Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations and Tables
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations and Editorial Note
- Introduction
- 1 The Foundation of the Order, 1190–1215
- 2 The Fifth Crusade and the Development of the Teutonic Knights, 1216–1223
- 3 The Preparations for the Expedition of Frederick II
- 4 From the Crusade of Emperor Frederick II to the Death of Herman von Salza, 1227–1239
- 5 Conrad von Thüringen, the Barons' Crusade and a Change of Policy
- 6 Dependence and Independence
- 7 The Division of Resources between the Holy Land and the Baltic
- 8 The Politics of the Levant
- 9 The Military Organisation of the Teutonic Knights in the Holy Land
- 10 Control, Co-ordination and Supply
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - The Foundation of the Order, 1190–1215
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 September 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations and Tables
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations and Editorial Note
- Introduction
- 1 The Foundation of the Order, 1190–1215
- 2 The Fifth Crusade and the Development of the Teutonic Knights, 1216–1223
- 3 The Preparations for the Expedition of Frederick II
- 4 From the Crusade of Emperor Frederick II to the Death of Herman von Salza, 1227–1239
- 5 Conrad von Thüringen, the Barons' Crusade and a Change of Policy
- 6 Dependence and Independence
- 7 The Division of Resources between the Holy Land and the Baltic
- 8 The Politics of the Levant
- 9 The Military Organisation of the Teutonic Knights in the Holy Land
- 10 Control, Co-ordination and Supply
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In 1187, the forces of the kingdom of Jerusalem suffered a crushing defeat on the slopes of an Iron Age fort called the Horns of Hattin, above Lake Tiberias. with the destruction of the Christian field army, the path was open for the Muslim forces under Saladin to seize control of Jerusalem and the other cities of the kingdom. within months, only the city of Tyre remained in Christian hands.
In the West, the arrival of this news provoked outrage and disbelief. Pope Urban III is said to have died from the shock. Nine days later his successor, Pope Gregory VIII, proclaimed a new crusade with a single objective: the reconquest of Jerusalem. The response to this appeal was vast. Major armies were raised in Germany, the Angevin Empire and Capetian France. Several further contingents departed from other provinces such as Sicily and Hungary and travelled independently. Among these great expeditions was a smaller naval force that had been raised from the cities of Bremen and Lübeck. The intentions of this contingent are outlined in the chronicle Narratio Itineris Navalis ad Terram Sanctam:
In the year of our Lord 1187 when the Promised Land had been laid waste by Saladin, king of Egypt, when the cities had been captured, when their inhabitants had been imprisoned or killed, a trumpet call, [which] spread widely over the boundaries of the Christians with the indulgence of apostolic authority, moved countless people to the recovery of the lamentable disaster.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Teutonic Knights in the Holy Land, 1190–1291 , pp. 9 - 30Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2009