ABSTRACT
The frontier thesis may be America's most important contribution to historiography. Frederick Jackson Turner did not invent the frontier thesis. James Westfall Thompson used the Turner thesis to explain German history in the high Middle Ages in a more sophisticated way. Owen Lattimore, who based his theory on personal studies of Inner Asian frontiers, attracted a far less numerous following than did Turner or Webb. In concentrating on the changes a society undergoes when it opens new lands, Turner and Webb were essentially writing about settlers moving into a political and military vacuum. A few Samogitians moved to Prussia and served in the armies of the Teutonic Knights. The Teutonic Knights employed native scouts, exchanged their long spears for forest weapons, and used light cavalry for raiding. Separated by great distance from pope and emperor, the grand masters of the Teutonic Knights found themselves at a disadvantage whenever Christian enemies brought complaints against them.
