er, and
two rival grand masters for several years divided the allegiance of
the knights, till Henry de Hohenlohe was recognized by both sides as
master. During his term of office successful war was carried on in
Courland and other neighboring countries, which resulted in the spread
of Christianity and the advance of the power of the order. At the same
time, the Teutonic order took part in the crusades in Palestine, and
shared with the Templars and Hospitalers the successes and reverses
there.

It would be tedious to enter upon all the details of the conflicts
undertaken by the order against the Prussians and others; suffice it
to say that the knights, though often defeated, steadily advanced
their dominion, and secured its permanence by the erection of
fortresses, the centres about which cities and towns ultimately arose.
Among these were Dantzic, Koenigsberg, Elbing, Marienberg, and Thorn.

By the year 1283 the order was in possession of all the country
between the Vistula and the Memel, Prussia, Courland, part of Livonia,
and Samogitia; commanderies were established everywhere to hold it in
subjection, and bishoprics and monasteries were founded for the spread
of Christianity among the heathen population. In the contests between
the Venetians and the Genoese, the Teutonic Knights aided the former,
and in 1291, after the loss of Acre, the grand master took up his
residence in Venice.

About this time the Pope originated a scheme for the union of the
three orders of the Hospitalers, the Templars, and the Teutonic
Knights, into one great order, purposing at the same time to engage
the Emperor and the kings of Christendom to lay aside all their
quarrels, and combine their forces for the recovery once for all of
the Holy Land. Difficulties without number, which proved insuperable,
prevented the realization of this scheme. Among these was the
objection raised by the Teutonic Knights, that while the Hospitalers
and Templars had but one object in view--the recovery of Palestine,
their order had to maintain its conquests in the North of Europe, and
to prosecute the spread of the true faith among the still heathen
nations.

In 1309, when all hope of the recovery of the Christian dominion in
the East had been abandoned, and no further crusades seemed probable,
it was determined to remove the seat of the grand master from Venice
to Marienberg. At a chapter of the order held there, further
regulations were agreed upon for th