The Reichs Council of The Nobility of Germany The Reichs College of Princes and Counts of The Holy Roman Empire The Reichs College of Princes and Counts of The Holy Roman Empire 1489-2008 Imperial Council of Princes and Counts of Germany and Europe The Imperial and Royal Orders of Chivalry of The Holy Roman Empire (Above) The Ceremonial Decorations of The Imperial Augustinian Order of The White Eagle of The Holy Roman Empire ______________________________________________________ THE IMPERIAL AND ROYAL AUGUSTINIAN ORDER OF THE WHITE EAGLE OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE ______________________________________________________ The Imperial and Royal Augustinian Order of The White Eagle of The Holy Roman Empire, was formally established by His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl of Germany, Duke of Swabia, in His formal capacity as The de jure Emperor Charles VIII, King of Germany, by Imperial Decree on the first day of September, 1999, as an Imperial and Royal Dynastic Ceremonial House Order of Knighthood. The Order consists of One Class, being Knight Grand Cross and is limited to members of The Imperial and Royal Electoral House only. The official emblem of the Imperial Order, consists of a crowned single headed white eagle with outspread wings with a Teutonic Cross on its breast, the whole is set on a eight pointed red cross with golden rays. The motto of the Order is 'Christus Vincit, Christus Regnat, Christus Imperit', (Christ Conquers, Christ Reigns, Christ Rules) from Emperor Charlemagnes motto, (742-814) first Holy Roman Emperor (800-814). The objects of the Imperial Order are to promote the spirit and cause of Christian Chivalry, to stimulate the practice of virtue and good behaviour and to formally honour the glory and praise of God Almighty. The Orders Patron Saint is St. Michael the Archangel of Heaven, who also holds the formal Apostolic position of the Patron Saint of The Holy Roman Empire of The German Nation. The First Sovereign Grand Master is His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl of Germany, Duke of Swabia, Principal Knight Grand Cross, who formally confers the said Order as part of His personal gift to members of the Imperial and Royal Electoral House and Family. Furthermore the Sovereign Grand Mastership of the said Imperial Order is only formally transmissible to the legitimate Heirs of The Imperial and Royal Electoral House, His Imperial Highness, as founder and First Sovereign Grand Master reserves the 'extraterritorial' Sovereighty of the said Imperial Order for Himself and His Heirs and Successors of His Body. The Present Grand Chancellor and Principal Lady Grand Cross is Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Maria Alexandra of Germany, Duchess of Swabia, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg, de jure Empress Maria of Germany. The Grand Chaplainship of the Imperial Order is formally vested within the Holy See of St. Peter, Rome. ________________ (Above) The Ceremonial Decorations of The Imperial Carinthian Order of Karl Der Grosse __________________________________________________________ THE IMPERIAL CARINTHIAN ORDER OF KARL DER GROSSE __________________________________________________________ The Imperial Carinthian Order of Karl der Grosse, was formally established by His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl of Germany, Duke of Swabia, in His formal capacity as the reigning de jure Emperor Charles VIII, King of Germany, by Imperial Decree on Christmas day 2001, as an Imperial Dynastic Ceremonial Order of Knighthood. The Imperial Order, consists of One Class, being Knight Grand Commander or Lady Grand Commander, and is limited to members of the Imperial Court holding a Titles of Nobility only. The emblem of the Imperial Order, consists of a red cross with gold rim, set on gold crossed swords bearing in the centre the Imperial Carinthian Crown of The Holy Roman Empire. The Official Motto of the Order is 'DEO ET IMPERIO'(FOR GOD AND EMPIRE), The objects of the Imperial Order are to promote the spirit and cause of Christian Chivalry and to formally honour the Glory of the most Illustrious Holy Roman Emperor of them all being Charles the Great/Karl der Grosse/Charlemagne, as he is formally known in European Countries. The Orders Patron Saint is St. Peter the Apostle, first Pope of the Universal Church. The first Sovereign Grand Master is His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl of Germany, Duke of Swabia, Principal Knight Grand Commander, who formally confers the said Imperial Order as part of His personal gift. The Soveriegn Grand Mastership of the said Imperial Order is only formally transmissible to the legitimate Heirs of the Imperial and Royal Electoral House and Family of Germany, His Imperial Highness, as founder and first Sovereign Grand Master, reserves the 'extraterritorial' Sovereignty of for Himself and His Heirs and Successors of His Body and House. The Present High Grand Chancellor and Principal Lady Grand Commander is Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Maria Alexandra of Germany, Duchess of Swabia, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg, de jure Empress Maria of Germany. The Grand Commander of The Imperial Order, is His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Henry of Germany. Duke of Franconia, Count of Hohenstaufen, Knight Grand Commander of The Imperial Carinthian Order of Karl der Grosse. The Grand Chaplainship of The Imperial Order is formally vested within the Holy See of St. Peter, Rome. ________________________ (Above) The Ceremonial Decorations of The Imperial and Royal Order of St.Hubert of Lorraine ________________________________________________________________ THE IMPERIAL AND ROYAL ORDER OF ST. HUBERT OF LORRAINE ________________________________________________________________ The Order of St. Hubert of Lorraine was formally founded in the year 1416 by Louis, Duke of Bar, it was placed under the patronage of St.Hubert. Its object was to reward members of the Nobility for accomlishing charity, King Louis XV of France(1715-1774)took the Order under His special protection. Suppressed by the French Revolution, the Order was revived by Louis XVIII in 1816, but finally went into dormancy in 1824. The Order was formally revived from dormancy by Imperial Decree of His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl of Germany, Duke of Swabia, in His formal capacity as The de jure Emperor Charles VIII, King of Germany, on Christmas Day 2000, and was formally raised to the Style, Title and Dignity of an Imperial and Royal Order of The Holy Roman Empire, from the date of the Imperial Decree issued. The Order consists of One Class being Knight Grand Commander or Lady Grand Commander, and is limited to one hundred Knights regardless of sex or religion. The Order was made a Ceremonial Dynastic Order of Knighthood by Imperial Decree issued By His Imperial Highness, and as such is part of the dynastic patrimony of the Imperial and Royal Electoral House of Germany. The Sovereign Grand Mastership of the Imperial Order is only formally transmissble to the legitimate Heirs of the aforementioned Imperial and Royal House and Family. The present Sovereign Grand Master of the Imperial Order is His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl of Germany, Duke of Swabia, Principal Knight Grand Commander, who formally confers the said Imperial Order as part of His personal gift. The present Grand Chancellor and Principal Lady Grand Commander is Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Maria Alexandra of Germamy, Duchess of Swabia, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg, de jure Empress Maria of Germany. The Grand Chaplainship of The Imperial Order is formally vested within The Holy See St.Peter, Rome. _______________________ (Above) The Ceremonial Cross of The Imperial German Order of St. John of Jerusalem ____________________________________________________ THE IMPERIAL GERMAN ORDER OF THE HOSPITAL OF ST.JOHN OF JERUSALEM ____________________________________________________ ( Imperial Johanniter Order of Germany ) ( Grand Priory of Germany ) The German Knights of Saint John were the smallest group in the Order following the suppression of the Grand Priory of England, as German nobles wishing to make religious profession as knights generally joined the Teutonic Order. Only with the destruction of the latter as an independent institution in the early nineteenth century and its subordination to the Austrian Emperor did a substantial number of Germans join the Order of Malta (indeed the first National Associations to be formed were the Rhine-Westphalian in 1859 and the Silesian in 1867). The first known Grand Prior of Germany was a certain Arleboldus in 1187, but we know little about the early priors before Fra' Henry (Count) of Dockenburg, elected in 1251 and Fra Henry (Count) of Furstenberg elected in 1272. The German knights particularly distinguished themselves in the crusade to halt Sultan Bajazet's campaign through the Balkans in 1397, under the leadership of the then Grand Prior, Fra' Friedrich (Count) of Zollern, elected in 1394. They joined the Grand Master, who had come directly from Rhodes along with the principal commanders of the Order's forces and a large number of knights, in Hungary and proceeded southwards to Bulgaria. The battle of Nicopolis which followed in 1397 was a crushing defeat for the Christian forces, all but twenty-five of the Christian knights (who were held for ransom), including the German Grand Prior, either died in battle or were executed by the victorious Turks afterwards; the Grand Master himself escaped. Bajazet was halted, however, and the Turkish forces did not again successfully invade the territory of the Empire for another one hundred and thirty years. The importance of the German Langue was recognized at the Chapter-General of 23 May 1428 when the title of Grand Bailiff was conferred on its head, with the responsibility of inspecting and superintending all the priories and commanderies in Germany, Bohemia and neighbouring provinces. The Grand Bailiff was also given the task of supervising the inspection of the governor and garrison of the Castle of Saint Peter of Halicarnassus and the coast of Asia Minor, which he was required to visit annually. Unfortunately the preponderance of French knights and their domination of the principal offices of the Order caused some resentment on the part of the smaller Langues, who had already been divided during the great schism (the German Grand Priory was itself split over this issue). The German knights were never powerful enough for their case to succeed and the minor role they played in the affairs of the Order was probably partially responsible for the relatively modest support the Order enjoyed in the northern territories of the Empire. Nonetheless they consistently provided a small group of knights to defend the convent, eight Germans participating in the defense of Rhodes in 1480. With the turmoil generated by Martin Luther and the Hussites, Germany and Bohemia were both in considerable disorder by the time of the second siege of Rhodes in 1522 and only seven Germans, out of a total of just under three hundred and forty knights present, participated in the final defense of the island. The Bailiff of Brandenburg, commanding the light cavalry, himself fell during the first siege, immortalizing the title which is now attached to the Lutheran Order, and the post defended by the Germans (under the command of commander Fra' Christopher Valdner) was the first to be attacked at the second siege. With the acquisition of Malta, the Grand Bailiff, Fra' Georg Schilling von Cannstatt, was given initial responsibility for the defense of Tripoli but warned that the city's physical situation would make it very difficult to defend against a serious attack. Fortunately, when his prediction came true it was the Marshal of the Order, Villars, who bore the blame for abandoning Tripoli in 1551 and who was imprisoned and humiliated by Grand Master de Homedes (he was rehabilitated by Jean de la Valette). Schilling was one of the greatest military commanders the Order had in its history and, as general of the galleys, in the 1530's and 1540's commanded numerous sallies against the Moslem raiders based across North Africa. In September 1541 he led a fleet of four galleys and two well-armed valets (small, fast raiding ships) with some four hundred knights and soldiers to join the Imperial fleet under Andrea Doria. In late October they reached the coast of Algeria and began the siege of the capital. Schilling distinguished himself brilliantly, leading a company of German knights and soldiers in repeated charges at the walls, but although they failed to capture the city they successfully destroyed much of the Moslem pirate fleet. In 1548 Schilling was rewarded by the Emperor with the elevation of the Order's bailiwick at Heitersheim (after 1806 it was incorporated into Baden) to an immediate Principality of the Holy Roman Empire with a seat in the Diet, remaining at the head of the German Langue until his death four years later. Since each new Grand Prior had to be reinvested with the principality the grant of this privilege gave the Emperor greater control over the Langue. The election of Fra' Jean de la Valette in 1557 came at a time of great strain in the Order. The English Langue had been abolished and then temporarily reinstated but was very weak and was to be suppressed again within three years; the German Langue was divided by the conversion of some of its members to the doctrines of Luther and Calvin. Many of the commanderies had ceased to pay responsions and, after the Grand Master complained to the Emperor, the German knights were summoned to a Chapter-General and agreed to send three delegates to Malta to arrange a settlement with the Grand Master. Although problems continued in Germany, with the Lutheran commanderies periodically refusing to pay their responsions, the German knights distinguished themselves at the great siege, sharing with the Portugese knights the responsibility of defending the Mole to the walls of the Castle of Sant' Angelo. The Grand Master and Sacred Council were continually confronted with problems in Germany during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the mid-1570's a proposal was made in the Imperial Diet to force the unification of the German knights with the Teutonic Order, to provide a more powerful defensive force against further Turkish incursions into Hungary. Fortunately the Order's Ambassador successfully lobbied against this but, in 1578, following the death of the Grand Prior of Bohemia, the Emperor asserted a claim to nominate his successor, although again the Grand Master successfully maintained the Order's rights. Two years later, in 1580, the Emperor once again claimed the prerogative to nominate the Grand Prior of Bohemia and make nominations to commanderies, leading to a break-down in relations over this issue which was settled in the Order's favor in 1598. In the following year the Grand Master and Council augmented the potential number of German knights by permitting Swiss postulants to join the German Langue. In 1580 the Bailiff of Brandenburg and several knights of the Bailiwick of Sonnenburg, in East Prussia, who had abandoned their vows to embrace Lutheranism, effectively detached themselves from the Grand Magistral authority. The Grand Master and Council could not recognize this declaration of secession by the protestant commanderies and the title of Bailiff of Brandenburg continued to be given, as an honorific, to a senior German knight. The loyalty of the remaining German knights to the Grand Master was severely tested in 1608 over the admission into the Langue of Charles, Count of Brie, natural son of Henri, Duke of Lorraine and, in an act of revolt, the Germans removed the Arms of the Grand Master and Order from the front of their Auberge and replaced them with those of the Emperor. The disastrous Thirty Years War worsened the Order's situation in Germany, with members of the Order engaged on opposite sides in the conflict and no responsions being sent to the common treasure for the whole period. Urban VIII, who had been increasing the Papal authority over the Order,then extended to the Polish knights the right to enjoy Bohemian commanderies on the basis that both Priories were members of the same Langue. The Treaties of Munster and Osnabruck of 1648, which effectively ended the war in Germany, were agreed at the expense of the Order and resulted in the definitive loss of the Lutheran commanderies, now permanently separated under the protection of the Elector of Brandenburg. Despite the high rank and prestige of the newly elected Grand Prior, Fra' Friedrich (Landgraf) of Hesse-Darmstadt, a courageous and spiritual knight, the Order was virtually ignored in the Treaty negotiations and a satisfactory settlement of the war was seen as a more important priority than the interests of the Order of Saint John. In 1668, however, the Grand Prior successfully obtained the sum of fifty thousand florins from the State of Holland in the Netherlands in compensation for the seizure of the benefices of the commandery of Haarlem, to which the Order renounced all its claims. Hesse-Darmstadt's and his two successors as Grand Prior died within a month of their appointment and were succeeded by Fra' Herman (Baron) von Wachtendonck in 1683 (who died in 1703). The new Grand Prior was soon faced with the threat of a Turkish invasion of the Empire but the brilliant defense of Vienna by Jan Sobieski, King of Poland, in which several knights participated, drove them back across the Danube and out of the Imperial territories, into which they never ventured again. This great victory inspired a new alliance against the infidel and a brief but successful campaign followed in which the German knights participated with distinction; again in 1694 a further campaign was undertaken, in which the German knight, Fra' Franz-Sigismond (Count) von Thun, was appointed General. The final crusade in which the German knights joined was the campaign in the Morea and the Balkans in 1715-18, culminating in the battle of Passarowitz in which the Christian forces were commanded by the Imperial Field Marshal Prince Eugene of Savoy. The number of German knights of the Order of Malta was never substantial, numbering thirty-seven when Vertot published his great work in 1726. Of these several held more than one commandery, the (titular Catholic) bailiwick of Brandenburg then being held by Fra' Philipp-Wolfgang (Baron) von Guttenberg, along with three other commanderies. In 1726 the Langue had sixty-seven commanderies, excluding the Priories of Bohemia and Hungary, and the protestant Bailiwick at Sonnenburg. Among the German knights were several whose families are today represented in the Order, namely the then Grand Prior, Fra' Goswin-Herman-Othon (Baron) von Merveldt and Fra' Herman-Adolf (Baron) von Merveldt (there are three Counts von Merveldt in the Rhine-Westphalian Association and one in the British), Fra' Johann (Baron) von Freyberg (there are four Freybergs in the Rhine-Westhpalian and one in the Silesian Associations), and Fra' Albrecht-Franz (Count) von Fugger-Kirchberg (the Prince of Fugger-Babenhausen is a member of the Rhine-Westphalian Association). At the fall of Malta the last Grand Prior of Germany and Prince of Heitersheim was Fra Ignaz-Balthasar (Baron) Rinck von Baldenstein, elected in 1796 in succession to Fra Johann-Josef-Benedict (Count) of Reinach. The Grand Priory of Germany, was formally revived from dormancy by Imperial Decree of His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl Friedrich of Germany, Duke of Swabia, in His formal capacity as the de jure Emperor Charles VIII, King of Germany, on the 25th of October in the year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Five, who formally assumed the Titles, Rank and Dignity of Grand Prior of Germany and Prince of Heitersheim and is thus formally held under the Supreme Sovereign Protection of the Imperial Crown of Germany and of His Imperial Highness, the Johanniter Order of Germany was granted the Style, Title and Dignity of an Imperial Order of The Holy Roman Empire, The Order is a ceremonial Order of Knighthood and as such is part of the patrimony of the Imperial and Royal Crown of Holy Roman Empire of The German Nation. The Present Grand Prior of the Imperial Johanniter Order of Germany and Prince of Heitersheim is His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl Friedrich of Germany, Duke of Swabia, The Present Grand Chancellor and Knight of Justice of the Imperial Johanniter Order of Germany is His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Henry of Germany, Duke of Franconia, The Chaplainship of the Grand Priory is formally vested within the Holy See of St. Peter, Rome. ____________________________________________ Decorations of the Imperial German Order ____________________________________________ The Cross of the Johanniter Order is a white maltese cross with a single headed german eagle between each arm, suspended from a long plain black neck ribbon (so that it hangs on the breast). The Crosses of the Herrenmeister (7 cms diameter), commanders (5.5 cms diameter) and the knights of Justice (5.0 cms diameter) have gold Prussian eagles between the arms and are ensigned with a closed royal crown; that of knights of Honor (6 cms) has black eagles with gold heads and no crown. The mantle of the knights of Justice and Honor are identical, a plain black cloak decorated on the left side with the plain white cross, but that of the Herrenmeister is in velvet faced with black satin, the knights of Justice is moire faced with satin and French knights of Honor have a white woollen collar. ________________________ Heraldic Regulations ________________________ The Arms of the Order are: (informally) Gules, a (Greek) cross Argent. By regulations of 16 January 1858 commanders may superimpose their Arms upon the plain Cross of the Order; knights of Justice may quarter the Cross in the 1st and 3rd quarters, if their Arms are already quartered they may place the Cross on an escutcheon of pretense, and if their Arms already include an escutcheon the Cross will be charged above and below the escutcheon. Knights of Honor can only suspend the Cross from below the shield. ______________________ ____________________________________________________________ THE IMPERIAL AND ROYAL MILITARY ORDER OF ST. HENRY ____________________________________________________________ The Military Order of St. Henry, was formally established in the year 1736 by Augustus III, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony (1733-1763) to mark his fortieth birthday and honour the Saintly Saxon Emperor Henry II. The Order was formally conferred for meritious deeds regardless of religion and class. Th emedallion bears the image of St. Henry in Imperial Robes on the reverse of the Order are the Arms of Saxony. The Order was formally revived by Imperial Decree of His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl of Germany, Duke of Swabia, in His formal capacity as the de jure Emperor Charles VIII, King of Germany, from dormancy on Christmas Day 2000, and was formally raised to the Style, Title and Dignity of an Imperial and Royal Order of The Holy Roman Empire, from the date of the Imperial Decree issued. The Order consists of Two Classes of Knighthood being Knight Grand Cross or Lady Grand Cross and Knight Commander or Lady Commander and is limited to One hundred Knights only. The Order is a ceremonial dynastic Order of Knighthood and as such is part of the dynastic patrimony of the Imperial and Royal Electoral House and Family of Germany. The Sovereign Grand Mastership is only formally transmissible to the legitimate Heirs of the aforementioned Sovereign House and Family. The Present Sovereign Grand Master and Principal Knight Grand Cross is His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl of Germany, Duke of Swabia, who formally confers the said Imperial and Royal Order as part of His personal gift. The Present Grand Chancellor and Knight Grand Cross is His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Henry of Germany, Duke of Franconia,Count of Hohenstaufen. The Grand Chaplainship of the Order is formally vested within the Holy See of St. Peter, Rome. ___________________ _________________________________________________________________ THE IMPERIAL AND ROYAL ORDER OF ST.GEORGE OF CARINTHIA _________________________________________________________________ This Order was established by the Emperor designate Rudolph I of Habsburg (1273-1291) in the year 1273 to continue the Order of St.George of Austria. It was re-established on Christmas night in Rome, in the year 1468 by Emperor Frederick III (1452-1493) as a lay and religious, military and civil dynastic Order. The Order was approved on the 1st of January 1469 by Pope Paul II (1468-1471) and again in 1472 by Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484). It was amplified by Emperor Maximillian I (1493-1519) and approved by Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) in 1493 together with the confraternity of St.George in Carinthia, to which he asked to be admitted as a member together with the Sacred College. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the Order was described as one of the most important of The Holy Roman Empire. The badge consisted of a four-pointed star with a red enamel cross botonne in the centre, bearing the Carinthian Crown of the Holy Roman Empire on the upper arm. The Order was finally suppressed in 1781 by the Emperor Joseph II (1765-1790). The Order was formally revived by Imperial Decree of His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl of Germany, Duke of Swabia, in His formal capacity as the de jure Emperor Charles VIII of Germany, from dormancy on Christmas Day 2000, and was formally raised to the Style, Title and Dignity of an Imperial and Royal Order of the Holy Roman Empire, from the date of the Imperial Decree. The Order consists of One universal class of Knighthood being Knight Grand Commander or Lady Grand Commander and is limited to Two hundred Knights only. The Order is a Ceremonial Dynastic Order of Knighthood and as such is part of the dynastic patrimony of The Imperial and Royal Electoral House of Germany. The Sovereign Grand Mastership is only formally transmissible to the legitimate Heirs of the Imperial and Royal Electoral House and Family. The Present Sovereign Grand Master and Principal Knight Grand Commander is His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl Fredericke of Germany, Duke of Swabia, who formally confers the said Imperial and Royal Order as part of His personal gift. The present Grand Chancellor and Knight Grand Commander is His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Louis of Germany, Duke of Thuringia, Count of Regensburg. The Grand Chaplainship of the Imperial Order is formally vested within The Holy See of St. Peter, Rome. ______________________ _______________________________________ THE IMPERIAL ORDER OF THE ANCIENT NOBILITY OF THE FOUR EMPERORS _______________________________________ The Order of The Ancient Nobility of The Four Emperors was founded by the Emperor Henry VII in the year 1308 under the Patronage of the Guardian Angel, it became extinct in the sixteenth century, was later revived and united with the Order of Merit of the Lion of Holstein-Limburg, under the patronage of St. Phillipe. Its object was the defence of the Faith. It was reserved for members of the nobility and higher clergy, and was held in great esteem. The Order ceased to exist during the second half of the last century. The Order was formally revived from dormancy by Imperial Decree of His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl of Germany, Duke of Swabia, in His formal capacity as the de jure Emperor Charles VIII, King of Germany, on the 1st of August, 2001, and the Order was formally raised to the Style, Title and Dignity of an Imperial Order of The Holy Roman Empire, from the date of the Imperial Decree. The Order is not formally Conferred at present, His Imperial Highness, has formally assumed the Sovereign Grand Mastership of the Imperial Order and is held under His Imperial Highness', personal protection. The Sovereign Grand Mastership is oonly formally transmissible to the legitimate Heirs of the Imperial and Royal Electoral House and Family of Germany. ______________________ ___________________________________________________ THE IMPERIAL ORDER OF THE DEFEATED DRAGON ___________________________________________________ The Order of the Defeated Dragon (German: Drachenorden; Latin: Societas Draconistrarum) was formally established in the year 1418 by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, and his second wife (Barbara Cilli) after the Council of Constance, to defend the Church against the heretics, especially the Hussites. The defeated dragon is a symbol of the destruction of heresy. The Order flourished in Germany, and Italy, Members of the Order were known as draconists. After Sigismund's decisive victory in Bosnia, the king decided to found his own secular order. The members were important political allies and vassals, the pillars of Sigismund power. The name of the order refers to St. George. The sigils of the order were an ouroborus and the flaming cross. On December 13, 1418, the charter for the Order was publicly announced, dedicating the Order to the defense of the cross from its enemies, particularly the Ottomans and Hussites. The founding twenty-four members were inducted in 1418, including: Sigismund of Luxembourg, King of Hungary Stefan Lazarević of Serbia King Alfonso of Aragon and Naples King Ladislaus II of Poland Grand Prince Vytautas of Lithuania Duke Ernst of Austria Christopher III, Duke of Bavaria and King of Denmark Pipo of Ozora The University of Bucharest annotation to the original edict which establishes the Order reads O Quam Misericors est Deus, Pius et Justus, which may be part of the emblem. In 1431, Sigismund chose to expand the ranks of the Order. To achieve this, he invited a number of politically influential and militarily useful vassals and nobles for indoctrination into the Order. Included in this ceremony was Vlad II Dracul, father of Vlad Ţepeş, who was serving as frontier commander guarding the passes from Transylvania to Wallachia. (The post-title Dracul refers to being invested with the Order of the Dragon.)The addition of new members caused the creation of many classes within the Order. Each class had a slight variation on the symbol of the order, although the dragon motif was dominant in each variation. Common changes included the addition of inscriptions like O Quam Misericors est Deus ("Oh, how merciful God is") and Justus et Paciens ("Justifiably and peacefully"). The order remained prominent until the death of Sigismund in 1437. Without a strong sponsor, the Order quickly lost influence and prestige. Few historical artifacts of the Order remain today, although the symbol of the Order has been adopted for many family crests throughout Europe. A copy, dating to 1707, of the edict forming the Order is the oldest historical artifact of the Order and is stored at the University of Bucharest. The Order was revived by Imperial Decree of His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl Friedrich of Germany, in His formal capacity as the de jure Holy Roman Emperor Charles VIII, on the 1st of August, 2001. His Imperial Highness, formally assumed the postion of Sovereign Grand Master of The Order of the Defeated Dragon and Supreme Dragon Knight Universal. __________________ ______________________________________ THE ROYAL ORDER OF ST. ELIZABETH ______________________________________ The Order of St. Elizabeth was founded by Elizabeth Augusta, daughter of Joseph Charles, Count Palatine of Sultzbach and first wife of the Elector Charles Theodor, in the year 1766. The Order was reserved for noble Catholic ladies who had accomplished outstanding deeds of charity. The Order was confirmed by Clement XIII (1758-1769). Its badge portrayed the figure of St. Elizabeth being visited by Our Lady. The Order was formally revived by Imperial Decree of His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl of Germany, Duke of Swabaia, in His formal capacity as the de jure Emperor Charles VIII, King of Germany, from doemancy on the 1st of August 2001, and was formally raised to the Style, and Dignity of a Royal Order of the Holy Roman Empire, from the date of the Imperial Decree. The Royal Order of St. Elizabeth, consists of One Class of Knighthood being Lady of the Cross, reserved for ladies of nobility and is limited to fifty Ladies only. The Order is a ceremonial dynastic Order of Knighthood and as such is part of the dynastic patrimony of the Imperial and Royal Electoral House and Family of Germany. The Sovereign Grand Mastership is only formally transmissible to the legitimate Heirs of the aforementioned Imperial and Royal Electoral Sovereign House and Family. The Present Sovereign Grand Master and Principal Lady of The Cross, is Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Maria Alexandra of Germany, Duchess of Swabia, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg, de jure Empress of Germany, who formally confers the Royal Order as part of Her persoanl Gift. The Present Grand Chancellor and Lady of The Cross is Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Charlotte Elizabeth of Germany, Duchess of Regensburg, Duchess of Naples, Countess of Provence. The Grand Chaplainship of the Royal Order is fromally vested within the Holy See of St, Peter, Rome. ___________________ ___________________________________________ THE ROYAL ORDER OF THE EAGLE OF ESTE ___________________________________________ The Order of The Eagle of Este was formally established in the year 1855 by Duke Francis V of Modena, The Insignia of the Order consists of a Cross White and Blue with Gold rim, bearing in the centre the Eagle of Este. The Order was formally revived by Imperial Decree of His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl of Germany, Duke of Swabia, in His formal capacity as the de jure Emperor Charles VIII, King of Germany, from dormancy on Christmas day 2001, and was formally raised to the Stlye, Title and Dignity of a Royal Order of The Holy Roman Empire, from the date of the Imperial Decree. The Royal Order of the Eagle of Este, consists of One Class of Knighthood, being Knight Grand Cross or Lady Grand Cross and is limited to One hundred Knights only. The Royal Order is a ceremonial dynastic Order of Knighthood and as such is part of the dynastic patrimony of the Imperial and Royal Electoral House and Family of Germany. The Sovereign Grand Mastership is only formally transmissible to the legitimate Heirs of the aforementioned Imperial and Royal Sovereign House and Family. The Present Sovereign Grand Master and Principal Lady Grand Cross, is Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Maria Alexandra of Germany, Duchess of Swabia, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg, Empress of Germany, who formally confers the Royal Order as part of Her persoanl gift. The Present Grand Chancellor and Principal Knight Grand Cross is His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl of Germany, Duke of Swabia, de jure Charles VIII, King of Germany. The Grand Chaplainship of the Royal Order is formally vested within the Holy See of St. Peter, Rome. _____________________ ________________________________________ THE ORDER OF THE SLAVES OF VIRTUE ________________________________________ The Order of The Slaves of Virtue was founded in the year 1662 by Eleanor Gonzaga, Empress of Germany and widow of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III (1637-1657), its purpose was to promote piety and virtue at the Imperial Court. It was reserved for Dames of noble birth. The Order was united with that of the Dames of the Starry Cross in the year 1668. The Order was formally revived back into a separate Order of Knighthood by Imperial Decree of His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl of Germany, Duke of Swabia, in His formal capacity as the de jure Emperor Charles VIII, King of Germany, on the 1st of August, 2001. The Order is not conferred at present. Her Imperial and Royal Princess Maria Alexandra of Germany, Duchess of Swabia, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg, de jure Empress of Germany, was Conferred with the Sovereign Grand Mastership by His Imperial Highness, on the 6th of August, 2001, which is held under His personal protection. The Sovereign Grand Mastership is only formally transmissible to the legitimate Heirs of the Imperial and Royal Electoral House and Family of Germany. _____________________ _______________________________ THE ORDER OF ST. MICHAEL _______________________________ The Order of St. Michael, was founded by James Clemens, Duke of Bavaria, Elector of Cologne, Bishop of Liege, Regensberg and Hildesheim, in the year 1693. Karl Theodor, Palatine Elector, annexed it to the Bavaria Orders of Chivalry. The Orders original object was the defence of the Crown. In 1812 the Order was confirmed by King Maximillian Joseph of Bavaria, who added to the Order the aim of helping the poor and sick soldiers. In 1837 and 1844 it was again confirmed by King Ludwig of Bavaria, as an award for all meritorious deeds. St. Michaels Church in Munchen, Bavaria, became the Chapel of the Order. The Medallion of the Order has the figure of St. Michael and the inscription being the Orders Motte of "Quis ut Deus"(Who is Like God). The Order of St. Michael, was formally revived from dormancy by Imperial Decree of His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl Friedrich of Germany, Duke of Swabia, de jure Emperor Charles VIII, King of Germany, on the 1st of August, 2001. The Order is not formally conferred at present. His Imperial Highness, assumed the Sovereign Grand Mastership of the Order and is held under His Imperial Highness', personal protection. The Sovereign Grand Mastership is only formally transmissible to the legitimate Heirs of the Imperial and Royal Electoral House and Family of Germany. ___________________ (Above) The Ceremonial Decorations of The Imperial Teutonic Order. ________________ _____________________________________________ THE HISTORY OF THE TEUTONIC ORDER OF SAINT MARYS HOSPITAL IN JERUSALEM _____________________________________________ The Teutonic Order, as a new institution was confirmed by the German Crusader leader, Duke Frederick of Swabia, on November 19th, in the year 1190 and with the capture of Acre, the founders of the hospital were given a permanent site in the city. Pope Clement III confirmed this body as the "fratrum Theutonicorum ecclesiae S. Mariae Hiersolymitanae" by the Bull Quotiens postulatur of February 6, 1191 and, within a few years, the Order had developed as a Religious Military institution comparable to the Hospitallers and Templars, although initially subordinate to the Master of the Hospital. This subordination was confirmed in the Bull Dilecti filii of Pope Gregory IX of January 12, 1240 addressed to the "fratres hospitalis S. Mariae Theutonicorum in Accon". The distinct German character of this new Hospitaller Order and the protection given to it by the Emperor and German rulers, enabled it to gradually assert a de facto independence from the Order of Saint John. The first Imperial grant came from Otto IV who gave the Order his protection on May 10, 1213 and this was followed almost immediately by a further confirmation by Frederick II on September 5, 1214. These Imperial confirmations each treated the Teutonic knights as independent from the Hospitallers. By the middle of the fourteenth century this independence was acknowledged by the Holy See. Some forty knights were received into the new Order at its foundation by the King of Jerusalem and Frederick of Swabia, who selected their first Master in the name of the Pope and Emperor. The knights of the new confraternity had to be of German birth (although this rule was occasionally relaxed), a unique requirement among the Crusader Orders founded in the Holy Land. They were drawn predominately from the noble or knightly class, although this latter obligation was not formally incorporated into the rule until much later. Their blue mantle, charged with a black cross, was worn over a white tunic, a uniform recognized by the Patriarch of Jerusalem and confirmed by the Pope in 1211. The waves of German knights and pilgrims who followed the Third Crusade brought considerable wealth to the new German Hospital as well as recruits. This enabled the knights to acquire the Lordship of Joscelin and, soon thereafter they built the castle of Montfort (lost in 1271), the rival of the great hospitaller fortress of Krak des Chevaliers. Never as numerous in the Holy Land as either the Hospitaller or Templar Orders, the Teutonic knights were nonetheless a formidable power. Master Heinrich von Walpot (died 1200), who led the knights in their first decade came from the Rhineland. He begun by drawing up the Order's statutes, ready by 1199, which were confirmed by Innocent III in the Bull Sacrosancta romana of February 19, 1199. These divided the knights into two classes, knights and priests, the former being obliged to take the triple monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as well as promise to aid the sick and fight the Infidel. Unlike the knights, who from the early thirteenth century had to prove "ancient nobility", the priests were relieved of this obligation and their function was to celebrate the Mass and other religious offices, to administer the sacraments to the knights and the sick in their hospitals and follow them as almoners into war. Priests brothers could not become Masters, Commanders or even Vice-Commanders in either Lithuania or Prussia, but could become Commanders in Germany. Later these two ranks were augmented by a third class, of serving brothers (Sergeants, or Graumäntler), who wore a similar mantle but in gray rather than blue and charged with only three branches of the Cross to indicate that they were not full members of the confraternity. The knights lived communally, sleeping in dormitories on simple beds, eating together in a refectory, the fare modest and no more than was sufficient. Their clothes and armor were likewise simple but practical and their daily duties included training for battle, maintaining their equipment and working with their horses. The dignity of Master - the style of Grand Master came later - was elective for life, as in the Order of Saint John, and like all the great officers was limited to the professed knights. The Master's deputy, the (Grand) Commander, to whom the priests were subject, governed the Order in the absence of his superior. The (Grand) Marshal, likewise immediately subordinate to the Master, was in command of the knights and ordinary troops and was responsible for insuring they were properly equipped. The (Grand) Hospitaller was in charge of the sick and the poor, the Drapier was responsible for buildings and clothing, the Treasurer administered the property. Each of these latter offices were generally held for shorter terms, rotating annually. As the Order expanded across Europe, it became necessary to appoint Provincial Masters for Germany, then Prussia and later Livonia with an hierarchic structure paralleling the great offices. Walpot's successor, Otto von Kerpen, came from Bremen and the third Master, Herman Bart, from Holstein, illustrating the broad distribution of the early knights. The most important early Master was the fourth, Herman von Salza (1209-1239), from near Meissen who, through his own efforts as a diplomatist, considerably enhanced the prestige of the Order. His intercessions in the conflicts between Pope and Emperor earned him the favor of both, augmenting the knights expanding wealth and possessions. During his Magistery the Order received no less than thirty-two Papal confirmations or grants of privileges and a further thirteen Imperial confirmations. By the middle of Salza's Magistery the Orders properties extended from Slovenia (then Styria), through Saxony (Thuringia), Hesse, Franconia, Bavaria and the Tyrol, with houses in Prague and Vienna. There were also outposts in the outer reaches of the Byzantine Empire, notably Greece and what is now Romania. At his death the Orders estates extended as far as the Netherlands in the north west of the Empire, south west to France, Switzerland, further south in Spain and Sicily, and east to Prussia. Salza received a gold cross from the King of Jerusalem as the mark of his Mastership, following the distinguished conduct of the knights at the siege of Damietta in 1219. By an Imperial act of January 23, 1214, the Grand Master and his successors were granted membership of the Imperial Court; as possessors of immediate fiefs they enjoyed a seat in the Imperial Diet with the Princely rank from 1226/27. Immediate Princely rank was subsequently conferred on the Master of Germany and, after the loss of Prussia, to the Master of Livonia. The Order's presence across mediaeval Europe enabled it to play a significant role in local political events. Despite the limitation of membership to the German nobility, the spread of German rule into Italy, notably in Sicily under Henry VI and Frederick II Barbarossa, led to the establishment of the Order's convents in places far distant from Germany. Sicily had been ruled by Saracens until the arrival of the Norman conquerors under the Hauteville family but the collapse of this dynasty led to their replacement by the German Hohenstaufens. The first Teutonic hospital, of Saint Thomas, was confirmed by the Emperor Henry VI in 1197 and, in the same year, the Emperor and Empress granted the knights their request for possession of the Church of Santa Trinitŕ in Palermo. Examination of grants of Sicilian properties to the three great crusader Orders in the period 1190-1220 indicates that the Teutonic knights were greater beneficiaries of imperial favor than either the Templars or Hospitallers. Furthermore, when Frederick II attained his majority he secured them the support of Pope Honorius III, who granted them numerous privileges confirming their equality with the other two great Crusader bodies. The Teutonic knights had first established themselves in eastern Europe in 1211 after King Andrew of Hungary invited the knights to establish an outpost on the border of Transylvania. The warlike Cumans, who were also plaguing the Byzantine Empire to the south, were a constant threat and the Hungarians hoped that the knights would provide a buttress agains their attacks. King Andrew granted them considerable autonomy over the lands they captured with a mission to Christianize the inhabitants, but their demands for effective independence proved unacceptable and they were ordered to leave in 1225. In 1217 Pope Honorius III proclaimed a crusade against the Prussian pagans. Duke Conrad of Massovia had been invaded by these barbarians and, in 1225, desperate for assistance, asked the Teutonic knights to come to his aid. He promised the Master possession of Culm and Dobrzin which Salza accepted with the provision that the knights could retain any Prussian territories that the Order captured. The Emperor's grant of Princely rank in 1226/27 in the "Golden Bull" of Rimini offered the knights sovereignty of any lands they captured as immediate fiefs of the Empire. The campaign to drive out the pagan tribes from prussia only lasted fifty years, the consolidation of their power in north-eastern Europe lasted one hundred and sixty years before the Polish-Lithuanian began to push the knights backwards. This Crusading enterprise succeeded only at a terrible cost, above all to the native populations but also the lives of thousands of knights and soldiers. The amalgamation with the knights of the Sword (or knights of Christ as they were sometimes called) in 1237 proved of considerable value. The Knights of the Sword were a smaller but poweful military brotherhood based in Livonia. They had originally been subject to the authority of the Archbishop of Riga but, with the capture of Livonia and Estonia which they ruled as sovereign states, they were effectively independent. The disastrous defeat they suffered at the Batlle of Sauler on September 22, 1236, when they lost about one third of their knights including their Master, left them in an uncertain situation. The solution, union with the Teutonic Order, insured their survival and, henceforth, they had the status of a semi-autonomous province. The new Master of Livonia, a senior Teutonic Commander, now became a provincial Master in the Teutonic Order and the knights of the combined body adopted the Teutonic insignia. The earliest Livonian knights had come mostly from south Germany. But, after joining with the Teutonic Order, the Livonian knights increasingly came from areas in which the Teutonic knights had a substantial presence, principally Westphalia. Virtually no knights were recruited from the local populations and most of the knights serving in the East spent only a few years there before returning to the Order's houses in Germany, Prussia or, until the loss of Acre, Palestine. It was not until the middle of the fourteenth century that it became customary to appoint the Master of Livonia for life as the Order's rule was more settled and service there less burdensome. Salza died during these campaigns and was buried at Barletta, in Apulia; his shortlived successor, Conrad Landgraf von Thuringen, had commanded the knights in Prussia and died three months after sustaining terrible wounds at the battle of Whalstadt (April 9, 1241) after just one year in office. The fifth Master's rule was likewise shortlived but, his successor, Heinrich von Hohenlohe (1244-1253), enjoyed a very successful reign, receiving confirmation in 1245 of possession of Livonia, Courland and Samogitia from the Emperor. Under Hohenlohe's Magistery the knights granted a series of privileges regulating the government and ownership of property in Prussia. He also established the Order's house and future headquarters at Mergentheim (Marienthal) in Franconia, a property which he and his brother had given to the Order in 1219. By letters patent of August 20, 1250, Saint Louis IX of France granted four gold fleurs de lys to be worn one at each extremity of the Magistral Cross. Under the eighth Master, Popon von Osterna (1253-1262), the Order further established its rule in Prussia, forcing the submission of the ruler of Sambia. The process of transferring peasant populations from Germany to Prussia now accelerated, while the Order established a feudal structure of smaller estates owing fealty to the knights. Under his successor, Annon von Sangershausen (1262-1274), the Order's privileges were confirmed by the Emperor Rudolf (of Habsburg) while the knights were authorized by the Pope to retain their hereditary estates after profession. This was an important privilege and insured the recruitment of landed knights who could not alienate their estates because of family obligations. They were also permitted to engage directly in trading activities, previously forbidden by their vows of poverty, by a further privilege of 1263 which insured their monopoly of the valuable Prussian grain trade. By the death of the tenth Master, Hartman von Heldrungen (in 1283) the Order was securely established in Prussia with the vast majority of their subjects converted to Christianity. As they advanced eastwards, however, building fortresses to insure the maintenance of their rule, the need for local manpower became an increasingly onerous burden for the largely agrarian civilian population who needed all the hands they could find to maintain their farms. Thus the conscription of young men as construction workers and foot soldiers - who generally incurred the greatest casualties in war - led to frequent rebellions against the rule of the knights which sometimes erupted into major conflagrations. Those of the knights subjects who were captured by the Lithuanians could expect permanent enslavement or, if time was short and circumstances prevented them being carried off, summary execution. Indeed, the penalties awaiting the prisoners taken by the Lithuanians could be horrific, as human sacrifice and slow death by torture were not infrequent practices. Enslavement of pagan prisoners by the knights was likewise seen as perfectly acceptable, non-Christians not being considered to have the same rights as Christians. A description by an Austrian poet, Peter Suchenwirt, quoted by Ekdahl, well illustrates these horrifying events, not so dissimilar, perhaps, to recent events in Bosnia Herzegovina: "Women and children were taken captive; What a jolly medley could be seen: Many a woman could be seen, Two children tied to her body, One behind and one in front; On a horse without spurs Barefoot had they ridden here; The heathens were made to suffer: Many were captured and in every case, Were their hands tied together They were led off, all tied up - Just like hunting dogs". One can only wonder at the astonishing use of the word "jolly"! These slaves were then used to supplement the local labor force but, usefully did not require payment and so were often preferred to the Prussian natives who needed to be paid or granted land. By enslaving the Lithuanian prisoners as much needed manual laborers, there ceased to be any incentive to convert them as, once they became Christians, they could no longer be abusesd in this fashion. Hence, as Dr Ekdahl has suggested, as the local populations converted and, following the Christianization of Lithuania, prisoners of war could no longer be enslaved, the Order found it harder to conscript soldiers into its armies without detroying the livelihood of the landed peasantry who, through taxes, provided them with much of their revenues While the Teutonic knights played a major role in the Christianization of north eastern Europe, they were less effective on its south eastern borders. In the second quarter of the thirteenth century, Europe was faced with the terrible threat of Mongol invasion. Their spread westwards from their barren homeland between China and Russia was an appalling experience for those unfortunate enough to find themselves in their path. They had no regard for the civilian inhabitants who suffered dreadfully, their towns destroyed, livestock carried off, meanfolk murdered and women either killed or forced into concubinage. In 1240 they attacked and destroyed the magnificent city of Kiev, capital of the Ukraine, and thence turned to Poland and Hungary. The Teutonic knights seem not to have become fully engaged in this struggle even when, in 1260, in alliance with the Russian Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky, the Order resolved to take on the Mongol hordes. Unfortunately, throughout their rule in Eastern Europe the knights were frequently forced to deal with uprising among their own subjects, particularly in Prussia and each time a crusade was preached against the Mongols the knights had to turn to defend their own territories from internal rebellion or Lithuanian harassment. With the Crusaders and Christian Kingdom radually on the retreat in the Holy Land, the knights suffered huge losses at the battle of Sephet in 1265, putting them on the defensive in their great castle of Montfort. Even after making peace with the Templars and Hospitallers - with whom they had frequently quarreled during the preceding half century - they were unable to sustain their rule. In 1291, following the loss of Acre, the knights retreated first to Cyprus and then to Venice, where they had recruited a small group of Italian knights at their commandery of Santa Trinitŕ which temporarily became the principal house of the Order. Their Master, Conrad von Feuchtwangen, although before his election Provincial Master in Prussia and Livonia, had fortunately been in Acre when elected and so was able to demonstrate for his brother knights the military skills learned fighting Prussian barbarians. These efforts having proved insufficient, he joined his wandering confreres and spent his last years trying to reconcile the differences between the provincial masters which anticipated the divisions of later years. On his death in 1297 he was succeeded by Godfrey von Hohenlohe whose Magistery was likewise marred by quarrels among his subordinates, while the struggle against the pagans had extended to Lithuania. The crusade to convert Eastern Europe was compromised by some of the local rulers, notably the Kings of Poland, who feared the Order's power and, in 1325, the Poles allied themselves with the pagan Grand Duke Guedemine of Lithuania. Fortunately, in 1343, Poland and the Order were reconciled and while the Lithuanians renewed their attacks on the Order with all the forces at their disposal, the knights were ready. Gradually eroding the areas ruled by the Grand Duke, taking them under their own administration, the Grand Duke Olgerd and seventy thousand Lithuanians, Samogithians, Russians and Tartars were thoroughly defeated at the Battle of Rudau, in Sambia, on February 17, 1370. The Grand Duke lost more than eleven thousand killed along with his standard, while the Order lost twenty-six commanders, two hundred knights and several thousand soldiers. In 1386 Olgerd's successor, Jagellon, married Hedwig, heiress of Poland, took the name Wladislav and converted to Christianity, thus uniting the two Crowns. Poland was now at the apogee of its power, Christianity was firmly established across Eastern Europe, and the very existence of the Teutonic Knights was now threatened. Following the union of Lithuania and Poland, the Teutonic knights soon forfeited the support of the Church and neighboring Princes. Conflicts with the Archbishop of Riga had bedeviled relations with the Church over the previous half-century, these divisions were accentuated with the Order's crusading mission reduced to insuring the conversion of the pagan populations under the rule. The conversion of Lithuania's rulers gained the latter the support of the Papacy who ordered the knights to reach a settlement. Disputes between the knights and the new Polish-Lithuanian alliance increased, nonetheless, and the knights even found themselves engaged in the war between two other Christian states, Denmark and Sweden. A temporary peace signed in the Order's favor in 1404 led to the sale of Dobrzin and Ziotor to the Polish king but, although the Order's wealth had never been greater, it was brought down by its own success. The Order now ruled a vast area with two million one hundred and forty thousand inhabitants of Prussia alone but was resented by much of the native population and feared by its neighbors. As the Polish state became more centralized, so the Crown needed to enforce its rule along the borders with the Teutonic properties, while requiring easier access to the Baltic coast. As long as the Order looked to Germany and the Emperor for support, conflict was inevitable. The Lithuanians and Poles were armed and prepared to renew the struggle. Despite attempted interventions by the Kings of Bohemia and Hungary, Jagellon and Wladislav were able to amass a vast force of about 160,000 men. These included Russians, Samogitians and Hungarian, Silesian and Bohemian mercenaries along with the forces of the Duke of Mecklemburg and the Pomeranian Dukes (other than the Duke of Stettin, who sided with the Order). The knights, on the other hand, with only 83,000 men were outnumbered two to one. Despite this handicap, the outcome of the engagement at what is known as the battle of Tannenberg on July 15, 1410 was by no means certain. Early in the conflict the knights made great advances, destroying the right wing of the Lithuanian forces but they were gradually beaten back. When their courageous Grand Master, Ulrich von Jungingen was killed in the center of the melée, dying from wounds inflicted in both the front and back of his chest, the fight was lost. In addition to their leader, they lost two hundred knights and forty thousand soldiers including the Grand Commander, Conrad von Liechtenstein, the Marshal, Friedrich von Wallenrod, and many commanders and officers, while the Poles lost sixty thousand dead. The Order might have been destroyed entirely had it not been for the Commander of Schwetz, Heinrich (Reuss) von Plauen, who had been charged with the defense of Pomerania and now moved rapidly to bolster the defenses at Marienburg. He was quickly elected Vice-Grand Master and, thanks to his preparations, the fortress was saved. Plauen was now elected Grand Master and, at the Isle of Thorn (Torún), concluded a treaty with the King of Poland on February 1, 1411, ratified by Papal Bull a year later. This returned all the territories captured by each side to the other, with the provision that Samogitia would be held by the King of Poland and his cousin Vutautas (Witold), Grand Duke of Lithuania (now a Polish vassal) during their life times when it would be returned to the knights. It was also required that both sides would endeavor to convert their remaining pagan subjects to Christianity. Unfortunately the Polish king immediately refused to honor his promise to release his prisoners - whose numbers exceeded those held by the knights - demanding a huge ransom of 50,000 florins. This presaged a further decline in relations; the Poles were determined to remove the continued threat of the knight's power on their borders. Numerous negotiations and agreements failed to produce a satisfactory compromise, while many smaller conflicts gradually diminished the Order's territories. The Order was assisted briefly by a split between members of the Polish royal house over which of them should rule in Lithuania but this was resolved after four years in 1434. Unfortunately, Wladislav III who succeeded later that same year acquired the Hungarian throne in 1440, becoming the dominant power in the region. Casimir IV who had succeded as King in 1444, placed one of his sons on the latter throne while acquiring that of Bohemia for another. The great problem faced by the Polish Crown, and which ultimately led to the emasculated Monarchy of the eighteenth century, was how to balance royal authority over the great magnates with the extensive privileges that they had to be promised to insure their loyalty. This inherent weakness was ably exploited by the knights and delayed their eventual defeat. Meanwhile the Prussians themselves rebelled against the authority of the Order and in 1454 war broke out once again, a conflict that the knights could not win without the support of their own subjects. Finally, by the treaty of Thorn (Torún) of October 19, 1466 between the Order and Poland the knights agreed to surrender Culm, their first Prussian possession, along with East Prussia, Michalow, Pomerania (including Danzig) and the Order's headquarters at the fortress of Marienburg. Although they retained some sixty towns and fortresses the Grand Master had to recognize the Polish King as his feudal overlord and do homage therefore, although the Emperor, nominal overlord of Prussia and superior of the Grand Master as a Prince of the Empire, was not consulted. In return the Grand Master was recognized as a Prince and councilor of the Crown of Poland. The Grand Master acknowledged Papal authority in spiritual matters, but by promising that no part of the treaty could be annulled by the Pope he was in breach of canon law as the Superior of a Religious Order and therefore subject to the Holy See. The knights power was now fatally compromised. The next four Grand Masters, thirty-first through thirty-fourth in succession, were unable to prevent further conflicts with Poland although some territories lost earlier were recovered. In 1498, they chose as thirty-fifth Grand Master Prince Friedrich of Saxony, third son of Albert the Brave, Duke of Saxony whose older brother George had married a sister of the King of Poland. By selecting a member of one of Germany's greatest royal houses they hoped to bolster their negotiating position, particularly over the vexed issue of whether they should accept the status of Polish vassal state. When summoned to make homage, the new Grand Master petitioned the Imperial Diet, which informed the Polish King that he could not interfere in the Grand Master's free exercise of power in Prussia. Friedrich's delaying tactics were assisted by their being three Polish kings between his election in 1498 and death in 1510. The election of a Prince from a great reigning family having been such a success, the knights determined on the same course again. This time their choice proved to be a disastrous mistake. On February 13, 1511, they elected Markgraf Albrecht (von Hohenzollern) of Brandenburg, who accepted the post, made profession and professed his oath of fealty to the Emperor. Like his predecessor, Albert refused to make homage to the Polish King Sigismond but was undermined by the Emperor Maximilian, who in a treaty with Sigismond of 1415, required the Order to revert to the weaker territorial position of 1467. Albert still refused Sigismond's command to attend him, however, and instead signed an alliance of mutual protection with Czar Vassili of Russia. In return for handing over Neumarck to Brandenburg for the sum of 40,000 florins, Albert was also able to secure the support of the Elector Joachim. By the treaty of Thorn of April 7, 1521, he agreed that the question of homage would be submitted to arbitration but the disruption caused by Luther's defiance was already wreaking havoc with the consciences and loyalties of princes and peoples across Northern Europe and the promised meeting never took place. Martin Luther's challenge to the established ecclesiastical order led to further losses of military and political power. Luther wrote to the knights on March 28, 1523, inviting them to break their vows and take wives. The Bishop of Sambia, who held the administrative posts of Regent and Grand Chancellor of Prussia, was the first to renounce his vows and, on Christmas Day, 1523, preached a sermon inviting the knights to emulate him. The following Easter he celebrated the new rite and made a violent attack on the Church in which he had been ordained and consecrated. The Grand Master at first stood aside but, by July 1524, had decided to abandon his vows, marry and convert Prussia to a secular principality under his own rule. Following the Treaty of Cracow of 1525, Albert formally converted to Lutheranism and swore fealty to the King of Poland who invested him as Duke of Prussia with the right of direct or collateral hereditary transmission. Livonia remained temporarily independent under its Master, Walther von Plettenberg, who was created a Prince of the Empire. The new Master of Germany now took the title Master of the Teutonic Order in Germany and Italy. Already a Prince of the Empire as Master of Germany he established the Grand Magistery at Mergentheim in Wurtemberg, where it remained until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Weakened by old age, however, he did not seek confirmation of his titles and resigned, leading to the election of Walther von Cronberg on December 16, 1526, and the unification of the Headship of the Order with the Magistery of Germany. The latter was now confirmed by the Emperor, but with the title for him and his successors of "Master of the Teutonic Order in German and in Italy, pro-Administrators of the Grand Magistery" with the requirement that all the commanders of the Order and the Master of Livonia give him the respect and obedience due to the Grand Masters of the Order. This title in German was later modified as "Administratoren des Hochmeisteramptes in Preussen, Meister teutschen Ordens in teutschen und wälschen Landen" which remained the title of the head of the Order until 1834. At the Diet of Spier of 1529 Cronberg abandoned the seat enjoyed by the Master of Germany, moving up in precedence to take the seat of Grand Master, after the Archbishop of Salzburg and before the Bishop of Bamberg. On July 26, 1530, Cronberg was formally invested with the Sovereignty of Prussia by the Emperor in a solemn ceremony intended to directly challenge Hohenzollern power; unfortunately, it had little actual effect. The Order still continued to recruit priests and nuns who dedicated themselves to hospitaller and humanitarian services, but the religious members were effectively separated from the lay and professed knights by the dropping of the requirement that the latter should live in a convent of the Order. The Order did not lose all its protestant members or possessions however and, where the principality in which the Order had properties changed confession, the knights generally followed. In Livonia, although Master von Plettenberg remained loyal to the Catholic Church, he was unable to resist granting toleration to the reformed churches in 1525. Thus the Order became a triconfessional institution with the Grand Magistery and principal offices held by Catholic nobles. The Lutheran and Calvinist knights were given equal rights by the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648, with a seat and vote in the Chapter General. Only the Protestantised Bailiwick of Utrecht declared its total independence in 1637, giving allegiance to the United Provinces. A proposal in 1545 to unite the Teutonic knights with the knights of Saint John came to nothing. Meanwhile the Order's principal diplomatic efforts were concentrated on recovering their Prussian territories, a project in which they were to be continually disappointed. Livonia continued under the rule of the knights but their rule was tenuous, surrounded as they were by Russians and Poles. In 1558 Gothard Kettler was elected coadjutor Master, succeeding as Master in 1559 on the resignation of Master von Furstenberg. Once again the Order had unwittingly made a poor choice. While Kettler was a capable soldier, in 1560 he secretly embraced the Lutheran faith. The following year, after secret negotiations, he was invested by the Polish King in a treaty of November 28, 1561 as Duke of Courland and Semigalla for himself and his heirs and successors. This state included all the territories formerly controlled by the knights between the Dwina, the sea, Samogitia and Lithuania and ended the Order's prersence in north eastern Europe. On March 5, 1562, Kettler sent an Envoy to the King to deliver him the insignia of his dignity of Master of Livonia, including the cross and great seal, purporting to grant the king the titles and privileges of the Teutonic knights, the keys of Riga and even his knight's mantle, as symbols of his abandoning the Order. In 1589, the fortieth Grand Master, Heinrich von Bobenhausen (1572-1595) transmitted the rights of government to his coadjutor, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, without formally abdicating. This transfer was formally ratified by the latter's brother, the Emperor, on August 18, 1591 and Maximilian was able to receive oaths of loyalty from the members and subjects of the Order. At the invitation of the Emperor, the knights then provided 63,000 florins, one hundred and fifty horses and one hundred foot soldiers along with knights from every Bailiwick of the Order to fight the Turks, then rampaging across south-eastern Europe. This was of course a fraction of what they might have contributed in the past but the territorial losses of the previous century had seriously impoverished them, substantially reducing the numbers of professed knights and priests. The Order was now firmly allied with the House of Habsburg and Maximilian was succeeded in 1619 by the Archduke Carl. Of the remaining years before the fall of the Empire, there were eleven Grand Masters of whom four were Archdukes, three Princes of the House of Bavaria, and one Prince of Lorraine (brother of the Emperor Francis I). Thus, while the Order's military power was a mere shadow of its earlier strength, the prominence and standing of its Grand Masters - and indeed of many of the highest officers - was more elevated. At the same time stricter noble proofs limited the recruiting of members of the minor nobility. On February 27, 1606 Grand Master Maximilian gave the Order new statutes which were to govern the Order until the nineteenth century reforms. These comprised two parts. First the rule, which dealt in nineteen chapters with the religious obligations, communion, the feast days, the habit, the maintenance of the sick brothers, the conduct of the Order's priests and the regulation of their parishes, and relations between the members. The second part, in fifteen chapters, was concerned with the ceremonial for arming and receiving knights, noble proofs, the obligations to fight the Infidel on the Hungarian frontier and elsewhere, the conduct of each member, the administration and enjoyment of commanderies, the rites due to deceased members including the Grand Master himself, the election of his successor and the circumstances in which a knight could leave the Order. These reestablished the Order's central mission of fighting the pagans and, for the Catholic members, restored its spiritual dimension. Unfortunately, by the second quarter of the eighteenth century, the great powers had abandoned the concept of the Christian Crusade - indeed, knights of the Holy Sepulcher were excused their promise to fight to free the Holy Places. Stripped of its historic mission and most of its military functions, the Order henceforth limited itself to providing a regiment for the service of the Archdukes of Austria, Holy Roman Emperors and a living for the professed knights and priests. The Napoleonic wars proved disastrous for the Order, as they did for every traditional Catholic institution. By the Peace of Lunéville of 9 February 1801 and the Treaty of Amiens of 25 March 1802, its sovereign possessions on the left bank of the Rhine, with annual revenues of 395,604 florins were distributed among the neighboring German sovereigns. In compensation the Order was given the chapters, abbeys and immediate convents of Voralberg in Austrian Swabia and the immediate convents of Augsburg and Constance. Its Grand Master, the Archduke Carl-Ludwig had taken office without either making his vows or being enthroned but nonetheless signed away its properties. The Order was given the ninth vote in the Council of Princes of the Empire, although the proposal to change the name from Grand Master to Elector was never effected and the dissolution of the Empire soon made this position irrelevant. On June 30, 1804 Carl-Ludwig resigned the Grand Magistery to his coadjutor, the Archduke Anton, who then made solemn profession. By article XII of the Treaty of Pressburg of December 26, 1805 between Austria and France all the possessions of the Grand Magistery at Mergentheim and all those given in exchange earlier were attached to what was to be an hereditary Grand Mastership, invested in the male line of the Imperial House of Austria. The new Grand Master, the Archduke Anton, was the son of the Emperor Leopold II and brother of Francis I of Austria, and had already been elected Prince Bishop of Munster and Archbishop of Cologne. On 17 February 1806, the Emperor, Francis I, acknowledged his brother Anton as Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, confirming the provisions of the Treaty of Pressburg, until such time as it would become an hereditary dignity. At the same time he also imposed some limitations on the scope of the Treaty, to the detriment of the Order. The sovereign status recognized in the treaty of Pressburg was now to be attributed to whichever Prince of the House of Austria would in future hold the title of Grand Master, but this would be a limited sovereignty, subordinated to the "Headship of the Imperial House of Austria". The existing members were confirmed in their position, those received as novices were to be permitted to proceed to profession and candidates for the novitiate could continue their progress, but in a notable modification of the Grand Master's rights, future candidates for the novitiate could not be received without Imperial assent. No attempt was made to consult the Holy See and this act was in contravention of canon law. Meanwhile, the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine on July 12, 1806 cost the Order possession of several more commanderies, granted variously to the Kings of Bavaria and Wurtemberg and the Grand Duke of Baden. By decree of Napoleon, on April 24, 1809, the Order was suppressed in the territories of the Confederation, those knights who were not engaged in the armies opposing the French were required to be compensated by their new rulers and Mergentheim (Marienthal) was handed over to the Crown of Wurtemberg. The only bailiwicks remaining undisturbed were those of Austria, with three commanderies attributed to the Grand Commander and eight other commanderies and one convent, and the bailiwick of Adige and the Mountains. The commandery of Frankfurt am Main (Sachsenhausen) was retained, and in Austrian Silesia it preserved two commanderies and some parishes but lost the commandery of Namslau in Silesian Prussia, confiscated by the Prussian secularization commission on December 12, 1810. Despite pleas on the Order's behalf for the enactment of the terms of the treaty of Pressburg, the Congress of Vienna of 1815 refused to return any of the properties it had lost in the preceding twenty years of conflict. The decision on how to treat the Order was postponed until February 20, 1826, when the Emperor Francis asked Metternich to determine whether the Teutonic Order should have its autonomy restored within the Austrian states. There were now only four professed knights in addition to the Grand Master; the Order urgently needed regeneration or it would disappear. By a decree of March 8, 1834, the Emperor returned to the Teutonic knights all the rights they had enjoyed by the Treaty of Pressburg, abrogating the limitation on those rights imposed by the Decree of February 17, 1806. The Order was now declared to be an "Autonomous, Religious and Military Institute" under the protection of the Emperor, with an Archduke as Hoch- und Deutschmeister and the status of "immediate fief of the Empire" while the Grand Master, the Archduke Anton, was to be treated as a Reigning Sovereign in all the Austrian States. His successors were required to request investiture from the "sovereign of Austria" and would be considered Ecclesiastical Vassal Princes, ranking before "all secular and ecclesiastical princes". The Emperor would become "suzerain and protector of the Order". The Order had one class of knight who had to prove sixteen quarterings of exclusively German or Austrian nobility, subsequently relaxed to four quarterings for two hundred years, and be practicing Roman Catholics. This class was divided into Grand Commanders (suppressed by a reform of 24 April 1872), Grand Capitularies, Commanders and Knights. The knights were considered to be religious, subject to the discipline of the Head of the Order while the statutes regulating their conduct were based on those of 1606, restoring the chivalric character and ancient ceremonies, many of which had become moribund. Following a further reform of 13 July 1865, a division of Knights of Honour was introduced for which candidates were only required to prove German nobility in the paternal line and wore a slightly modified cross. The Chapter-General was to include the Grand Commander of the Bailiwick of Austria, the Grand Commander of Adige and the Mountains, the Grand Commander and Grand Capitular of the former Bailiwick of Franconia and the Grand Capitular of the former Bailiwick of Westphalia, giving the Grand Master the right to augment the number of Grand Capitularies at his discretion. A further limitation imposed the obligation to elect as Grand Master (or appoint as coadjutor) a member of the Imperial House of Austria and, if there were no Archdukes among the members, to elect the Prince most closely related to the Imperial House. Although the Emperor had failed to defend the Order against Napoleon, the restoration of its status was unquestionably his achievement. Emperor Francis died on March 3rd 1835 and the Grand Master one month later, on April 3rd. The Order now elected the Archduke Maximilian of Austria-Este (1782-1863), brother of the Duke of Modena, who had been received as a novice in 1801 and made full profession in 1804. The new Emperor, Ferdinand I, issued a further decree on July 16, 1839, confirming the privileges granted by his father and those Rules and Statutes of 1606 which did not conflict with its status as an Austrian fief. A further Imperial Patent of June 38, 1840, defined the Order as an "Independent Religious Chivalric Institute" and "immediate Imperial fief" of which the Emperor was suzerain and protector. The Order was given free control of its own estates and finances, independent of political control and, while the professed knights were considered religious, earlier provisions permitting them to retain control of their own inheritances were maintained. Their fortunes could be augmented by inheritance after making profession but gifts by them of more than three hundred florins had to be authorized by the Grand Master. Furthermore, if a knight died without making a will, his fortune would pass to the Order. The priests of the Order did not have to make noble proofs but were required to descend from a gentle family. In 1855, more than two centuries after the disappearance of the convents of ladies of the Order, the institution of Lady Hospitallers of Saint Mary of Jerusalem or Sisters of the Teutonic Order, was restored and the Grand Master gave several houses for the sisters at his own personal expense. Certain of the properties outside Austria had been recovered, notably the chapter house in Frankfurt, and these were now occupied by the religious brethren and sisters. Stripped of its military function, although the Knights were entitled to wear a military uniform, the Order was now dedicated to a religious, humanitarian and philanthropic mission in a spirit of "brotherly consciousness" and provided ambulance and hospital services in the wars of 1850-1 and 1859 (with Italy), 1864 and 1866 (with Prussia) and 1914-18. The reforms introduced by the Archduke Maximilian served to reinvigorate the spiritual life of the Order, with some fifty-four priests received during his twenty-eight year Magistery. Many ancient buildings belonging to the Order but long left to decay were restored while the church of the Order in Vienna was given many valuable relics and religious artifacts. By the time he died in 1863 Maximilian had given more than 800,000 florins for the support of the sisters, hospitals and schools, and 370,000 for the Teutonic priests. To enable the Order to cope with the demands on its services, his successor as Hoch und Deutschmeister Archduke Wilhelm (1863-1894, professed 1846), introduced a special category of Marian knights and dames by a decree of March 26, 1871. These Marian knights and dames were not full members of the Order but were entitled to wear a variant of the Cross. Initially this category was limited to Catholic members of the nobility of the Dual Monarchy but by a further reform of 20 November 1880, was extended to include Catholics of any nationality. By the Bull Pia sodalitia of July 14, 1871, Pope Pius IX confirmed the ancient statutes and regulations, along with the new reforms. In the Papal Brief of March 16, 1886, Pope Leo XIII approved further reforms to the Statutes drawn up by the Grand Master, approved by the Chapter-General on May 7, 1886 and sanctioned by the Emperor on May 23 following. These opened up all the dignities of the Order to those who had professed simple vows, abolishing the category of solemn vows for the future, but not revoking the solemn vows of those who had already undertaken that obligation. This meant that while knights still had to make the triple religious vow, because it did not become permanent they could leave the Order and, if they wished, marry after doing so. This provision did not extend to the priests of the Order whose ordination was perpetual but as a measure of prudence did include the sisters, since their employment in the outside world as teachers and nurses may have led them to regret perpetual vows. In 1886 the Order was headed by the Hoch- und Deutschmeister, with a Councilor (Rathsgebietiger), three Grand Capitularies, eighteen professed knights of whom four were in simple vows, one novice, twenty-one knights of Honor, more than one thousand three hundred Marianer, seventy-two priests the majority of whom were in solemn vows, and two hundred and sixteen sisters. During the last two thirds of the nineteenth century and the first two decades of the twentieth the Order played an active role in Austrian life, particularly in Austrian Silesia and the Tyrol. With schools and hospitals under its care serving the local population, and an important hospitaller role in warfare the Order earned its privileged position within the Dual Monarchy. The First World War, in which the Order notably distinguished itself, led in the fall of the Monarchy and the abolition of the use of titles of nobility in Austria. Hostility to the Habsburgs on the part of the new republican régimes in Ausria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia to anything that recalled Habsburg power was a major obstacle to the Teutonic Order. The threat of bolshevism and rising anti-Catholicsm coupled with moves to destroy every noble institution and anything that could be accused of being anti-democratic imperiled the very existence of the Order. The continuation of the Order in its old structure was no longer possible as the properties of the Order, perceived as dynastic estates of the Imperial House, were threatened with confiscation by vengeful republican successor states, keen to strike down every remaining association with the Habsburg dynasty. The Order was independent under Canon law as an autonomous religious institution and could not be regarded as part of the Habsburg patrimony. Nonetheless, the last Habsburg Grand Master the Archduke Eugene who become Hochmiester of the Teutonic Order in 1894, (who died in 1954), was now forced into exile along with all the members of the Habsburg dynasty, and volunteered his resignation to the Pope PiusXI in 1923 when certain allegations were made that the property of the order belonged to the Imperial House of Hapsburg. Before this became final, he convoked a Chapter-General in Vienna to select a new chief and at his suggestion Monsignor Norbert Klein, a priest of the Order and former Bishop of Brünn (Brno) was elected coadjutor. The Austria government and representatives of the Order were now able to enter into negotiations and, fortunately, the view that it was above all a religious institution prevailed, even though some elements in the Church were still hostile. The Holy See now charged Fr Hilarion Felder to examine the complaints against the Order from within the Church. The argument that as the Order had originally been sbject to the Hospitallers its properties should be restored to the Order of Malta was rejected and the investigation found in favor of the Teutonic Order, requiring that it should draw up a new Rule. Now constituted as the Fratres domus hospitalis sanctae Mariae Teutonicorum in Jerusalem it received Papal sanction of the new Rule on November 27, 1929. The new Rule reconstituted it as a purely religious Order of priests and nuns headed by the Hoch und Deutschmeisteren, always a priest, who enjoy the style and precedence of an Abbot with the right to the pileolus violaceus (the violet skull cap). The Teutonic Order was formally revived back into a Chivalric Order of Knighthoood, thus making a seperate Teutonic Order from the present Clerical Papal Order in Rome, By His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Karl Friedrich of Germany, Duke of Swabia, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, on Christmas Day in the year of Our Lord Two Thousand and One, in His Imperial Highness', formal capacity as the de jure Emperor Charles VIII, being the Kaiser und Konig von Deutschland, by Imperial Decree. His Imperial Highness, formally raised the Teutonic Order, to the Style, Rank and Dignity of an Imperial Chivalric Ceremonial Order of the Holy Roman Empire of The German Nation, from the date of the Imperial Decree issued. His Imperial Highness, assumed The Grand Mastership of The Imperial Teutonic Order, on the 1st day of Janaury, 2002, thus becoming the 60th Chivalric Hochmeister and 1st Sovereign High Grand Master of the Imperial Order of The Teutonic Knights of Saint Marys Hospital in Jerusalem. His Imperial Highness, as the 60th Chivalric Hochmeister further decreed that on the 1st day of January, 2002, both the Hochmeistership and the Sovereign Grand Mastership, shall be part of the Dynastic Patrimony of The Imperial and Royal Electoral House of the Holy German Empire, and as such shall only be formally transmissible to the heirs of the aforementioned House. His Imperial Highness, formally claims pertains and perpetuates the full patrimony and extraterritoral Sovereignty of the Imperial Teutonic Order, for Himself and His Heirs and Successors of His Body and House in Universal perpetuity, and as such His Imperial Highness, has declared the Imperial Teutonic Order, to be henceforth a Ceremonial Dynastic Order of Knighthoood, held under the protectorate of His house and family. His Imperial Highness, as High Grand Master, formally confers the said Imperial Order as part of His personal gift. _______________ __________________________________________________ GRAND MASTERS OF THE TEUTONIC ORDER , 1198- __________________________________________________ (1) Heinrich I Walpot von Bassenheim 1198-1200. (2) Otto von Kerpen, 1200-1206. (3) Heinrich II von Tunna, 1206-1209. (4) Herman von Salz, 1209-1239. (5) Konrad I of Thuringia, 1239-1240. (6) Gerhard von Malberg, 1241-1244. (7) Heinrich III von Hohenlohe, 1244-1249. (8) Gunther von Schwarzenberg, 1249-1253. (9) Poppo von Osterna, 1253-1257. (10) Hanno von Sangershausen, 1257-1274. (11) Hartmann von Helbrungen, 1274-1283. (12) Burkhard von Scwanden, 1283-1290. (13) Konrad II von Feuchtwangen, 1290-1297. (14) Gottfried von Hohenlohe, 1297-1302. (15) Siegfried von Feuchtwangen, 1302-1310. (16) Karl Bessart, 1311-1324. (17) Werner von Orselen, 1324-1330. (18) Lothar of Brunswick, 1331-1335. (19) Dietrich von Altenburg, 1335-1341. (20) Ludolf Konig von Wattzau, 1342-1345. (21) Heinrich IV Dusener von Arfberg, 1345-1351. (22) Winrich von Kniprode 1351-1382. (23) Konrad III Zollner von Rothstein, 1382-1390. (24) Konrad IV von Wallenrode 1391-1393. (25) Konrad V von Juningen, 1393-1407. (26) Ulrich von Jungingen, 1407-1410. (27) Heinrich V von Reuss, 1410-1413. (28) Michael Kuchenmeister von Sternberg, 1414-1422. (29) Paul Belenzer von Ruszdorf, 1423-1440. (30) Konrad VI von Erlichshausen, 1441-1449. (31) Ludwig von Erlichshausen, 1450-1467. (32) Heinrich VI von Reuss, 1467-1470. (33) Heinrich VII Reffle von Richtenberg, 1470-1477. (34) Martin Truchsetz von Wetzhausen, 1477-1489. (35) Johann von Tieffen, 1489-1497. (36) Friedrich of Saxony, 1497-1510. (37) Albrecht of Brandenburg, 1510-1525. (38) Walter von Cronberg, 1527-1543. (39) Wolfgang Schutzbar, 1543-1566. (40) Georg Hundt von Weckheim, 1566-1572. (41) Heinrich VIII von Bobenhausen, 1572-1590. (42) Maximillian of Austria, 1590-1618. (43) Karl I of Austria, 1619-1624. (44) Johann Eustach von Westernach, 1625-1627. (45) Johann Kasper I von Stadion, 1627-1641. (46) Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, 1641-1662. (47) Karl Josef of Austria, 1662-1664. (48) Johann Kasper II von Ampringen, 1664-1684. (49) Ludwig Anton of Palatinate-Neuburg, 1685-1694. (50) Ludwig Franz of Palatinate-Neuburg, 1694-1732. (51) Clemens August of Bavaria, 1732-1761. (52) Charles Alexander of Lorraine, 1761-1780. (53) Maximillian Franz of Austria, 1780-1801. (54) Karl II of Austria, 1801-1804. (55) Anton Viktor of Austria, 1804-1835. (56) Maximillian of Austria-Este, 1835-1863. (57) Wilhelm Franz Karl of Austria, 1863-1894. (58) Eugen Ferdinand Pius Bernhard of Austria, 1894-1923. (59) Chivalric, Dr. Norbert Klein 1923-29,1st Clerical, 1929-1933.The Teutonic Order ceased to be a Chivalric Order of Knighthood in November 1929 when His Holiness Pope Pius XI, formally ratified the Orders new constitution making the Teutonic Order a Clerical Order, and as such Dr.Norbet Klein held the Chivalric Grand Mastership as the 59th Hochmeister from 1923-1929, from 1929-1933 the Orders 1st Clerical Grand Master. (60)Chivalric, HI&RH Prinz Karl Friedrich von Deutschland, Herzog von Swabia, Herzog von Saxe-Altenburg , de jure Charles VIII I.R. 2002- His Imperial and Royal Highness Prinz Karl Friedrich von Deutschland, Herzog von Swabia, Herzog von Saxe-Altenburg , de jure Charles VIII of Germany, formally revived the Order of the Teutonic Knights back into a Chivalric Order of Knighthood thus making a seperate Teutonic Order from the Clerical Papal Order in Rome, by Imperial Decree on Christmas Day, 2001, His Imperial Highness, furthermore raised the Teutonic Order to the Rank and Dignity of an Imperial Chivalric Ceremonial Order of Knighthood by Imperial Decree, and assumed The Grand Mastership of The Imperial Teutonic Order on the 1st of May, 2002, as The 60th Chivalric Hochmeister of The Teutonic Order. (60) 2nd Clerical, Paul Heider, 1933-1936. (61) 3rd Clerical, Robert Schalzky, 1936-1948. (62) 4th Clerical, Dr.Marian Tumler, 1948-1970. (63) 5th Clerical, Ildefons Pauler, 1970-1988. (64) 6th Clerical, Dr.Arnold Othmar Wieland, 1988-2000. (65) 7th Clerical, Bruno Platter, 2000- __________________ ______________________________ For Further Information The Correspondence Address for The Imperial Teutonic Order is The Private Office of His Imperial and Royal Highness Prinz Karl Friedrich von Deutschland, Hochmeister of The Teutonic Order, Royal Mail Post Office Box 276, Teddington, Middlesex, United Kingdom, TW11 0UL. 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