Sir Adrigain of “The Teutonic Order”
The Teutonic Order started in the year 1190 when a group of Bremen merchants set up a hospital outside the city of Acre specifically looking after wounded German Crusaders. The Order still exists today as a charitable organization
"Today the Teutonic Order is mainly concerned with pastoral, charitable and nursing work."
The Teutonic Order can be found at http://www.dtorden.or.at/
The Order of the hospital of St. Mary the Virgin or the Teutonic Knights as they became known were given the status of an Order, given a portion of a tower in Acre and put under the guidance-ship of the Templars taking the Templars Rule as their own.
Comparing the Templar Rule and the subsequent Rule of the Teutonic Knights you will see a number of definite differences. Over the following years, while the Templar Rule stuck to its austere beginnings the Rule of the Teutonic Order changed by way of a number of 'commonsense' alterations.
The Templar Rule for-bades Brothers to hunt or take part in the chase, whereas the Teutonic Order says they are not to hunt for pleasure but they can take part in a hunt to clear the countryside of dangerous animals and as a form of target practice they can shoot birds. Other interesting differences are the ability for Teutonic knights to change their choice of weapon depending on the foe they are fighting and depending on the terrain to be covered.
In the following decade the power and influences of the Teutonic Knights became greater until in 1217 Frederick II gave them the same status as the Templars and the Hospitallers within the Kingdom of Sicily. In 1220 they were given the grand Castle of Montfort near Acre and consolidated their role in the governing of the Holy Land. In 1221 with privileges from Honorius III they were now on the same level as the Templars and the Hospitallers. During the following century the Teutonic Order expanded back up into Germany and began a crusade in Prussia against the then pagan hordes that inhabited the region. As the Holy Land began to crumble they first moved their headquarters to Venice in 1291 and then to Marienburg in the 14th century.
One of the major defeats of the Teutonic Order happened because of the misunderstanding of their battle tactics. Generally speaking campaigns are fought in Summer and Spring because of the favourable conditions, but the Order because of their campaigns in the North found that Winter campaigns when all the marshy areas were frozen was a better time to engage the enemy. Under orders from a commander used to fighting further south they engaged the Russians around Lake Peipus in April 1242. Thus loosing the battle because the ice would no longer support the weight of their cavalry charge!
During their tenure in the Baltic States and Poland they became known for a particular sense of cruelty and arrogance. This was not helped when Poland became a Christian nation in 1386 and the Order did not leave, continuing their crusades in the North.
The next 200 years had them continue their role in the Baltic States and led to a particularly unusual situation. Nobles from other countries who did not have a war to take part in could join a 'reyser' or campaign where they would be put up by the Order and take part in their campaigns as a form of glory hunt.
The most famous gentleman from England was a Henry Bolingbroke, later King Henry IV, who came over to help the Order with a very large retinue including Sir Thomas Erpyngham, later Captain of Archers at Agincourt. After years of opposition from the surrounding lands the Polish fought back at the Battle of Grunwald, (or Tannenburg), July 15th 1410.
After a crushing defeat the Order continued as a diminished force in the
North until they finally lost Marienburg in 1466. An interesting historical novel leading up to the Battle of Tannenburg looks at the relationship between the Polish and the Order. "The Teutonic Knights", by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Although as a Polish gentleman himself and due to the fact it was written in the 1940's you could imagine it is a tad biased.
The Order continued through history right up to the 1930's when the National-Socialist, (Nazi), party banned it and forced it to go underground. Ironically many of the Orders' members were persecuted and killed by the Nazis in an attempt to find their supposed wealth. An echo from history when the Templars were persecuted in France by King Phillip 'the fair' in 1307.
Within the Erpyngham Retinue we play a group of Teutonic Envoys who are spreading the good word of our Lord by inviting interested parties onto our 'reyser' campaigns and taking part in any profitable enterprise that we see fit to join in with. Although after the date line of 1410 our processions in Eastern Europe have greatly diminished we still hold enough power to amass a small fighting force in England and will never turn down the opportunity to display our superior skill at arms.
Anyone interested in further information concerning the Teutonic Order should look up the following resources;
http://chivalricorders.org/vatican/teutonic.htm
http://orb.rhodes.edu/encyclop/religion/monastic/opsahl2.html
The Wars of the Crusades, 1096 to 1291, Terence Wise.
Osprey 166: German Medieval Armies 1300 to 1500.
Also please do not hesitate to contact me on pinn@medieval1.freeserve.co.uk