The Chronological
Table of Events
of the
Teutonic Order - 1070-1500
This table contains dates and events that highlight the origins
and development of the Teutonic Knights throughout its history;
also included are significant events in medieval history that
may
not be directly associated with the Teutonic Knights but
give perspective to the history of the
Order.
Key dates of events for
the Teutonic Order
1070
Possible founding date of the Hospital
of St. John in Jerusalem by Amalfi merchants.
1098 Crusaders of First Crusade captured Jerusalem.
1113 Hospital of St. John recognized
by papal bull as separate order.
1118
Hugh of Payens of Burgundy and Godfrey of Saint
Adhemar, a Fleming, with seven other knights were
credited with
founding the Templars whose headquarters
was on or near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
1126 Hospital of St. John displayed possible military
attributes; its "constable" was cited in sources.
1127 Possible date of the founding of the
German Hospital of St. Mary in Jerusalem.
1128 Probable circulation of St. Bernard
of Clairvaux'
Liber ad milites templi de laude novae militiae.
1129 Council of Troyes recognized the Temple as an order.
1131 King Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre attempted to
turn over the kingdom to the Templars, Hospitallers,
and Knights of the Holy Sepulcher in his will.
1143 Two sources of Pope Celestine
II mention a German
hospital in Jerusalem in some kind of dispute with the
Hospital of St. John; the German hospital
was put under
the supervision of the Hospital of St. John.
1147-1149 Second Crusade.
1170's John of Würzburg mentioned the German hospital
in Jerusalem in his Description of
the Holy Land.
1172 German
monk Theodorich wrote Guide to the Holy Land.
1176 Sophia, Countess of Holland, was
buried in the German hospital in Jerusalem.
May 1, 1187 Hospitallers and Templars
defeated by the Muslims at Nazareth.
July
4, 1187 Battle of Hattin lost by crusaders; Hospitallers,
Templars, and the "flower of the nobility"
devastated.
Oct. 4, 1187 Jerusalem
surrendered to Saladin.
1190 Third
Crusade featured the German Emperor Frederick I
Barbarossa, King Richard I of England, and King Philip II
of France;
the crusaders lay siege to Acre; Germans from L
(beck and Bremen probably established a field hospital named
after
the previous German hospital of St. Mary in Jerusalem.
Sep. 1190 King Guy of Jerusalem awarded Teutonic Order or
"Teutonic Knights" a
portion of a tower in Acre; the bequest
was re-enforced on Feb. 10, 1192; the order perhaps shared
the tower with
the English Order of the Hospital of St. Thomas.
Feb. 6, 1191 Questionable bull of Pope Clement
III approving the German hospitaller order at
Acre.
Jul. 12, 1191 Siege
of Acre ended in crusader victory.
Apr.
1195 Count Palatinate Henry of Champagne provided
Teutonic Knights the house of Theodore of Sarepta in Tyre.
Mar. 1196 Count Palatinate Henry conferred
possessions in Jaffa (Joppa) on Teutonic Knights.
Dec. 21, 1196 Pope Celestine III took the "Hospital of
St. Mary of the Germans in Jerusalem"
under his protection
1196 Hermann von Salza may have accompanied Landgraf
Hermann von Thüringen to the Holy
Land.
May 20, 1197 German
emperor Henry VI gave the
Teutonic Knights a hospital in Barletta, Italy.
Jul. 18, 1197 Henry VI gave Teutonic Knights a church
and cloister
(of the Holy Trinity) in Palermo, Sicily.
Mar. 5, 1198 Teutonic Knights established as a military
order in a ceremony in Acre's Temple which
was attended
by the secular and clerical leaders of the Latin Kingdom.
1198 First military action of the Teutonic Knights with King
Amalric II of Jerusalem; Amalric gave them (in August)a tower
in Acre, formerly belonging to the Order of St. Nicholas.
Feb. 19, 1199 Bull of Pope Innocent
III confirmed the
Teutonic Knights' wearing of the Templars' white
mantle and following of the Hospitallers' rule.
Aug. 1200 Teutonic Knights paid the
sons of Theodore of
Sarepta 200 besants for the house in Tyre to complete the deal.
1202 Gerold of Bozen gave the
Teutonic Knights a
hospital in Bozen.
1202-1204 Crusading
effort led by Boniface of Montferrat
diverted from Palestine or Egypt to Constantinople with
influence of Venetians
and pretender to the Byzantine throne.
Apr.
1204 Fall of Constantinople to the Latin crusaders.
Early, 1205 William of Champlitte and Geoffrey of Villehardouin
conquered
Patras, Andravida, Pundico Castro, Modon, and Coron
in the Morea; Battle of Koundoura won by William of Champlitte
and Geoffrey of Villehardouin with about 600 men over 5,000
Byzantine Greeks.
1206 Statutes of Margat adopted by the
Hospitallers in annual
chapter meeting.
1207
Famous singing contest held at the Wartburg;
St. Elizabeth of Hungary and Hermann von Salza
possibly attended.
1208 Teutonic Knights "marshal"
appears in the
sources; indicates the military nature of the order.
1208-1229 Albigensian Crusade in France.
early, 1209 Geoffrey Villehardouin, Prince of Achaia, in
dividing
up the Peloponnesus in his capital of Andravida,
gave the Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic Knights four
knightly
fees; the Teutonic Knights' fee is near Kalamata.
1209 Teutonic Knights side with Hospitallers and barons in Acre
against the Templars and prelates;
origin of long-standing
opposition between the Templars and Teutonic Knights.
Oct. 3, 1210 Probable date of election of Hermann von Salza as
grand master of the Teutonic Knights; the date coincided with
the date of the marriage in Tyre of John of Brienne
to Mary;
it was also the date of John's coronation as King of Jerusalem.
Sep. 1211 Frederick II chosen king in Germany.
1211 Burzenland settled by the Teutonic Knights
with the authority of Hungary's King Andrew II.
Jul. 1212 Peter II of Aragon defeats
the Moors at Las Navas de Tolosa.
1212 Adomadana given to the Teutonic
Knights by King
Leo of Armenia.
1212 Children's
Crusade: spring---
German phase; June--- French phase.
Sep. 12, 1213 Simon of Montfort wins
the battle of Muret; Peter II killed.
Feb. 24, 1214 King Leo of Armenia
granted Teutonic
Knights Amudain, the castle of Sespin, and more.
Nov. 1215 Innocent III called the Fourth Lateran. Council;
new crusade proclaimed;
Hermann von Salza probably at the
Fourth Lateran Council representing his order.
1215 Frederick II crowned in Aix
-la-Chapelle; took the cross.
1215 Magna Carta signed in England.
1215 Dominican Order founded.
Feb. 18, 1216 Innocent III issued
a bull
of protection for the Teutonic Knights.
Dec. 1216 Hermann von Salza attended Frederick II's
court in Nuremberg; first meeting between
the
Teutonic Knights' grand master and the emperor.
Feb. 1217 Hermann von Salza received
possessions in Sicily from Frederick
II while at
Ulm.
Jun. 24, 1217 Frederick
II granted the Teutonic
Knights the same status as the Templars and
Hospitallers in the Kingdom of Sicily.
1217-1221 Fifth Crusade.
May - Aug. 1218 Crusading army lands in Egypt; Hermann
von Salza
at Damietta; Saphadin died (1199ó1218);
al-Kamil, his son, became caliph (1218- 1238);
crusaders captured
Damietta.
1218 - 1219 Patriarch
of Jerusalem, church officials,
Templars and Hospitallers advised Pelagius not to accept
peace terms of Sultan
al-Kamil to surrender Jerusalem;
contrary advice offered by King John of Jerusalem, Earl
Ranulf of Chester, and
the German leaders.
Spring, 1220
Hermann von Salza went
to Acre with King John of Jerusalem.
Nov. 1220 Hermann von Salza was with Frederick II in
Italy; first identified by
name as Hermann von Salza
in documents; Frederick II crowned Holy Roman Emperor
by Honorius III.
1220 Leopold VI of Austria presented
the Teutonic
Knights the site of the castle of Montfort near Acre.
Jan. 9, 1221 Honorius III gave privileges to the Teutonic
Knights; as an order,
they now were on the same level
as the Templars and the Hospitallers.
Jan - Apr, 1221 Hermann von Salza was in Italy; 57
privileges were given by Honorius
III to the Teutonic
Knights (Honorius III granted 113 to the Teutonic
Knights during his pontificate).
mid-April, 1221 Hermann von Salza
accompanied the duke of
Bavaria and other German nobles to Damietta; arrived in May.
Aug. 30, 1221 Battle of Mansurah; crusaders surrendered
in
Egypt (Templars led the rearguard action); peace treaty;
Hermann von Salza and the master of the Temple held
as
hostages by the Muslims.
1222
"Golden Bull" of Hungary, first issue.
1223 Hermann von Salza negotiated with the pope over
Gunzelin; later in the Holy
Land, he arranged the
marriage for the emperor.
1224 Hermann von Salza was involved
in the Treaty of Dannenberg.
Nov. 1225 Frederick II married Isabella (Yolande)
of Brienne and claimed the throne of Jerusalem;
Hermann von Salza was present.
1225 Teutonic Knights forcibly expelled from Burzenland
by king
Andrew II; Conrad of Masovia requested aid
from the Teutonic Knights in Prussia.
1226 "Golden Bull of Rimini" from Frederick II for
the
Teutonic Knights giving them wide-ranging
authority in the name of the empire in Prussia.
1227 Montfort rebuilt---renamed Starkenberg
Sep.,
1228 Frederick II arrived in the Holy
Land accompanied by Hermann von Salza.
Feb. 18, 1228 Frederick II took control of Jerusalem
from the
Egyptian Sultan al-Kamil by treaty; Hermann
von Salza with Frederick.
Mar. 12, 1228 Hermann von Salza sent a letter to
Gregory IX from Joppa informing
him about the treaty.
Mar. 18, 1228
Frederick II crowned King of Jerusalem in
the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem; then held
high court in the house of the Hospital of St. John.
Apr. 1229 Peace of Paris ended Albigensian Crusade.
Apr. 1229 Frederick II gave Teutonic Knights former house
of Germans in Jerusalem;
also a house that once belonged to
King Baldwin located in the Armenian street near the church
of St. Thomas (plus
a garden and six acres of land).
May
1, 1229 At odds with the Templars and Ibelins, Frederick
II departed Acre; feared losing Apulia to John of
Brienne.
1229-1244 German
Hospital of St. Mary in Jerusalem expanded.
1230 Kulm recognized by Pope Gregory IX
as belonging to the Teutonic Knights.
1231 Teutonic Knights' Hermann
Balke advanced into
Prussia.
1231 Gautier
of Brienne gave the
Teutonic Knights Beauvoir.
1231 St. Elizabeth of Hungary died
at Marburg; later was canonized (1234).
1234 Teutonic Knights won the
battle at Sirguna,
Prussia.
1234 Pope
took control of Prussia;
leased it to the Teutonic Knights
Spring, 1235 Dobriner Order incorporated into
Teutonic.
Knights; approved by Frederick II and Gregory IX.
Sept. 1235 Andrew II of Hungary died;
Bela IV succeeded him (until 1270).
Dec. 23, 1236 Gregory IX taxed the Peloponnesus to support
crusading ventures; preceptor of the Teutonic Knights identified
in the Morea as one of three collectors of the tithing
effort.
1237 Frederick
II's second Lombard campaign;
Hermann von Salza at Battle of Cortenuova.
1237 Teutonic Knights and Swordbrothers unite.
Jul. 1237 Geoffrey II of Achaia gave the
Teutonic
Knights a hospital in Andravida.
1238
Frederick II's third Lombard campaign;
Hermann von Salza's health failed.
Mar. 1239 Hermann von Salza died in Salerno
and buried
in Barletta; Frederick II excommunicated.
Mar. 1239 Robert de l'Isle donates property
(Villegrot) near Veligosti to the Teutonic Knights.
Apr. 9, 1241 Battle of Liegnitz; Mongols
defeat
army of Poles and Germans including Hospitallers,
Templars, and Teutonic Knights.
Apr. 5, 1242 Russians under Alexander Nevsky
defeat
the Teutonic Knights on Lake Peipus.
1244
Muslims recapture Jerusalem.
Oct.
31, 1246 Innocent IV transferred
the Hospital of St. James to the Templars.
1257 Julian of Grenier, lord of Sidon, donated
a
fortress called Cave of Tyron to the Teutonic
Knights (about 12 miles east of Sidon) signifying
the order's role
in Holy Land was expanding.
1257-1261
Teutonic Knights bought large land complex
(called Souf or Schuf) northeast of Sidon from Julian
Grenier,
lord of Sidon for 23,000 crusader besants.
Oct. 16, 1258 Peace treaty among the Templars,
Hospitallers, and Teutonic Knights signed in Acre.
1258 Teutonic Knights buy a manor
from John de la Tour,
constable of Sidon, and two manors from John of Schuf
and assumed the responsibility for defense
north of Acre.
Jul. 1260
Teutonic Knights routed
at Durben; Prussians revolted.
1261 Teutonic Knights bought fief made up of
several manors called Schuf from
Andrew of Schufe.
May, 1263
All Teutonic Knight possessions near Sidon
lost to Muslims after Baybars won battle of Sidon.
1290 Teutonic Knights complete a
30 year effort to
control Prussians.
May 18, 1291
Fall of Acre; Hospitaller and Templar
headquarters moved from Acre to Cyprus; Teutonic
Knights headquarters moved
from Acre to Venice.
1306 Hospitallers
began conquest of Rhodes.
Nov. 28,
1309 Trial of Jacques de Molay,
Grand Master of the Templars (in Paris).
1309 Hospitallers' headquarters
moved from Cyprus
to Rhodes.
1309 Teutonic
Knights' headquarters
moved from Venice to Prussia.
May 16, 1312 Hospitallers awarded Templars' estates
throughout western Europe, Cyprus, and Greece.
Mar. 15, 1314 Jacques de Molay, Templar
grand master,
and Preceptor of Normandy burned at the stake in Paris.
Sep. 9, 1320 Teutonic Knight commander in the Morea died in
battle against the
Greeks near the fortress of St. George.
1348
Plague devastated the Byzantine Empire.
1376-1381
Hospitallers leased the Principality of
Achaia from Joanna of Naples for 4,000 ducats per year.
1383 or 1384 Strife between Hospitallers and
the
Teutonic Knights in the Peloponnesus.
1387
Rudolf Schoppe, preceptor of the Teutonic Knights in the
Morea, became the field deputy of Pedro Bordo de
San Superan.
1391 List
of Moreote fiefs included the Hospital
of St. John and the Teutonic Knights.
1401 Jacob of Arkel, preceptor of the Teutonic Knights
in the
Morea, rewarded with vineyards at Modon and
Coron by the Venetians.
1402 Source identified a number of Teutonic Knight
monasteries in the Morea including
St.Steven in Andravida.
1410
Teutonic Knights defeated at Tannenberg; bankrupted
May 21, 1433 Teutonic Knight procurator John Nichlausdorf in
Rome reported he protested to the
Byzantine representative
the loss of properties in the Morea.
Apr. 27, 1435 Teutonic Knights' representative at the
Council of Basel asked the
return of possessions in
the Morea from the Byzantines.
1435 1437 Johann Franke attempted to purchase Mostenitsa.
1500 Turks conquered Modon from the Venetians and
expelled
the Teutonic Knights from the Peloponnesus.