In the late 12th century a fraternity emerged in arur formed by German Merchants from Breman and Lubec which laid the groundwork for what would later become the tonic order after taking over a hospital after the city’s capture this group initiated their mission to care for the sick under
The moniker of the hospital of St Mary of the German house in Jerusalem receiving Pope Clement III’s blessing this order swiftly became influential leveraging control over arar’s Port TOs and eventually became more than just a hospital charity despite challenges the order persisted maintaining its historical motto help defend and heal and
Continuing its ch itable events across all of Central Europe hello everyone welcome to the channel if you’re new here it’s good to meet you and if you’re coming back it’s great to see you again and you already know who I am if you’d like to support
The channel head on over to the patreon where all the videos are ad free otherwise if you enjoy the content like subscribe and leave your thoughts in the comments down below now without further Ado on to today’s topic the tonic order also known as the tonic
Knights in the midst of the 12th century under Pope calliston the second’s directive the knights hospitalier took charge of a German Hospital in Jerusalem a sanctuary for the Myriad of German pilgrims and Crusaders unable to communicate in the local or Latin languages as recounted by chronicler John deess this establishment while operating
Under the hospitallers was decreed by the pope to be led by Germans planing the scenes for a German Le religious institution within the kingdom of Jerusalem itself following Jerusalem’s fall in 1187 Merchants from Lubec and Breman were inspired to establish a field Hospital during the siege of arur in
1190 laying the foundation for what would later be recognized by Pope kellison II third rather in 1192 as the nucleus of a new order emulating the Knights Templar this fledgling group evolved into a military order by 1198 with the head being designated as the Grand Master tasked with crusading to reclaim
And protect Jerusalem for Christianity this transformation marked the order shift from a hospice for pilgrims to a marshal organization under the guidance of Grand Master Herman Von salza from 1209 to 1239 the order had its established roots in ARA acquiring Mont Fort Castle in 1220 to safeguard the passage between Jerusalem and the
Mediterranean mon Fort became the grand Master’s headquarters in 1229 though they eventually retreated to arur after the castle fell to Muslim forces in 1271 their reach extended across the Holy Roman Empire including modern-day Germany and Italy as well as francoa and the kingdom of Jerusalem bolstered by many land donations the relationship with
Frederick thei the Holy Roman Emperor significantly elevated the status of grand Grandmaster Herman Von salza making him a prince of the Empire and allowing him to engage with other high-ranking Nobles as a peer Von salza played a notable role during Frederick’s coronation as king of Jerusalem in 1225 accompanying the emperor and
Publicly reading his proclamation in French and German despite these achievements and their esteemed status the two tonic Knights never quite matched the influence of their counterparts the Knights Templar and the Knights hospitaler at least in the Crusader States in 1211 the arrival of the tonic knights in Transylvania marked a pivotal moment as
King Andrew II of Hungary welc welcomed their assistance offering them the District of bonland with unprecedented privileges such as exemption from fees and the right to administer their own Justice this Arrangement stemmed from Andrew’s connections with the family of Herman Vons salza through marital negotiations involving his own daughter
And the thri and land GES son under the leadership of a knight named theodoric or perhaps deatric the order took on the manle of protecting hungary’s Southeastern Frontier from the cumans constructing numerous fors and introducing German settlers among the existing Transylvanian Saxon Community their aggressive expansion and fortification efforts including the
Construction of stone Castles by 1220 however ignited envy and suspicion among the Hungarian nobility and clergy who had been previously more or less indifferent to these lands the return of King Andrew from the fifth crusade to a kingdom simmering with discontent over the campaign’s cost and failures exacer tensions even
Further nobility pressure to retract the knight’s privileges had led Andrew to reassess the initial agreement although initially he stopped short of revoking their rights amidst the rising uncertainty about their future under Prince Baylor’s impending rule the knights sought to place themselves directly under Pap la Authority in
1224 a move that unfortunately for them backfired rather spectacularly when King Andrew found out about this he promptly expelled them from the country in 1225 while the ethnic German settlers brought by the order were allowed to stay becoming part of the Transylvanian Saxons Hungary was left vulnerable you see the expulsion of the
Knights who had provided a robust military defense left the region ill prepared against the subsequent Gman incursions once again threatening the peace and security of the Southeastern borders in 1226 amidst the crusading Z that swept through Western Europe Duke Conrad I of mobia from Northeastern Poland sought
The help of the tonic Knights to secure his borders against the Pagan Baltic old prussians he offered gilmo land as a base for their operations a proposal that Herman Von salza the grandm saw as an opportunity to hone his Knight’s skills for future battles in the Holy Land get
A little bit of practice in before the real game Begins the Golden Bull of reming issued by Emperor Frederick II granted the Order special Imperial rights over Prussia including that AFF forementioned gilmo land under the guise of Pap serenity in a significant expansion of their influence the knights absorbed the
Smaller order of doin in 1235 further cementing their presence in the region and somewhat bolstering their numbers the campaign to subjugate Prussia unfolded over 50 years marked by intense violence and resistance from native bruss who fiercely oppose their conquerors going as far to execute captured knights in very barbaric medieval
Rituals we’re talking public executions racks ripped apart by horses all manner of medieval imagination despite all of this brutality the conquest eventually left led to the formal submission of some Prussian Nobles who saw their privileges reaffirmed by the Treaty of christberg however the repeated Prussian uprisings between 1260 and
83 resulted in the displacement or resettlement of much of the Prussian nobility eroding the rights of free prussians and leading to a gradual ass assimilation of the remaining nobles with the German settlers this period also saw varying degrees of integration and resistance among the Prussian populace with Frontier regions experiencing more
Freedoms compared to the more settled areas the imposition of Christianity while officially aimed at integrating Prussian societ Society into Western Christendom was met with mixed responses the local Bishops resisted the incorporation of pagan practices into the new Faith whereas the tonic rulers found it easier to manage a populace
That had the opportunity to retain some of its pagan Traditions albeit in a form that the Christians found a little more palatable look at Christmas for example think of things like that after Decades of warfare the legacy of the tonic Knights conquest of Prussia was largely stripped of its native
Population either through death or deportation fundamentally altering the Region’s demographic and cultural landscape forever in the wake of their military campaigns in Prussia the tonic order governed the region as a monastic State enjoying a status akin to that of the knights hospitala in RADS and Malta under the Dual orices of papal and
Holy Roman Imperial Charters this era saw Prussia become a Bastion of the order as it sought to recover from the demographic devastations of plague and warfare that had decimated the native Prussian population to replenish their numbers and bolster the regions’s development the order actively promoted immigration from across the Holy Roman
Empire drawing Germans Flemish and Dutch settlers as well as from masovia bringing in Poles who would later be known as murans this influx of settlers encompassed a broad social Spectrum including Nobles burgers and peasants F facilitating a gradual assimilation of germanization of the surviving old prussians so the landscape of Prussia was
Dramatically transformed by the order’s architectural Endeavors as well with the construction of numerous castles serving as military bastions to quill native uprisings and support the ongoing confrontations with neighboring Realms like the grand duche of Lithuania and the kingdom of Poland these confrontations were a Hallmark of the 14th and 15th
Centuries punctuating the order’s tenure in the region with a series of military engagements furthermore the establishment of major towns and cities on the ruins of former Prussian settlements marked the landscape with symbols of the order’s dominion and the new Christian order that they imposed among these new Urban centers were turun kelmo allitsen
Elblag and kipa and notably the more recognizable konigsburg which was established in 1255 to honor King oer II of bohemia symbolizing the profound transformation and christianization of the Prussian lands under the tonic orders rule following the catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Saul the levonian brothers of the sword found themselves incorporated
Into the tonic knights in 1237 henceforth known as the levonian order this marked the beginning of a series of ambitious yet ultimately challenging campaigns to extend their Dominion the knight’s aspiration towards Russ met a setback in 1242 at the Battle of the ice where they were defeated by Prince Alexander nevski of
Novarad the ensuing years saw the order’s efforts refocused on the conquest of the coronian and the semigallians though this was not not without its own difficulties in 1260 the Battle of dur saw the knights suffer a defeat at the hands of the samogitians igniting widespread uprisings across Prussia and
Lionia it was not until the siege of konigsburg from 1262 to 1265 that the tide finally began to turn culminating in the subjugation of the coronian in 1267 and the sealians in 1290 moreover a significant Estonian rebellion was quelled between 1343 and 1345 and in 1346 the duchy of Estonia was acquired
From Denmark further expanding the ‘s territory you see by now the order was getting quite powerful more land means more power and as with the church the nightly orders the Nobles it always comes down to land the fall of arur in 1291 and subsequent expulsion from hung
Hungary left the tonic Knights In Search of a new Focus for their crusading Zeal and eventually they found one a little more close by in fact a Stones throw away they found a target for their cause in the pagan people of Lithuania the Region’s resistance to christianization at least compared to
The rest of Eastern Europe presented a protracted challenge initially relocating their headquarters to Venice with ambitions to reclaim ala the order soon shifted Focus to marienburg better positioning themselves for the conflict with Prussia the the prolonged Pagan stance of Lithuania attracted knights from across Western Europe to join the seasonal
Campaigns leading to notable victories such as the Battle of straver in 1348 and the Battle of rudal in 1370 the Warfare between the order and Lithuania was once again marked by extraordinary brutality as was the style in the 14th century with recorded instances of torture and ritualistic killings on both
Sides the conflict deeply influenced the political landscape fostering enduring rivalries and impacting the cultural psyche of the region it was never really the same after these wars this protracted struggle actually spaned the breadth of over 200 years with the front line stretching along the nemon river dotted with numerous Forts and
Castles encapsulating the enduring and bloody Saga of the duonic knights campaigns in the Baltic at the dawn of the 14th century the duonic knights found themselves embroiled in a conflict over pomelia succession a territory embattled by claims from the marges of Brandenburg and Duke vladislav I the Elbo high of
Poland each bolstered by diverging historical ties and local support of nobility the death of King wus of Poland in 1306 intensified these disputes leading Brandenburg to seize much of pomelia leaving only gans’s Citadel unoccupied unable to defend Gdansk vladislav sought the aid of the tonic Knights led by grandm sreed Von fuk
Vangen my goodness those German names please excuse my polish and the German pronunciations it’s not what this channel is best at in a significant turn of events the knights under Prussian landm Henrik Von plot expelled the brandenburgers from Gdansk on September 13 8 but then controversially retained control over the
City reports of a massacre vary widely with figures ranging from 60 to as many as 10,000 victims reflecting the contentious and unresolved nature of the event the subsequent Treaty of sold in in 30 1909 saw the knights secure claims to Gdansk and other strategic locals from Brandenburg solidifying their dominion
And facilitating a crucial land bridge between their monastic State and the Holy Roman Empire while concurrently serving Poland’s Baltic access this acquisition of Gdansk not only intensified the enmity but between the knights and Poland but it also signified a pivotal moment in the order’s history amid the persecution of the
Knight’s Templar which was really reaching a Zenith at this point the tonic Knights shifted their headquarters from Venice to marienburg in 1309 they did this to attempt to safeguard their autonomy now despite the growing Pap scrutiny the order maintained its position and continued its campaigns against the pagans in
Lithuania now facing a vengeful Poland and ongoing legal scrutiny the Treaty of Kitz in 1343 eventually managed to temper the conflict with the seeding territories to Poland but retaining pomelia and Gdansk thus preventing their strategic gains this period also saw participation from the knights in the Battle of legnar in
1241 alongside a contingent from the English Knights of St Thomas marking their involvement in the Mongol invasions of Poland despite the disastrous outcome for the combined polish German forces against the Mongols Superior Tactics granted many of these were tactics that the Mongols had been using in the East and the Europeans had never
Really seen anything like it before very difficult to deal with very difficult to plan for a Mongol attack but that’s for the Mongol video I’ll do that one soon in the mid1 14th century the tonic Knights were granted an ambitious mandate by Emperor Louis IV which purportedly included the right to
Conquer all of Lithuania and Russia signifying a dramatic expansion of their crusading Frontier under the leadership of the new Grandmaster vinrich Von nipro 1351 to 82 the order ascended to the Zenith of its power and of course the Zenith of its influence becoming a beacon for European Crusaders and nobility seeking glory and
Spiritual redemption in the northern Crusades the Strategic island of gotland played by partical exploits of the victual brothers was seeded to the tonic Knights by King Albert of Sweden this move intended to eradicate the Pirates threat saw Grandmaster Conrad Von junen successfully reclaimed godland in 1398 securing the Baltic Sea for
Merchant traffic and further extending the order’s influence however the politics of the time shifted dramatically in 1386 with the baptism and subsequent marriage of grand duuk joelia of Lithuania to Queen Jad weager of Poland transforming him into King vladislav II jagello of B and establishing a personal Union that
Presented a formidable challenge to the duonic knights initial attempts by the order to exploit divisions between vladislav and his cousin vitalus ultimately backfired leading to a consolidation of opposition against them doa’s conversion marked the beginning of lithuania’s official Christian ization undermining the crusading pretext under which the tonic Knights had Justified their expansionist
Policies despite the nominal Christian status of both Prussia and Lithuania hostilities with Poland and Lithuania persisted fueled by territorial Ambitions and deep seated rivalries old memories certainly Die Hard the creation of the lizard Union in 1397 by Prussian Nobles in kelmo land underscored the growing internal descent against the ord’s governance by
1407 the tonic order had reached the Pinnacle of its territorial expansion commanding a vast Dominion that included Prussia pomelia sagota gotland osel the new Mark and more further Consolidated by the porn of new mark from Brandenburg in 1402 this extensive realm underscored the order’s significant albeit contested role in the medieval geopolitical
Theater of Northern Europe the pivotal moment for the tonic Knights came in 1410 with the Battle of grunvald where a unified polish Lithuanian Force Under vladislav II yagello and vus delivered a crushing defeat to the order this battle saw the fall of Grandmaster ulri Von jungingen along with the majority of the
Order’s top officials challeng ing the myth of their invincibility although the subsequent Siege of marenberg by the Victorious allies failed largely due to the Strategic Defense led by Hinrich Von plauen the first piece of thorn in 1411 allowed the order to maintain its territorial Holdings nonetheless the image of the order as a
Formidable force a undefeatable band of Warriors well that was significantly tarnished at this point and once you’ve lost your reputation it’s very hard to get it back in the aftermath the duonic order fac declining influence along with internal Discord exacerbated by the financial strain of a hefty Indemnity imposed by Poland and
Lithuania leading to discontent among the cities over lack of representation Henrich Bon flow’s attempts at authoritarian reforms eventually led to his outing with Michael cook Meister Von Sternberg stepping in as the new grandmas yet he too struggled to reverse the order’s fortunes the golb war so the order seed
Small border areas and relinquish claims to samogitia in the Treaty of Melo of 1422 this further at ate away and diminished their power seems that it was all bad news at this this point for the tonic Knights now the order’s internal strife was mirrored by the broader situation and broader conflicts of the
Era including feuds among knightes from different regions and the destructive raids of the hites during The Hite Wars despite attempts to Rebel these invasions the Knights were bested by the Bohemian infantry highlighting their waning military capability further setbacks were encountered in the Polish tonic war from 1431 to
1435 marking a period of sustained decline for the once Mighty military order as they grappled with both external pressures and internal fractures the formation of the Polish Confederation in 1440 by the Gentry and the burgers within the state of the tonic order marked the beginning of significant political upheaval by
1454 the dissatisfaction with the ord’s rule had grown to such an extent that the Confederation began an open Rebellion seeking annexation by the Polish Crown King Casmir IV jaelon of Poland welcomed this appeal formerly incorporating the region and setting the stage for the 13 years war between the order and
Poland this conflict saw Prussia ravaged and led to significant Territorial and political losses for the order in an effort to fund their War efforts the order returned Newark to Brandenburg in 1455 and subsequently lost control of marienburg Castle prompting a relocation of their headquarters to kingburg the second piece of thorn in
1466 decisively ended the war with the order seeding significant territories to Poland and agreeing to become a Polish F fundamentally altering its position in the region from this point forward Grand Masters were required to pledge allegiance to the Polish King diminishing the order sity effectively at this point they’d become agent
Of the Polish monarchy the decline of the tonic ord’s power in Prussia culminated in 1525 with Grandmaster Albert of brandenburg’s conversion to Lutheranism secularization of the order’s Prussian Holdings and ultimately the acceptance of the duche of Prussia as a personal vassel of the Polish Crown through Russian homage this event right here effectively
Ended the order’s rule over Prussian lands though it had retained some territories within the Holy Roman Empire and lonia but these were very small territories and they weren’t going to hold them for very long the subsequent German Peasants War and the leonian war further eroded the order’s Holdings with the leonian branch seeing
Partition and secularization post 1525 the order refocused on its possessions in the Holy Roman Empire establishing a complex administrative structure centered in bad meran time despite these changes the order’s loss of Prussia remained a significant reduction in its power and territorial control shifting its role from a sovereign military
Entity to a more fragmented and largely ceremonial organization within the shifting landscape of early modern Europe Europe after Albert of brandenburg’s departure from the tonic order to establish himself as the Duke of Prussia Walter Von cronberg took up the mantle as de Meister in 1527 ascending to Grandmas by
1530 his leadership marked a significant transition period for the order notably recognized by Emperor Charles I who Amalgamated the roles of De meister and grandm into the title of hwk un de Meister in 1531 elevating the position to the status of Prince of the Empire this reorganization ushered in a new chapter
For the order with its Grand majestry relocated to mundim in verberg an area that suffered quite a lot during the earlier German Peasants War the order’s commitment to the Imperial cause particularly its support for Charles I Against The shamak calic League underscored its enduring martial Spirit old habits were hard to
Shake the Peace of arburg in 1555 marked a significant shift allowing for Protestant membership while maintaining a predominantly Catholic composition leading to a tried denominational structure encompassing Catholic Lutheran and reformed factions this period also saw Grandmasters from notable German families and after 1761 the house of hadburg Lorraine managing the order’s extensive Holdings
And leveraging its military expertise in service to the Habsburg monarchy against the Ottoman Empire the ORD stored military tradition faced its dment in 1805 with the piece of pressberg article 12 which transitioned the German territories of the knights into a hereditary domain under the prospective governance of the hadburg
Prince however the provisions of presber went unfulfilled by the Treaty of shron Brun in 1809 leading Napoleon bonapart to order the disillusion of the knights’s remaining territories Distributing them among his German allies by 1810 and this marked the definitive end of the tonic Knights territorial sovereignity transitioning the order
From a formidable military and Astic power into a chapter of European history shaped by centuries of crusade conflict and change and with that we reach the end of our video for this evening I’d like to thank my mega Chad deer Patron Stark Factory for his generous contribution to the
Channel contributing to the patreon keeps me going so I can keep up this pace it’s quite motivating you know also I’d like to thank all of my viewers for joining me and watching especially if you got this far your patience is a virtue well if you’ve enjoyed the
Content like comment subscribe you know what to do and I will see you in the next video good night everyone take care of yourselves e for for for for for for for for for for
source
