The Teutonic Knights in Palestine, Armenia, and Cyprus

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INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION: THE TEUTONIC KNIGHTS IN PALESTINE, ARMENIA, AND CYPRUS Hubert Houben The political geography of the Eastern Mediterranean changed deeply following the foundation of the Latin Crusader States in Syria and Palestine at the end of the eleventh century. This intensi ed the contacts between the Latin Roman, Greek Orthodox, and Arab Islamic civiliza- tions.1 The survival of the Latin Crusader States in the Middle East until the end of the thirteenth century was guaranteed by the military Orders of the Templars, the knights of Saint John (Hospitallers), and the Teutonic knights, founded during the twelfth century.2 The two oldest military Orders, the Templars and the knights of Saint John, were international organizations, to which men from all over Western Europe belonged. The knights of the Teutonic Order, however, were predominantly from the German-Roman Empire.3 In this respect it was practically a national Order, comparable to the Spanish and Portuguese military Orders. While the latter limited their operations to the Iberian Peninsula, the Teutonic Order had a wide range of activity, which extended from the Middle East to the Baltic (Map 1). The Statutes of the Teutonic Order do not prescribe that members had to be exclusively German, and, in fact, we do nd non-Germans 1 See, for example, A. Atiya, Crusade, Commerce and Culture (Bloomington, 1962); V. P. Goss, ed., The Meeting of Two Worlds. Cultural Exchange between East and West during the Period of the Crusades (Kalamazoo, 1986); M. Rey-Delquè, ed., Les croisades. L’Orient et l’Occident d’Urbain II à Saint-Louis 1096–1270 (Milan, 1997). 2 Cf. A. Forey, The Military Orders from the Twelfth to the Early Fourteenth Centuries (Basingstoke, 1992); M. Barber, ed., Fighting for the Faith and Caring for the Sick, The Military Orders 1 (Aldershot, 1992); H. Nicholsen, ed., Welfare and Warfare, The Military Orders 2 (Aldershot, 1998). 3 Most of the bibliography on the Teutonic Knights is in German; for the most recent summary, see K. Militzer, Die Geschichte des Deutschen Ordens (Stuttgart, 2005). In English, see I. Sterns, “The Teutonic Knights in the Crusader States,” in N. P. Zacour and H. W. Hazard, eds., A History of the Crusades V: The Impact of the Crusades on the Near East (Madison, 1985), pp. 315–378. On the Teutonic Knights in Eastern Europe, see W. Urban, The Teutonic Knights. A Military History (London, 2003). For the most recent summary in French, see K. Toomaspoeg, Histoire des chevaliers teutoniques (Paris, 2001). 140 hubert Black Sea Apulia 1191/97-1483 Armenia Sicily Greece 1198-ca.1280 1197-1492 1209-1500 houben Palestine 1189-1291 Mediterranean Sea Cyprus 1197/98-ca.1350 Salamis 0 100km Map 1. The Teutonic Knights in the Eastern Mediterranean.

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The Teutonic Order and the Baltic Crusades
Western Oregon University Digital Commons@WOU Student Theses, Papers and Projects (History) Department of History 6-10-2019 The eutT onic Order and the Baltic Crusades Alex Eidler Western Oregon University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/his Part of the European History Commons, Medieval History Commons, and the Military History Commons Recommended Citation Eidler, Alex, "The eT utonic Order and the Baltic Crusades" (2019). Student Theses, Papers and Projects (History). 273. https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/his/273 This Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at Digital Commons@WOU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Theses, Papers and Projects (History) by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@WOU. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. The Teutonic Order and the Baltic Crusades By Alex Eidler Senior Seminar: Hst 499 Professor David Doellinger Western Oregon University June 5, 2019 Readers Professor Elizabeth Swedo Professor David Doellinger Copyright © Alex Eidler, 2019 Eidler 1 Introduction When people think of Crusades, they often think of the wars in the Holy Lands rather than regions inside of Europe, which many believe to have already been Christian. The Baltic Crusades began during the Second Crusade (1147-1149) but continued well into the fifteenth century. Unlike the crusades in the Holy Lands which were initiated to retake holy cities and pilgrimage sites, the Baltic crusades were implemented by the German archbishoprics of Bremen and Magdeburg to combat pagan tribes in the Baltic region which included Estonia, Prussia, Lithuania, and Latvia.1 The Teutonic Order, which arrived in the Baltic region in 1226, was successful in their smaller initial campaigns to combat raiders, as well as in their later crusades to conquer and convert pagan tribes.
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