The development of the hospitaller commandery of St Oswald in Würzburg from 1200-1805

Abstract

In this dissertation I present a general overview of the commandery of Würzburg, starting with its foundation in 1192 and ending in 1806, following the annexation of the commandery by the Grand Duchy of Würzburg. There seem to be no studies thus far that relate to this particular commandery in depth, neither in German, nor English or Maltese and as such my research will largely be based on primary sources. It however seems prudent to provide a context in which a commandery, as the smallest administrative unit of the Order operated. This will be achieved using secondary sources as this area is, if not better documented, at least more researched. These documents are quite frequent during medieval times and clearly show the ups and downs the commandery experiences and the conflicts it has to ?fight? with the local church and lords. It also shows the strong papal support the Order of St John was experiencing and the backing of the kings of Germany. Predominant are financial issues that even lead to the selling of the commandery of Biebelried which after being rebought was combined with the commandery in Würzburg. From this one can gain an insight into the importance of a competent commander, as well as the process of a large landholder during medieval times.