Augustinian Customs
The Augustinian customs of the Teutonic Order were the body of supplementary practices that gave the Order’s religious life its particular character, supplementing the sparse provisions of the Rule of St Augustine with a detailed and comprehensive regulation of the brethren’s daily life. The customs were, generally developed in the course of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, by the chapters of the Order and by the principal officers of the Order’s administration, and they were, in time, codified in the Order’s Statuten and in the customary books of the Order’s principal houses. The customs regulated the liturgical life of the brethren, the domestic life of the convent, the discipline of the chapter of faults, and the procedure for the reception of novices and the profession of the brethren.
The Liturgical Customs
The liturgical customs of the Order regulated the celebration of the daily offices and the Mass, the observance of the feasts of the Order’s calendar, and the conduct of the liturgical processions. The celebration of the office was, in the Order’s houses, the principal public event of the day, and the brethren were obliged to attend the celebration of the entire office — Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline. The office was sung in choir, in accordance with the Use of the Order, and the celebration of the office was, the principal liturgical obligation of the brethren.
The Use of the Order was generally derived from the Cistercian Use, with some local modifications. The Order had, in the early years, a substantial institutional connection with the Cistercians, and the Order’s early liturgical customs were, generally modelled on the Cistercian customs. The connection with the Cistercians was, attenuated, and the Order’s liturgical customs were, in time, codified in the Use of the Order, which was, by the late Middle Ages, the standard liturgical practice of the Order’s houses.
The liturgical customs of the Order regulated, in addition to the celebration of the office, the observance of the feasts of the Order’s calendar. The principal feasts were the feasts of the Virgin Mary, the feasts of the apostles, the feasts of the principal saints of the Augustinian calendar, and the feasts of the Order’s own saints — St Elisabeth of Hungary, St Barbara, and, in the later years, St Dorothea of Montau. The liturgical customs of the Order also regulated the conduct of the liturgical processions, the most important of which was the procession on the feast of the Virgin Mary.
The Domestic Customs
The domestic customs of the Order regulated the daily life of the brethren in the convent. The principal domestic obligations were the meals, the sleep, the dress, and the conduct of the brethren in the cloister. The brethren took their meals in common, in the refectory, and the meals were accompanied by the reading of a passage of scripture or of a devotional text. The brethren slept in common, in the dormitory, and the dormitory was, a place of silence and prayer.
The dress of the brethren was a particular object of regulation. The brethren wore, in the Order’s houses, a white woollen habit, with a black cross on the left shoulder, and the habit was, a sign of the religious vocation of the brethren. The dress of the brethren outside the convent was, in addition, a particular object of regulation: the brethren were not, permitted to wear secular clothing, and the brethren were not, permitted to wear jewellery or other ornaments.
The customs of the Order regulated, in addition, the conduct of the brethren in the cloister. The brethren were obliged, by the customs, to maintain silence in the cloister, in the dormitory, and in the refectory, and the brethren were obliged, by the customs, to maintain a decorous behaviour in the presence of the other brethren. The customs of the Order also regulated the conduct of the brethren in the chapter house, in the chapel, and in the other public spaces of the convent.
The Chapter of Faults
The chapter of faults was, in the Order’s customs, the principal instrument of the Order’s internal discipline. The chapter was a meeting of the brethren of a particular house, presided over by the commander of the house, and the chapter met, in the Order’s houses, on a regular basis, in the main once a week. The chapter of faults was, in the Order’s customs, an occasion for the brethren to acknowledge, before the chapter, the faults that they had committed in the course of the week, and the chapter of faults was an occasion for the imposition of the appropriate penance.
The chapter of faults was, in the Order’s customs, a procedure of considerable formality. The faults were, generally acknowledged by the brethren themselves, but the faults could also be the subject of accusations by the other brethren, and the chapter of faults was an occasion for the examination of the evidence and the imposition of the appropriate discipline. The discipline of the chapter of faults ranged from the private admonition of the brother concerned, through the public penance, the suspension from the Order’s offices, the imprisonment, and, in the most serious cases, the expulsion from the Order.
The Reception of Novices
The customs of the Order regulated, in addition, the procedure for the reception of novices and the profession of the brethren. The candidate for admission to the Order was examined by the commander of the house, and the candidate was generally admitted as a novice for a period of one year. At the end of the novitiate, the novice was generally admitted to the profession of the three vows, and the novice was generally admitted to the full membership of the Order.
The profession of the vows was a ceremony of considerable solemnity. The candidate was generally presented to the chapter of the house, and the candidate was examined by the chapter on the candidate’s understanding of the vows and the candidate’s intention to observe the vows for the rest of the candidate’s life.
Sources
- Boockmann, Hartmut. Der Deutsche Orden: Zwölf Kapitel aus seiner Geschichte. Munich: Beck, 1981.
- Forey, Alan. The Military Orders: From the Twelfth to the Early Fourteenth Centuries. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992.
- Strehlke, Ernst, ed. Tabulae ordinis Theutonici. Berlin: Weidmann, 1869.
Related Reading
For the Rule of St Augustine, see the cluster on the Rule of St Augustine. For the Statuten of the Order, see the article on the Statuten. For the three vows, see the article on the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. For the institutional life of the Order, see the pillar on Order structure. For the founding of the Order at Acre, see the article on the founding. For the black cross of the Order, see the article on the Order’s symbols.