VIII, Part VII – Alexander von Rahmel (1511-1525)
After forcing the submission of the Kipchak slave dynasty of the Mamluks, the Ordensstaat was faced with the daunting task of incorporating and assimilating millions more Sunni Islamic Egyptians into their state. Almost all of them resented foreign and (most importantly) Catholic control of Egypt. But with Alexander and his successors’ continuation and expansion of the Schutz and Steuer policies to make them all-encompassing of majority of the non-Christian subjects. Over the decades these two systems would combine to convert the populations.
Another important development after the fall of the Sultanate was the introduction of large-scale monasticism to the Levant and the Nilotic Egypt. This game with the influx of tens of thousands of Germans to the Holy Land, many of whom turned to monastic life as a way to escape their constant immersion with Muslims and Jews. In the solace and isolation of the monastery, the German colonists could bring themselves closer to god and enlightenment. But they were also furthering another agenda of the government in Marienburg. This involved the canvassing of Muslim-dominated areas, and removing newborn or infant children from families (both rich and poor). These children were then placed under care of the abbot and would grow up in the monastery, baptized and raised as strict Catholics. This first generation of Arab and Egyptian Catholics would – upon their general majority – take over administration from the Muslims in government. However, there would be fifteen-year gap between the commencement of the program in September 1519 and the time when the new generation would be ready to rule. But until then an overarching hierarchy of Teutonic Prussian administrators headed the Crusader-states’ apparatus, with French, Italian, and Hungarian sub-level officials.
The Ordensstaat still had to deal with occasional revolts that mainly were centered in Cairo, Damascus, and Constantinople. These were comprised of Arab Saracens or Mamluks who were xenophobic or reluctant to convert to Catholicism. They were aided by Karakoyun spies who sought to destabilize the Knightly regime and return Muslim control to their holy land, be it Caliphal or under a Khan. The large European presence in the Levant was able to put down all rebellions against their rule, but this did not stop them from happening.
The remainder of Alexander von Rahmel’s reign was remarkable in history, for he was one of the few Grand Masters so far that experienced any degree of extended peace. This was counterintuitive to the Teutonic Order’s very structure, which had been founded on war from the outset. Once the pagans in Prussia were converted and those in Samogitia were driven out, the Ordensstaat had lost purpose. This was the reason for the Greatest Crusade. It diverted the attention of the Germans in Prussia from domestic matters. A state of war was what was needed to prolong the unnaturally long lifespan of the Monastic State, and that was exactly what Alexander did not have. This may be partially attributable to the manpower shortage suffered by the order after decades of wars and battles, and the establishment of new monasteries in the Levant had depleted much of the non-fighting population of the Order. So a lull in fighting was needed, and it was in the year 1520 that this interbellum began.
Without having to focus his attention to the Crusade, Hochmeister Alexander decided to focus on trade and diplomatic relations of the Monastic State. He repaired relations with the Kingdom of Hungary, which had begun to decline after the annexation of the Mamluks.
But other dynamics were soon to distract Alexander more than just which dynasty ruled which nation. It was something of great importance, something that Jan Hus could only have dreamed of. It would cause Germans to take up arms against each other, even within the Teutonic Order. It would see Komtureis become bitter enemies and fight against each other and against the Grand Master. This chaos was the Reformation.
But the Reformation would not begin in earnest until 1530 with the drafting of the Augsburg Confession. Until then it would not be seen as a major threat in Europe, and the major concern of the Ordensstaat was ruthlessly maintaining their Baltic grain monopoly and engineering famines in Anatolia and parts of the Levant. The two often worked hand in hand, with the grain being sold to starving Turkish and Arab peasants – in return for conversion to Catholicism – at a slight profit, and sold elsewhere in Europe at a massive profit. The Grand Master also collected tribute from the Komtureis and the many crusader states in the Levant. Alexander would then funnel the money the Teutonic aristocracy was making (a sickening amount, they were among the richest men in Europe) and return that to Prussia. Various public works were commissioned in Königsberg, including new churches and a university. The Order’s headquarters in Marienburg was also greatly refurbished and played host to diplomats from all over Europe. The money also built up the Teutonic Navy (the Lordsgroßartigemarine) so it was stronger than the laughably tiny fleet that had failed time and again to perform as well as the Army. This would be put to good use in future wars with the other states jockeying for power in the Mediterranean such as Hispania, Venice, and Genoa. It would also become a boon in the late 16th, as well as the 17th and 18th centuries, as the colonization of the new, empty continents of Atlantis and Columbia began in earnest. But once again, this was not something that Grand Master Alexander would live to see. While colonization had already begun with the Hispanic seizing of the east Tenochan coast on the Columbian Sea and the vassalization of the Aztecs, Mayas, and Huastecs (and their failed attacks on the Inca) most other European nations would lag far behind in their drive to the west. The Ordensstaat was no exception, but when they eventually did begin colonization it would be with the same fervor that had propelled the Greatest Crusade to such success.
Before colonization, the Grand Masters still would have to survive the 1500s. One growing problem was the every-increasing power of the Prussian nobles. The staggering wealth incoming from the Holy Land and other possessions of the Order did not all go to the Grand Master and his oligarchy; much of it reached wealthy landowners in Prussia, Livonia, and to a lesser extent Samogitia. These rich magnates would inherit or buy more and more land around the Baltic and the eastern Mediterranean Seas and take personal or familial control. At first dozens of families would vie for power and prestige in the Ordenstaat, but as time went on most would be beaten by certain families who had the luck and skill to emerge triumphant. The two strongest were the von Salza family (despite their Saxon origins after Herman von Salza’s reign they managed to gain huge power) and the much newer von Rastenberg family, which would grow to control majority of the Komtureis in Prussia and parts of the Levant. Over the next few centuries these two families would compete every few decades to have a member of their family elected Hochmeister. Luckily for the Monastic State these conflicts usually would not result in violence, and aside from around the time of the meetings of the capitulum the two families were mostly friendly toward each other.
Alexander von Rahmel’s reign would be remarkable for several things. Besides the destruction of the Ottoman and Mamluk empires, bringing untold economic prosperity to the Monastic State, and making it one of the most powerful European states, he also was one of the few Grand Masters to die during peacetime. Most of his predecessors had died while the Ordensstaat was involved in wars with various Muslim powers, but most of them were gone and the Monastic State was at peace. Alexander died during a meeting of the elite nobles in Ordensburg Marienburg on February 25, 1525. But unlike Werner König’s wartime death fourteen years earlier, the paralysis that gripped the Order was not as devastating. The capitulum was convened as per the Order’s protocol, but with less of an aura of urgency. There were no Saracen armies breathing down their necks, ready to take advantage of any moment of weakness. Also, in 1525 there was no Augsburg Confession and no Schmalkaldic League, so religious Reformation at this point was not a strong influence at the capitulum.
So Grand Master Alexander’s death marked the end of the Middle Ages and the birth of the Early Modern period. The Greatest Crusade was for all intents and purposes over. The crusades had ended at last, after over four hundred years. As the capitulum met and debated endlessly over the various Salza, Rastenberg, and other candidates, the world would be changing around them. Only time would tell how the Monastic State would fare in the future.
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