Traditions of burials in the Teutonic Order

The Christian belief in the life of the soul after the physical death of man and the resurrection that would take place at the end of time was the basic premise for the members of the Teutonic Order at the beginning of its history in the possibility of building a spiritual union between the living and the dead. The former, having formed the Order as an offshoot of the Church, as a community of militant Christians on earth, could support the souls of the already dead, who were in purgatory awaiting the Last Judgment. At the same time, the living believed that completely pure souls of believers who had already found salvation in heaven could intercede for them. The exception to this natural-supernatural and heavenly-earthly relative reality were the souls of the damned, receiving punishment in hell.

Operating in such a mental structure, the members of the Order understood their mission as part of the universal salvation that would be realized in the Second Coming of Christ. This mission, of which armed struggle was an essential part and in which the biblical Maccabees were a model for the Order’s brothers, sometimes required martyrdom (Arnold, 2011). This was the path to salvation and paradise. Thus, the tripartite reality described above was the reality of the Teutonic Order, from the point of view of its living members.

 

Funeral Prayer - Traditions and Practices

The belief in communion with the saved found its expression in the rich and varied manifestation of the cult of saints and relics, considered to be the remains of their earthly life, the conviction of communion with those suffering in purgatory in anticipation of salvation formed another space of religious activity, including the liturgy called memoria - prayerful remembrance (Angenendt, 1997/2009).

The act of remembrance accompanies the departure of a brother of the Order from this world to the next. The attitude towards death in the Order, as in other religious communities and in Latin culture in general, was the result of Christian faith and teaching in the field of eschatology, the concept of man as a spiritual-corporeal being and the broad cultural phenomenon of the taboo of death. Communication with the soul and body of the deceased was supposed to prepare him spiritually for purification in purgatory and materially for resurrection at the time of the Second Coming.

The burial of a deceased brother was an act of mercy towards the body, which all the brethren were obliged to undertake. As a corporation exempt from episcopal jurisdiction, the Order had the right to bury both its own deceased members and those who belonged to the corporation in its own cemeteries. Little is known about the location of the cemeteries on the territory of the Order's castles and houses, and this will be discussed below.

In some cases, the surviving brothers were able to refuse the burial of a deceased member of the Order. Such circumstances were few. According to the rules of the Order, this applied to those brothers who hid the fact of owning property, thereby violating the vow of poverty. Then their bodies could be thrown into the field. If this offense was discovered after the funeral, the body of the deceased brother was removed from the grave and taken outside the burial grounds. All other brothers were buried in a Christian manner in a cemetery specially designated for this purpose. Even those who died while serving a one-year sentence (for crimes of the third degree) were buried "with a cross, like others," i.e., as members of the Order. Their souls, like everyone else, received prayerful support from their living brothers.

In the Order, which was closely connected with the Cistercian tradition through the Knights of St. John and the Knights Templar, memorial prayer for the dead was seen as a practice of charity for the soul, although it was not as strongly developed as in the earlier Benedictine traditions. The Order's statutes clearly stated that "with regard to the dead, who have already departed before the judgment of the Lord and therefore need help to come to them quickly, the brothers should take care that they do not wait long for the help that they (the living) are to give them" (Die Statuten, p.36).

The practice of praying for the souls of the dead took two main forms. The first concerned prayers for the recently deceased, whether prayers said at the corpse or on the death of a fellow. According to the "Rules" of the statute, after the death of each member of the Order, whether he held any office or not, every clerical brother of the castle/house in which the deceased had lived before his death was to recite for his soul the funeral prayer from the order's breviary and 100 "Our Fathers", and every lay brother of that castle was to recite the "Our Fathers" 100 times with the help of the rosary:

“Therefore we decree that every cleric brother who pronounces the funeral office, as prescribed in the Order’s breviary, must say the Lord’s Prayer 100 times for the souls of his brothers” (Die Statuten, p. 36).

 

 

The laws of Grand Master Dietrich von Altenburg of 1335 extended the prayers for deceased members of the Order. They provided that in the event of the death of a brother in a given province or ballet, a Mass for the deceased and an office for the deceased were to be celebrated in all houses where it was known, and if it was a feast day, the Mass was to be celebrated the following day. On the other hand, if two or more members of the Order died on the same day, a memorial liturgy was to be celebrated in all houses of the ballet/province for each brother separately, together with a separate vigil, while each lay brother was to say 100 Our Fathers for each of the deceased confreres of his convent/house.

At the General Chapter in Frankfurt in 1292, the number of prayers for deceased leaders of the Order was increased in the "Rules" of the Statute: 100 "Our Father" and 100 "Ave Maria" were to be recited by all the knightly brothers and sariant brothers on the day when the news of the death of the master reached their respective castle, and each lay brother was to sing or read one Mass for the deceased for his repose and to hold a vigil with nine readings (Die Statuten, pp. 140, 143). In the Acts of Grand Master Luther von Braunschweig around 1331-1335, the prayers of the lay brothers for the soul of the deceased master were limited to only one hundred "Our Father".

The second area of ​​prayerful practice for deceased Order brothers concerned their commemoration after a certain period of time had passed since their death. This commemoration consisted of the so-called anniversary , that is, an annual commemoration on the day of death. According to the statutory norms prescribed in the Customs, all deceased Masters were to be commemorated annually. The commemoration/memoria was to be held at the resting place of their remains. It included a solemn sung mass for the soul of the deceased and a vigil with three nocturnes (i.e. nine psalms and nine readings). If the body of a Grand Master was for some reason buried in a place where the Order did not have a house, such as Poppo von Ostern, who was buried in Breslau, the Landkomthur geographically closest to the site was obliged to recommend a memorial service at one of the convents under its jurisdiction. In all other Order castles and houses, the anniversary of the Master’s death was to be celebrated with a mass and a vigil dedicated to him. Short notes in calendars and, eventually, obituaries were used to carry out the annual memoria. Some Masters were almost completely “erased from memory” because of their actions against the Order, such as Gerhard von Mahlberg and Gottfried von Hohenlohe (Arnold, 2011).

 

Poppo von Ostern - held the position of Grand Master from 1252 to 1256, then retired. He died presumably on November 6, 1267. According to one version, he was buried in Regensburg, where he lived after his retirement. In the Mallersdorf monastery in Lower Bavaria, in support of this theory, there is a tablet stating that "Bruder Popp. von Osternoe" is buried there (Monumenta Boica XV, s.274-5). According to another version - in Breslau, in the Cathedral of St. Vincent and St. James, next to Prince Henry II, who died in the Battle of Legnica (Toeppen, 1853).

Gerhard von Malberg - from 1240 to 1244 he held the position of Grand Master, as a result of internal struggles in the Order he was dismissed. The time and place of burial are unknown, his name was erased from the history of the Order, the only mention of him is the obituary of Alden Biesen (Arnold, 1998; Perlbach, 1877).

Gottfried von Hohenlohe - Grand Master from 1297 to 1303, dismissed by decision of the Chapter. His name was erased from the history of the Order, but was later restored and even appears in the Dusburg Chronicle (SRP I, p.208).

 

A memorial prayer in the form of a vigil with one nocturne (three psalms and three readings) was also recited for the deceased brothers of the Order in the castle/house in which they died. For this purpose, each Order house had to have its own obituary. To date, a total of eight known obituaries (or fragments thereof) have survived from seven Order houses located in the territory of the Empire (Marburg, Mergentheim, Alden-Biesen, Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen, Ulm, Hitzkirch and Aachen). There is reason to believe that a common, central obituary of the Order was also composed in the second quarter of the 14th century in the main Order castle in Marienburg, but it has not survived, nor have any evidence of it (Arnold, 2011).

An important part of the commemoration of the members of the Order were the prayers for the brothers who had fallen in battles against the pagans. The fact that in the 14th and 15th centuries they were listed by name and anonymously in the obituaries of the Order houses located in the territory of the Empire, for example those who fell in the Battle of the Durbe in 1260 and in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 in the obituary of Alden-Biesen, those who fell in Accon, Prussia and Livonia in the obituary of Mergentheim (Arnold, 2011), and that there was a custom, not recorded in writing (as a statutory norm), according to which their commemorations were also held outside the conventions to which they belonged at the time of their death, indicates the existence of a sense of community. The special memory of brothers who died in battle informed the living that the armed struggle waged by the Order also had a spiritual component, which strengthened the conviction that the military mission of the corporation was a mission carried out within the framework of a universal saving history.

The remembrance extended not only to the brothers of the Order, but also to the half-brothers, and to all deceased friends and benefactors of the Order who had made some pious deed or testamentary disposition in its favour. This took the same form as in the case of the brothers of the Order: "Every lay brother shall say 30 Our Fathers a day at the appointed time for the benefactors, the members of the family and all the friends of the house who are still alive, and the same number for the dead. But this (must not) include the hasty recitation of this (prayer) Our Father." The greatest benefactors were mentioned by name in all the houses of the Order. Among this group were: Frederick, Duke of Swabia and his brother Emperor Henry VI, Leopold VI Babenberg Duke of Austria, Conrad I Duke of Masovia, Sambor II Duke of Pomerania and Lübeck, and with them also the burghers of Lübeck and Bremen. At the General Chapter in Accona around 1264, the norm was recalled according to which a memorial prayer in accordance with the anniversary – fervent and heartfelt – was to be recited for all donors to the Order in the churches and chapels where the service was carried out by the priest-brothers of the Order convent donated by the deceased during his lifetime, as well as in the Order house itself, to which the donation was made. This norm was confirmed by Grand Master Dietrich von Altenburg around 1335. At the General Chapter in Mainz in 1289, full participation in the memorial was also granted to the half-brothers, and on the basis of the bull of Innocent VI of 1358, also to some sisters of the Order.

 

Burial - customs and ceremonies

The Statutes recommended that each Order house should have a white cloth with a black cross, which was to be used during funerals (Die Statuten, p.71). The "traditions" regulated matters related to the death of the Grand Master. After his death, he was replaced by a locum tenens/statthalter, who took upon himself the great seal of the Order. The remaining members of the Order were obliged to obey him during the Order's "Sede Vacante". All the belongings of the deceased were to be distributed to the needy, and one poor person was to be fed for a year. In the case of the death of a brother who was not a master, this period was reduced to 40 days - "The house in which the brother died must give to the poor the best clothes of the deceased brother and for 40 days the food and drink that are provided for the brother, for alms frees from death and does not allow the soul that has gone into oblivion to suffer for a long time" (Die Statuten, pp. 90-91). The duties of the memorial prayer in connection with the death of a brother of the order are set out in the "Rules" (chapter 10) and described above. At the same time, the Statute stipulates that no brother should bring any other sacrifice at any other time of the year (Die Statuten, pp. 36-38).

Very little is known about the rituals associated with the death and burial of lay brothers. Not a single description of such ceremonies has survived for medieval Order Prussia. The available data, obtained from inventory and accounting books, preserved only in fragments, are extremely scanty and disjointed.

The Marienburg treasurer's book provides information on some of the expenses associated with the death and burial of Grand Master Conrad von Jungingen, who died on 30 March 1407. Two stones of wax were purchased for candles "burning in the mercy of God" (MTB, p. 425). People were paid to pray for the soul of the Grand Master. Generous donations were made to monasteries and hospitals in Prussia, as well as to the Corpus Christi Church in Poznań, where one of the clergy was to pray for the soul of Master Conrad for a whole year. His successor, Ulrich von Jungingen, donated two marks to the poor on the first anniversary of his death (MTB, p. 474), and on the second anniversary he bought a stone of wax for candles that were to burn (probably in the main church of Marienburg Castle) in memory of the deceased (MTB, p. 536).

The burial of the highest dignitaries of the Order was preceded by a special funeral mass, celebrated in the Church of St. Anne. It was conducted according to a specific form, during which special liturgical objects and attributes were used. According to sources, such a special mass was celebrated for Konrad von Erlichshausen on November 10, 1449 (GStA PK, XX. HA, OF, No. 17, p. 399). The body of the deceased was carried to the church or grave in a procession. At the head of such a procession was carried a wooden cross, kept in the sacristy of the castle church (MA, p. 127). This is also recorded in the inventories of the Marienburg bell master, who was in charge of the church property. The ceremony used a white cloth with the master's cross or the usual Teutonic cross, which was also kept in the castle churches in case of the death of the Grand Master or one of the brothers. The cloth was intended to serve as a shroud for the deceased (MA, s.129, 130, 133).

Similar cloths (shrouds) appear in inventories of other castles of the Order: Graudenz (two in 1413 and two in 1414 - GAB, s.599, 601), Schönsee (three in 1416 and four in 1421 - GAB, s.416, 418), Memel (one in 1420 - GAB, s.308), Schwetz (one each in 1427, 1434, 1438 and 1440 - GAB, s.623, 625, 627, 629, 631), Danzig (two kerchiefs in 1428 - GAB, s.704), Osterode (three in 1437, three in 1449 - GAB, s.311, 337), Elbing (four in 1440 - GAB, s.94), Brandenburg (four in 1447 and 1452 - GAB, s.237, 241), Gollub (two in 1449 - GAB, s.408), Rehden (one in 1399 - GAB, s.581), Lochstedt (two in the 16th century - GAB, s.52), Preußisch Holland (one in 1508 and one in 1518 - GAB, s.109, 111), Rastenburg (one in 1508 - GAB, s.185), Labiau (one in 1513 - GAB, s.297). Little is known about the shape of these textiles. The vast majority of these were white shrouds, decorated with a black cross or gold thread. Only in Rastenburg in 1508 is there a mention of a green one. They were made of silk or linen and decorated with velvet. The most likely use of these shrouds was as a ceremonial shroud for deceased brothers (Ratajczak, 2007).

Hand towels were also used when seeing off the brothers on their final journey (though it is unclear for what purpose). It is known that chalices were placed on them during the liturgy. Such a towel is found in Marienburg, in the inventory of the bell master (1437 - MA, s.127), as well as in other castles: Christburg (1434 - GAB, s.139), Osterode (1437, 1449 - GAB, s.331, 337), Bratiaan (1438, 1439 - GAB, s.371, 372), Elbing (1440 - GAB, s.94). The towels were of different colors. In Elbing there was a red one, and in Schlochau - a yellow one, which was used in front of the altar (GAB, s.655).

In the chapel of St. Anne in Marienburg, an ornate and two komzhi for services for the dead were kept (1394, 1398 - MA, s.124). Similar liturgical vestments were also used in other castles: Osterode (one linen ornate and two komzhi in 1411 - GAB, s.327), Mewe (two ornates in 1416 and 1422 - GAB, s.743, 745), Danzig (one woolen ornate in 1418 and 1420 - GAB, s.695, 698), Ragnit (one white ornate in 1419, 1425, 1432, 1444, 1447 - GAB, s.276, 280, 284, 291, 293), Christburg (three white ornates in 1434 - GAB, s.139), Brandenburg (two white ornates in 1437 – GAB, s.232), Elbing (an ornate and two komzhi in 1440 – GAB, s.94), Bratiann (two komzhi in 1442 and one capa in 1447 – GAB, s.373, 374), Rhein (one white ornate in 1516 – GAB, s.201). The inventory of the castle in Schlochau for 1437 records an ornate intended for the liturgy for the dead and during Lent, and two silk komzhi (GAB, s.666). Other information, also from the inventory of this castle, states that the funeral ornate was also used for morning mass (GAB, s.655). One of the ornates from the 15th century from the Church of St. Mary in Danzig is currently kept in the collection of the Gdańsk National Museum.

 

Ornate or casula (Latin  casula - "cloak") is an element of the liturgical vestments of a Catholic or Lutheran cleric. The main liturgical vestments of a bishop and a priest. An embroidered chasuble, without sleeves, covering the cleric's body from all sides. The color varies depending on the holiday.

Komzha, or sticharion (Latin:  superpelliceum ) is an element of liturgical vestments in Catholicism. Komzha is a vestment made of white fabric, reaching to the middle of the thigh. Komzha is worn at services by non-ordained clergymen, as well as lay acolytes.

 

 

In general, information about funeral ceremonies in the Order and the liturgical paraphernalia used is very scarce. Even the death of the masters did not contribute to the holding of magnificent ceremonies. According to the tradition of the Order, it was a farewell to a brother, which left an insignificant trace in the sources.

 

Burial sites and material forms of memory

The surviving material relics, such as tombstones belonging to the brothers of the Order, confirm the presence of a cemetery both within the premises of the Order's house and elsewhere. Marienburg is the only documented case of monks being buried within a fortress – the parcham at the Church of St. Anne was where the brothers of the Marienburg convent were buried (Jóźwiak/Trupinda 2007/2011). Some sources also testify to the practice of burying monks outside the monastery. This was the case in Thorn, where some deceased brothers were buried in the church in Stary Thorn, located 11 km from the Order's castle. At least since the 14th century, the practice of burying some members of the Order in parish churches, both those under the patronage of the Order and others, as well as in hospital churches, is known. These could also be churches of other orders, for example, members of the Danzig Convent were buried in one of the choir chapels of the Danzig church of the Dominican monastery (Azzola, 1992).

 

The chapel in the Dominican monastery in Danzig is repeatedly mentioned as the burial place of the brothers of the German Order.

By letter of 27 July 1446, Prior Heinrich Münbecke, Pauwel Kruse, Hermann Trippenmacher and other brothers of the Dominican monastery of St. Nicholas in Danzig, at the request of Grand Master Conrad von Erlichshausen, permitted a secular priest to celebrate daily masses for the brothers of the Order at their traditional burial place - the chapel of the Dominican monastery (GStA PK, XX. HA, Perg.-Urkk., Schieblade LIV, Nr. 23a).

 

 

Already at the beginning of the summer of 1446, the Order official in charge of customs duties and taxes in Danzig (Pfundmeister) Winrich von Manstedt instituted a mass for the repose of the deceased brothers of the Order, celebrated at the altar in the burial chapel, as well as a position for a lay priest, for whom he determined an annual salary of 9 marks. On July 10, Master Konrad von Erlichshausen approved this institution and agreed with the Dominicans that a morning mass would be celebrated daily in the chapel by a secular priest and 4 times a year a vigil and morning mass by the Dominicans.

And so in the letter cited the Dominicans, at the request of the Grand Master, pledged to provide a priest who would serve mass every morning in the chapel, near the choir of the monastery church, where the burial place of the brothers of the Order was located. And also to hold a memorial service with a night vigil for the deceased brothers of the Order four times a year.

 

The Order's chronicler Nikolai von Eroshin, who wrote his chronicle in the first half of the 14th century, mentions one knight-brother, Heinrich von Bondorf, who died in 1330 during the siege of the fortress in Wyszogród  and was buried in the monastery in Kulm (SRP I, s.618). There is information about the burials of knight-brothers in the parish churches in Osterode (Burchard von Mansvelt, died in 1379), Brandenburg (Günther von Hohenstein, died in 1380) and Neumark (Kuno von Liebenstein, died in 1392).   In Königsberg, in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, was buried the Grand Marshal Henning Schindekopf, who died in the Battle of Rudau, and in the Hospital Church of the Holy Spirit in Elbing was buried the Grand Hospitaller Ortulf von Trier. It is known that the Danzig Komtur David von Kammerstein was buried in front of the entrance to the chapter hall in the Cistercian monastery in Oliwa (Kronika oliwska, p. 93). Therefore, it is highly likely that the tombstones found during post-war archaeological research in the area of ​​the former Order castle in Gdansk are not dedicated to local brothers of the Order, which has already been stated in the literature on this subject (Azzola, 1992; Dobry, 2005).

 

 

Only a few tombstones of the Order's brothers have survived to this day in their original form; a few are known from descriptions or engravings. Given their small number, it is difficult to draw too far-reaching conclusions about their appearance and content. At the same time, more information is available about the burials and tombstones of the Grand Masters. Until the 1340s, the Masters of the Order were buried in various places, wherever they happened to die. From 1341, their remains were buried in the Chapel of St. Anne in Marienburg Castle, although not all subsequent heads of the corporation were buried here until the mid-15th century (Jóźwiak/Trupinda, 2007/2011; Arnold, 2011). Several Grand Masters were also buried in the Königsberg Cathedral.

The first Master to be buried in Prussia was Siegfried von Feuchtwangen, who was buried in the cathedral of the Kulm bishopric, the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Kulmsee. "In that year, on the third nona of March, Brother Siegfried von Feuchtwangen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, died in the chapter house in Marienburg and was buried in Kulmensee , in the cathedral church" (SRP I, p.176). The exact location of his burial is unknown, but fragments of the Master's tombstone have survived to this day and are used as steps to the chapel of Blessed Jutta of Sangerhausen, the patron saint of Prussia, who is also buried in the Kulmsee Cathedral . Presumably, Master von Feuchtwangen was buried next to Blessed Jutta in the right nave of the cathedral (Arnold, 1998; Jurkowlaniec, 2009).

In 1335, Master Luther von Braunschweig died in Stuhm and became the first Master to be buried in the Königsberg Cathedral, which was still under construction at the time. This was his last will and it was Master Luther who contributed to the construction of the Königsberg Cathedral and the Chapel of St. Anne in Marienburg. His burial place was covered with a tombstone made of Gotland limestone with the following text: "Brother Luther, son of the Duke of Braunschweig, was Grand Master of the Hospital of the Most Holy (Mary of the Teutonic House) for 4 years. He died in the year of the Lord 1335 on the 14th Kalends of May" (Steinbrecht, 1916). There was also a niche in the southern wall of the high choir with the allegedly buried remains of the Grand Master. In this niche there was a recumbent figure of Luther von Braunschweig, created in the 16th century by a Königsberg master. The figure of the master was made of linden and painted - a red tunic and a pillbox cap, a blue pillow and a white order cloak with a black cross. In the niche there was an epitaph: "Here lie the bones of the founder of the cathedral Luther, Duke of Braunschweig, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, who died in 1335" (Helms, 2009; Jurkowlaniec, 2009).

 

 

The first of the Masters to be buried in the Chapel of St. Anne of Marienburg Castle was Dietrich von Altenburg. A total of 10 of them were buried in the crypt of the Grand Masters in the Chapel of St. Anne between 1341 and 1450. Only the gravestones of Dietrich von Altenburg, Heinrich Dusemer and Heinrich von Plauen have survived to this day. However, modern archaeological research has shown that Master von Plauen was buried in the crypt of the church of Marienwerder Castle. Also buried there were Masters Werner von Orseln and Ludolf König von Wattzau, whose gravestone has been preserved in the cathedral to this day (Grupa/Kozłowski, 2009).

 

 

The inscription on the tombstone of Dietrich von Altenburg indicates that the Masters buried under it are the "master of the slab", and it is believed that it originally covered the opening of a crypt/crypt in the eastern part of St. Anne's Church. However, the next Grand Master also received his own tablet, which was already provided with visual elements in addition to the legend. Thus, Master Heinrich von Dusemer is depicted in monastic robes, with a sword and a shield decorated with a cross against the background of an arcade, accompanied by a pair of angels. However, this slab could also have been made as a so-called symbolic tombstone, in memory of the deceased, whose ashes, like those of all subsequent Grand Masters, were buried in the crypt covered by the slab of Dietrich von Altenburg. The slab of Master Heinrich von Plauen stands out - modest in form, simple, the inscription on which simply reports the death of the brother of Heinrich von Plauen, without mentioning his previous or last position (at the time of his death he was a pfleger of the castle of Lochstedt).

 

 

With the loss of Marienburg and the transfer of the Order's capital to Königsberg, the cathedral on Kneiphof Island became the final resting place of the Grand Masters. A total of five Masters were laid to rest in the cathedral's crypt, and the last Grand Master, who became Duke during the secularization of the Order and the recognition of vassalage from Poland, Albrecht von Brandenburg-Ansbach, was buried at the eastern wall of the high choir (Dethlefsen, 1912).

 

 

The presented material, although rather meager, allows us to state that the methods of perpetuating the memory of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia changed along with changes in the community itself and the mentality of the brothers.

 

 

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