The statutes of the Teutonic Order were codified in the mid-thirteenth century. At the beginning of its existence as a fraternity, and then also as a hospital order in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Teutonic Knights followed the rule of the Knights Hospitaller. In 1198, the pope recommended that in matters relating to charity work among the poor and sick, monks should continue to follow these principles, while in matters of spiritual and military activity, they should follow the Templar rule. Around the mid-thirteenth century, the statutes were compiled and edited as a whole. Laws and customs existed earlier and were the work of the clergy, while the authorship of the rule is attributed to the papal legate William of Modena – a great supporter of the Teutonic brother knights. The statutes were written in Latin – but later translated into German, French, and Dutch.
The rules are preceded by a prologue which gives the general ideas of the Order. In addition to the above-mentioned norms, there are rules of religious life regarding services, prayers, clothing, eating, sleeping, the virtue of silence, correspondence, changing personal belongings and having your own chests, as well as behavior on the battlefield, caring for a horse and weapons, and hunting. Laws are a set of rules containing provisions that define the way of judging and punishing religious. The strict rule, along with the secularization of the order, was surely obeyed more and more freely. Its content, however, won the Order’s favor with the Church and introduced the discipline that was the basis for military success. Admission to the order protected against legal liability for previously committed acts. Knights were provided with armor, a horse and full knight’s gear at the expense of the order. They wore white cloaks with a black narrow cross over their armor. All members of the religious congregation were obliged to obey the orders of the great Master. On the most important matters, the Master made decisions with a chapter meeting on September 14th each year at the headquarters of the Order.