erward he followed Luther's
advice, and married the princess Dorothea of Denmark. Many of the
knights followed his example. The annals and archives of the order
were transferred to the custody of the King of Poland, and were lost
or destroyed during the troubles that subsequently came upon that
kingdom.

A considerable number of the knights refused to change their religion
and abandon their order, and in 1527 assembled in chapter at
Mergentheim to consult as to their plans for the future. They elected
Walter de Cronberg grand master, whose appointment was ratified by the
Emperor, Charles V. In the religious wars that followed, the knights
fought on the side of the Emperor, against the Protestants. In 1595
the commandery of Venice was sold to the Patriarch and was converted
into a diocesan seminary; and in 1637 the commandery of Utrecht was
lost to the order. In 1631 Mergentheim was taken by the Swedes under
General Horn.

In the war against the Turks during this period some of the knights,
true to the ancient principles of their order, took part on the
Christian side, both in Hungary and in the Mediterranean. In the wars
of Louis XIV, the order lost many of its remaining commanderies, and
by an edict of the King, in 1672, the separate existence of the order
was abolished in his dominions, and its possessions were conferred on
the Order of St. Lazarus.

When Prussia was erected into a kingdom, in 1701, the order issued a
solemn protest against the act, asserting its ancient rights over that
country. The order maintained its existence in an enfeebled condition
till 1809, when it was formally abolished by Napoleon. In 1840 Austria
instituted an honorary order called by the same name, and in 1852
Prussia revived it under the designation of the Order of St. John.

PHILIP OF FRANCE WINS THE FRENCH DOMAINS OF THE ENGLISH KINGS

A.D. 1202-1204

KATE NORGATE

When Richard "the Lion-hearted" died in 1199, he left no son
to follow him on the throne of England and to claim
possession of the vast French fiefs of the Plantagenet
family. These fiefs, which covered more than half of France
and made their undisputed lord more powerful than the French
King himself, became at once a source of strife.

John, nicknamed "Lackland," the youngest brother of Richard,
succeeded him in England and in Normandy without dispute.
But their little nephew Arthur was already Count of