The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem[2] (official names: Latin: Ordo domus Sanctae Mariae Theutonicorum Hierosolymitanorum; German: Orden der Brüder vom Deutschen Haus der Heiligen Maria in Jerusalem), commonly known as the Teutonic Order (German: Deutscher Orden, Deutschherrenorden or Deutschritterorden), is a Catholic religious order founded as a military order c. 1190 in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The Teutonic Order was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals. Its members have commonly been known as the Teutonic Knights, having a small voluntary and mercenary military membership, serving as a crusading military order for the protection of Christians in the Holy Land and the Baltics during the Middle Ages.
Purely religious since 1810, the Teutonic Order still confers limited honorary knighthoods.[3] The Bailiwick of Utrecht of the Teutonic Order, a Protestant chivalric order, is descended from the same medieval military order and also continues to award knighthoods and perform charitable work.[4]
-Wikipedia
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