Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights Totally Explained

Everything about The Monastic State Of The Teutonic Knights totally explained

The monastic state of the Teutonic Knights, sometimes known in English by the German term Ordensstaat, or "Order-State", was formed during the Teutonic Knights' conquest of Prussia and the pagan Baltic Old Prussians in the 13th century. Formed in 1224 during the Northern Crusades by the military order, the monastic state was secularized in 1525 during the Protestant Reformation and was replaced by the Duchy of Prussia in eastern Prussia.

Background

Prussia withstood many attempts at conquest preceding the Teutonic Knights'. Bolesław I the Brave of Poland began the series of unsuccessful conquests when he sent Adalbert of Prague in 997. In 1147, Boleslaw IV of Poland attacked Prussia with the aid of Russian troops, but was unable to conquer it. Numerous other attempts followed, and, under Duke Konrad I of Masovia, were intensified, with large battles and crusades in 1209, 1219, 1220, and 1222.
   The Prussians successfully repelled the campaigns and managed to strike Konrad in retaliation. In the Prussians' attempt to sack the Polish province of Chełmno Land, the land was almost totally depopulated. Konrad, acting on the advice of Christian, first bishop of Prussia, established the Order of Dobrzyń, a small group of 15 knights. The Order, however, was soon defeated and, in reaction, Konrad called for help from the Teutonic Knights.
   As a result, several edicts called for crusades against the Prussians. The crusades, involving many of Europe's knights, lasted for sixty years.
   Early in 1224, Emperor Frederick II announced at Catania that Livonia, Prussia (with Sambia), and a number of neighboring provinces were Reichsfreie. This decree subordinated the provinces directly to the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire only (as opposed to being under the jurisdiction of local rulers).
   At the end of 1224, Pope Honorius III announced to all Christendom his appointment of Bishop William of Modena as the Papal Legate for Livonia, Prussia, and other countries.
   As a result of the Imperial Bull of Rimini and the Papal Bull of Rieti, Prussia came into the Teutonic Order's possession. Under their governance, woodlands were cleared and marshlands made arable, upon which many cities and villages were founded, including Marienburg (Malbork) and Königsberg (Kaliningrad).

Further history

13th century

In 1234, the Teutonic Order assimilated the remaining members of the Order of Dobrzyń and, in 1237, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. The assimilation of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword (established in Livonia in 1202) increased the Teutonic Order's lands with the addition of the territories known today as Latvia and Estonia.
In 1243, the Papal legate, William of Modena, divided Prussia into four bishoprics: Culmerland, Pomesania, Warmia, and Sambia. The bishoprics were ruled by the Archbishopric of Riga under the mother city of Visby on Gotland.

14th century

At the beginning of the 14th century, Pomerania, a neighboring region, plunged into war with Poland and Brandenburg to the west. Brandenburg's rulers, who ruled Pomerelia (Eastern Pomerania) in the 1250s, entered into a treaty on August 8, 1305 with Wenceslaus III of Bohemia, promising the March of Meissen the Bohemian crown in exchange for Pomerelia.
In the Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk), the Teutonic Knights seized the city in November 1308. The Order had been called by King Władysław I of Poland. Some historians claim that, based on the subsequent stagnation and reversal in the development of Danzig, all the inhabitants of the city, Polish and German, were slaughtered. This massacre is, however, disputed by other historians. In September 1309, Margrave Waldemar of Brandenburg sold his claim to the territory to the Teutonic Order for the sum of 10,000 Marks. This marked the beginning of a series of conflicts between Poland and the Teutonic Knights as the Order continued incorporating territories into its domains.
The Teutonic Order's possession of Danzig was disputed by the Polish kings Władysław I and Casimir the Great -- claims that led to a series of bloody wars and, eventually, legal battles in the papal court in 1320 and 1333. Finally, in 1343, peace was concluded at Kalisz, where the Teutonic Order agreed that Poland should rule Pomerelia as a fief and Polish kings, therefore, retained the right to the title Duke of Pomerania.

15th century

In 1404 the Teutonic Order bought the Brandenburg Neumark.
In 1410, with the death of Rupert, King of the Germans, war broke out between the Teutonic Knights and a Polish-Lithuanian alliance supported by Ruthenian and Tatar auxiliary forces. Poland and Lithuania triumphed following a victory at the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg). The Order assigned Heinrich von Plauen to defend Pomerania, who moved rapidly to bolster the defence of Castle Marienburg in Prussia. Heinrich von Plauen was elected vice-grand master led the Teutonic Knights through the Siege of Marienburg in 1410. Following his victory, von Plauen was promoted to Grand Master and, in 1411, concluded the First Treaty of Thorn with King Władysław II Jagiełło.
In March 1440, gentry (mainly from Culmerland) and the Hanseatic cities of Danzig, Elbing (Elbląg), Thorn (Toruń) and other Prussian cities founded the Prussian Confederation to free themselves from the overlordship of the Teutonic Knights. Due to the heavy losses and costs after the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War, the Teutonic Order collected taxes at steep rates. Furthermore, the cities were not allowed due representation by the Teutonic Order. In February of 1454, the Prussian Confederation asked King Casimir IV of Poland to support their revolt and incorporate Prussia into Poland. King Casimir IV agreed and the War of the Cities or Thirteen Years' War broke out. The Second Peace of Thorn in October of 1466 ended the war and provided for the Teutonic Order's cession of its rights over the western half of its territories to the Polish crown, which became the province of Royal Prussia and the remaining part of the Order's land became a Polish fief.

16th century

During the Protestant Reformation, endemic religious upheavals and wars occurred, and, in 1525, during the aftermath of the Polish-Teutonic War (1519-1521), the last Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach, a member of a cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern, resigned his position, adopted the Lutheran faith and assumed the title of "Duke of Prussia." In a deal partially brokered by Martin Luther, the Duchy of Prussia became the first Protestant state. Albert's submission to Poland is known as the 'Prussian Homage'. The Habsburg-led Holy Roman Empire continued its hold on a claim to Prussia and furnished grand masters, titular administrators of Prussia. In 1618, the Duchy of Prussia passed to the senior Hohenzollern branch, the ruling margraves of Brandenburg, whose descendants became the Kings of Prussia in the 18th century.

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