Ad Subsidium Terrae Sanctae: Military Religious Orders and the Cismarine Expansion of the Borders of Christianitas

Abstract

Abstract This article aims to discuss the presence of the military religious orders at the frontiers of Christianitas during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a period when the hierocratic auctoritas ecclesiae materialized itself through vigorous expansionism. The military religious orders acted in consensus with the Holy See and at the request of the political European entities (also subjected to the authority of the Pope) in regions where they could not withstand the threats which endangered parts of their kingdoms or possessions. Ultimately this article integrates the presence of the Teutonic Knights in Transylvania during the first half of the thirteenth century in this broad mission of expansionism and highlights how the Roman Pontiş established relationships with the kingdoms positioned at the edge of Christianitas.