ABSTRACT
The settlement and expansion of the military orders in Frisia are remarkable in several ways. Another particular aspect of these Frisian Hospitaller and Teutonic Orders' settlements is that they lacked the military element. Frisia in the high and late Middle Ages is best described as a sociocultural entity, in the sense that people had their own laws and language. In the political respect fragmentation is the key word, mainly because of the specific geophysical structure of the Frisian lands. The year 1243 is also the earliest datum ante quem for the foundation of any Frisian house of the military orders. It can safely be assumed that a number of Frisian crusaders made a donation to the military orders during or shortly after the campaign; donations which some time before 1240 resulted in the foundation of separate houses.
