The Teutonic Knights: Rise and Fall of a Religious Corporation

A gripping account of the rise and fall of the last great medieval military order.
 
This book provides a concise and incisive introduction to the knights of the Teutonic Order, the last of the great military orders established in the twelfth century. The book traces the Order’s evolution from a crusader field hospital into a major territorial ruler in northeastern Europe. Notably, the knights constructed distinctive fortified convents, including their headquarters in Western Christendom’s largest castle. The narrative concludes with the Order’s fifteenth-century decline due to the combined effects of a devastating war with Poland-Lithuania and the Protestant Reformation. The result is an accessible overview of this pivotal corporation in European history.

Aleksander Pluskowski is professor of medieval archaeology at the University of Reading. His publications include The Archaeology of the Prussian Crusade: Holy War and Colonisation.