3. Teutonic Knights: Empire to Reduced Order
The Teutonic Order, established during the Crusades, expanded its dominion in Prussia and the Baltic regions. Their power began to wane after the 1410 Battle of Grunwald, where a Polish-Lithuanian alliance decisively defeated them. The subsequent internal strife and economic burdens from war reparations further eroded their influence (researchgate.net). The Protestant Reformation and secularization movements led to the loss of territories, reducing the once-mighty order to a mere religious institution.
