Perhaps it's about time we take a look at the internal organization of the Order. It was “re- founded” over the ashes of the original Teutonic Order,
After the defeat of the Catholic allies at the Breitenfeld (1630) during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), the Lintorffs moved away from Mecklenmburg to establish themselves in Rome to ask for the Pope's help, thanks to their many contributions for the Church. As Konrad tells us:
“Is it big? The castle where we're staying: San Capistrano,” Guntram asked.
“Yes, I suppose so. It's a family residence. One of the oldest we have. It was built around the XIII century and was used as fortress, monastery and from the XVII century onwards, as private residence for the Molinari family and ours. We inherited it, so to speak around 1675, I don't remember exactly, as donation from the first Griffin's consort to our founder's heir. Theodobald von Lintorff and Francesco Molinari are buried there, in the chapel.”
“How so?”
“When my family left Mecklenmburg after the Thirty Years War, they went to Rome to ask for the Pope's protection. They were one of the last resisting against the protestant heresy, but we lost. We were clever enough as to keep our gold safe in Venice and Rome and the Pope granted his protection to us because of our services during the Teutonic Order times. Theodobald moved to Venice and he started to rebuild our Order along with many more exiled noblemen, changing our strategy. We will never support again an earthly government as they can only betray us, only our mother the Church. Of course, the pope sent a young and clever bishop to oversee what the Lintorff were doing because all this trade and banking, most appropriate for Jewish than for true Christians, couldn't be too good. Francesco Molinari was one of his illegitimate children and I think he was a very clever man, immediately realising how fast the world was changing. While Theodobald was a ferocious warrior, he was a clever businessman and thought that we could obtain much more if we were supporting our own people and the newly born industry. We lent money to private people for much less than what the Fuggers or others were asking to Nation States. The money went into overseas trade, transforming manufactures and science. Francesco devised the idea that we all should form a society to protect our interests from Protestants and Muslims at this time. Later we realised that the protestants were not so bad and good for the business and we accepted to do business with them. Our main problem were those Masons trying to destroy everything we believed in.”
“Theodobald and Francesco got along and he was named consort in 1656. They lived together for more than 26 years and Theodobald asked to be buried next to him after his early death, at 42 years old.”
“That means he was a diplomat at 17?” Guntram asked very shocked.
“You were made general with 15 if you were of noble birth, Guntram. Girls were married from 13 years onwards,” Konrad chuckled softly. “Anyway, I believe that controlling a German nobleman in disgrace -forced to work like a commoner- was not exactly a very sought after job. Being Ambassador to the Dux was a good position. Funny how history turns out, a second rate job -designed to keep a bastard busy and away from Rome, where he could have started to conspire against his father-, was crucial to create a driving force in Modern Society. This young Italian established most of the rules we operate under and convinced my ancestor to start a new era. No one but us, remembers him, but I would dare say that we are who we are thanks to him. Industry was the future as we learned in the battlefield. We have to thank for that lesson to King Gustav Adolphus.” (Into the Lion's Den. p. 179)
The internal organization and function is very simple and despite its appearance of a certain degree of “democracy” among his members and that the Hochmeister -Griffin- is a primus inter pares (a first among equals) and has to take heed of his brothers' suggestions, it's organization grants an unchallenged control and power to him.
On the top we have the Hochmeister (Grand Master) who's none other than Konrad von Lintorff. His line came to power in 1878 and since then, the “German branch” replaced the “Italian branch” in the rule.
“Must be hard to keep all this important people happy,” said Guntram
“That's a very diplomatic way to express it. Try “to keep the sharks happy in their pond” and you will be closer to the truth.” Konrad smiled tiredly, his eyes softening for the first time. “It's every year the same but with a different topic each time we meet. I hate this voting.”
“Voting?”
“I'm elected as Hochmeister for a year only. I need more than 2/3 of the votes to keep my job. I only control 34% of the votes. I have to campaign hard to get the rest.”
“Constantin told me that your position is inherited.” Guntram asked perplexed.
“It's but only for the first year. If I prove to be an incompetent, the members can throw me out and the Council rules for a full year till they choose a successor and this one has only one year to prove that he's worthy of the title. My line came to power after 1878, when my cousin's Gertrud ancestor lost his position. He was acting as surrogate Griffin as my Grand grandfather was too young to take over because the previous Griffin -from Albert's line- had named him but died when he was 10 years old. The surrogate Griffin only had daughters at the time and a woman was not allowed to be our leader. He tried to force the succession to one of his daughters and his son in law by trying to murder my grand grandfather. The plot was discovered and he was deposed. His younger brother tried to recover the power but the Council decided to rule till my grandfather turned 18. Gertrud and Georg, her brother, are still sore about it. She's upset with me because I preferred Albert's son as my successor instead of her children. Ferdinand understands my decision and I think he's glad that Karl Otto will not get it. When I'm out, the power should return to the original line, the one who invested us.”
“I didn't know it.”
“It helps to keep the tensions down and reinforce my power during the year. We chose this day (Good Friday) as it's the Death of our Lord and it could mean the end of a time for us. Don't look at me, complain to Theodobald von Lintorff for his poor choices.” Konrad chuckled finding terribly amusing the shocked expression in Guntram's face. (Into the Lion's Den 175)
The Hochmeister -as Griffin is only a “private” name only given to him by his peers and that belongs exclusively to the Lintorff family- chooses his own council, but he has to respect the rule that he has to keep three councillors from the former Griffin and take four new.
At his right side sits the Magnus Commendator -Ferdinand von Kleist- who's in charge of all the Executive decisions and controls the lower members or associates, which not always are invited to the Good Friday meeting; only those with the largest fortunes or influence have the right to vote.
The military aspects are controlled by the Summus Marescalus -Goran Pavicevic, replacing his uncle Mladic Pavicevic since 2005, who was Konrad's own Grand Marshall. The Summus Marescalus controls the army of Komturen (Commanders) who are in charge of a certain “territory” and keep the less savoury aspects of the Order under control and loyal to the Hochmeister. Our Goran has to deal with the local mobsters and force them to pay their tributes or “process their winnings” through the channels offered by the Order's members. One fine example of how this was working is Slobodan's preparations for leaving his post as “Komtur” to his henchman; he has to pay a “compensation fee” of 75 million Euros for his early retirement and accept all the conditions that the Order imposes on him in exchange of a new identity and life in Switzerland. Slobodan can choose his successor, but he will be “on probation” for a year, till he's approved by Goran.
Goran's right hands are the “Executioners” -or what he prefers to call his “brothers in arms”- and they're in charge of the punishments and execution of traitors. The most famous are Milan Mihailovic and Ratko Bregovic.
“The Duke has allowed it. It's time Guntram understands what means to be one of us.” Goran said and took the keys from Friederich's hands. “Follow me, you'll see the Hall of Knights. It shares its walls with the Chapel. This room is only opened for this meeting and can't used for something that it's not related to the Order.”
“I see.”
Guntram was ushered into a large hall some 20 metres long and 7 metres wide decorated with a marble floor, with portraits hanging from white Spartan walls and several long tables forming an U in front of an elevated platform with a old, solid wood table and ten chairs, one bigger than the others and only a painted crucifix on that wall.
“The largest chair belongs to the Griffin, the Duke and the one at his right to the Magnus Commendator and the one in the left to the Summus Marescalus and seven councillors more, three from the past Hochmeister and four new. They are the ones who make all recommendations. The Crucifix was made by Cimabue and it was a gift from the first consort to the founder Theodobald von Lintorff, I don't remember his name but he was responsible for most of the alliances forged at the XVII century. It's a treasure for us, made in 1260 as an early study for the one hanging in Santa Maria Maggiore. It's much smaller than the final version but I believe it shows the same devotion as that one.” Goran said to a shocked Guntram while he placed the two large cases. “On the tables sit the associates or members. We had to forgo of the word knight because there are not many noblemen left. I would say that a 65% of them are bourgeoisie that jumped in after War World Two.”
He opened the boxes and presented two long swords laying on the interior velveted cases. One was looking very old and the large handle formed a crucifix while the other had the handle like an inverted moon. Guntram swallowed hard as he recognised the weapons from the horror stories the Russians used to tell him.
“It's a two handed iron sword. Used by the Spanish Inquisition for beheading. Nowadays is a ceremonial sword and belongs to the Griffin. There's another original at the Royal Arms Museum in Madrid. Mine is a contemporary design based on the Tizona. I thought it was appropriate to keep the Spanish flare to all as we are a team. These two are kept in the bank's vault and only come out for the general meeting,” Goran explained him, noticing how pale the boy was now. (Into the Lion's Den p.156)
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| The Knights' Hall is only used on Good Fridays |
The Consort is the highest councillor with a power that equals the Hochmeister's only if he agrees to it. Otherwise, he's just a Tutor and holds no executive position or any rights of vote.
“Our founder, Theodobald von Lintorff decided that a person, man or woman, would be named Consort; a companion to the Hochmeister. He or she would get the right to vote in the council and his opposition could nullify a decision made by the Hochmeister. The idea was that in case the heir to the Lintorff House would be a woman, her husband could represent her in the Council as women were not accepted. This is why the Consort has to be approved by the Council. The Hochmeister, should he take a male Consort, could have a wife too, but the Consort was always responsible for rising the next generation of Griffins. Sometimes a Hochmeister would take a male Consort, just because he considered that this man could be a good councillor or Tutor or because he needed one extra vote to support his rule. Having a male Consort also helped in the case of the Hochmeister's premature death if his heir would be too young to rule. In that case, the Consort and the Council would have to make the decisions together.” said Friederich to Guntram.
“I don't understand, you were the Duke's Tutor...”
“Yes, but I was never appointed by the Council or wanted to be. I was happy to serve in a less notorious way. Many of the older members still regard me as a member. I'm not from noble birth nor come from a line. I wanted to serve God in the Church, but the Lord had other ideas and my superiors sent me to Karl Heinz, the former Duke. My family had been serving the Order only for two generations. Karl Heinz understood my reasons. After he passed away, the new Duke asked me to stay as his estates manager and that's already quite a headache. The Duke can also be very demanding and childish sometimes,” Into the Lion's Den p. 159
Konrad smiled. “Good managers are never famous, but they're more important than good warriors, Guntram. You should never underestimate the power of the second line. A consort is an advisor, much more than momentary sexual adventure. He can yield a lot of power if the Griffin allows it. Some of them were very powerful, others preferred to step aside. Some of them were women and even participated in the meetings, some were lovers, others just advisers. My grand father's consort was British and he convinced many of his fellow citizens to join us. Nothing between them, ever. I met him once when I was 12 years old and he was very old, living in England. According to my father, extremely clever man. His grand child, Stephen Saint Claude is my CEO in London.”
“Konrad, I still don't understand why you need me.”
“Sometimes you don't need to understand things, just act upon them, Guntram.”
“I have no education, I'm not intelligent enough and have no money that could support you.”
“I don't need such things, I need others that you can provide. I need a personal companion, a Griffin's consort, but not an adviser for the Order. You will never be a part of our meetings or decisions, Guntram. Learn that from now onwards. Many years ago I swore to never let my personal life interfere with my duties as Hochmeister. It was a very hard lesson for me and I will not forget it. You can look after my children, teach them to be good and honourable persons, but you will never decide upon our policies.”
However the trick resides in what the Hochmeister considers an “attack” against the Council or treason which are punished with death. Fortingeray and some others tried to revolt against Konrad during the dispute with Morozov in the Substitute. In exchange for his support to Konrad, the old prince zu Löwenstein, promised to “sway the undecided ones to his side” and Fortingeray lost the vote and his life.
“I knew we were doomed to fail the minute I found out (Lintorff) was meeting with the Komturen -those are the Mafia boss who rule a territory-, almost once per month. He was on a first name basis with them and cared much more about their opinion than any industry tycoon. Those miserable persons admired Lintorff because he was exactly as them -or what they imagine was the summun of the Mafia virtues; rich, merciless towards his enemies, educated (most of these people have huge complex about their lack of education and do their best so their children look exactly as young aristocrats), good with weapons, great for business and with more connections than you could imagine- -Lintorff heard them, catered their whims and played the “democratic” man. The Italian Mafiosi were absolutely mad about him. It was their chance to become respectable and the Order's old fashioned and strict code reminded them to the Omertá. Pretty soon the French, the Dutch and the Germans gangsters followed him, exactly as their ancestors had followed the previous Griffins. All of them saw that their dirty money could be cleaned and make profit at the same time. That money helped the other respectable members to become much richer than before and none of them ever complained. He even devised something very clever to ease their consciences; the Lintorff Foundation; a part of the legal winnings will go there and be used for charity, all within the Catholic Church rule and some to the Protestants. The Italian, the most powerful of them all, simply loved it and some of their wives were received in the Vatican. Exactly as in Martin Luther's Germany. Many times I wondered when the Bishops would start to sign Papal golden bulls for their sins. Exactly as when the Teuton Order was around: they could do whatever they wanted in the Baltic and Russian territories, rule them as they pleased in exchange for a third of their profits, well taxes, to support the Crusades and later the Vatican City. Those German were clever enough as to mix with the local elites and establish a relative lax system, as long as they were paying taxes. Lintorff learned well from his ancestors and based his power on the Komturen and their “soldiers”, using the others as channels for that incredible wealth.” Into the Lion's Den p. 294
Hochmeister: Konrad von Lintorff
Consort: Guntram de Lisle Guttenberg Sachsen
Magnus Commendator: Ferdinand von Kleist
Summus Marescalus: Goran Pavicevic
Council Members in 2008:
Michael Dähler (Secretary); Mladic Pavicevic; Adolf zu Löwenstein (replacing his father); Albert von Lintroff; Georg von Lintorff; Alrik Wallenberg (Heindrik's grandfather) and Stephen St. Claude
