  Seal of the Livonian Brothers of Sword, medieval Livonia; text: ILIDIECRI•DE•LIVONIA+*****ISTRI•*T*R** Date: 13th century Source: History of Estonia, 2007, ISBN: 9789985209303 |
104. TEUTONIC KNIGHT IN HABIT, 13th CENTURY
This figure is from the tomb effigy of Conrad of Thuringia, Hochmeister of the Teutonic Knights 1239-41. Like the Templars - and despite their opposition - the Teutonic Knights wore a white habit, their right to this being secured for them in 1244 by Emperor Frederick II. Prior to this date, as is clear from this effigy and various other sources, though their mantles were white their tunics were grey; sergeants of the Order continued to wear grey even thereafter (as too, seemingly, did some knights - the Minnesänger Tannhauser, for instance, whose picture from the early-14th century 'Manessa Codex' is often reproduced in works on the Teutonic Knights, still wears a grey tunic and cap with his white mantle). The cross on the left breast of the mantle was black and was normally considerably smaller than that depicted here, generally being about 3-4" deep. Sergeants wore in its place a black, 3-armed Tau cross (also called a crux commissa) which looked like a capital 'T'. The hat is white. Note his beard, obligatory for all brethren.
The Sword Brethren and Knights of Dobrzyn similarly wore white habits, but in place of the black cross the former bore a red cross above a red sword point downwards (104a, from a seal of c. 1225) while the latter bore a red star above the sword (104b).