Conflict with Pope John XXII
The pontificate of Pope John XXII (1316-1334) was, a difficult period in the relations of the Teutonic Order with the Holy See, and it was, in this period, that the long dispute between the Order and the papacy over the Order’s exempt status and over the trial of the Order’s members came to a head. John XXII was a vigorous promoter of the centralisation of the papal administration, and John was a substantial critic of the Order’s exempt status. The dispute was generally a constitutional dispute about the limits of the Order’s exempt status.
The Pontificate of John XXII
Pope John XXII was elected to the papacy in August 1316, in the aftermath of the disputed pontificate of Clement V and the long vacancy of the Holy See at Avignon. John was, in this period, a Frenchman of substantial administrative experience, and John was a vigorous promoter of the centralisation of the papal administration. John was, in addition, a vigorous promoter of the reform of the religious orders, and John was, in this period, a substantial critic of the exempt religious orders.
The Order’s relations with John began, generally in connection with the Order’s administration of the Prussian territories and the Order’s exemption from the jurisdiction of the local bishops. The Order claimed, on the basis of its Augustinian vocation, the right to be directly subject to the Holy See, without the intermediation of the local bishops, and the Order claimed, in consequence, the right to try the Order’s members for criminal offences in the Order’s own courts. John was generally sympathetic to the Order’s claim in principle, but John was also concerned that the Order’s exemption should not become a pretext for the Order’s defiance of the ordinary ecclesiastical authority.
The Dispute over the Trial of Brothers
The principal dispute between the Order and John XXII was the dispute over the trial of the Order’s members for criminal offences. The Order claimed, on the basis of its exempt status, the right to try the Order’s members in the Order’s own courts, and the Order claimed, in consequence, the right to inflict the Order’s own discipline on the Order’s members, without the intervention of the local bishops. John, however, claimed that the trial of the Order’s members for criminal offences was a matter that was reserved to the local bishops, and John claimed that the Order’s exempt status was, an exemption from the jurisdiction of the local bishop in matters of religious discipline, and that the Order was not, in consequence, entitled to try the Order’s members for criminal offences in the Order’s own courts.
The dispute came to a head, generally in the early 1320s, in connection with the trial of a number of Order’s members for grave criminal offences. The Order claimed, generally the right to try the members in the Order’s own courts, and the local bishops of the region claimed the right to try the members in the bishops’ own courts. The dispute was, in the end, referred to the papacy, and the papacy was, in the end, obliged to make a decision on the constitutional question.
The decision of the papacy was, in the end, a compromise. The papacy acknowledged, generally the Order’s right to try the Order’s members for minor offences in the Order’s own courts, and the papacy acknowledged the Order’s right to inflict the Order’s own discipline on the members for the minor offences. The papacy, however, also acknowledged the right of the local bishops to try the Order’s members for grave criminal offences, and the papacy also acknowledged the right of the local bishops to inflict the appropriate ecclesiastical penalties on the members for the grave criminal offences.
The Dispute over the Order’s Privileges
The dispute over the trial of the Order’s members was accompanied by a broader dispute over the Order’s privileges in the Baltic region. The Order claimed, on the basis of the bulls of the thirteenth century, the right to hold churches, to collect tithes, to appoint priests, and to exercise the other ordinary functions of the diocesan bishop within the Order’s territories. The local bishops of the region challenged the Order’s claim, on the grounds that the Order’s exempt status was, an exemption from the jurisdiction of the local bishop in matters of religious discipline.
The dispute was, in the end, resolved by a series of compromises. The Order was, in many cases, willing to acknowledge the ordinary jurisdiction of the local bishop in matters of pastoral care and the administration of the sacraments, in exchange for the local bishop’s acknowledgement of the Order’s right to hold the churches of the Order’s territories and to collect the tithes of the Order’s subjects. The compromises were, a central element in the constitutional stability of the Order’s territories.
The Later Years of John’s Pontificate
The later years of John’s pontificate were dominated by the dispute with the Order and with the other exempt religious orders, and John’s attempts to limit the privileges of the exempt religious orders were, a central element in the reform programme of the Avignon papacy. The Order’s relations with John were, in this period, complicated by the Order’s support for the imperial cause in the Empire, and the Order’s support for the imperial cause was a central element in the Order’s relations with the Holy See.
John died in December 1334, in the middle of the dispute with the Order and with the other exempt religious orders, and the Order’s relations with the papacy were, generally continued by his successors. The Order’s constitutional position in the Baltic was generally secured by the compromises of John’s pontificate.
Sources
- Biskup, Marian. Der Deutsche Orden im Zeitalter der Reformation. Marburg: Elwert, 1989.
- Boockmann, Hartmut. Der Deutsche Orden: Zwölf Kapitel aus seiner Geschichte. Munich: Beck, 1981.
- Housley, Norman. Contesting the Crusades. Oxford: Blackwell, 2006.
Related Reading
For the conflicts with the papacy, see the cluster on the conflicts with the papacy. For the Order’s relations with Pope Gregory IX, see the article on Pope Gregory IX. For the founding of the Order at Acre, see the article on the founding. For the Prussian state, see the pillar on the Teutonic State. For the Augustinian framework of the Order, see the cluster on the Rule of St Augustine. For the Order’s defeat at Grunwald, see the article on the Battle of Grunwald.