Definition of Teutonic Order

They came to form a state of their own, and became one of the worst enemies of what is now Poland, passing becoming part of the Germanic nationalist imagery, and contributing to stoking the antagonism between Germans and Slavs.

The Teutonic Order is a religious-military order founded in the Middle Ages (1190) with the mission of protecting the pilgrims who went to the holy land.

It is framed in the time of the crusades, being after the orders of the Templars and the Hospitallers (the latter would eventually become the Order of Malta), and when Jerusalem had already been reconquered by Saladin.

It was founded by German knights, which would weigh on its future, which would end up largely linked to popular imagery. German and pan-German nationalism, in addition to being associated by the enemies of Germany (Poland and Russia) with that country.

A good example of this is the film Aleksandr Nevski, by the Russian director Sergei Eisenstein, where he tells of the confrontation between the Russian troops led by the Prince Nevsky and the Teutonic forces at the Battle of the Peipus River, which ended up halting the Teutonic invasion on Novgorod.

Filmed in 1938, the film is a warning to the Russian people about the dangerincipient which represented the mighty Germany of Adolf Hitler. But let's not advance events ...

After the fall of the Crusader kingdoms and, especially, of San Juan de Acre (city in which he had been founded the order), like the other orders, that of the Teutonic knights will have to be established in a new place.

It is a time in which the European Christian kingdoms are "knocked out" because of the loss of the territories won in the crusades, and even more so. half monastic and half military orders, who need to find a new reason for being when they can no longer fulfill the task for which they had been founded.

In the early 13th century, the Teutonic Order moved to the Transylvania region to help stop the Turkish attacks on the Hungarian border.

However, the Hungarian King Andrew II will expel them from his country, since the Teutons had sought to put themselves under sovereignty. direct from the papacy rather than being accountable to the King of Hungary, which at the time was tantamount to becoming a state Independent.

It is, at this moment, when taking advantage of the Golden Bull of Rimini issued by the Holy Roman Emperor Germanic Roman Empire Frederick II (the grandson of Frederick Barbarossa), the order launches the crusade of Prussia.

The original settlers of Prussia were Baltic tribes who had their own religion polytheist, which led to a crusade to Christianize them. Until then, the Prussians had notably resisted attempts to conquer their territory.

Through the Kruszwica treaty with Poland, the Teutonic knights could keep the conquered territories. Saying document it was lost, making some historians (especially the Poles, interested party in the matter) doubt its existence.

The intervention of the Teutonic Order and its establishment as a "buffer" state to stop possible barbarian invasions from the north and even the orthodox east. Later, the papacy would confirm the possession, by the Teutons, of these conquered territories.

The first campaigns of the crusaders advanced slowly into Prussian territory, consolidating territorial gains by building castles occupied by the Teutonic knights.

The conquest of Prussia lasted until 1274, and included at least two revolts of the population local. It was not only conquered and massacred, but also forced to renounce its ancient pagan beliefs and convert to the new Christian faith.

During all this time, the Teutons built their own monastic state, which owed obedience only to the Holy See, the papacy, while the Poles coveted the same territory.

That is why the Grand Duchy of Poland began to claim the territories held by the Teutons, which inevitably led to armed confrontation. Meanwhile, the new Teutonic state continued to launch small raids against other non-Christianized tribes, such as the Lithuanians.

In addition, the Teutonic Order (remember that it was founded in Germany) promoted the migration of Germanic settlers to the recently conquered lands, which did not please the Polish nobility, who saw their interests in the region compromised in perpetuity.

The territories of Prussia and the Baltic were not the only possessions of the Teutonic Order in Europe, since it had commanderies similar to those of the other orders in several countries.

The fighting in the east between the Teutonic State and the Duchies of Lithuania, Poland, and the Principality of Kiev (Russia's predecessor) lasted for almost two centuries, and while the latter kingdom was Orthodox Christian (and therefore legitimate to fight against it according to the papacy), both Lithuanians (which ended up being Christianized) as the Poles were of papal obedience, which caused a certain controversy in the Christian Europe of the epoch.

The decline of the Teutonic Order began in 1410 with the defeat at the Battle of Grunwald.

This battle was such a slaughter that the Teutonic troops would never recover from it, going on the defensive instead of the offensive in which they had been installed until then.

However, it did not mean the immediate end of the Teutonic State, although it did mean such a weakening that it marked the beginning of its decline until its disappearance in 1525, when the territory they controlled was secularized to become the Duchy of Prussia, part of the possessions of the kingdom of Poland.

However, the actions of the Teutonic Order had put the seed of what in the future was to be the German kingdom of Prussia, which would go down in history as the unifier of Germany.

With regard to the order, it subsisted as a monastic and military entity until after the First World War, being reconverted into the current German House of Saint Mary of Jerusalem, based in Vienna, and after having survived the cataclysm represented by the Wars Napoleonic.

Photos: Fotolia - Argus / Vivoo

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