from 1230 they launch attacks over the frontier and these escalate into full blown crusades that result in the conquest of the entire region. Ultimately it takes a long time, but that's the beginnings of Prussia. That's 12:30. Okay? Within seven years, shall we say, they become involved in a region to the north of Prussia, but it's called Livonia. For your listeners, this corresponds roughly to the modern territories of Estonia and Latvia. These territories have been the focus of crusades led by German bishops since the end of the 12th century. And the bishops in question have created their own local military order. They're called the Sword Brothers. Some of your listeners may be familiar with them because they drive the crusades in Livonia and they're very successful at conquering these lands. But they suffer a catastrophic defeat in 1236 at a battle called Saul, which is. We don't know fully where it is, but it's against a Samogishian and Semigalian, essentially pagan Lithuanian and southern bolt force, where a large proportion of the Saw Brothers are killed, including their leader. And at that point the Teutonic Order are essentially asked to absorb the remainder of the Sword Brothers and their lands, and they take on their estates and the crusading effort in Livonia. So they then very quickly become involved in these two big regions and at that point you've got them split between Northern Europe and the Levant. And this becomes a running theme for most of the 13th century, where there is this division of resources and the Teutonic Order trying to determine where its priorities lie. And of course, internal factions trying to emphasize, no, you should be focusing on the Baltic against the pagans more rather than the Holy Land, and then other factions promoting the defence of the Holy Land.
- [22:18]
Emily Brifitt
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game, shifting a little money here, a little there, and hoping it all works out well? With the name your price tool from Progressive, you can be a better budgeter and potentially lower your insurance bill too. You tell Progressive what you want to pay for car insurance and they'll help you find options within your budget. Try it today@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. When you think about super successful businesses that are selling through the roof, like Heinz or Mattel, you think about a great product, a cool brand and brilliant marketing. But there's a secret the business behind the business making selling simple for them and buying simple for their customers. For millions of businesses, that business is Shopify. Upgrade your business and get the same checkout as Heinz and Mattel. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com promo all lowercase go to shopify.com prom to upgrade your selling today shopify.com promo at new balance we believe if you run, you're a runner, however you choose to do it. Because when you're not worried about doing things the right way, you're free to discover your way. And that's what running is all about. Run your way@newbalance.com running the Northern or Baltic Crusades are enough to be a whole podcast episode in themselves. So I'm not going to ask you to give us a complete rundown of absolutely everything that goes on, but could you perhaps chart some major moments in the timeline for our listeners?
- [24:16]
Alex Plaskowski
Okay, well, we've got 1230, obviously, involvement in Prussia, 1237, involvement in Livonia. They're on both fronts. They pushed that all the way to what is today the modern border of Estonia that's partly marked by a huge lake Pepys. But here we have a crucial date, 5th of April 1242, where the order's forces are defeated by Rus forces, later Russian, we call them Rus at this time, led by Alexander Nevsky from the city state of Novgorod. And there is a very famous battle on this lake, on this frozen lake or alongside it, but it's called the Battle on the Ice. And this is as far as the Order will get essentially in terms of their northeastern border. So they're pushed back and this prompts a massive uprising in Prussia that is aided by the Catholic Duke of Pomerailia, which is the territory adjacent to Prussia. That is essentially what is today Polish Pomerania, where the city of Gdask is. This is the center of a duchy at the time. And the dukes of Gdask, or Danzig as it's known in German, are essentially allied or vassals to the Polish king, but are pretty much independent or autonomous. And they see the Teutonic order as a threat because they're conquering territories adjacent to their lands. And so they aid the Prussians against it. So there's this massive uprising. It lasts for many years. Eventually, the Teutonic Order are able to gain the upper hand, because the Teutonic Order, they're a relatively small organization, but they garrison castles built on territories they conquer. What they can do is keep bringing in crusading armies. So this is essentially constant reinforcements. And this is something that the indigenous populations that are under attack by the Crusaders obviously don't have. And so this is what enables the Order to hold its own on these conquered territories. So they hold out against this first uprising. There's a treaty. They also somehow managed to persuade the ruler of Lithuania to adopt Catholicism at this time in 1250. Mindauga, he's assassinated in 1263. So it all goes to part. And paganism comes back in terms of Lithuania's rulers for a while. But nonetheless, it's a big, if you like, feather in the cap of the Order at this time. They're at their peak, and they make big gains in Livonia, particularly in the south at this time, and what is today principally Latvia, Southern Latvia. But then we've got again a massive defeat. These battles mark and punctuate the order's crusades. 1260, Battle of Derbe. The Samorgicians, who are in western Lithuania, defeat the Order's forces. They kill the Livonian master, who's the provincial leader for the Teutonic Order in that region, and a leading Prussian official. Some 150 brother knights are killed as well. That's a lot. And this provokes further rebellions. So then you have another indigenous Prussian uprising that lasts 14 or so years. You've got an uprising in northern Estonia, and this provokes another crusade against the islanders, especially so the western Estonian islands. And slowly, over the years, the Teutonic Order get the upper hand and subjugate these groups. It's worth mentioning at this time that as things are sort of going okay in the Baltic, they're going really badly in the Holy land. So in 1071, the order loses its main castle, Montfort in the Galilee, to the Mamluks, withdraws to Acre, and then in 1291, Acre is lost and the garrison is killed. So they lose all of their lands in the Levant and relocate to Venice as their headquarters. But at the same time, in the north, they have essentially conquered all of the lands that they set out to conquer. So by 1283, the conquest of Prussian lands is complete, essentially. And by 1290, the last indigenous group in what is today Latvia, the Semigalians, have submitted to The Order, a lot of them flee across down to Lithuania, and the region becomes a depopulated frontier. And by that point, so by the end of the 13th century, the order have controlled huge swathes of land in northeastern Europe, having lost their territories in.
- [28:56]
Emily Brifitt
The Levant from this point, how do the Teutonic Order go on to establish their own state? How do they entrench and secure themselves?
- [29:07]
Alex Plaskowski
Okay, so various facets to this, and I already mentioned that they're given this frontier territory and they spend a lot of time getting this confirmed by the Emperor and the Pope. And that's part of the key. This is legitimacy of their rule. And they're basically given this legitimacy for future territorial conquests. And later on, when their claims are challenged, as they are by Poland, they wheel these documents out and go, look, we've got this and this is ours. Now. This also contributes to a sense of, I suppose, normalizing the their rule for the conquer populations. After many years, after many decades of being in charge, having that military power, people get used to the idea that this is a status quo. They also bring in a lot of settlers. They invite in migrants from neighboring imperial and Polish regions when it comes to Prussia, to settle in newly established towns, which they construct as part of their crusading efforts. So it's a policy that's been referred to as colonization. This is a way of creating, if you like, an economic base, but also a group of subjects who are Christian, who recognize you as the rightful ruler and who are under obligation to you as their overlord to provide income or payment in kind, tithes, although various exemptions, of course, to enticed men, but military service as well, especially for those who own land. So the order, if you like, creates, I mean, we can use the term feudal loosely, but a sort of feudal society on these conquered territories and cements itself as the overlord. And there is no one to challenge it. Its neighbors are not able to militarily drive them out of a region. And so the Order ends up becoming entrenched in these territories. And they introduce laws, they introduce coinage. So they bring in all the trappings of power that you see in the rest of medieval Europe, Medieval Christian Europe, in theory, they are directly obedient to the Pope, who is the ecclesiastical overlord. And there is an argument about this, but they are essentially also under the protection of the Emperor. And there is some discussion as to are these imperial fiefs. It's almost irrelevant because the Teutonic Order are de facto rulers of these territories worth just finishing by saying they're not the only rulers in these territories. So they share them with other territorial lords who are bishops. And in the north of Estonia, the Danish king has conquered Estonia and essentially created a Danish duchy there. So what happens in Livonia is that they're one player amongst several others. And this becomes a political problem for them for a long time. Whereas in Prussia, they're the dominant player in a territory that's subdivided with bishops and their cathedral chapters. But they are really the most influential of this constellation of powers.
- [32:20]
Emily Brifitt
One of our listeners has asked us about this moment in the timeline of the Teutonic Order. So I wonder, could we talk about how the Order itself was structured, how it was administered, how it was governed?
- [32:34]
Alex Plaskowski
Okay, so the Order starts off following the structure of the Templars, essentially and the hospitals. You have a Master and then you have a small group of higher officials who are essentially the executive branch, if you like. And then you've got the brothers. And in the case of the Order, you then have. You have brother knights and then you have priests who serve them. As the Order starts conquering and accumulating more territories, it starts to elaborate its command structure. And so you start to get provincial leaders who are also called masters. And to simplify things, the original Master becomes referred to as the Grand Master or the General Master in the Latin sense. So you then start to have the beginnings of a hierarchy of leadership. And it's best to think of the Order as a corporation, a religious corporation with this sort of corporate structure. And there is a group of higher officials who are all together when the Order are functioning in the Levant. And these are. I can sort of reel off the names for you. They're the Grand Commander, who is the deputy of the Grandmaster, rules in their stead, especially when they're traveling, which they do a lot on all these political missions. There's the Grand Marshal who is essentially the military organizer for the Order, the Grand Hospitaller in charge of welfare, hospitals. You've got the quartermaster, who's in charge of supplies, provisions, clothing, this kind of thing, the sort of day to day running of the Order. And then you've got the treasurer. After Acre is lost, the Order, as I said, relocates to Venice. Now, at this point, a decision is made within the Order. Do we stay in the Mediterranean and try to fight for the Holy Land, even though it's gone, or do we focus on the Baltic, where we are very successful and have a lot of territories? And we know there is an internal dispute about this, but in the end, the Prussian faction win. And in 1309, the headquarters are relocated from Venice by the Grandmaster to Marienburg Castle in Prussia, so what is today Melbourne Castle in northern Poland. So headquarters, they don't properly get relocated until a few decades later, when the Grandmaster permanently moves there as his residence, and then builds up this castle into the largest castle in Christendom in Europe, at which point the higher officials get subdivided between convents. Now, the convents are the backbone of the Order's administration. So the territory is subdivided into what are called commanderies. And each commandery is run by a convent that consists of nominally a commander. And a total group of 12 brothers are supposed to represent the 12 disciples of Christ. In reality, the numbers rocket to much bigger numbers in the 40s and 60s, even for some of the bigger convents like Riga and Konigsberg. So membership can become huge. This is just a guide. In the early statutes of the Order, the commander is in charge of this community of brethren. They have a deputy and they have various sort of sub offices that they delegate to various individuals within the community of a convent. Later on, there are other officials who are given parcels of land to govern. They're called advocates. This is an imperial office that is used early on in Livonia, actually, by the bishops to basically govern on their behalf. The Teutonic Order adopt this and appoint advocates to govern land on their behalf, as well as their commanders. And finally, we have the office of procurator, that's an even lesser official, to help the work of the commanders and the Grandmaster in managing territory. So to summarize, the Teutonic Order in the north are very adaptive. They create new levels of administration to govern increasingly larger and more complex territorial demands. So they're very adaptive, they're very reflexive. And each of these officials fits into the corporate structure of the Order and is answerable to the executive, to the Grandmaster, to that higher body of officials. And it's worth mentioning, these are all elected posts. The Grand Master is elected. They're elected for life, but they can be deposed by the Chapter. Well, some are murdered or die in battle. And commanders of individual convents may only be in their post for a year or two. They rotate. So it does function as a very effective corporation in terms of its organization across its Baltic territories.
- [37:21]
Emily Brifitt
If the Teutonic Order is a corporation, then castles are such a major part of their brand.
- [37:27]
Alex Plaskowski
Absolutely.
- [37:27]
Emily Brifitt
Why are they so significant? And what should people look for if they want to identify a Teutonic castle?
- [37:34]
Alex Plaskowski
Well, the castles are essentially the physical manifestations of the Order's power in the Crusading period, they build small and easily constructible castles. In Livonia, actually, these are built of stone, but they're relatively small. In Prussia, they're built primarily from timber and earth, almost like Mott and Bailey strongholds. But this sort of Western European, you know, flat pack stronghold that you can just sort of set up relatively quickly, that you also find in the eastern provinces of the Empire at the time and that the Prussians are using as well. So later on, when the fighting stops and things calm down, they start to rebuild these from durable materials. And in Prussia, they build from brick, primarily due to a lack of good local building stone. And they start building these castles really as centers for their convents and then for their lesser officials. So these are residences, but they're also centers of government, centers where the officials are based, where taxes and commodities are collected, where weapons are stored, where animals are housed, including their incredibly vast herds of horses. They become big horse breeders to essentially supply their cavalry. And the castles also, as you said, promote that corporate brand. If you go to northern Poland today, which got the lion's share of historical pressure after the Second World War, that's the best place for your listeners to find these castles. And they're basically almost completely regular square buildings consisting of four ranges around a courtyard with four towers. They've got one tower that is particularly strengthened or fortified that rises above the others. And the ones in Prussia, in northern Poland, have a projecting tower that's often referred to as a sort of latrine tower or point of last defense. It projects over the moat typically around these castles. So if you were to see these castles from the air, they would look like almost perfect squares. Means that wherever you went in the Order's territories, you would know that you are on the Order's lands because it's the same brand. Wherever you go, the Order replicates its same brand. And so it is part of that corporate image of projecting power.
- [39:59]
Emily Brifitt
Are there any other aspects of the Teutonic branding that we should know about?
- [40:04]
Alex Plaskowski
I suppose just mentioning the Orders insignia of a black cross on the white background is obviously like the Templars are recognizable by their red Cross, the Teutonic Order is recognizable by that black cross. And this obviously features on the coins, and it features on the design of their buildings and on the marking of their territory. So everybody knows what the Order's branding is in that sense. It's worth mentioning that their rule specifies that when you're on the orders business, you have to wear your mantle and the cross has to be visible. So it's very clear. You can't just hide what you can if you want to be sneaky, but you're supposed to show who you are. And you know, in medieval society, visual communication, insignia, heraldry, that is very important. And so the Order's branding is communicated in this way.
- [40:54]
Emily Brifitt
Now we spoke about this right back at the very beginning, and that is the somewhat slow decline of the Teutonic Order. Can you tell us how exactly did this happen?
- [41:07]
Alex Plaskowski
Again, a little bit of background for your listeners. The conquests of the territories that become Prussia and Livonia, as I've said, complete by the end of the 13th century. But that does not stop the wars or the crusades because at that point the Order turns its attention to Lithuania, which is the last pagan state in Europe essentially. And they essentially organize over a century of campaigns, military campaigns into Lithuania and particularly the western region of Samogisha, which the whole knighthood of Catholic Europe flocks to. Now. Something happens in 1386 that basically creates a big problem for the Order. The Lithuanian Grand Duke marries the Polish monarch and adopts Catholicism. Lithuania essentially becomes a Catholic region overnight under the protection of the Holy See. Big problem if your whole reason for existing is to launch crusades against pagans in defense of Christian Europe's frontiers. So the Order's first response to this is no, it's a lie. These are sham conversions, it's not real. And Poland is in fact guilty of heresy for trying to aid pagans. And this argument sort of sustains itself for a bit. But eventually people start going, no, hold on a minute. Lithuanians have actually now got a cathedral in Vilnius, there's a Polish archbishop. You can't just pretend that they're pagans still, even though, yes, it's Christianization of a nobility, we know that Catholicism hasn't permeated the population overnight at all. So of course pre Christian practices are still happening. Nonetheless, politically, Lithuania's joined the Catholic club of late medieval Europe. And so eventually this argument wears thin and there's an identity crisis within the Order. And it starts to lose that support and starts to lose that reputation. And eventually it does enter into a full blown war with the Polish Lithuanian Union over the control of this little region of western Lithuania, Samagicia. And this is really the beginning of the end because there you have this big battle in 1410, the Battle of Grunwald or the Battle of Tannenberg. It's a symbolic defeat of the Order where most of its higher officials and the grandmaster are killed. Thousands die, a large number of its brothers die. But it's a symbolic defeat. The Order rush back to Marienburg, what's left of them. The castle itself is besieged by Polish and Lithuanian forces, but they fail to take it, and the Order are able to claw back their lands and their castles. So the war then continues and it's dragged on, but the Order are forced to pay heavy reparations to Poland and Lithuania, and this begins to cripple them financially. And so, coupled with that, membership is falling. It wasn't what it used to be. The German aristocracy are no longer interested in leading that kind of quasi monastic life. And especially as that devotional element, that crusading element, has been compromised to some extent. So they're getting far less recruits everywhere, in Livonia, in Prussia, in the Empire. And so they're having to rely on mercenaries to garrison their castles. And that costs money, and they're running out of money. They're having problems of their finances. They've overstretched themselves in the 15th century, these costly wars, reparations. They've been building extra castles, they've been buying extra territories. They're in a financially difficult position. And when you can't pay the mercenaries, the mercenaries basically go to the next highest bidder. And this is how they lose their headquarters of Marienburg. So in 1547, the mercenaries go, all right, we're going to sell your headquarters to the town of Gdask, to Danzig. And they promptly then hand it over to the Polish King. The Order then relocate their headquarters to what is today Kaliningrad, in this little region in between Poland and Lithuania, the Kaliningrad Oblast that is part of Russia and has been since the Second World War. Kaliningrad was formerly called Konigsberg, and this is where the Order have their headquarters in its final days, when we're talking about its Baltic branches. So, 1466, the end of a brutal war called the Thirteen Years War, where some of the Order's towns in Prussia have risen up against it and destroyed its castles, hoping for a better deal from the Polish crown. And so you have this big uprising amongst the Order's Prussian towns, and that results eventually in a peace treaty where the Order loses half of its properties, its lands in Prussia, particularly its most productive lands, where all the cereals are being produced. So that's really the beginning of the end for the Order. And then Lutheranism starts to creep in. And so by the early 16th century, the Grandmaster is influenced by Lutheran thought. He meets Luther, encourages Lutheran speakers in Konigsberg, the Order's headquarters. And then in 1525, basically converts to Lutheranism and secularizes the order's Prussian branch. This doesn't happen in Livonia until 1561, where, as a result of a massive Russian invasion of the region led by the Tsar Ivan the Terrible, under pressure from that Russian conflict, the Teutonic Order in Livonia, basically the last master decides to fall back, give his vassalage to Poland and convert to Lutheranism to become a secular duke with those lands in the south of Livonia. And at this point, the Baltic branches basically are removed from the order that only survives in the empire. And the new grandmaster in the empire desperately tries to hold on to those territories, maintain a claim to those Baltic territories, but it's all essentially in vain. So at this point, the order essentially becomes a dwindling organization that is primarily a clerical and hospital order within the Empire. Later on, it becomes connected to the Austrian Habsburg family, its principal supporters, but it loses that military branch, that military prowess. So when it tries to field troops for the Austrians, it's only able to provide a small number. So that is really the decline. The end of the order is that that severance with a papacy that Lutheranism and secularization brings and cutting itself off from the crusading world, that really is the end of the medieval Teutonic Order, if you like.
- [48:16]
Emily Brifitt
As you said earlier, the later iterations were simply that they were different iterations of this order. They were not the same order that we've been speaking about through this. If we go to talk about the legacy of the Teutonic Order, how has it been remembered and mythologised in later centuries?
- [48:35]
Alex Plaskowski
This is a whole separate podcast topic, but essentially, when you've got the first national histories being written, and particularly with the rise of nationalism, we can say ethnic nationalism in the 19th century. The Teutonic Order is reinvented as the ethnic ancestors of German nationalists in the 19th and early 20th centuries. And so the Crusades are reimagined as ethnic conquests that serve the nationalist histories that are being written and promoted for political purposes by the Kingdom of Prussia, which then becomes the leading partner in unified Germany in the German Empire that emerges in 1871, and this continues through into the 20th century, and is promoted again, particularly viciously under the Nazi regime under the Third Reich. Ironically, tragically, we can say that the real Teutonic Order is actually intensively persecuted by the Nazis and their lands are confiscated, their members are murdered. But the Nazis reimagine a fantasy Teutonic Order from the medieval period as this militaristic paragon of Germanic knighthood of Aryan knighthood. And this works on both sides. So for those living under the German Empire and for those actually in the eastern Baltic, under the Russian Empire, because the Baltic at this point has been carved up between the Russians, the Prussians and the Austrians, and then eventually by the German Empire, the Germans become also the enemy, and the historical ancestors of the German nationalists become the historical enemy. And so you have the counter nationalist history developing in Estonia, in Latvia, in Lithuania, and in Poland, especially, where the Teutonic Order become this historical opponent that is connected with German identity, German ethnic identity, and that colors its image through into the 20th century. So after the Second World War, the histories written during the Soviet era are still colored by that perception of the Teutonic Order. And German heritage is connected to German aggression, German imperialism that really ends with the Nazi regime. So the defeat of the Nazis is seen as a second Grunwald, a second 1410. And it's promoted as such widely in Poland and in Lithuania. And it's only really since the 1990s, since the, shall we say, official end of a Cold War. What that led to was increasing mobility and internationalization of scholarship on medieval history, on medieval studies, without that sort of Soviet bent to its propaganda. And I think now we're seeing for the last couple of decades, last few decades, a rewriting of the medieval history of Eastern Europe, and that includes the Teutonic order. So we have a rehabilitation of a Teutonic Order and a discarding of these nationalist histories, which some of my colleagues would argue are long dead. But if you look in the public domain, they're still there, flickering. You can't quite shake off that historical memory from the last two centuries.
- [52:01]
Emily Brifitt
That was Alex Plaskowski, professor of Medieval Archaeology at the University of Reading and the author of the Teutonic Rise and Fall of a Religious Corporation. Alex was speaking to Emily Briffitt. If you want to find out more about the complicated history of the Baltic Crusades, then be sure to check out In Our Times episode on the subject. That's available now on BBC Sands. Thanks for listening. This podcast was produced by Daniel Kramer Arden.