TEUTONIC ORDER. - The T. O., formerly Ordo equestris Teutonicus, also called Kreuzherren and Deutschherren, had its beginning in 1190 at Acre, founded by Crusaders from Bremen and Lübeck with a hospital of tents. In 1191 it was placed under papal protection; in 1198, engaged in the struggle for the faith, it became a knightly order. Confirmed by the Supreme Pontiff on 19 February 1199, it adopted the rule and organization of the Orders of the Templars and of St. John (now the Order of the Knights of Malta) and was composed, like them, of knights, clerics, lay brothers, sisters and familiars (Third Order).
The members of the T. O. wore as a distinctive sign a black cross on a white mantle (the mantle of the lay brothers and sisters was dark).
The legislative and elective power was in the hands of the General Chapter and the Grand Master, that of the provinces with the provincial commander (Landkontur), that of the individual houses with the commander: several provinces had a regional master (Landmeister). The house of the Order was called a commandery, the province a "bailiwick."
The Grand Master had as collaborators 5 major commanders: Grand Commander, Marshal, Treasurer, Hospitaller, Drapier. The general headquarters was transferred from Acre in 1291 to Venice, in 1309 to Marienburg, in 1457 to Königsberg, in 1526 to Mergentheim, in 1809 to Vienna. From the Holy Land the T. O. spread to Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the intermediate countries, so that 22 bailiwicks were formed: 13 in Germany, 3 in Italy (northern Italy, Apulia, Sicily), one for each country in Spain, France, Romania, Greece, Armenia, the Holy Land.
From 1211 to 1225 it was entrusted with the protection of Hungarian Transylvania against the Mongols: then, by commission of the Pope and the Emperor, it assumed in 1226 the struggle against the pagan Prussians, who were threatening and devastating Poland; in 1237 the protection of the Christian mission in Livonia, Courland, Estonia and Latvia and around 1254 also the propagation of the faith in Lithuania and the neighboring Orthodox countries. Through this apostolate Prussia and Livonia were evangelized by 1283, and it was precisely here that a powerful state was born, extending from the Oder to Leningrad, comprising 8 episcopal sees, of which 3 were incorporated into the Order: Pomerania, Samland and Kulmerland. The Brothers of the T. O. cultivated Prussia and Livonia with such success that they founded there ca. 160 cities, and to the villages of the natives many other new ones were added. Every village had its own well-endowed church, cities and towns had richly endowed parish churches (the parishes were then very extensive), hundreds of hospitals, shelters and schools. The Brothers outside the territory of the State of the T. O. were occupied in ca. 800 churches with the care of souls, in 65 hospitals and in many schools.
In Greece they had to fight continuously against the Mohammedans, in Sicily against pirates. Intellectual life was cultivated with historical works by Dusburg, Jeroschi, Alnpeke, Wigand von Marburg; or with commentaries on Holy Scripture and the lives of the saints. Renowned figures were Bishop Anselm of Warmia, Heinrich von Hesler, Tilo von Kulm, Hugo von Langenstein.
From 1467 to 1570 the T. O. had to cede its territories to the new great powers advancing toward the sea: Poland, Lithuania and Russia. In 1410 through the defeat of Tannenberg; in 1453-67 through the war with Poland, with the loss of western Prussia; in 1525 with the handing over of eastern Prussia to Poland, carried out by the supreme master Albert von Brandenburg, who had apostatized from the faith and from the Order; in 1562 through the great war with the Russians.
The Order ceded the bailiwicks of northern Germany to the Protestants, those of France, Spain, Italy and Greece in the fortunes of war after 1500. In 1525 the general seat was transferred to Mergentheim and the offices of Grand Master and German Master were united. Moreover, to counter Protestant propaganda, the Brothers of the Order had Holy Scripture and catechetical books printed, founded 2 major seminaries and deployed an army of their own especially against the Turks (Regiment Hoch-und Deutschmeister). Thus the orthodox faith was saved in all the territories remaining to the T. O.
Following the French Revolution, the order lost many houses, was expelled from Germany and suppressed by Napoleon (1805-1809). Emperor Francis I, however, saved it secretly in Austria and in 1859 it was again solemnly recognized. The supreme master Archduke Maximilian (1835-63) devoted himself to its reconstruction, obliging the priests to a common life in convents, erecting minor seminaries, reviving the Institute of the Sisters of Charity of the T. O. He founded in all the territories of the T. O. schools, nurseries, hospitals, shelters, etc., in which the sisters taught and assisted gratuitously. The supreme master Archduke Wilhelm added a great health organization for times of war.
After the war of 1914-18, on the initiative of the supreme master Archduke Eugen (1893-1923), it was transformed into a clerical Order and was reconfirmed by the Holy See with an updated Rule on 27 November 1929. From this date it is composed of priests and lay brothers, and, by virtue of a special privilege, it has charge of the supreme direction of the Sisters of Charity of the T. O. Collaborators and benefactors may be aggregated to it as "Mariani."
Brothers and sisters carry out their work in Austria, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and since 1945 in Germany, with the care of souls in hospitals, schools, etc. Today the T. O. numbers only 131 members with a few houses.
Bibliography6 works
Mariano Tumler