c. 1165–1239 · Grand master of the Teutonic Knights (1210–1239)
Hermann von Salza
Grand master of the Teutonic Knights; he mediated between Frederick II and the papacy, accompanied the emperor on the Sixth Crusade, and turned the order into a major power in Europe.
BIOGRAPHICAL DOSSIER
Life and historical role
Life and political setting
From a Thuringian ministerial family, Hermann became master of the Teutonic order around 1210. He became one of Frederick II's most trusted advisers and undertook constant diplomatic missions in relations between the emperor and the popes.
Role in the Crusades
He was at Damietta during the Fifth Crusade. At the Ferentino meeting of 1223 he mediated Frederick II's marriage to Isabella (Yolanda II), heiress of Jerusalem, and a plan for a new crusade. On the Sixth Crusade he was the excommunicated emperor's most important supporter and took part in the negotiations that ended with the handover of Jerusalem in 1229.
Historical significance and source problems
Under Hermann the order gained territorial rights in Prussia through documents such as the Golden Bull of Rimini (1226), laying the foundations of its expansion in the Baltic. He died at Salerno in 1239. His activities can be traced in detail in imperial and papal documents.
Biographical information is linked to the sources shown on the page and to the connected event records. Disputed dates are given as approximate, gaps are not filled by conjecture, and later literary or visual depictions are not treated as contemporary portraits.