Scottish Rite Masonry Illustrated - The Masonic Trowel

196 COMMANDER 01 THE TEMPLE.
pense, a Hospital and Oratory for the sick of that nation,
tinder the protection of, and dedicated to the Holy
Virgin.
Their dress was a white mantle with a black cross,
and they, like th~ Elospitallers, were required to take
three solemn vows. Before assuming the habit, they
were required to swear that they were Germans of noble
eztraction and birth, and to bind themselves for a whole
life to serve the poor and sick and defend the holy
places. Ever to adhere to truth, to attend and nurse the
sick and wounded, and never to recede before the enemy
ivere their three solemn vows.
Truth is the first masonic duty, To leave the path of
duty is to recede before the enemy, and therefore you
have taken the three vows of the Teutonic Knights
5t and
Hospitallers in a still more noble and enlarged spirit.
The Teutonic Knights soon became one of the Most
Illustrious of the military and religious orders. The
three were the chief strength of the army befo~3 Acre,
but the siege advanced slowly where there were neither
absolute chiefs nor discipline.
On the 13th of July, 119~I, it surrendered. In the year
1226, most of the Teutpnic Knights went from the Holy
Land to Prussia, the people of which ivere still Idolaters,
waging war against their Christian neighbors, murdering
Note 810.—”Teutenic Knights. ‘The origin of this Order was an bum.
bie hut a pious one. During the crusades. a wealthy gentleman of Oer.
many, who resided at Jerusalem. commiserating the condition of his
countrymen who came there as pilgrims, made his house their receptacle.
and afterwards hulit a hospital, to which, by the permission of the
Patriarch of Jerusalem, he added an oratory dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
tither Germans comIng frum Lubeck and Bremen contributed to the eaten.
sion of his charity. and erected at Acre, during the third Crusade, a
sumptuous hospital and assumed the title of Teutonic Knights. or
Brethren of the Hospital of Our Lady of the Germans of Jerusalem
They elected Henry wsipott their first Master, and adopted for their
government a Rule closely approsimating to that both of the Teniplars
and the Itospitailers. with an additional one that none but Germens
should be admitted into the Order Their dress consisted of a white
mantle, with a hiack cross, embroidered in gold.’ —Mackeys Encyolo.
podia of Ireemasonzv, Article Teutonic Enight&
INITIATION. 197
Priests at the foot of the altar and employing the sacred
vessels for profane use.
Conrad, Duke of Masovia, called in the Teutonic
Knights to his assistance and gave them, as a commencement
for their establishment there, the whole Territory
of Culm, with all lands they should conquer from the
Infidels. De Daltza, the Grand Master, sent thither a
Knight called Conrad de Lansburg, who concluded the
treaty which was signed by three Bishops of that country.
The Knights then entered these northern countries
and by continued wars acquired in time the entire
sovereignty of Royal and Ducal Prussia, Livonia and
the Duchies of Cowrland and Semigal; all vast Provinces
and capable of forming a great kingdom. And when
in 1291, the Sultan stormed and took St. Jean D’Acre,
the Teutonic Knights’” that survived returned to Europe
and joined their brethren in Prussia and Livonia.
Times change and circumstances, but virtue and duty
remain the same. The evils to be warred against but
take another shape and are developed in a different form.
There is the same need now of truth and loyalty as in
the days of Frederic Barbarossa. The characters religious
and military, attention to the siek and wounded in
the Hospital and war against the Infidel in the field, are
no longer blended, but the same duties to be performed
in another shape, conti’nue to exist and to environ us all.
The innocent virgin is no longer at the merey of the
brutal Baron or lieentious man-at-arms, but purity and
Note Shl.—”Tcutonic Order. A religious order of Knights. rounded
in lit)fl. by Vrcderick Duke of Suahia. during a crusade in the Holy
Laud, at the time of the siegc of Acre, and intended to he confined to
Germans of noble rank, hence its name The rule of the order was
similar to that of the Tempiars The original object of the associstien
was to defend the Christian religion againat the infidels. and to take
care of the sick in the Holy Land As the Order was dedicated to the
virgin Mary the Knighta called themselves also Brethren of the German
Hov.e of Our Lady of Jerusalem The dress of the members was
block. utib a white cloak, upon uhich was worn a black cros, with a
sUrer edging The Ornod Maater lived first at Jerusalem. hut afterward.
wt.en the holy Land fell again under the power of the Turks, at venice.
and, from 1207. at Marhurg. The order was abolished by Napoleon.
April 24 ltiO’i The Teutonic ecosa forms a part of the decorations of the
27th degree of the Ancient iteotch Rite.’~—MaOc7’s Encyclopedia arni
Dictionary of Irasmasonry. Article Teutonic Order.