The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society c. 1190 in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals. Its members have commonly been known as the Teutonic Knights, having historically served as a crusading military order for the forced conversion to Catholicism in the Holy Land and the Baltics during the Middle Ages, as well as providing military protection for Catholics in Eastern Europe.
Ulrich von Jungingen was the 26th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1407 to 1410. His policy of confrontation with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland would spark the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War and lead to disaster for his Order, and his own death, at the Battle of Grunwald.
The State of the Teutonic Order, also called Deutschordensstaat or Ordensstaat, was a medieval Crusader state, located in Central Europe along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. It was formed by the knights of the Teutonic Order during the 13th century Northern Crusades in the region of Prussia. The Livonian Brothers of the Sword merged in 1237 with the Teutonic Order of Prussia and became known as its branch, the Livonian Order, while their state became a part of the Teutonic Order State. At its greatest territorial extent, in the early 15th century, it encompassed Chełmno Land, Courland, Gotland, Livonia, Neumark, Pomerelia, Prussia and Samogitia, i.e. territories nowadays located in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Russia, and Sweden.
Duke Frederick of Saxony, also known as Friedrich von Sachsen or Friedrich von Wettin, was the 36th Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, serving from 1498–1510. He was the third son of Albert III, Duke of Saxony, and Sidonie of Poděbrady, daughter of George of Podebrady.
The Grand Master of the Teutonic Order is the supreme head of the Teutonic Order. It is equivalent to the grand master of other military orders and the superior general in non-military Roman Catholic religious orders. Hochmeister, literally "high master", is only used in reference to the Teutonic Order, as Großmeister is used in German to refer to the leaders of other orders of knighthood.
Bruno Platter was the 65th Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. He served three terms and retired in 2018 at the age of 74.
Konrad V von Jungingen was a grand master of the Teutonic Order from 1393 to 1407. Under his administration, the Teutonic Order would reach its greatest extent.
Paul von Rusdorf was the 29th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1422 to 1441.
Ludwig von Erlichshausen (1410–1467) was the 31st Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1449/1450 to 1467.
Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg was the 28th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1414 to 1422.
Johann von Tiefen was the 35th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1489 to 1497.
Martin Truchseß von Wetzhausen zu Dachsbach was the 34th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1477 to 1489.
The city of Danzig (Gdańsk) was captured by the State of the Teutonic Order on 13 November 1308, resulting in a massacre of its inhabitants and marking the beginning of tensions between Poland and the Teutonic Order. Originally the knights moved into the fortress as an ally of Poland against the Margraviate of Brandenburg. However, after disputes over the control of the city between the Order and the King of Poland arose, the knights murdered a number of citizens within the city and took it as their own. Thus the event is also known as Gdańsk massacre or Gdańsk slaughter. Though in the past a matter of debate among historians, a consensus has been established that many people were murdered and a considerable part of the town was destroyed in the context of the takeover.
Chęciny Royal Castle was built in the late 13th century in Chęciny, Poland. It fell into ruin in the 18th century and remains in that state to this day.
Kazimierz III of Gniewkowo, was a Polish prince member of the House of Piast, Duke of Inowrocław during 1287-1314, since 1306 vassal of the Kingdom of Poland, Governor of the Duchy of Pomerelia during 1306-1309, after 1314 ruler over Gniewkowo.
The Treaties of Cölln and Mewe, concluded in 1454 and 1455, transferred the Neumark from the State of the Teutonic Order to the Electorate of Brandenburg. The Teutonic Knights had received the area as a pawn from Brandenburg in 1402, and as a possession in 1429. Financial shortages due to the onset of the Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466) forced Ludwig von Erlichshausen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, to pawn the Neumark to Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg, by the Treaty of Cölln on 22 February 1454, and to subsequently sell it by the Treaty of Mewe on 16 September 1455.
The orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See include titles, chivalric orders, distinctions and medals honoured by the Holy See, with the Pope as the fount of honour, for deeds and merits of their recipients to the benefit of the Holy See, the Catholic Church, or their respective communities, societies, nations and the world at large.
The following is a comprehensive list of orders, decorations, and medals bestowed by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, both in the present-day and historically.
The Teutonic Order Research Centre, is a research institution at the Julius-Maximilian University of Würzburg. It is dedicated to the history of the Teutonic Order, with a particular focus on the regional history of Franconia.
Heinrich von Bobenhausen was the 41st Grandmaster of the Teutonic Knights, reigning for close to two decades from 1572 to 1590.
