Der Verlust der Besitzungen des Deutschen Ordens in Italien am Ende des 15. und zu Beginn des 16. Jahrhunderts

Abstract

Loss of Possessions of the Teutonic Order in Italy (End of the 15th – Beginning of the 16th Century)

Between 1466 and 1526, the Teutonic Order was dispossessed of most of its properties in Italy. Those, created mostly during the 13th century, consisted in lands and buildings in more than hundred localities and produced relevant monetary incomes, so that their loss can be considered as an important economic and political defeat of the Order. My paper examines the issue, tracing the modalities and reasons of this loss, focalizing on three points: 1) the internal difficulties and intrigues of the Teutonic Order, specially the opposition between the Order’s Great Master and the Master of Germany; 2) the intrigues at the papal court, considering the possessions of the big transnational congregations as ecclesiastical benefices and willing to use them to support it’s foreign politics, like its relations to Aragonese Crown and to the Republic of Venice; 3) last but not least, the role of individuals, like the futur bishop of Riga Stefan Grube, the commander of the Sicilian province Heinrich Hoemeister or the members of the Venetian Lippomano family, who managed through intrigues to take the control of the Order’s possessions and contributed to their expropriation. A general political and religious context will also be observed, with as conclusion the affirmation that the loss of the possessions of the Teutonic Order in Italy was not caused by a reform of the Church or of the Teutonic Order but by the absence of such a reform.