ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ORDER IN THE BALTIC REGION
e Order of the Teutonic Knights, also called the German or Teutonic Order, was established in 1190. In 1226, Duke Konrad I of Masovia had the Order come to the lands of Chełmno to $ ght the pagans in Prussia. e same year, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II sanctioned the Order to establish a Christianised state. e Crusaders started their a acks on the lands of Chełmno and approached the Baltic Lübeck. is was the main port of departure from which knights and colonists sailed to the lands of the Baltic region that had been captured by the Teutonic Order. From: Schedel H., Buch der Chroniken, Nürnberg, 1493. Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation Image Archive, Berlin Sea via the lower reaches of the Vistula River. In 1283, having conquered all the Prussian tribes, the Order had appeared at the Lithuanian border. e Knights had started to encroach into the territory of present day Latvia at an even earlier date. e interest of the German merchants in the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea grew with the establishment of the city of Lübeck in 1143, as well as the increased in- uence of the Hanseatic League of trading cities. Following the German merchants, the $ rst Christian missionaries came to Livonia. In the winter of 1202, the Fratres militiae Christi, also known as the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, were established. is Order quickly conquered the lands of the Livonians, Semigallians, Selonians, and Latgalians. e primary mission of the Order was to wage war against pagans and orthodox believers, known as schismatics in Western Europe. ere were many various motives as to why the Crusaders ventured from Western Europe to the Baltic Sea Region. ey were $ rm believers and devotees of Catholicism. At the same time, such journeys were $ lled with adventures, the thirst for glory, honour, and success, the pursuit of valuables, and were a means of furthering their knightly careers.
Ba le scene between the Teutonic Knights and the Prussians, as seen from the column capital of Marienburg Castle. Ca. 1300. Photograph " om the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania