Pursuing careers within the Order of St. John, in the Silesian part of its Bohemian priory, as a component of political strategies among the noble families in the region

Abstract

During the 12^th and 13^th centuries 7 rural commanderies were established in Silesia. These commanderies gradually lost their significance from the 14^th century onwards, due to the increasing importance of the urban clerical commanderies which began emerging in Silesia in the 13^th century. These rural houses were founded by knightly families of local origin (for example Tyniec Wielki, Maków, Strzegom – a commandery which had a combined rural-urban character), the Piast dynasty (the commandery in Mała Oleśnica, acquired by the Hospital after the dissolution of the Templar order and the short-lived house in Cieplice) and finally holdings which were formed through the division of previously existing properties of the order (Łosiów-Zawadno, Piława). There is however, a complete lack of commanderies founded by families of German origin which had settled in Silesia since the second half of the 13^th century.

The donor families of the houses in Tyniec Wielki and Strzegom supported the continued functioning of these holdings. A number of family members from the donor family entered the commandery in Tyniec Wielki. The family probably treated entry to the commandery as a source of prestige. The Piast dukes Siemowit of Cieszyn and Rupert of Lubin who entered the commandery in Mala Oleśnica, could have also shared this motivation.

The names of 64 commanders of the discussed commanderies are known from the period between the 14^th and 15^th century. Of these 31 originated, most likely, from knightly families, while 11 from burgess families. Around 24 of the commanders were members of the settler families of German origin despite the fact that none of these had funded any of the commanderies in Silesia. Only four came from local, Slavic families. This indicates that membership in the order of St. John was a good way of building prestige and social standing for German families settling in Silesia.