MONMOUTH,
Ill. – More than 30 years of research has culminated in the 17th book
written by Monmouth College professor William Urban.
His latest product, the result of two years’ work,
is “The Teutonic Knights: A Military History,” which chronicles the
founding of the Teutonic Knights, a religious-military order that thrived
between the 12th and 15th centuries in the Holy Roman Empire, Prussia and
Livonia. Urban, the Lee L. Morgan Professor of History and International
Studies at MC, chronicled the wars against Islam in the Holy Land, pagans
in Livonia and Lithuania, and Orthodox Russians up to the time of Ivan the
Terrible.
The Teutonic Order was founded during the Third
Crusade as a hospital order to care for German crusaders who had been
ignored by the French and English. German anger at this contributed to the
duke of Austria taking Richard the Lionheart for ransom, an event known to
everyone through stories of Robin Hood.
Later knights working in the hospitals proved
unskilled at routine duties; moreover, their skills were needed in battle.
A petition was sent to the pope, who made the Teutonic Order into a
religious-military organization similar to the Templars and Hospitallers.
It didn’t take long for the Teutonic Knights to see the battlefield.
“One of the greatest confrontations of large
armies in the Middle Ages was at the battle of Tannenberg in 1410,” said
Urban. “It later became a symbol of national feelings in both Poland and
Germany.
The modern order, headquartered in Vienna, is
still active in Central Europe and provides preaching and hospital care.
Urban explained the rising interest in the
crusades reflecting upon the politics of today. In the West, he said, the
term “crusade” has lost its original meaning, so that no one today can
imagine a Christendom warring for the protection of pilgrimage routes and
access to the holy places. Rather, today we use the word “crusade” either
in a completely secular sense or as a renewal of religious commitment.
“In Islamic countries, the situation is very
different,” said Urban. “Jihad also has several meanings, but its
significance as a call for armed struggle for the faith remains important.
Moslems often see Israel as today’s equivalent of the crusader states and
America as a cultural and religious threat. Osama bin Laden very recently
called the American army ‘crusaders’ and called on all believers to fight
for Islam.
“This emphasis on armed struggle need not last
forever,” continued Urban. “Germans and Poles have managed to overcome
their past differences to create a more balanced view of their common
past. This has had a very positive effect on their political and economic
relationships. There is no reason to believe that the same cannot be
achieved in the Middle East.
“Medieval organizations such as the Teutonic
Knights should be understood and judged by standards appropriate to their
time, not made to stand for the deeds and misdeeds of modern politicians.”
“The Teutonic Knights: A Military History” was
published in London by Greenhill Press.
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