TEUTONIC ORDER. — The Teutonic Order (O.T.), originally the Ordo equestris Teutonicus, also known as the Kreuzherren or Deutschherren, originated in 1190 in Acre from crusaders of Bremen and Lübeck with a tent hospital. 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 Knights of Malta) and, like them, was composed of knights, clergy, lay brothers, nuns, and household servants (Third Order).
The members of the O.T. wore as their distinctive sign a black cross on a white mantle (the mantle of the lay brothers and nuns was dark).
Legislative and elective power was vested in the General Chapter and the Grand Master, that of the provinces in the Provincial Commander (Landkomtur), and that of individual houses in the Commander; several provinces had a Regional Master (Landmeister). The house of the Order was called a commandery, and the province a “bailiwick.”
The Grand Master had as his collaborators five High Commanders: Grand Commander, Marshal, Treasurer, Hospitaller, and Draper. The General House was transferred from Acre in 1291 to Venice, in 1309 to Marienburg, in 1457 to Königsberg, in 1526 to Mergentheim, and in 1809 to Vienna. From the Holy Land the O.T. spread to Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the intervening countries, so that 22 bailiwicks were formed: 13 in Germany, 3 in Italy (northern Italy, Apulia, Sicily), and one each in Spain, France, Romania, Greece, Armenia, and the Holy Land.
From 1211 to 1225 it was entrusted with the protection of Hungarian Transylvania against the Mongols; then, by order of the Pope and Emperor, in 1226 it assumed the struggle against the pagan Prussians, who threatened and devastated 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 here that a powerful state arose, extending from the Oder to Leningrad, comprising eight episcopal sees, three of which were incorporated into the Order: Pomerania, Samland, and Kulmerland. The Brothers of the O.T. cultivated Prussia and Livonia with such success that about 160 cities arose there, and in addition to the villages of the natives many new ones were added. Every village had its well-endowed church, cities and towns had richly endowed parish churches (the plebanies were then very extensive), hundreds of hospitals, hospices, and schools. The Brothers outside the territory of the O.T. state were occupied in about 800 churches with pastoral care, in 65 hospitals, and in many schools.
In Greece they had to fight continually against the Muslims, in Sicily against pirates. Intellectual life was fostered with historical works by Dubsurg, Jeroschi, Anpeke, Wigand von Marburg, or with commentaries on Holy Scripture and the lives of the saints. Renowned poets were Bishop Anselm of Warmia, Henry von Hesler, Tilo von Kulm, and Hugo von Langenstein.
From 1467 to 1570 the O.T. had to cede its territories to the new great powers advancing toward the sea: Poland, Lithuania, and Russia. In 1410 because of the defeat at Tannenberg; in 1453–67 because of the war with Poland, with the loss of western Prussia; in 1525 with the handing over of eastern Prussia to Poland by the Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg, who had apostatized from the faith and the Order; in 1562 because of 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 military events after 1500. In 1525 the General House 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 the Holy Scripture and catechisms printed, founded two major seminaries, and deployed their own army especially against the Turks (Regiment Hoch-und Deutschmeister). Thus the Orthodox faith was preserved in all the territories remaining to the O.T.
Following the French Revolution, the Order lost many houses, was expelled from Germany, and suspended by Napoleon (1805–1809). The French emperor secretly took the relics to Austria, and in 1839 it was solemnly recognized again. The Supreme Master Archduke Maximilian (1835–63) devoted himself to its reconstruction, obliging the priests to a common life in convents, establishing minor seminaries, reviving the institute of the Sisters of Charity of the O.T. He founded schools, kindergartens, hospitals, and hospices throughout the territories of the O.T., in which the nuns taught and cared for the sick free of charge. The Supreme Master Archduke William added a large wartime medical organization.
After the war of 1914–18, at the initiative of the Supreme Master Archduke Eugen (1893–1923), the Order was transformed into a clerical order and reconfirmed by the Holy See with an updated Rule on 27 November 1929. From that date it has consisted of priests and lay brothers, and by virtue of a special privilege it has supreme direction over the Sisters of Charity of the O.T. Collaborators and benefactors may be aggregated to it as the Marian Fathers.
Brothers and sisters carry out their work in Austria, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and since 1945 in Germany, with pastoral care in hospitals, schools, etc. Today the O.T. numbers only 131 members with few houses.