Definition of: Teutonic Knights

The Knights of St. Mary's Hospital at Jerusalem, an order of military monks deriving their name and office from a German hospital founded at Jerusalem in 1128. One of the three great military orders founded during the Crusades to convert the heathen, help pilgrims, and nurse the sick, the knights later moved to eastern Europe and during the Middle Ages became the spearhead of German expansion toward Slavic and Baltic territories. Their costume was a white mantle with a black cross. See HOSPITALER, KNIGHT TEMPLAR.