People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 268 Status of the Knights

Although I have some doubts about the sloppy allegiance ceremony, I should at least invite a priest...

Oh yes.

Orderly knights are also priests.

That's fine.

The German bumpkins were not as particular as the Gauls, and soon swore allegiance to Lothar in turn.

And Lothar also transformed the ten great knights, including Heberland, into knights of the order.

After Hiberland resigned as grand master, he became commander. He is no longer a "leader" and can be transformed into a knight of the order.

Teutonic Knights is the abbreviation of Latin, and its full name is "Knights of St. Mary's Hospital of Germany in Jerusalem", which has distinctive national characteristics.

Their slogan is: Help, Redeem, Guard.

The current Teutonic Knights have just transformed from a "field hospital organization" into a formal "arms decoration association".

Therefore, their reputation in the Holy Land is not very great, and they have not been brought into the Pope's direct jurisdiction. At the same time, they have not been granted many tax-free privileges and franchises.

Because religious organizations are forbidden to engage in business and trade, without a franchise, they can't even do business, and all income can only rely on "combat seizures" and "seeking donations."

In other words, the organizational structure of the Teutonic Knights during this period was quite loose, and had not yet been on the right track like their counterparts in the Temple and the Knights Hospitaller.

The existing combat forces of the Teutonic Knights can be divided into two categories.

The Brotherhood of Knights and the Brotherhood of Priests.

Compared with the other two major knight orders, the Teutonic Knights lack the sergeant class.

Members of the Brotherhood of Knights must abide by the creed of "poverty, chastity, obedience".

Do not leave the residence at will, and do not communicate frequently with secular people.

Rigorous military training and four prayers per day are followed by four times of singing every night.

This strict militarized training makes them highly disciplined.

But at this time the Teutonic Knights were still very poor, and members of the Knight Brotherhood included a large number of impoverished landless knights and citizens who had no knight titles at all.

The latter often need to pay a sum of offerings to the knight in exchange for the opportunity to serve as a knight's attendant.

This makes their combat effectiveness very limited.

The lack of a sergeant class is also due to the poverty of the Teutonic Knights.

Even the more than 300 members of the Brotherhood of Knights don't have complete helmets and armors, let alone a team of sergeants who specialize in infantry combat.

In fact, many members of the Brotherhood of Knights did not own a horse and fought on foot.

The only supplies they could receive from the Knights were bread, water, a burqa with a black cross on a white background, and a saber.

That is to say, armor, helmets, war horses, these expensive supplies, the Knights are not responsible for solving them.

Therefore, during this period, the Brotherhood of Knights can be said to include two classes of knights and sergeants.

Relatively speaking, the brotherhood of priests is subject to much less constraints. Their main responsibilities are religious and hospital affairs, but in wartime, they also go to the battlefield as field doctors or armed warriors.

The "Grand Knight Council" founded by Lothar was clearly designated as the leadership of the Knight Order, which is in the interests of the majority of knights.

Now that he is his own, Lothar generously donated a church in Hebron to the Knights, which is under the jurisdiction of the Brotherhood of Priests and serves as a temporary residence.

He also stated on the spot that they would take out the inventory in the arsenal and distribute it to the Knights. At the same time, it was expressly stipulated that the Knights must ensure that all members of the Brotherhood of Knights have complete equipment and mounts.

The Council of Great Knights also immediately passed this clause.

The crowd was filled with joy, but because of the current situation, they did not dare to celebrate.

They are willing to defect to Lothar. To put it bluntly, isn't it because Lothar's subordinates, even those second-rate recruits, can be equipped with armor, so they are so rich.

This kind of treatment is only available to the Temple and the Knights of the Hospital.

After giving the sweet dates, Lothar is going to slap him too.

He coughed lightly, stood under the dragon head statue, and said in an unquestionable tone: "You should know that the mission of the Saint Lazarus Redemption Order I funded and formed is very similar to that of the Teutonic Knights." Like, so I want to incorporate the Brotherhood of Priests into the Order of Saint Lazarus."

Some knights showed hesitation on their faces. Anyone who saw the new grand master would feel puzzled that he would cut off his arm as soon as he took over.

But seeing that the ten knights of the "Great Knight Council" were not moved at all, they suppressed their emotions and did not ask any questions.

Hibland took the lead and said, "This is a good thing. The knights are in charge of fighting, and the priests are in charge of healing. They each perform their duties."

"Yes, we use swords and spears to promote the glory of God, and priests use the Bible and medical skills to promote the glory of God."

"The priests of the Saint Lazarus Order have superb medical skills. It would be great if they could teach our priest brothers."

"I have long felt that the medical skills of the Brotherhood of Priests are very poor. Last time I just said that I had a headache, they were going to cut my skull with a saw."

Soon, this decision was unanimously approved by the Grand Knights Council. The rest of the people had doubts at first, but under the rhythm of the Grand Knights Council, they also confusedly believed that this was in their own interests.

Hiblander asked: "Grand Master, since the Brotherhood of Priests has merged with the Order of the Redemption of Saint Lazarus, how should we manage property and fiefs?"

"You don't have to worry about this. Those belonging to the Knights are still under the jurisdiction of the Knights. As for the future-the two orders will inevitably be integrated together. At that time, the guardian knights of the Order of St. Lazarus will also belong Under the management of your Grand Council of Knights."

Hiberland said quickly, "I understand."

Splitting off the financial rights of the Teutonic Knights is the last shackle that Lothar put on the Teutonic Knights.

Historically, the Teutonic Knights operated territories in the Baltic Sea, developed commerce and trade, and their annual income could even reach ten times that of the British royal family in the same period.

Sufficient financial resources made the Teutonic Knights a dominant power in Eastern Europe. They defeated the Poles one after another and lost their territories.

The same goes for the Templar and the Hospitallers of this period.

The Knights Templar possessed wealth that even the King of Gaul would have envied.

This is how Black Friday came about. The King of Gaul couldn't solve the debt, so he solved the debtor's urgency.

Because of their strong financial support, the two major knight orders are able to have such a terrorist force that is not a kingdom, but is better than a kingdom.

Lothar said again: "Commander Hebronland, you go back to the station and wait, I will send the guards of Hebron, and Andreas will prepare sufficient supplies for you, as soon as the weapons, mounts, and equipment are available as soon as possible. Distributed to your hands."

Hiberlander first expressed his gratitude, and then asked: "Grand regiment commander, how many people should we dispatch in this battle?"

"All members of the Brotherhood of Knights are dispatched. At the same time, I will also send knights from the Order of the Redemption of Saint Lazarus to contact you. I hope you will have a good time on this expedition, because they are also your future brothers."

Hiberland respectfully accepted the order.

Leave Lothar's mansion.

Immediately, some knights couldn't hold back their doubts and asked: "Grand Commander, if we do this, are we still the knights who are only responsible to His Majesty the Pope?"

Hibland snorted coldly: "It sounds good to be responsible only to the Pope, but how can the Pope value us?"

"All members of our Knights are warriors who are willing to keep the poor and are very loyal to the cause of the Crusades, but as the 'former' grand master, how can I bear to look at them, using simple, or even no weapons at all? Armor, to fight against the sharp swords and guns of the heretics?"

"Lenor, courage and faith will not make us safe from the sword, nor will we be fed."

"Don't forget our original intention - it is just to provide a guarantee for the German brothers, so that they will not be reduced to unhealed wounds, living on the streets, and becoming gangrene beggars."

(End of this chapter)