Die Brüder des Deutschen Ordens in Italien

Abstract

The history of the Teutonic Knights in Italy is an area of research that during the last two decades has brought new insights and offered new approaches to the study of the Teutonic order as well as other military orders. One of the most interesting aspects of this subject is represented by the existing prosopographical sources about the Teutonic brethren in Italy. The article presents initial results of a wider research on this topic, examining the names of 580 Teutonic knights and priests in Italy from 1202 to 1534. The first part provides some short and general statistical information about questions like the number of brethren, their categories, careers and origins. The second part presents more detailed studies concerning the period from 1365 to 1534, when Italian provinces of the Teutonic Order ( Lombardia , Apulia and Sicilia ) were no longer ruled by the Grand Master himself but by the Master of Germany ( Deutschmeister ). The analysis focuses on the geographical and social origins of Italian brethren and their evolution from the 13th century onwards as well as on the career models and options of the Order’s brethren and the relations between Teutonic houses in southern and central Germany and the Italian commanderies. The results confirm the existence of a network of contacts between the members of the Order in German and Italy. The network was based on a range of social groups, particularly smaller knightly families of Franconia and Hessen as well as citizens of Frankfurt am Main and Nuremberg.