Greenhill, 2003, £ 18.95, ISBN 1-85367-535-0, 290 pages, hardback

Urban may have stumbled into studying Teutonic knights by accident, but this clever and capable author writes a brilliant overview of 500 years of its political and military history. He works all the angles as the balance of power shifts between secular kingdoms, the Papacy, and the Knights Order.

The Battle of Tannenberg (1410) may be the event most remembered in Teutonic Knights’ history, but Urban starts well before that with the Order’s creation in Jerusalem. Evidently, the other chivalric orders running hospitals cared for British and French first, and Germans second. Hence, Duke Friedrich of Hohenstaufen approved of the idea of a new order set forth by “middle-class crusaders,” gathered additional nods of noble support, and the Teutonic order won the approval of Pope Celestine III.

As befitting an order of the Crusades, “the German Order” took vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience in order to care for their own wounded and sick and slaughter all the heathens. Although started in the Middle East, the focus of the Order shifted to other havens of heathendom--Prussia, Poland, Lithuania, and the Baltic States’ area.

Urban follows the wax and wane of Order influence and effectiveness with commendable prose and pacing. The 15 maps show operational areas quite nicely, helping out those of us who don’t know where Ermland, Sudovia, or Samogitia are located. Some photos of castles and paintings are included.

The battle descriptions are brief and of a general nature--which is about the best you can hope for with fragmentary and vague primary sources. Tannenburg gets a longer treatment, but of note is the disparity of the sources form both sides. Urban balances the two in light of pre-battle maneuverings and period tactics over the course of a 26-page chapter. No tactical maps of any battle are included.

All in all, The Teutonic Knights is a terrific book to start off an examination of the Order and its campaigns. Well-written, concise, and fast moving, you’ll appreciate Urban’s efforts to highlight crusader action on the fringes of Christiandom.