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to the defense of Acre. The surrounding lands were the richest in northern Galilee,
and the Order added to them in l234 and 1249, but the castle was too far away for
the garrison to assist significantly in protecting the farmers from raiders. Crusaders
assisted in enlarging the fortifications in 1227, and Friedrich II contributed money
in 1228. A second castle was built three miles to the south, again perched on a
rocky ridge. The architecture of both structures was thoroughly German, with little
influence from the neighboring castles: a massive keep dominated, with towers
connected by a strong curtain wall.
Although Montfort was lost in 1271, the Teutonic Knights kept a considerable force
in Acre until 1291, when that place was lost, too. The Grandmaster withdrew to
Venice, where he could continue to direct the crusade against the Moslems. Only in
l309 did he move to Prussia and abandon the war in the East.
One of the enduring controversies inside the Teutonic Order was whether resources
should be concentrated on defending the Holy Land or used in the Baltic or
nourished to provide services in the Holy Roman Empire. The knights in the Holy
Land jealously guarded their preeminence, denouncing Grandmasters who spent
too much time "abroad" (outside the Holy Land) or who wavered from loyalty to
the Hohenstaufen cause; soon enough the German Master, Prussian Master, and
Livonian Master were eloquently championing the interests of their knights, too.
One Grandmaster after the other endured criticism and frustration in attempting to
reconcile the demands of regional power blocks and avoid the scandal of schism.
This office was not one to be held by the thin-skinned or impatient.
Only slowly, therefore, did the Teutonic Knights shift their attention and resources
away from the Holy Land to the new crusades in the Baltic. Jerusalem long
remained their primary commitment, both in interest and in money, and only the
loss of Acre caused them to reluctantly give up hope of regaining the holy city. The
religious order had goals that were more important than either lands or power, but
one cannot separate motives easily or neatly. Religious idealism, superstition,
ambition, and duties combined in a complex way so that only little did the knights
see that their religious duties were best performed against the pagans of
northeastern Europe
Decline and fall of the knights.
The Teutonic Order's rule in Prussia came to an end in 1525, when the grand
master Albert, under Protestant influence, dissolved the order there and accepted
its territory as a secular duchy for himself under Polish suzerainty. In 1526 a new
grand master, Walter of Cronenberg (Kronenberg), fixed his residence at
Mergentheim in Franconia (Württemberg). After the loss of Prussia the order still
retained in Europe several territories. But in 1558 the Livonian territory was lost,
partitioned between Russia, Sweden, and Poland-Lithuania. In 1580 the secession
The Hohenstaufen Dynasty - Page 105 of 200