1 00:00:00,027 --> 00:00:02,100 (tense music) 2 00:00:02,100 --> 00:00:05,340 - [Narrator] A land of mists and of mystery, 3 00:00:05,340 --> 00:00:07,323 where the cross had yet to reach. 4 00:00:08,730 --> 00:00:12,270 Beyond the pagan frontier of medieval Europe, 5 00:00:12,270 --> 00:00:14,883 where the old gods confronted the new, 6 00:00:16,290 --> 00:00:20,193 Christian Crusades, yet far from the deserts of Palestine. 7 00:00:21,420 --> 00:00:24,960 A wilderness of forests, ice, and snow. 8 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:26,940 The Northern Crusades. 9 00:00:26,940 --> 00:00:30,540 - The Crusades didn't only go east to the Holy Land, 10 00:00:30,540 --> 00:00:32,613 they went northeast to the Baltic. 11 00:00:33,750 --> 00:00:36,690 - [Narrator] Lost castles, last stands, 12 00:00:36,690 --> 00:00:39,630 no quarter asked, nor given. 13 00:00:39,630 --> 00:00:43,020 - It's a war with no holds barred. 14 00:00:43,020 --> 00:00:45,570 - [Narrator] A war nearly two centuries long 15 00:00:45,570 --> 00:00:48,990 fought by one of the most powerful military orders. 16 00:00:48,990 --> 00:00:53,073 - One of the most important religious military orders. 17 00:00:54,450 --> 00:00:57,960 - [Narrator] A savage war and an inhuman trade. 18 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:01,290 - These people had been slaves of the devil. 19 00:01:01,290 --> 00:01:04,055 They are now the slaves of God. 20 00:01:04,055 --> 00:01:05,060 (tense music continues) 21 00:01:05,060 --> 00:01:07,590 - [Narrator] For God and for the empire, 22 00:01:07,590 --> 00:01:10,140 they bore the cross of Christ. 23 00:01:10,140 --> 00:01:12,840 The Brothers of the German Hospital of Saint Mary 24 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:17,394 who became the Order of the Teutonic Knights. 25 00:01:17,394 --> 00:01:22,394 (dramatic music) (fire crackling) 26 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:28,110 The Black Cross of the Teutonic Knights is one of the icons 27 00:01:28,110 --> 00:01:30,693 of the Christian Crusaders in the medieval period. 28 00:01:31,950 --> 00:01:34,259 They were one of the major military orders 29 00:01:34,259 --> 00:01:36,573 in the latter years of the Crusader era. 30 00:01:37,500 --> 00:01:39,509 They came into being almost a century 31 00:01:39,509 --> 00:01:42,750 after the taking of Jerusalem in the First Crusade 32 00:01:42,750 --> 00:01:45,870 when the first of the new military orders were formed, 33 00:01:45,870 --> 00:01:48,157 the Templars and the Hospitallers. 34 00:01:53,211 --> 00:01:55,200 - The Teutonic Order is quite different 35 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:57,990 from either the Templars or the Hospitallers. 36 00:01:57,990 --> 00:02:01,140 They did combine the Hospitaller and military functions 37 00:02:01,140 --> 00:02:03,390 from an early time in their history. 38 00:02:03,390 --> 00:02:05,220 - [Narrator] The Templars and Hospitallers recruited 39 00:02:05,220 --> 00:02:08,370 from numerous nations across medieval Europe, 40 00:02:08,370 --> 00:02:11,310 mostly in France, Italy, and England. 41 00:02:11,310 --> 00:02:13,443 But the Teutonic Order was different. 42 00:02:14,310 --> 00:02:19,310 - The Brothers of the German Hospital of Saint Mary. 43 00:02:19,530 --> 00:02:22,530 The Teutonic Knights are the only order 44 00:02:22,530 --> 00:02:26,970 that are known as a Teutonic Order, as a German order. 45 00:02:26,970 --> 00:02:29,260 The others are known as French orders or whatever. 46 00:02:29,260 --> 00:02:30,930 (dramatic music) 47 00:02:30,930 --> 00:02:32,760 - [Narrator] The German order rose 48 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:34,980 to eventually become one of the most powerful 49 00:02:34,980 --> 00:02:36,033 of the Middle Ages. 50 00:02:37,170 --> 00:02:40,053 They grew into far more than just a military order. 51 00:02:41,010 --> 00:02:44,635 They became virtually an independent autonomous state. 52 00:02:44,635 --> 00:02:46,470 (dramatic music continues) (weapons clanging) 53 00:02:46,470 --> 00:02:49,170 Their zenith was in the 15th century, 54 00:02:49,170 --> 00:02:51,420 by which time the whole of Europe had changed 55 00:02:51,420 --> 00:02:54,963 so much since the days of the original Kingdom of Jerusalem. 56 00:02:55,980 --> 00:02:59,040 The written word, trade, and gunpowder 57 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,430 had brought new ideas, emergent nations, 58 00:03:02,430 --> 00:03:03,513 and new alliances. 59 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:09,030 Inevitably, today the word Teutonic evokes images 60 00:03:09,030 --> 00:03:11,700 of the worst of the 20th century. 61 00:03:11,700 --> 00:03:14,670 The imagery and romanticized legends of the order 62 00:03:14,670 --> 00:03:17,970 were appropriated by the Nazis to enhance the myth 63 00:03:17,970 --> 00:03:19,293 of their Aryan heritage. 64 00:03:21,150 --> 00:03:25,290 - It would be wrong to put into this period 65 00:03:25,290 --> 00:03:29,640 some of the racist attitudes that developed later, 66 00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:31,710 and which are sadly still around. 67 00:03:31,710 --> 00:03:33,150 It was not like that. 68 00:03:33,150 --> 00:03:35,460 On the other hand, the German knights, 69 00:03:35,460 --> 00:03:37,140 and they were mostly Germans, 70 00:03:37,140 --> 00:03:39,780 did see themselves as superior, 71 00:03:39,780 --> 00:03:42,420 but this was on the basis of culture 72 00:03:42,420 --> 00:03:43,707 and religion and so on. 73 00:03:43,707 --> 00:03:44,700 (machinery whirring) 74 00:03:44,700 --> 00:03:46,620 - [Narrator] During the Second World War, 75 00:03:46,620 --> 00:03:50,100 places associated with this mythical Aryan past 76 00:03:50,100 --> 00:03:52,140 became targets for the enemies 77 00:03:52,140 --> 00:03:55,590 and eventual overthrowers of the Third Reich. 78 00:03:55,590 --> 00:03:57,630 And so much of what remained 79 00:03:57,630 --> 00:04:00,393 of the original Teutonic Order was lost. 80 00:04:01,290 --> 00:04:03,810 It's the job of professional historians 81 00:04:03,810 --> 00:04:07,980 to see back beyond the associations of the 20th century, 82 00:04:07,980 --> 00:04:10,830 to find what factual evidence remains 83 00:04:10,830 --> 00:04:13,740 and build up an unbiased picture of this period 84 00:04:13,740 --> 00:04:15,690 in European history, 85 00:04:15,690 --> 00:04:18,903 especially in the order's historical heartland. 86 00:04:19,769 --> 00:04:24,770 - Teutonic Order created a very modern 87 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:30,440 and rich structure here in Prussia, in the Baltic region, 88 00:04:30,540 --> 00:04:33,690 as a eternal enemy of the Polish state, 89 00:04:33,690 --> 00:04:36,600 of the Polish kingdom in the Middle Ages. 90 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,810 And this history was so fascinating, 91 00:04:39,810 --> 00:04:44,100 the wars, the battles, diplomacy, politics. 92 00:04:44,100 --> 00:04:49,100 So when I decided what to do in my life, 93 00:04:52,590 --> 00:04:55,020 it was simple for me. 94 00:04:55,020 --> 00:04:57,870 To be a historian of the Teutonic Order, 95 00:04:57,870 --> 00:04:59,700 to know its history 96 00:04:59,700 --> 00:05:04,700 and to explain why so small group of knights 97 00:05:05,910 --> 00:05:10,910 built so powerful state in medieval Europe. 98 00:05:11,772 --> 00:05:13,980 (tense music) 99 00:05:13,980 --> 00:05:17,670 - [Narrator] It's a vast and complex area of study. 100 00:05:17,670 --> 00:05:21,540 But historians now are bringing dedicated research 101 00:05:21,540 --> 00:05:26,190 to shed new light on the real story of the Teutonic Knight. 102 00:05:26,190 --> 00:05:29,700 The order's origins lay in the Third Crusade. 103 00:05:29,700 --> 00:05:33,630 Through the 1180s, the Muslim leader, Saladin, 104 00:05:33,630 --> 00:05:35,310 had steadily regained most of 105 00:05:35,310 --> 00:05:38,340 what the First Crusaders had established in Palestine 106 00:05:38,340 --> 00:05:40,830 just over 80 years before, 107 00:05:40,830 --> 00:05:43,018 including the holy city of Jerusalem. 108 00:05:43,018 --> 00:05:44,632 (tense music) (weapons clanging) 109 00:05:44,632 --> 00:05:46,050 At the Battle of Hattin, 110 00:05:46,050 --> 00:05:49,409 Saladin had also virtually destroyed the main force 111 00:05:49,409 --> 00:05:52,353 of the original military order, the Knights Templar. 112 00:05:53,250 --> 00:05:56,670 In 1189, the three most powerful monarchs 113 00:05:56,670 --> 00:05:58,530 in Western Europe set out 114 00:05:58,530 --> 00:06:01,353 to retake the holy places for Christianity. 115 00:06:02,460 --> 00:06:05,850 Richard I, the Lionheart, of England, 116 00:06:05,850 --> 00:06:08,220 Philip II of France, 117 00:06:08,220 --> 00:06:11,583 and Frederick Barbarossa, emperor of Germany. 118 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:16,710 The Crusade reversed many of Saladin's gains, 119 00:06:16,710 --> 00:06:19,203 though Jerusalem itself was not recaptured. 120 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,340 Worse, Frederick Barbarossa died 121 00:06:23,340 --> 00:06:25,770 before he even reached the Holy Land, 122 00:06:25,770 --> 00:06:28,923 causing many of his leaderless soldiers to return home. 123 00:06:30,030 --> 00:06:30,933 But not all. 124 00:06:31,980 --> 00:06:35,430 Some continued on to honor their commitment 125 00:06:35,430 --> 00:06:36,723 and their dead emperor. 126 00:06:38,010 --> 00:06:42,300 - You have the survivors of the German part 127 00:06:42,300 --> 00:06:45,300 of the Third Crusade reach the Holy Land 128 00:06:45,300 --> 00:06:49,620 and attach themselves to the French and to the English, 129 00:06:49,620 --> 00:06:51,030 because they are too few 130 00:06:51,030 --> 00:06:53,820 and now too disorganized, too vulnerable 131 00:06:53,820 --> 00:06:55,860 to really operate on their own. 132 00:06:55,860 --> 00:07:00,240 It is they who become the Teutonic Knights 133 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:01,443 after the Crusade. 134 00:07:03,390 --> 00:07:06,393 - [Narrator] In the newly recaptured Crusader city of Acre, 135 00:07:07,230 --> 00:07:09,450 these knights established themselves 136 00:07:09,450 --> 00:07:12,441 as the Brothers of the German Hospital of Saint Mary. 137 00:07:12,441 --> 00:07:13,680 (ominous music) 138 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:17,670 From the end of the 12th century and through the 13th, 139 00:07:17,670 --> 00:07:20,190 the brothers received sanction from the Pope 140 00:07:20,190 --> 00:07:22,383 and thus became the Teutonic Knights. 141 00:07:23,550 --> 00:07:26,520 Like the Templars and Hospitallers before them, 142 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:28,683 the order created its own rule, 143 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:33,213 the guide and laws by which its brothers had to abide. 144 00:07:34,380 --> 00:07:37,350 And in this lies a factor that helps historians today 145 00:07:37,350 --> 00:07:39,690 in researching the Teutonic Knights, 146 00:07:39,690 --> 00:07:42,573 by comparison with the other two major military orders. 147 00:07:43,546 --> 00:07:44,750 - They were a much more literate order than the other two. 148 00:07:44,750 --> 00:07:48,513 Perhaps because they started off using the vernacular. 149 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,070 - [Narrator] Being almost entirely of one nationality, 150 00:07:53,070 --> 00:07:56,130 the Teutonic Order wrote down its rules and histories 151 00:07:56,130 --> 00:07:59,733 in vernacular German, the language of the everyday brothers, 152 00:08:00,660 --> 00:08:02,610 rather than the more exclusive language 153 00:08:02,610 --> 00:08:05,490 of the clergy and papacy, Latin. 154 00:08:05,490 --> 00:08:07,140 - Although the other two start off 155 00:08:07,140 --> 00:08:08,490 with their documents in Latin 156 00:08:08,490 --> 00:08:10,380 and then translate them into the vernacular, 157 00:08:10,380 --> 00:08:12,120 the Teutonic Order appear 158 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:14,100 to have started with material in the vernacular 159 00:08:14,100 --> 00:08:17,130 and then translated it into Latin for wider distribution. 160 00:08:17,130 --> 00:08:20,310 So they produced more material 161 00:08:20,310 --> 00:08:22,110 than either the Templars or the Hospitallers did 162 00:08:22,110 --> 00:08:23,970 for their own brothers to read, 163 00:08:23,970 --> 00:08:26,370 saints lives and histories. 164 00:08:26,370 --> 00:08:29,310 - [Narrator] The Templars never wrote down their own history 165 00:08:29,310 --> 00:08:33,179 and the Hospitallers legend made outrageous claims. 166 00:08:33,179 --> 00:08:36,482 The Teutonic Knights, by contrast, were more realistic. 167 00:08:37,500 --> 00:08:40,140 - They didn't make up the myths like the Hospitallers did. 168 00:08:40,140 --> 00:08:43,049 They stuck to recent history. 169 00:08:43,049 --> 00:08:43,950 So in that respect, 170 00:08:43,950 --> 00:08:45,810 they come across as being quite a rational order, 171 00:08:45,810 --> 00:08:49,560 rather than one that invents miracles, 172 00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:51,810 although their stories do have miracles in them. 173 00:08:51,810 --> 00:08:52,860 But they feel like an order 174 00:08:52,860 --> 00:08:54,924 much more has their feet on the ground. 175 00:08:54,924 --> 00:08:56,040 (tense music) 176 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:58,290 - [Narrator] The city of Acre was the capital 177 00:08:58,290 --> 00:08:59,820 of the Crusader state 178 00:08:59,820 --> 00:09:03,840 for almost exactly 100 years until, once more, 179 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,533 resurgent Muslim forces recaptured most of the Holy Land. 180 00:09:08,610 --> 00:09:11,580 Acre was the last city to fall. 181 00:09:11,580 --> 00:09:14,970 Most of the remaining members of the other military orders, 182 00:09:14,970 --> 00:09:17,250 including the Templars and Hospitallers, 183 00:09:17,250 --> 00:09:19,350 went down fighting on the wall, 184 00:09:19,350 --> 00:09:21,480 but not the Teutonic Order 185 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:24,093 with their perhaps more rational ethos. 186 00:09:24,093 --> 00:09:26,100 (tense music continues) 187 00:09:26,100 --> 00:09:29,430 - All the military orders who existed in Acre 188 00:09:29,430 --> 00:09:32,490 at the time of the final siege and the fall of Acre, 189 00:09:32,490 --> 00:09:35,070 they all fought and the city fell. 190 00:09:35,070 --> 00:09:38,910 We know, however, that the Teutonic Knights' headquarters, 191 00:09:38,910 --> 00:09:40,500 which they called their convent, 192 00:09:40,500 --> 00:09:43,260 actually negotiated its surrender 193 00:09:43,260 --> 00:09:46,530 to the victorious Muslims, the Mamluk army, 194 00:09:46,530 --> 00:09:47,940 which had broken in. 195 00:09:47,940 --> 00:09:50,850 And the survivors left. 196 00:09:50,850 --> 00:09:53,790 So in a way, the Teutonic Knights went out 197 00:09:53,790 --> 00:09:56,310 with a bit of a whimper, rather than a bang. 198 00:09:56,310 --> 00:09:58,860 However, once Acre had fallen 199 00:09:58,860 --> 00:10:01,140 and the survivors had reached Cyprus, 200 00:10:01,140 --> 00:10:03,120 which is where most of them went, 201 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:05,430 they all had the same problem. 202 00:10:05,430 --> 00:10:07,323 What to do now? 203 00:10:07,323 --> 00:10:09,060 (tense music) 204 00:10:09,060 --> 00:10:11,940 - [Narrator] All the military orders had to reassess 205 00:10:11,940 --> 00:10:14,850 and look for new purpose, new frontiers 206 00:10:14,850 --> 00:10:18,720 where they could defend Christendom or expand it. 207 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:20,430 For the Teutonic Order, 208 00:10:20,430 --> 00:10:23,223 the distant East had been reluctantly abandoned. 209 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:28,113 Its new goal lay much closer to its homelands in Germany. 210 00:10:29,730 --> 00:10:33,750 - The Crusades were not just a phenomena of the Middle East. 211 00:10:33,750 --> 00:10:37,650 Crusading didn't just go east to the Holy Land. 212 00:10:37,650 --> 00:10:41,730 It obviously went south into what is now Spain and Portugal. 213 00:10:41,730 --> 00:10:45,390 But the most of dramatic of these other Crusades 214 00:10:45,390 --> 00:10:48,965 were the Northern Crusades in the Baltic. 215 00:10:48,965 --> 00:10:50,880 (dramatic music) (weapons clanging) 216 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:55,290 - The Northern Crusades, which took place around the Baltic, 217 00:10:55,290 --> 00:10:59,640 were concentrating on converting the pagan peoples 218 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:01,530 around the Baltic to Christianity, 219 00:11:01,530 --> 00:11:03,960 'cause they hadn't been converted to Christianity, 220 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,570 and taking over valuable territory. 221 00:11:06,570 --> 00:11:07,650 (dramatic music) 222 00:11:07,650 --> 00:11:10,050 - [Narrator] The Baltic region in the Middle Ages, 223 00:11:10,050 --> 00:11:12,810 relative to the parts of Europe it bordered, 224 00:11:12,810 --> 00:11:14,400 was a wilderness. 225 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:18,690 Settlement had changed relatively little since Viking times. 226 00:11:18,690 --> 00:11:22,110 Society was tribal and clan based, 227 00:11:22,110 --> 00:11:23,790 yet running through the region 228 00:11:23,790 --> 00:11:25,533 were important trading routes. 229 00:11:27,810 --> 00:11:31,260 From the Baltic Sea all the way along the great rivers 230 00:11:31,260 --> 00:11:33,273 to the Black Sea and far beyond, 231 00:11:34,410 --> 00:11:37,293 furs, ivory, silver, gold. 232 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,630 The neighboring and expanding kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden, 233 00:11:42,630 --> 00:11:46,140 Poland, and the German Empire had all made inroads 234 00:11:46,140 --> 00:11:50,037 into the Baltics, at least since the 12th century. 235 00:11:50,037 --> 00:11:53,103 The Christian cross was a convenient banner. 236 00:11:54,630 --> 00:11:56,220 - They're not trying to recover territory 237 00:11:56,220 --> 00:11:58,170 that had been Christian. 238 00:11:58,170 --> 00:12:01,230 They're trying to take over territory that wasn't Christian 239 00:12:01,230 --> 00:12:03,360 and, they say, win it for Christ. 240 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:06,510 Or at least the Latin church will take it over. 241 00:12:06,510 --> 00:12:07,620 Or to be a little bit more blunt, 242 00:12:07,620 --> 00:12:10,590 the merchants of the Baltic area will take it over 243 00:12:10,590 --> 00:12:14,130 because these areas opened the door 244 00:12:14,130 --> 00:12:16,923 into the vast trade routes of Central Asia. 245 00:12:18,047 --> 00:12:20,400 - [Narrator] For the military orders and the church, 246 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:23,190 what made this easier to contemplate was 247 00:12:23,190 --> 00:12:26,790 that the Baltic peoples, so close to Western Europe, 248 00:12:26,790 --> 00:12:29,070 were still far from Christian. 249 00:12:29,070 --> 00:12:34,070 - Paganism survived in Northeastern Europe 250 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,810 for a very, very long time. 251 00:12:36,810 --> 00:12:39,210 Well into the 14th century. 252 00:12:39,210 --> 00:12:42,240 The eastern shoreline of the Baltic, 253 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,460 that's what's now the Baltic states, 254 00:12:44,460 --> 00:12:45,570 but also Finland, 255 00:12:45,570 --> 00:12:47,650 this was pagan territory 256 00:12:48,540 --> 00:12:52,053 well into the 12th century for all of it. 257 00:12:53,310 --> 00:12:57,600 And then it becomes the new Crusade frontier. 258 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,900 So the Crusade idea, as it were, 259 00:13:00,900 --> 00:13:05,010 got a second wind, a second life in the Baltic. 260 00:13:05,010 --> 00:13:07,590 - [Narrator] The distant Holy Land was forgotten 261 00:13:07,590 --> 00:13:10,950 with so many unrepentant pagan states so close 262 00:13:10,950 --> 00:13:12,393 to the European heartland. 263 00:13:13,650 --> 00:13:16,864 And so the Crusading idea was reborn. 264 00:13:16,864 --> 00:13:18,030 (dramatic music) 265 00:13:18,030 --> 00:13:22,230 - The Northern Crusades went on for much, much longer 266 00:13:22,230 --> 00:13:25,320 than the Holy Land Crusades did. 267 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:30,320 They became a way of life, almost self perpetuating. 268 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:35,040 And in fact, the Northern Crusades went on for so long 269 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,410 that they structured the whole 270 00:13:37,410 --> 00:13:40,740 of the Eastern Baltic around them. 271 00:13:40,740 --> 00:13:45,740 So what exists today, the states which exist today 272 00:13:45,870 --> 00:13:48,300 and the tensions which still exist today, 273 00:13:48,300 --> 00:13:52,199 can be traced back to the Northern Crusades. 274 00:13:52,199 --> 00:13:53,310 (somber music) 275 00:13:53,310 --> 00:13:55,680 - [Narrator] One state in the region did not survive 276 00:13:55,680 --> 00:13:57,453 to this day as a sovereign nation. 277 00:13:58,620 --> 00:14:00,090 When Teutonic Knights were aiming 278 00:14:00,090 --> 00:14:02,370 to expand towards the Baltic, 279 00:14:02,370 --> 00:14:05,550 Prussia lay directly in their sights. 280 00:14:05,550 --> 00:14:08,010 It's now associated with Germany, 281 00:14:08,010 --> 00:14:12,570 but in the 13th century, Prussia was ferociously independent 282 00:14:12,570 --> 00:14:14,463 and it bordered Christian Poland. 283 00:14:16,140 --> 00:14:20,700 - The Prussians, the original Prussians, are not Germans. 284 00:14:20,700 --> 00:14:22,860 They're another Baltic people. 285 00:14:22,860 --> 00:14:25,890 The Poles didn't seem to be able to cope 286 00:14:25,890 --> 00:14:30,750 with these very fierce pagans on their northern frontier, 287 00:14:30,750 --> 00:14:34,560 so they invited in Western knights to help them. 288 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,800 The Teutonic Knights filled this gap. 289 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:38,880 - The Poles would've liked 290 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:40,590 to have got their hands on Prussia. 291 00:14:40,590 --> 00:14:43,290 They brought the Teutonic Order in to help them, 292 00:14:43,290 --> 00:14:44,740 which possibly was a mistake. 293 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,540 - [Narrator] All the main military orders faced the problem 294 00:14:48,540 --> 00:14:51,118 of being dependent on existing nations. 295 00:14:51,118 --> 00:14:52,140 (ominous music) 296 00:14:52,140 --> 00:14:55,320 For the Templars, always under the eye of the French kings, 297 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:56,763 it led to their downfall. 298 00:14:57,630 --> 00:15:00,030 The Hospitallers, perhaps, learned from this 299 00:15:00,030 --> 00:15:02,433 and based themselves on the Island of Rhodes. 300 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:06,930 Prussia was the opportunity the Teutonic Knights 301 00:15:06,930 --> 00:15:08,190 had been waiting for 302 00:15:08,190 --> 00:15:10,683 to establish their own territorial state. 303 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:13,593 - Start from scratch if you can. 304 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:18,660 This they were able to do in the Baltic area 305 00:15:18,660 --> 00:15:22,170 by getting a castle, one castle, 306 00:15:22,170 --> 00:15:25,440 from the King of Poland because he needed their help. 307 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:27,930 But on the agreement, 308 00:15:27,930 --> 00:15:31,020 only on the agreement that they were independent 309 00:15:31,020 --> 00:15:32,790 in this one castle. 310 00:15:32,790 --> 00:15:34,473 And it was from this one castle 311 00:15:34,473 --> 00:15:37,920 that the whole of the Teutonic Knights' state, 312 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:40,662 which was quite big eventually, grew. 313 00:15:40,662 --> 00:15:42,540 (tense music) 314 00:15:42,540 --> 00:15:44,040 - [Narrator] The fortress of Kulm 315 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:47,283 was on the Polish frontier facing the pagan Prussians. 316 00:15:48,390 --> 00:15:51,180 The Teutonic Knights took over the castle 317 00:15:51,180 --> 00:15:53,460 and began an extraordinary period 318 00:15:53,460 --> 00:15:55,360 in the history of the military orders. 319 00:15:58,050 --> 00:16:01,710 Over more than 100 years, the Teutonic Order built up 320 00:16:01,710 --> 00:16:03,750 and consolidated what became virtually 321 00:16:03,750 --> 00:16:05,613 an independent medieval state. 322 00:16:06,810 --> 00:16:09,000 Far enough from the German emperor 323 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:10,713 and even further from the Pope 324 00:16:10,713 --> 00:16:12,975 that they could do as they pleased. 325 00:16:12,975 --> 00:16:14,520 (tense music continues) 326 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:17,610 Some of what remains of the Teutonic state 327 00:16:17,610 --> 00:16:20,823 can still be seen across the modern-day Baltic countries. 328 00:16:21,780 --> 00:16:24,210 A state required a capital. 329 00:16:24,210 --> 00:16:28,410 And in modern-day Poland, Malbork Castle is a reminder 330 00:16:28,410 --> 00:16:31,023 of the Teutonic Order's strength and influence. 331 00:16:32,190 --> 00:16:35,790 For any Teutonic warrior who had seen the Holy Land, 332 00:16:35,790 --> 00:16:37,020 he would've thought the warfare 333 00:16:37,020 --> 00:16:39,513 in the Baltic drastically different. 334 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:46,880 - The environment, the ecology of the area was so different 335 00:16:46,950 --> 00:16:51,420 that you can imagine warriors who had some experience 336 00:16:51,420 --> 00:16:55,470 of the Middle Eastern Crusades having a certain mindset. 337 00:16:55,470 --> 00:16:58,200 Finding themselves in the Northern Crusades, 338 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,500 trying to use this method of warfare, 339 00:17:01,500 --> 00:17:04,770 and then having very quickly to modify it 340 00:17:04,770 --> 00:17:08,945 because that world is totally, totally different. 341 00:17:08,945 --> 00:17:10,470 (ominous music) 342 00:17:10,470 --> 00:17:13,440 - [Narrator] We have an image of Crusaders fighting in armor 343 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:15,542 in the arid terrain of the Middle East. 344 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,532 Water supplies for armies was a constant problem, 345 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:21,510 and the military orders 346 00:17:21,510 --> 00:17:24,599 of the Kingdom of Jerusalem spent decades learning how 347 00:17:24,599 --> 00:17:26,522 to campaign in such conditions. 348 00:17:28,980 --> 00:17:32,220 - Transfer this to the Baltic area. 349 00:17:32,220 --> 00:17:35,280 There are large areas not only of marsh and forest, 350 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:37,290 but also of heathland, 351 00:17:37,290 --> 00:17:40,770 relatively dry, relatively open. 352 00:17:40,770 --> 00:17:43,260 That's the bit you can get through, 353 00:17:43,260 --> 00:17:47,280 but you only have to go relatively few kilometers, 354 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:48,930 you'll find yourself in another forest 355 00:17:48,930 --> 00:17:50,880 and then you have to hack your way through it. 356 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:52,440 You can't really make a road, 357 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:54,150 because by the time you come back 358 00:17:54,150 --> 00:17:56,520 to do a similar campaign the following year, 359 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:58,080 it's all overgrown again. 360 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,840 So a large part of these raiding campaigns 361 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:03,513 were just hacking your way through the undergrowth. 362 00:18:04,620 --> 00:18:06,750 - [Narrator] Their opponents too were different 363 00:18:06,750 --> 00:18:09,660 to those the Crusaders faced in the Holy Land, 364 00:18:09,660 --> 00:18:13,230 where war was propagated on both sides by knights 365 00:18:13,230 --> 00:18:15,723 or at least nobles, and professional soldiers. 366 00:18:16,860 --> 00:18:18,720 - Wars in Prussia and Livonia 367 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:21,180 were against an enemy who didn't play 368 00:18:21,180 --> 00:18:24,420 by the same sort of rules as the Arabs and the Turks. 369 00:18:24,420 --> 00:18:28,590 The Turks and the Arabs were from the same sort 370 00:18:28,590 --> 00:18:30,420 of warrior background. 371 00:18:30,420 --> 00:18:32,430 When you're fighting against the pagan Prussians, 372 00:18:32,430 --> 00:18:35,970 they are warriors, but they don't mind burning 373 00:18:35,970 --> 00:18:38,220 their captives alive on their horses, for example. 374 00:18:38,220 --> 00:18:39,750 And the Muslims wouldn't do that. 375 00:18:39,750 --> 00:18:43,320 So it's more of a war with no holds barred 376 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:45,920 and a much more violent war than that 377 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:49,803 in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the other Crusader states. 378 00:18:49,803 --> 00:18:51,540 (tense music) 379 00:18:51,540 --> 00:18:52,770 - [Narrator] In Palestine, 380 00:18:52,770 --> 00:18:54,963 warfare had been dominated by cavalry. 381 00:18:55,950 --> 00:18:58,800 The military orders came into being as horsemen 382 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:01,890 who could protect the pilgrim routes from Western Europe, 383 00:19:01,890 --> 00:19:05,040 ranging long distances along the frontiers, 384 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:06,933 protecting against enemy raiders. 385 00:19:07,890 --> 00:19:10,953 In Prussia, though, this role was reversed. 386 00:19:12,210 --> 00:19:13,770 - In the Baltic, the kind of warfare 387 00:19:13,770 --> 00:19:15,510 that they were conducting 388 00:19:15,510 --> 00:19:20,250 was really just a development of raiding. 389 00:19:20,250 --> 00:19:23,430 A classic strategy of the Middle Ages 390 00:19:23,430 --> 00:19:24,870 was what was known as a chevauchee, 391 00:19:24,870 --> 00:19:27,330 which is like a flying column of cavalry 392 00:19:27,330 --> 00:19:30,480 and its supports used to raid 393 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,510 and put pressure on a population. 394 00:19:33,510 --> 00:19:34,590 And of course that's what happened 395 00:19:34,590 --> 00:19:36,746 in the Baltic states a lot. 396 00:19:36,746 --> 00:19:37,860 (tense music) 397 00:19:37,860 --> 00:19:40,230 - [Narrator] The chevauchee was used to great effect 398 00:19:40,230 --> 00:19:43,290 by English troops during the Hundred Years' War 399 00:19:43,290 --> 00:19:44,280 where they would penetrate 400 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:46,800 for miles through enemy-held territory, 401 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:48,900 plundering and causing chaos as they went. 402 00:19:50,362 --> 00:19:51,990 For the Teutonic raiders, 403 00:19:51,990 --> 00:19:55,590 it was the ideal way to destabilize Prussia 404 00:19:55,590 --> 00:19:57,303 and to gradually take it over. 405 00:19:58,380 --> 00:20:00,870 But it also brought another commodity 406 00:20:00,870 --> 00:20:03,123 beyond just looted food or silver. 407 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,770 - This is a form of economic warfare. 408 00:20:07,770 --> 00:20:10,380 You're destroying the enemy's crops, 409 00:20:10,380 --> 00:20:13,050 you're capturing their livestock, 410 00:20:13,050 --> 00:20:14,940 you're capturing their people. 411 00:20:14,940 --> 00:20:19,200 So, in fact, taking captives as slaves 412 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:23,490 was very, very important for both sides. 413 00:20:23,490 --> 00:20:25,230 So we have these Christian knights, 414 00:20:25,230 --> 00:20:29,192 members of a military order, on slave raids. 415 00:20:29,192 --> 00:20:30,180 (ominous music) 416 00:20:30,180 --> 00:20:33,570 - [Narrator] It's a mistake to think warfare is ever clean 417 00:20:33,570 --> 00:20:36,540 when it's being done under a religious banner, 418 00:20:36,540 --> 00:20:38,040 and not just the Teutonic Order, 419 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:40,560 but several neighboring Christian kingdoms. 420 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:43,893 For us, looking back now, it's even harder to accept. 421 00:20:46,349 --> 00:20:49,440 - The Northern Crusades look much more like colonialism 422 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,740 than the Crusades to the Holy Land 423 00:20:52,740 --> 00:20:57,270 because those that go there are going to trade 424 00:20:57,270 --> 00:21:00,543 and take slaves to exploit the area. 425 00:21:01,650 --> 00:21:03,510 They did settle there. 426 00:21:03,510 --> 00:21:07,230 They did set up holy sites there to bring in pilgrims, 427 00:21:07,230 --> 00:21:10,260 but it's not land that's traditionally been Christian. 428 00:21:10,260 --> 00:21:14,550 And the emphasis was on getting resources out 429 00:21:14,550 --> 00:21:19,372 for the benefit of Germany, Denmark, Sweden. 430 00:21:19,372 --> 00:21:20,820 (reverent music) 431 00:21:20,820 --> 00:21:21,990 - [Narrator] Since the Knights Templar 432 00:21:21,990 --> 00:21:24,150 became the first military order, 433 00:21:24,150 --> 00:21:28,170 the technology of war had also changed considerably. 434 00:21:28,170 --> 00:21:32,490 - Technology and technological advantage and superiority 435 00:21:32,490 --> 00:21:37,007 was as key to medieval warfare as it is to modern warfare. 436 00:21:37,007 --> 00:21:37,840 (reverent music) 437 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:40,470 - [Narrator] In the early days of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, 438 00:21:40,470 --> 00:21:43,890 knights fought dress little different to Viking warriors 439 00:21:43,890 --> 00:21:46,290 with virtually the same weapons. 440 00:21:46,290 --> 00:21:50,040 - The Teutonic Knights of the early 15th century 441 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:52,980 were unrecognizable for the original Templars, 442 00:21:52,980 --> 00:21:56,850 and you are talking about people with full plate armor, 443 00:21:56,850 --> 00:21:57,870 exactly the kind of armor 444 00:21:57,870 --> 00:22:00,750 that was worn at Agincourt, for example, 445 00:22:00,750 --> 00:22:05,160 and heavily armored horses as well, 446 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,440 conducting warfare usually against 447 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:10,710 much more likely armored opposition. 448 00:22:10,710 --> 00:22:12,750 - [Narrator] As with all the military orders, 449 00:22:12,750 --> 00:22:15,180 knights, the main armored soldiers 450 00:22:15,180 --> 00:22:19,170 who comprised the Teutonic Order's core battlefield troops, 451 00:22:19,170 --> 00:22:21,129 were relatively few in number. 452 00:22:21,129 --> 00:22:22,620 (tense music) 453 00:22:22,620 --> 00:22:24,750 Yet in the Northern Crusades, 454 00:22:24,750 --> 00:22:27,780 the armored knight on horseback could never dominate 455 00:22:27,780 --> 00:22:29,760 in the terrain of the Baltic. 456 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:31,833 They needed the support of infantry. 457 00:22:32,730 --> 00:22:34,350 - Who were these infantry? 458 00:22:34,350 --> 00:22:36,390 Well, some of them were sergeants, 459 00:22:36,390 --> 00:22:39,510 brother sergeants, others were mercenaries. 460 00:22:39,510 --> 00:22:44,510 Others were low-status associates of the order. 461 00:22:45,810 --> 00:22:48,180 There were also levies 462 00:22:48,180 --> 00:22:52,320 from the towns under the control of the orders. 463 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:53,940 - [Narrator] But one kind of weapon 464 00:22:53,940 --> 00:22:56,496 gave infantry even more killing power. 465 00:22:56,496 --> 00:22:59,640 (weapons clattering) (tense music) 466 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:00,990 - In the 15th century, 467 00:23:00,990 --> 00:23:05,310 there's no doubt that infantry becomes stronger 468 00:23:05,310 --> 00:23:07,320 in relation to cavalry, 469 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,560 and because they possess more missile weapons 470 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:12,900 and they're capable of standing their ground. 471 00:23:12,900 --> 00:23:15,750 - [Narrator] Here again, technology was on the side 472 00:23:15,750 --> 00:23:16,953 of the Teutonic Order. 473 00:23:17,850 --> 00:23:21,600 - This was not just their castle building activity 474 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:24,330 and the speed and effectiveness of that, 475 00:23:24,330 --> 00:23:27,180 it was also things like siege machines, 476 00:23:27,180 --> 00:23:30,949 and, almost above all else, crossbows. 477 00:23:30,949 --> 00:23:31,782 (tense music) 478 00:23:31,782 --> 00:23:33,060 - [Narrator] English longbowmen 479 00:23:33,060 --> 00:23:34,350 had proved time and again, 480 00:23:34,350 --> 00:23:37,890 that disciplined infantry armed with missile weapons 481 00:23:37,890 --> 00:23:39,890 could dominate the medieval battlefield. 482 00:23:40,890 --> 00:23:44,460 Yet the longbow took years of training to master, 483 00:23:44,460 --> 00:23:47,419 whereas the crossbow was simpler to use. 484 00:23:47,419 --> 00:23:50,400 It was a leveler that almost anyone could learn 485 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,890 to use relatively quickly, 486 00:23:52,890 --> 00:23:54,903 like the firearms of future centuries. 487 00:23:56,160 --> 00:24:00,300 - To understand the role of the crossbow-armed infantry, 488 00:24:00,300 --> 00:24:01,740 it might be good to see them 489 00:24:01,740 --> 00:24:04,683 as a sort of early form of musketeer. 490 00:24:05,580 --> 00:24:08,160 These are not repeating weapons. 491 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:13,140 Takes time to reload, span, aim, shoot. 492 00:24:13,140 --> 00:24:15,000 So you need teamwork. 493 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,520 You have a front rank, you have loaders. 494 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:20,880 It's also not like longbow archery, 495 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,850 and certainly not like the archery techniques 496 00:24:23,850 --> 00:24:25,500 of Asia and the Middle East 497 00:24:25,500 --> 00:24:27,690 where they are shooting rapidly, 498 00:24:27,690 --> 00:24:29,250 and they shoot and they shoot and they shoot. 499 00:24:29,250 --> 00:24:31,080 It's not like that with a crossbow. 500 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:36,080 It's one aimed shot, punchy, hugely powerful, 501 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:38,760 takes time to reload. 502 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,220 - [Narrator] Prussia was steadily overwhelmed 503 00:24:41,220 --> 00:24:43,653 and its lands came under Teutonic control. 504 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:47,550 It was a process of penetrating as far as they could 505 00:24:47,550 --> 00:24:49,470 through the Prussian interior, 506 00:24:49,470 --> 00:24:51,990 then establishing small forts, 507 00:24:51,990 --> 00:24:53,790 bases from which they could operate. 508 00:24:54,810 --> 00:24:57,270 These were often in remote areas 509 00:24:57,270 --> 00:24:59,943 with building materials in short supply. 510 00:25:01,170 --> 00:25:05,160 - The first castles, if they were in an important location, 511 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:09,810 would then be rebuilt with more permanent materials. 512 00:25:09,810 --> 00:25:14,190 Sometimes stone, but most typically of brick. 513 00:25:14,190 --> 00:25:16,710 Because this is a low-lying marshy area, 514 00:25:16,710 --> 00:25:19,803 you don't find much good stone. 515 00:25:20,700 --> 00:25:22,590 - [Narrator] Brick isn't normally thought of 516 00:25:22,590 --> 00:25:24,420 as being a medieval material, 517 00:25:24,420 --> 00:25:26,970 even though it had been around since Roman times, 518 00:25:26,970 --> 00:25:29,343 and perhaps still less for building castles. 519 00:25:30,810 --> 00:25:33,330 But bricks could be either made in country 520 00:25:33,330 --> 00:25:35,403 or transported quickly on the rivers. 521 00:25:36,330 --> 00:25:38,340 It meant forts could be thrown up quickly 522 00:25:38,340 --> 00:25:42,300 by teams of bricklayers, almost like sandbag defenses 523 00:25:42,300 --> 00:25:43,868 in 20th-century war. 524 00:25:43,868 --> 00:25:45,120 (somber music) 525 00:25:45,120 --> 00:25:48,480 - Those forts and castles gradually grew 526 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:51,150 in scale until they reached the size 527 00:25:51,150 --> 00:25:52,440 of the magnificent remnants 528 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,366 that we have now in Poland and elsewhere. 529 00:25:55,366 --> 00:25:56,199 (tense music) 530 00:25:56,199 --> 00:25:59,670 - [Narrator] It took many years and huge resources, 531 00:25:59,670 --> 00:26:03,270 but Malbork Castle, the Teutonic Knights' capital, 532 00:26:03,270 --> 00:26:04,470 was steadily built up 533 00:26:04,470 --> 00:26:07,440 and expanded into one of the greatest fortresses 534 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,513 of any of the military orders. 535 00:26:10,621 --> 00:26:14,880 - Yes, Malbork is the biggest castle, brick castle, 536 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:16,170 in the world. 537 00:26:16,170 --> 00:26:18,340 The Teutonic Order started 538 00:26:20,190 --> 00:26:23,400 construction works at the end of the 13th century 539 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:26,910 and finished in the first half of the 15th century. 540 00:26:26,910 --> 00:26:30,120 So more than 120 years. 541 00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:34,950 More than 6 million bricks were used to build this castle. 542 00:26:34,950 --> 00:26:37,290 It's about 20 hectares, 543 00:26:37,290 --> 00:26:39,720 and this castle in the Middle Ages 544 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:43,860 was never taken by the enemy forces. 545 00:26:43,860 --> 00:26:45,810 - [Narrator] It's staggering to think though, 546 00:26:45,810 --> 00:26:47,970 that just 75 years ago, 547 00:26:47,970 --> 00:26:51,077 this exceptional castle lay in ruins. 548 00:26:51,077 --> 00:26:51,910 (somber music) 549 00:26:51,910 --> 00:26:54,690 As the second World War drew to a close, 550 00:26:54,690 --> 00:26:57,090 Malbork castle was used as a stronghold 551 00:26:57,090 --> 00:26:58,743 by Nazi German troops. 552 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,250 It overlooked the railway the Germans were using 553 00:27:02,250 --> 00:27:05,490 to evacuate troops from the Russian front. 554 00:27:05,490 --> 00:27:07,860 This and the castle's associations 555 00:27:07,860 --> 00:27:10,650 with the Nazis' Teutonic propaganda meant 556 00:27:10,650 --> 00:27:13,170 that the Red Army spared little thought 557 00:27:13,170 --> 00:27:15,213 for Malbork's value to posterity. 558 00:27:16,110 --> 00:27:17,550 But since the war, 559 00:27:17,550 --> 00:27:20,850 a huge project saw the rebuilding of Malbork 560 00:27:20,850 --> 00:27:24,690 to something like its original architectural grandeur. 561 00:27:24,690 --> 00:27:27,300 Archeologists and historians worked together 562 00:27:27,300 --> 00:27:30,390 to interpret what they found in the process. 563 00:27:30,390 --> 00:27:34,023 Karol Polejowski is a curator at Malbork Castle. 564 00:27:36,210 --> 00:27:39,960 - The Teutonic Order engineers took the decision 565 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:44,960 to build the first part of the castle, this part. 566 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:48,480 - [Narrator] He's exploring here the vaulted chambers 567 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,400 beneath the high castle, 568 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:54,330 the first parts built by the Teutonic Knight engineers. 569 00:27:54,330 --> 00:27:56,100 - We are at the moment 570 00:27:56,100 --> 00:28:01,080 in the oldest part of the castle in Malbork. 571 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:03,690 The construction works started here 572 00:28:03,690 --> 00:28:07,080 about 1278, '79. 573 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,180 - [Narrator] Even this far underground, 574 00:28:09,180 --> 00:28:11,670 the walls have been partially restored. 575 00:28:11,670 --> 00:28:13,410 But this reveals detail of some 576 00:28:13,410 --> 00:28:15,340 of the original building materials 577 00:28:16,410 --> 00:28:21,000 - We see here the original stones from the 13th century, 578 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,510 original bricks from the same period. 579 00:28:24,510 --> 00:28:28,260 But here we can see the modern bricks 580 00:28:28,260 --> 00:28:30,420 from the the 20th century 581 00:28:30,420 --> 00:28:32,883 used during the reconstruction works. 582 00:28:34,260 --> 00:28:36,330 - [Narrator] The Teutonic Order didn't want Malbork 583 00:28:36,330 --> 00:28:38,850 to be simply a stronghold. 584 00:28:38,850 --> 00:28:43,233 They were a religious order, so it was also their convent. 585 00:28:44,250 --> 00:28:46,830 The entrance to the castle's church, 586 00:28:46,830 --> 00:28:48,750 the order's cathedral, 587 00:28:48,750 --> 00:28:52,200 contained a reminder that as soldiers of God, 588 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,080 their original spiritual home still lay 589 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,210 in the far-off Holy Land. 590 00:28:57,210 --> 00:28:58,890 - This is the Golden Gate, 591 00:28:58,890 --> 00:29:02,370 the main entrance to the Teutonic Order's church 592 00:29:02,370 --> 00:29:04,473 in the Castle of Malbork. 593 00:29:06,270 --> 00:29:10,440 I am of the opinion that this gate, Golden Gate, 594 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:13,860 this is the gate to the golden Jerusalem. 595 00:29:13,860 --> 00:29:16,230 For the Teutonic Knights, 596 00:29:16,230 --> 00:29:21,230 it was very important to connect their new capital, 597 00:29:23,550 --> 00:29:28,140 convent, capital castle with the Jerusalem. 598 00:29:28,140 --> 00:29:30,120 Because the Teutonic Order, 599 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:33,870 it was the Order of the Saint Mary of the Germans 600 00:29:33,870 --> 00:29:35,640 in Jerusalem, 601 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:37,290 - [Narrator] Only members of the Teutonic 602 00:29:37,290 --> 00:29:40,200 and military orders or important churchmen 603 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,170 or dignitaries could pass here 604 00:29:43,170 --> 00:29:45,630 into the Church of Saint Mary, 605 00:29:45,630 --> 00:29:49,293 the main church in the Teutonic Order's state in Prussia. 606 00:29:51,570 --> 00:29:53,820 - This is the most important place 607 00:29:53,820 --> 00:29:57,540 in the Teutonic Order castle in Malbork. 608 00:29:57,540 --> 00:30:01,890 And this is the most important church in the Teutonic Order. 609 00:30:01,890 --> 00:30:06,510 The first construction works were done in the 1280s 610 00:30:06,510 --> 00:30:07,893 of the 13th century. 611 00:30:08,940 --> 00:30:11,820 And during the 14th century, 612 00:30:11,820 --> 00:30:16,820 the church was richly decorated. 613 00:30:16,980 --> 00:30:20,126 - [Narrator] Very little survived the Second World War 614 00:30:20,126 --> 00:30:22,980 or the Red Army's occupation in the aftermath. 615 00:30:22,980 --> 00:30:25,470 But it's thought that the order's holy relics 616 00:30:25,470 --> 00:30:27,570 were stored or displayed here, 617 00:30:27,570 --> 00:30:32,130 including a tangible link to the crucifixion itself. 618 00:30:32,130 --> 00:30:34,320 - The most precious, the most important, 619 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:38,670 was the fragment, the piece, of the True Cross. 620 00:30:38,670 --> 00:30:41,730 We know that the Teutonic Order received it 621 00:30:41,730 --> 00:30:46,620 from the King of France in the 70s, 80s of the 14th century. 622 00:30:46,620 --> 00:30:51,540 It was so important to have relics in the churches 623 00:30:51,540 --> 00:30:56,447 because the people need to contact with the saints, 624 00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:02,720 with the objects connected with the Passion of the Christ. 625 00:31:04,380 --> 00:31:07,170 And it was important to collect 626 00:31:07,170 --> 00:31:11,970 for pilgrims who arrived here in the 14th 627 00:31:11,970 --> 00:31:13,770 and 15th century. 628 00:31:13,770 --> 00:31:16,080 - [Narrator] Pilgrims were vital to the order, 629 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:19,263 as they brought with them money in the form of donations. 630 00:31:20,190 --> 00:31:23,474 And in return, the brothers showed off the order's relics. 631 00:31:23,474 --> 00:31:24,930 (somber music) 632 00:31:24,930 --> 00:31:27,810 They included nobles from across Europe, 633 00:31:27,810 --> 00:31:31,440 including in 1390, Henry Bolingbroke, 634 00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:34,350 future King Henry the IV of England. 635 00:31:34,350 --> 00:31:37,200 The raison d'etre of the order, as they saw it, 636 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:39,150 was holy war, 637 00:31:39,150 --> 00:31:43,050 and pilgrims brought more than just their money. 638 00:31:43,050 --> 00:31:47,550 - Teutonic Order is known also as a military organization. 639 00:31:47,550 --> 00:31:51,750 We can see here two long swords 640 00:31:51,750 --> 00:31:56,040 from the first half of the 14th century. 641 00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:59,250 - [Narrator] These swords were found nearby the castle, 642 00:31:59,250 --> 00:32:01,770 and they bear the telltale inscriptions 643 00:32:01,770 --> 00:32:03,810 of religious warriors. 644 00:32:03,810 --> 00:32:06,180 - This sword is very interesting 645 00:32:06,180 --> 00:32:10,590 because we can see here the Jerusalem cross. 646 00:32:10,590 --> 00:32:13,290 This is the symbol of the Crusades. 647 00:32:13,290 --> 00:32:15,720 Crusades, of course, to Palestine. 648 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:17,970 But in the 14th century, 649 00:32:17,970 --> 00:32:22,970 the knights coming here from Western Europe 650 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:25,920 were Crusaders too. 651 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:30,390 They fought in the name of Christ against the pagans, 652 00:32:30,390 --> 00:32:32,280 against the Lithuanians. 653 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:34,440 - [Narrator] Lithuania was the next country 654 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:37,714 that the Teutonic Order coveted and invaded. 655 00:32:37,714 --> 00:32:39,390 (soldiers shouting) (metal clattering) 656 00:32:39,390 --> 00:32:40,740 Like the Prussians, 657 00:32:40,740 --> 00:32:43,383 the Lithuanians too were Baltic pagans. 658 00:32:44,550 --> 00:32:46,707 Their land as well was of wilderness, 659 00:32:46,707 --> 00:32:49,590 even further from Western Europe. 660 00:32:49,590 --> 00:32:52,943 But beyond lay the trade routes to Russia and to Asia. 661 00:32:52,943 --> 00:32:53,880 (dramatic music) 662 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:55,770 The distances were greater, 663 00:32:55,770 --> 00:32:59,583 and so one kind of transport became even more important. 664 00:33:00,660 --> 00:33:03,120 - A striking feature of the Teutonic Knights 665 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:06,150 and their campaigns in the Baltic 666 00:33:06,150 --> 00:33:11,150 was how they used rivers in order to move more rapidly. 667 00:33:11,386 --> 00:33:13,530 (tense music) 668 00:33:13,530 --> 00:33:17,250 - The main rivers of the Baltic states area, 669 00:33:17,250 --> 00:33:20,520 Northern Poland, were, and to some extent, 670 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,913 remain major arteries of trade. 671 00:33:24,900 --> 00:33:26,820 At the time of the Northern Crusades, 672 00:33:26,820 --> 00:33:30,780 they were also major arteries of warfare, 673 00:33:30,780 --> 00:33:33,330 raiding, counter-raiding, 674 00:33:33,330 --> 00:33:36,120 supplying your forces in the field. 675 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:41,120 In winter, the rivers freeze, even the big ones. 676 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:44,820 So you end up with a smooth, icy, 677 00:33:44,820 --> 00:33:47,550 reasonably accessible route 678 00:33:47,550 --> 00:33:50,695 from where you are deep into the enemy territory. 679 00:33:50,695 --> 00:33:51,690 (dramatic music) 680 00:33:51,690 --> 00:33:54,930 - [Narrator] The order pushed north and east from Prussia, 681 00:33:54,930 --> 00:33:56,850 and historians and archeologists 682 00:33:56,850 --> 00:33:59,039 can now trace the route they took. 683 00:33:59,039 --> 00:34:00,510 (metal clanking) 684 00:34:00,510 --> 00:34:04,350 - That is why most of the castles which survive, 685 00:34:04,350 --> 00:34:06,990 the locations were on rivers. 686 00:34:06,990 --> 00:34:08,940 They're not just scattered around. 687 00:34:08,940 --> 00:34:11,969 This was to secure the rivers, 688 00:34:11,969 --> 00:34:14,370 secure crossing points of the rivers, 689 00:34:14,370 --> 00:34:16,739 secure junctions of rivers. 690 00:34:16,739 --> 00:34:20,612 These castles were put in places with great thought. 691 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:23,429 - [Narrator] But some of the castles the order built 692 00:34:23,429 --> 00:34:27,270 in Lithuania are more than just ruined. 693 00:34:27,270 --> 00:34:30,239 Trakai Castle was built by the Teutonic Knights 694 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:31,440 and has survived intact. 695 00:34:32,969 --> 00:34:34,469 Today, it's one of Lithuania's 696 00:34:34,469 --> 00:34:36,513 most important heritage sites. 697 00:34:37,889 --> 00:34:41,370 Like Malbork, it was built from stone and brick, 698 00:34:41,370 --> 00:34:42,960 and it was both a stronghold 699 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:45,273 and an administrative center for the order. 700 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:48,393 The campaign lasted decades. 701 00:34:49,230 --> 00:34:51,840 The fighting was bitter, bloody, 702 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:55,143 and, above all for the Teutonic Knights, expensive. 703 00:34:56,070 --> 00:34:57,420 They needed a breakthrough. 704 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:02,010 In the 1380s, the order launched an offensive 705 00:35:02,010 --> 00:35:05,010 that led to what one historian now regards 706 00:35:05,010 --> 00:35:07,110 as the possible beginning of the end 707 00:35:07,110 --> 00:35:08,523 for the Northern Crusades. 708 00:35:09,390 --> 00:35:13,260 In 1384, the Teutonic Knights recaptured a castle 709 00:35:13,260 --> 00:35:16,263 at Kaunas in what's now Central Lithuania. 710 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:19,728 The confluence of the two rivers here, 711 00:35:19,728 --> 00:35:21,660 the Neris and the Nemunas, 712 00:35:21,660 --> 00:35:23,823 makes the site strategically vital. 713 00:35:24,690 --> 00:35:27,630 Control this spot and you control movement 714 00:35:27,630 --> 00:35:31,110 to and from the Baltic Sea on two axes 715 00:35:31,110 --> 00:35:32,703 for hundreds of miles inland. 716 00:35:33,900 --> 00:35:36,813 Both sides knew this was a position they had to hold. 717 00:35:38,070 --> 00:35:42,000 The order immediately began rebuilding the defenses, 718 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:45,840 while the Lithuanian leader, Grand Duke Vytautas, 719 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:48,990 set about laying siege to try to take the castle 720 00:35:48,990 --> 00:35:50,343 before it was completed. 721 00:35:51,630 --> 00:35:54,240 The Teutonic Knights called the new stronghold 722 00:35:54,240 --> 00:35:57,810 after their patron figure, the Virgin Mary. 723 00:35:57,810 --> 00:35:58,643 Marienwerder. 724 00:35:59,790 --> 00:36:02,373 Its exact site has been lost for centuries. 725 00:36:03,420 --> 00:36:05,250 The peninsula on which it stood 726 00:36:05,250 --> 00:36:07,323 has been fought over many times since. 727 00:36:08,190 --> 00:36:09,990 The partially ruined Kaunas Castle 728 00:36:09,990 --> 00:36:12,330 that still stands today dates 729 00:36:12,330 --> 00:36:14,283 from the period after Marienwerder, 730 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:18,060 and the remains of earlier fortifications can 731 00:36:18,060 --> 00:36:20,160 also still be seen. 732 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:24,180 It's a confusing puzzle of battlefield archeology. 733 00:36:24,180 --> 00:36:26,820 Kaunas historian Vytenis Almonaitis 734 00:36:26,820 --> 00:36:29,093 has researched the matter for many years. 735 00:36:30,106 --> 00:36:34,689 (Vytenis speaking in foreign language) 736 00:37:05,942 --> 00:37:07,590 - [Narrator] 20 years later, 737 00:37:07,590 --> 00:37:09,420 when Vytautas turned the tables 738 00:37:09,420 --> 00:37:12,510 and besieged the Teutonic Knights' Marienwerder, 739 00:37:12,510 --> 00:37:14,512 the fight was no less bloody. 740 00:37:14,512 --> 00:37:15,810 (somber music) 741 00:37:15,810 --> 00:37:18,540 The siege opened with hails of missile fire 742 00:37:18,540 --> 00:37:20,433 from both defenders and besiegers. 743 00:37:21,570 --> 00:37:24,690 Both sides used traditional siege engines 744 00:37:24,690 --> 00:37:27,573 and, notably, many new gunpowder weapons. 745 00:37:29,010 --> 00:37:31,500 The Teutonic Knights rained crossbow bolts 746 00:37:31,500 --> 00:37:33,330 on the Lithuanians, 747 00:37:33,330 --> 00:37:35,310 but this would be a battle settled 748 00:37:35,310 --> 00:37:37,819 by a savage artillery duel. 749 00:37:37,819 --> 00:37:38,880 (dramatic music) 750 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:40,500 A chronicle describes 751 00:37:40,500 --> 00:37:44,400 that the Lithuanians lay great store in a large trebuchet 752 00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:46,650 which hammered down huge stone balls 753 00:37:46,650 --> 00:37:48,153 on the incomplete brick walls. 754 00:37:49,626 --> 00:37:52,110 The Teutonic gun commander responded 755 00:37:52,110 --> 00:37:55,203 and himself laid the shot which destroyed the trebuchet. 756 00:37:56,790 --> 00:37:58,722 His victory was brief. 757 00:37:58,722 --> 00:38:01,140 (explosion booms) 758 00:38:01,140 --> 00:38:04,500 Commander was beheaded by Lithuanian shot. 759 00:38:04,500 --> 00:38:07,320 The Teutonic Knights fought on a while longer, 760 00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:10,470 but in the end, they were forced to surrender the castle. 761 00:38:10,470 --> 00:38:15,123 The Grand Duke was victorious and became Vytautas the Great. 762 00:38:16,110 --> 00:38:19,590 The castle of Marienwerder disappeared from history, 763 00:38:19,590 --> 00:38:20,917 until perhaps now. 764 00:38:22,273 --> 00:38:26,856 (Vytenis speaking in foreign language) 765 00:38:54,711 --> 00:38:55,590 (somber music) 766 00:38:55,590 --> 00:38:57,150 - [Narrator] Time and tides mean 767 00:38:57,150 --> 00:38:59,580 that the river banks here are different now 768 00:38:59,580 --> 00:39:02,010 than in the late 14th century. 769 00:39:02,010 --> 00:39:05,580 It's likely there was a small island or natural cove, 770 00:39:05,580 --> 00:39:08,340 which the order exploited for its castle. 771 00:39:08,340 --> 00:39:11,940 The place would be ideal for reinforcement from its ships, 772 00:39:11,940 --> 00:39:14,880 which likely brought in every single brick used 773 00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:16,143 to build the defenses. 774 00:39:16,980 --> 00:39:21,227 The low water in 2015 revealed clues. 775 00:39:21,227 --> 00:39:25,810 (Vytenis speaking in foreign language) 776 00:41:02,232 --> 00:41:04,898 (tense music) 777 00:41:04,898 --> 00:41:07,140 - [Narrator] The Battle of Marienwerder is perhaps 778 00:41:07,140 --> 00:41:09,870 the greatest Lithuanian victory. 779 00:41:09,870 --> 00:41:11,910 Never again would the Teutonic Knights 780 00:41:11,910 --> 00:41:13,863 hold the rivers here at Kaunas. 781 00:41:15,030 --> 00:41:18,603 Never again would they penetrate as far east into Lithuania. 782 00:41:19,860 --> 00:41:22,860 Within the German Empire and the papacy, 783 00:41:22,860 --> 00:41:24,610 questions were asked of the order 784 00:41:25,542 --> 00:41:28,053 and its seemingly endless war in the Baltic. 785 00:41:29,670 --> 00:41:33,600 - By the time you get to the late 14th century 786 00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:38,370 with the conversion of the big powerful Duchy of Lithuania 787 00:41:38,370 --> 00:41:41,700 to Christianity, there's no more pagans to fight. 788 00:41:41,700 --> 00:41:43,530 But the Teutonic Order is still there, 789 00:41:43,530 --> 00:41:46,230 and it will be there for several more centuries. 790 00:41:46,230 --> 00:41:47,640 So what's it for? 791 00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:50,730 Its raison d'etre seems to have disappeared. 792 00:41:50,730 --> 00:41:55,560 Its main initial raison d'etre has disappeared. 793 00:41:55,560 --> 00:41:57,480 No more pagans to fight. 794 00:41:57,480 --> 00:41:59,940 - [Narrator] Just over 20 years later, 795 00:41:59,940 --> 00:42:02,820 some 50 miles west of Kaunas, 796 00:42:02,820 --> 00:42:05,050 the fate of the order was sealed. 797 00:42:05,050 --> 00:42:06,090 (weapons clattering) 798 00:42:06,090 --> 00:42:08,714 The Germans called it Tannenberg. 799 00:42:08,714 --> 00:42:10,173 The Poles, Grunwald. 800 00:42:11,010 --> 00:42:14,460 To the Lithuanians, Zalgiris. 801 00:42:14,460 --> 00:42:16,230 Teutonic troops faced 802 00:42:16,230 --> 00:42:19,233 an opposing allied Lithuanian and Polish army. 803 00:42:20,310 --> 00:42:22,710 - The Teutonic Knights overreached themselves 804 00:42:22,710 --> 00:42:25,410 and were destroyed at the Battle of Tannenberg 805 00:42:25,410 --> 00:42:29,280 by a combinations of Poles and Lithuanians and so on. 806 00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:31,770 But that was really a political misjudgment 807 00:42:31,770 --> 00:42:33,427 as much as a military failing. 808 00:42:33,427 --> 00:42:34,290 (dramatic music) 809 00:42:34,290 --> 00:42:36,490 - [Narrator] The Teutonic army was defeated. 810 00:42:37,380 --> 00:42:40,980 It was a crushing victory for the Lithuanians and Poles, 811 00:42:40,980 --> 00:42:43,110 the greatest ever inflicted 812 00:42:43,110 --> 00:42:45,450 on the Christian military order. 813 00:42:45,450 --> 00:42:48,600 - The end of the Teutonic Order is at the hands 814 00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:50,243 of fellow Christians. 815 00:42:50,243 --> 00:42:52,140 (somber music) 816 00:42:52,140 --> 00:42:55,080 - [Narrator] In 1929, the Teutonic Knights 817 00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:58,233 as a military order were once and for all dissolved. 818 00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:00,870 Yet the order remains today 819 00:43:00,870 --> 00:43:03,603 as a charitable organization in many countries. 820 00:43:04,980 --> 00:43:07,210 With the benefit of hindsight and history 821 00:43:08,160 --> 00:43:11,850 it can now perhaps be seen in perspective. 822 00:43:11,850 --> 00:43:16,253 - I think that the Teutonic Order is still important 823 00:43:17,400 --> 00:43:22,400 in the religious life of the people in Western Europe. 824 00:43:23,220 --> 00:43:24,840 For Polish people, 825 00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:29,840 Teutonic Order is not only a eternal enemy. 826 00:43:31,230 --> 00:43:35,728 Now we can say that Teutonic Order 827 00:43:35,728 --> 00:43:39,478 was a element of the medieval life in Europe. 828 00:43:40,739 --> 00:43:44,156 (somber music continues) 829 00:43:48,501 --> 00:43:51,251 (dramatic music)