Teutonic Knights
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
An order which arose at the time of the Crusades. Originally only Germans of noble birth were admitted to the order. Abolished by Napoleon in 1809, it was revived again in Austria in 1840.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Teutonic Knights” mean?
An order which arose at the time of the Crusades. Originally only Germans of noble birth were admitted to the order. Abolished by Napoleon in 1809, it was revived again in Austria in 1840.
Is “Teutonic Knights” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.