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{{Short description|Administrative land division of a military order}}{{Other uses|Commandery (disambiguation)}}
In the [[Middle Ages]], a '''commandery''' (rarely '''commandry''') was the smallest administrative division of the [[Europe]]an [[landed estate|landed properties]] of a [[Military order (religious society)|military order]]. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.<ref>Anthony Luttrell and Greg O'Malley (eds.), ''The Countryside Of Hospitaller Rhodes 1306–1423: Original Texts And English Summaries'' (Routledge, 2019), p. 27.</ref> The word is also applied to the [[emolument]]s granted to a commander. They were the equivalent for those orders to a [[monastic grange]]. The knight in charge of a commandery was a [[commander (order)|commander]].

==Etymology==
The word derives from French {{lang|fr|commanderie}} or {{lang|fr|commenderie}}, from mediaeval [[Latin]] {{lang|la-x-medieval|commendaria}} or {{lang|la-x-medieval|commenda}}, meaning 'a trust or charge', originally one held {{lang|la|[[in commendam]]}}.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=765}} <ref name="auto">"commandery | commandry, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, December 2018, https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/36962. Accessed 9 December 2018.</ref>

Originally, commanderies were benefices, particularly in the Church, held {{lang|la|in commendam}}. Mediaeval [[military order (religious society)|military orders]] adopted monastic organizational structures and commanderies were divisions of the [[Order of Knights of St. John of Jerusalem]],  and later the [[Order of Teutonic Knights]] and other knightly orders were organized along similar lines.<ref name="auto"/> The property of the order was divided into ''priorates'' (or [[priory|priories]]), subdivided into ''bailiwicks'', which in turn were divided into ''commanderies'' or {{lang|la|commendæ}}; these were placed in charge of a {{lang|la|commendator}} or [[commander (order)|commander]]. The word is also applied to the emoluments granted to a commander of a military order of knights.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=765}}

A commandery of the Teutonic Knights, each headed by a {{lang|de|Komtur}}, was known as a {{lang|de|Komturei}} or {{lang|de|Kommende}}. The equivalents among the [[Knights Templar]] were ''[[preceptor]]'' and ''preceptory''.{{Dubious|date=May 2011}} In 1540, the possessions in [[England]] of the [[Knights Hospitaller]] — the commanderies to which the English term first referred — were [[dissolution of the monasteries|seized as crown property]].<ref name="auto"/>

==Usage==

===Modern===
* A territory of the [[Venerable Order of Saint John#Priories and Commanderies|Venerable Order of Saint John]]
* A division of the [[Knights Templar (Freemasonry)|Knights Templar]], found within the [[York Rite]] of [[Freemasonry]].
* A chapter of the [[Military Order of Foreign Wars]].

===Medieval===
In the Near East and throughout Europe:
* A territory of [[List of the priors of St John of Jerusalem in England|the Order of St John of Jerusalem]], the [[Knights Hospitallers]]
* A territory of the [[Order of Teutonic Knights]] and other orders
* [[The Commandery]], an historic building in the city of [[Worcester, England|Worcester]], England probably built by Knights Hospitallers

==See also==
*[[Commandaria]]
*[[In Commendam]]
*[[Encomienda]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Commandery|volume=6|page=765}}
{{refend}}

{{Clear}}
{{Orders}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Feudalism in Europe]]
[[Category:Orders of chivalry]]