A new study has perhaps proven a hypothesis debated for eight centuries surrounding the mysterious but famous Feldioara Fortress in southeastern Transylvania, thought to have been the seat of the Teutonic Knights. But it was so much more. An independent state, even.

Just published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, Romanian archaeologists utilized innovative methods to penetrate the already known possible stronghold of the inspiring Catholic military order, unlike ever before, to finally settle a burning question as to whether or not Feldioara Fortress was where they, in fact, first planted their flag in Europe.

The Teutonic Knights were a medieval military society, as the story burgeoning from this new study would soon suggest, that wanted to establish their own state. From the legendary Third Crusade, they formed in Jerusalem to serve pilgrims and build hospitals. It still exists today as a charitable institution.

At first, the question archaeologists debated: was this where the knights assembled? In their white mantles and black crosses? Was this their headquarters? Where they might have planned their conquests?

The journey to make this groundbreaking history a factual reality

This study proved for the first time that and more after nearly 1,000 years of heated discussions. It provided the first conclusive data necessary to state that this fortress was built when this region, in Romania, was under their rule.

At this time, 1211, as per LBV, they were defending the region from the Cumans sanctioned by the King of Hungary, a pagan culture. So they received permission to set up a permanent presence here to do what they did best: crusade.

But they crossed the line, invaded enemy lands, belonging to the Carpathians, and built fortresses without a royal decree, so the king thought that they were trying to found their own state, which evidently was illegal, so they were thrown out, but the fourteen years they rested here, shaped the region as a Catholic territory. Hence, the Feldioara Fortress.

A team of Romanian researchers applied radiocarbon dating to lime mortars at the oldest sections of the elusive fortress, with a much longer history of use, to determine once and for all – for one and for all – whether this site could actually be scientifically attributed to the Teutonic Knights.

First, the debate.

Archaeologists began excavating the site in 1991, and this four-year investigation ended with a timeline for the site, that its roots stemmed into the Neolithic period, with the first traces of the Teutonic knights identified onsite. But they couldn’t anchor this evidence in fact.

The fortress had two fortified cores, as per LBV, so the site was broken into two sections. A military outpost sat on a hill beside a protected village featuring a protected parish church, which is what archaeologists uncovered.  The fortress, 65 feet high, with four watchtowers and a fortification around the gate, was thought to have been the first center of this order.

And the latest round of excavations, between 2013 and 2017, discovered that they chose a location with a long history, even a church in the center of this fortress, which had been built much earlier, so perhaps they constructed their permanent place around a preexisting site.

Dating the foundation of the fortress

As Archaeology News reports, Feldioara Fortress was always one of the “strongest candidates for a Teutonic center in eastern Europe.”  But, simply, the chronological data was missing. The cold, hard facts.

After collecting 13 samples to date via radiocarbon, they went through an impressive process of problem-solving, in a feat of advanced chemistry, to answer this unresolved question, and more. Was it built under the Teutonic Order?

It was.

In the study, researchers confirmed that the oldest masonry foundations dated back to the early 13th century, to the Teutonic crusaders, who were seeking to establish their own state in the Eastern Carpathians. And now, “sky’s the limit.” Now archaeologists can study these fourteen years intensely, as it was an intense time.

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