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Teutonic Order THE NEW SCHAT'F-HERZOG 819 Thanksgiving Day what every other order failed to accomplish, the erection of an independent state. After the fall of Acre in 1291 the capital of the order was removed to Venice, and in 1309 to Marienburg in Prussia. The spread of the Christian religion and the ger manization of the land were carried on simultane eously. Peasants from Lower Saxony and West phalia transformed the lands into fertile grain fields, and by the side of the castles of the order arose numerous towns with a German population, which grew rich through an extensive commerce. Be tween the knights and the inhabitants of the cities cordial relations prevailed and the order itself de rived great wealth from its trade. The strength of the order was due to its rigorous discipline and its excellent organization. At its head was the grand master, who was limited in the exercise of his powers by a council of the other high officials, among them the chief hospitaler and the treasurer. The su preme power was vested in the grand chapter of the order which elected the grand master and exercised its power of punishment and deposition. Each house of the order was under the authority of a commendator (Komthur) and a number of houses constituted a province at the head of which stood the Land-Komthur. Eligible to membership in the order were Germans only of legitimate birth, show ing the arms of four ancestors, pure in morals and unstained in honor. The discipline in the houses was strict, the life simple. Unquestioning obedience to superiors was the highest duty and every trans gression was punished severely. Flight in battle or intercourse with the heathen was punished by ex pulsion. The order also embraced clerical brethren for the performance of religious duties, and sisters, whose work lay especially in the hospitals. The principal hospital in Prussia was situated at Elbing and in Germany at Nuremberg. The order attained the height of power in the second half of the fourteenth century. In the peace of Kalisch Little Pomerania was acquired from Poland and with the acquisition of the Danish pos sessions in Esthonia its authority extended along the entire Baltic coast. It became also the great power in the Baltic Sea. In 1398 its fleet took Got land from the Vitalian Brethren and in 1404 it acquired Wisby. By the purchase of Neumark its connection with the empire was established. In this very time of glory, however, powerful forces of de cay had begun to work. In place of the rigorous discipline and simplicity of old appeared luxury and ostentation. Party strife sapped the strength of the order and the relations of friendship between knights and citizens had disappeared. Moreover, with the rise of Poland appeared a formidable rival to the German influence. In 1386 Jagello, Grand Prince of Lithuania, became king of Poland. War soon broke out with the knights, and on June 15, 1410, on the plain of Tannenberg the forces of the order were crushingly defeated; all its great officers per ished, and the power of the order was annihilated at one blow. It was saved from destruction by the 'I heroism of Count Henry of Plauen, who held Marien burg against the Poles to such good effect that the peace of Thorn in 1411 left the possessions of the order almost unimpaired. Internal anarchy, how-
ever, hastened the end. In 11140 a part of the knights and the cities organized the Prussian League in opposition to the main order and in a civil war which followed the league gained possession of more than fifty towns and offered to place the country under the suzerainty of Poland. Finally, by the peace of Thorn in 1466, West Prussia was incorporated with Poland, while East Prussia was granted to the grand master as a Polish fief. In Germany, too, decay had overtaken the order so that no help could be derived for the defense of the possessions in Prussia. In 1525 Albert of Prussia (q.v.), elected grand master of the order, transformed its possessions into a hereditary duchy, held of the king of Prussia. In 1561 Gerhard Kettler, following the example of Albert, received Livonia as a fief from Poland with the title of duke of Courland and Semigallia.
The subsequent history of the order, restricted to its possessions in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, possesses little interest. By the treaty of Pressburg in 1805 the presidency of the order was vested in the house of Austria, and within the next few years its territories in South Germany and on the Rhine were transferred by Napoleon to the governments within which they lay. As a purely Austrian order it was reorganized in 1809 and con firmed by Pius TX. in 1871. Its activity is now restricted to its original service, the care of the sick in war and in peace. (G. UHLHORNt.)BIBLIOGRAPHY: For list of periodical articles consult: O. Rautenberg, Oat- and Westpreussen. Ein Wegfilhrer durch die ZeitaclarijtLitteratur, Leipsic, 1897. Consult further: E. Hennig, Die Statuten des deutschen Ordens, KBnigaberg, 1806; Scriptorea rerum Prussicarum, i. 3 aqq., 291 sqq., Leipaie, 1861; Codes diplomaticus ordinis S. Maria; Theutonieorum, ed. J. H. Hennes, 2 vo1s., Mainz, 1846-51; K. van SehlSZer, Die Hansa and der deutsche Ritterorden, Berlin, 1851; T. Voigt, Geschichte des deutschen Ritterordcna, 2 vola., Berlin, 1857-59; B. Dudik, Des Lohen deuEachen Ritterordens Munzsammlung in Wien, Vienna, 1858; A. L. Ewald, Die Eroberung Preussens durch die Deulsehen, 4 vols., Halls, 1872-85; F. C. Woodhouse, Military) Religious Orders of the Middle Apes, London, 1879; F. de Salles; Annals& de L'ordre teutonique, Paris, 1887; M. Perlbach, Die Statuten des Deutschordena, Halls, 1890; M. Oehler, Geschichte des Deutachen Ritterordens, vol, i., Die Anftnge des Ordena bia zum EintriEt in den Preuasen&f, Elbing, 1908.
TEUTSCH, GEORG DANIEL: German Lutheran; b. at Schassburg (290 m. e.s.e. of Budapest), Transylvania, Dec. 12, 1817; d. at Hermannstadt (72 m. e.s.e. of Klausenburg) July 2, 1893. Tie studied at Vienna and Berlin, 1837-39; was instructor at the Evangelical gymnasium at Schassburg, 1842-1850; and rector, 1850-63; preacher at Agnetheln and dean of the ecclesiastical district of Schenk, 1863-67; and Evangelical bishop in Hermannstadt, 1867-93. Teutsch was the leader for German institutions among the Saxons in Transylvania, particularly in education and religion. He was instrumental in defending and maintaining the autonomy of his church and its schools against the encroachments of the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches, and the Magyar influence; and he was active, both before and after becoming bishop, in its internal organization and promotion. As a preacher he was eloquent and persuasive. He wrote Urkundenbuch der evangelischen Landeskirche in
