The Teutonic Knights
Rise and Fall of a Religious Corporation
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Reaktion Books
Published:13th May '24
Should be back in stock very soon
This book offers a detailed overview of the Teutonic Knights, tracing their evolution from a crusading order to a significant political power in northeastern Europe, highlighting their achievements and eventual decline.
The Teutonic Knights offers a thorough exploration of the Teutonic Order, a significant military and religious institution that emerged in the twelfth century. Initially established as a field hospital during the Third Crusade, the Order evolved into a formidable power in northeastern Europe. The author, Aleksander Pluskowski, provides a detailed account of the Knights' transformation from crusaders to influential rulers, highlighting their lasting impact on European history.
Throughout the book, Pluskowski examines the three centuries of theocratic governance by the Teutonic Knights, detailing both their achievements and shortcomings. The narrative underscores the Order's remarkable accomplishments, such as the construction of impressive fortified convents, including the largest castle in Western Christendom, which served as their headquarters. This architectural legacy reflects the Knights' ambitions and their role in shaping the region's landscape.
However, the book also addresses the decline of the Teutonic Knights in the fifteenth century, which was marked by a catastrophic conflict with Poland-Lithuania and the subsequent secularization of their Prussian and Livonian branches during the Reformation. Pluskowski's analysis provides readers with a balanced perspective on the Order's history, illustrating how their influence waned over time. The Teutonic Knights is a compelling study that sheds light on a pivotal force in European history, making it an essential read for those interested in the complexities of medieval power dynamics.
Pluskowski’s The Teutonic Knights is a concise, soberly written and authoritative survey of the military order that fought in both the Holy Land and Europe’s eastern borderlands, becoming in the process one of the continent’s most powerful religious institutions . . . Pluskowski is especially good at describing the scores of castles that the Teutonic Knights built across north-eastern Europe. -- Tony Barber * Financial Times *
This book provides a narrative account of the Teutonic Knights, a religious order created in 1190 for hospital work during the Crusades . . . The theocratic rule of the Teutonic Knights ended after 325 years, but they remain a significant factor in late medieval European history. Recommended. * Choice *
Aleksander Pluskowski has pulled off a remarkable feat. Combining up-to-date international scholarship, detailed narrative and shrewd assessment of complex evidence with close analysis of the full range of economic, political, environmental, ideological, artistic and architectural contexts, his succinct account of the Teutonic Order provides a comprehensive new standard reference. * Christopher Tyerman, Professor Emeritus of the History of the Crusades, University of Oxford, and Emeritus Fellow, Hertford College *
Fluent, fresh and confident, this clever blend of history and archaeology brings the story of the Teutonic Knights sharply into focus. Pluskowski incisively steers us through the emergence, expansion and decline of this mighty organization, enabling us to appreciate its profound influence on the faith, politics and landscape of northeastern Europe. * Jonathan Phillips, Professor of the History of the Crusades, Royal Holloway, University of London *
Aleksander Pluskowski has provided a concise, well-researched and highly readable account of the vicissitudes of the Teutonic Knights, from their establishment as a hospitaller military order in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade, through its meteoric rise as a major political and military power in Prussia and Livonia, to its transformation and decline during the Reformation and eventual conversion into a religious, charitable organisation under the Holy Roman Empire. This book is a welcome addition to the limited English-language library on the Teutonic Order. * Adrian J. Boas, Professor Emeritus of Medieval Archaeology, University of Haifa, Israel *
ISBN: 9781789148688
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
216 pages