ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the settlement of the Teutonic Order in Italy, from 1190 ca. to 1239. The first section examines the initial steps made by the Teutonic brethren already before the official formation of their order and then under the rule of Emperor and King of Sicily Henry VI. The second is focalized on the rule of King and Emperor Frederick II and on the building of the Order structures in Southern, Central and Northern Italy. The link of the Teutonic Order to Fredrick's politics brought to it some vantages but also some disadvantages, as was also the case of the Order's alliance with Venice that excluded its expansion in the territories of North-Western Italy controlled by Genoa. As a result of this settlement, the Teutonic Order built up its administrative structures in Italy, located mostly in Sicily and in the South and in the South-East of the Peninsula.
