Knights Hospitaller

by Scott Higginbotham

The Hospitallers’ primary mission was care and protection of the poor and sick in the Holy Land, owing to their network of hospitals and staying true to their original mission. The four arms of the Maltese cross represent: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance; while the eight points are the signs of the eight Beatitudes: Spiritual Joy, To Weep Over Thy Sins, To Love Justice, To Be Sincere and Pure of Heart, To Live Without Malice, To Humble Thyself To Those That Injure Thee, To Be Merciful, and To Suffer Persecution. [Hospitaller]

Public Domain - From Wikimedia Commons

Along the way, they seemed to have drifted from their beginnings, for they fought alongside the Knights Templar and other knightly Orders, and were oftentimes at odds with their knightly brethren. There were instances where there was bloodshed between orders that were supposed to be fighting a common foe.

As they grew in size and favor they became more of a military order. “But Raymond du Puy (master, 1119–24) permitted the Order to undertake military activities and these soon began to take precedence over the charitable work from which it took its name. Upon the surrender of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187 the hospital there was lost and the Order became completely military. Its headquarters remained in the Holy Land until removed to Rhodes in 1310 and thence in 1530 to Malta.” [British History Online]

 Popes and each successor gave the Hospitallers many rights and privileges, exempting them from paying tithes, giving the order rights of sanctuary, and authorization to keep as many lay people as needed to maintain their houses in care of the poor and sick. The order was divided into chaplains, knights, and sergeants, with the Grand Master being the head. There were also provincial leaders in their structure, much like the Templars.

 In England there were quite a number of houses, a few of which had been under Templar jurisdiction – the Templars and their leaders having been arrested in 1307 for heresy. “In 1338 there were in England 41 commanderies, eight of which had been houses of the Templars. [British History Online]

The beginning of the Order in England is not clear, because grants and dates are difficult to pin down. Moreover, the Templars seemed to have been more popular there in the early years of their Order and out-shined the Hospitallers. However, Richard the Lionheart still held the Order in high esteem, having fought alongside of them during the Third Crusade. “Richard I, who held the Order in affection as a result of services to him on Crusade, granted the English Hospitallers a charter in 1194 enlarging their privileges, and handed over to their care hospitals at Worcester and Hereford. John, too, extended his patronage to them. His relations with the Order remained amicable throughout, although, like other religious orders, they suffered from his exactions.” [British History Online]

In 1309, the direction of the Order began to change dramatically. Having purchased the island of Rhodes, Greece, they protected seafarers and merchants in the waters around that island, but eventually turned to piracy, finding many ripe pickings plying the waters and dotting the coastlines of the Middle Sea.

But in the present, they have largely returned to their original mission of charity, a worthy ideal that knows no time period.

 If you enjoy historical fiction, sometimes you begin to live the history.

For Further reading:
http://theknightshospitallers.org/
 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22121#s1
 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07477a.htm

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A Soul’s Ransom




 

Scott Higginbotham writes under the name Scott Howard and is the author of A Soul’s Ransom, a novel set in the fourteenth century where William de Courtenay’s mettle is tested, weighed, and refined, and For a Thousand Generations where Edward Leaver navigates a world where his purpose is defined with an eye to the future.  His new release, A Matter of Honor, is a direct sequel to For a Thousand Generations.  It is within Edward Leaver's well-worn boots that Scott travels the muddy tracks of medieval England.

The Forgotten Militant Order: the Knights of St. Lazarus

by Helena P. Schrader

The so-called Militant Orders – monastic orders open to fighting men – were children of the Crusades. Scollins and Wise (in The Knights of Christ ) list no less than 17 military orders, 8 of which were founded in the Iberian Peninsula, 2 of which were Italian, and 2 German. The most famous and most powerful militant orders, however, were the Templars and the Hospitallers, both founded in the Holy Land and international in their structures and membership.

Initially, true to the Word of Christ, the Church of Rome condemned violence of any kind. By the 5th century, however, the Church conceded that there were circumstances under which the use of force – even homicide – was necessary, excusable, and potentially pious. The concept of the “just war” emerged and was recognized theologically by St. Augustine.

Furthermore, the more Islam threatened the Christian world, the more the Church recognized the need for armed men to defend it against armies determined to spread Islam with the sword. Meanwhile, wherever secular power was weak, the need for men willing to protect clerics, women, and peasants against everything from Viking raids to common robbers was equally evident and urgent.

The fact that the Church drew its leadership from the ruling class – the secular lords with strong military traditions – meant that most clerics in the Middle Ages were themselves imbued with a warrior ethos. This fact was borne out by the number of bishops who donned armor and took active part in warfare, from the Battle of Hastings to the Battle of Crécy. Thus it is not surprising that by the end of the first Christian millennium, Christianity recognized the need for armed force and men who wielded it, but that did not mean the Church had completely abandoned its principles.

On the contrary, the Church sought repeatedly to restrict, reduce, control, and direct warfare and violence. Violence against churches and clergy was punished with excommunication, for example, and there were frequent clerical diatribes against the vanity, arrogance, and violence of the warrior class.

When the Byzantine Emperor appealed to Pope Urban II for aid in fighting the Seljuk Turks and freeing the Holy Land, there is little doubt that Urban II had dual motives for calling for a crusade: on the one hand, he wanted to free the Holy Land, but on the other he wanted to free France and Western Europe from excess numbers of violent young men, trained in the profession of arms, who were too quick to fight each other and prey upon the defenseless.

Balderic, one chronicler of Urban II’s speech calling for the First Crusade, quotes the Pope as saying:

"Christian warriors, who continually and vainly seek pretexts for war, rejoice, for you have today found a true pretext. You, who have so often been the terror of your fellow men, go and fight for the deliverance of the holy places. You, who sell for vile pay the strength of your arms to the fury of others, armed with the sword of the Maccabees, go and merit eternal reward …. If you must have blood, bathe in the blood of the infidels …. Soldiers of Hell, become soldiers of the living God!"

What is remarkable in retrospect is the extent to which Pope Urban II struck a chord with his audience. Not only did they take the cross in great numbers (and proceed to bathe in the blood of infidels when they reached Jerusalem), but for the next 200 years fighting men flocked to serve Christ, not just in crusades, but as fighting monks bound by monastic vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. This was made possible by the creation of new monastic orders that enabled men to be both monks and knights.

While members of these orders were expected to abjure all wealth and property, to attend Mass multiple times a day, to fast, pray, and eat in silence, and to live in controlled communities cut off from the outside world, especially women, members were not required to give up the profession of arms. Rather, these orders were designed to capture the religious zeal of the time and funnel the fervor and energy of fighting men into religious channels.

The most famous of the “fighting orders” or militant orders were of course the Knights Templar, and the Knights Hospitaller (Knights of St. John), two orders founded in the Holy Land and, for their age, truely international in character. Although not powerful and largely forgotten, there was a third military order also founded in the Holy Land, the Order of St. Lazarus.

The Order of St. Lazarus evolved from a leper hospital that had existed in Jerusalem prior to the First Crusade. After the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem was established, it became part of the Hospitaller network of hospitals, but by 1142 the Order of St. Lazarus broke away, and by 1147 it was known as the Leper Brothers of Jerusalem.

About this time the Order also started to expand, eventually having houses in Tiberias, Ascalon, Acre, Caesarea, Beirut, and possibly other cities as well. Furthermore, it began to have military brethren, whose role was primarily the defense of the leper hospitals. These military men were most likely former Templars and Hospitallers who had contracted leprosy, because we know that both the Templar and Hospitaller Rules required members with leprosy to join the Order of St. Lazarus.

Possibly some knights and sergeants joined St. Lazarus without being lepers, however, because there are recorded incidents of the Order of St. Lazarus taking part in military operations – possibly at the Battle of Hattin; certainly at the Battle of Gaza in 1244, at Ramla in 1253, and during the defense of Acre in 1291.

After the fall of Acre, the Order of St. Lazarus moved its headquarters to Cyprus, abandoned all military activities, and thereafter concentrated on its mission of providing comfort and care for the victims of leprosy until the mid-14th century.

Scollins and Wise, The Knights of Christ, Osprey Publishing, London, 1984.
Hopkins, Knights, pp. 82-83.

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Helena P. Schrader is the author of numerous works of fiction and non-fiction from Ancient Sparta to the Berlin Airlift. You can find out more about her books on her website. She is currently working on her “Tales of Chivalry” series, ten novels set in the Age of Chivalry, six of which touch on the crusades. Visit her website: http://talesofchivalry.com or view the video teaser by clicking Tales of Chivalry Video.

The Crusading Order of St John Hospitallers of Jerusalem

by Arthur Russell

The Order of Hospitallers Knights of St John of Jerusalem developed out of the largely humanitarian services being rendered by a group of monk knights under the leadership of Gerard Thorn (who was later beatified by the Church), to poor and sick Christian pilgrims who needed care and protection as they visited the Holy Places in Jerusalem at the beginning of the last millennium (1000AD). They were located at the Amalfitan Hospital near Jerusalem, which was dedicated to St John the Baptist.

After the First Crusade succeeded in capturing Jerusalem in 1099, the status of the group was changed to that of Military Order by virtue of a Papal Bull which was issued in 1133 in which the Order was charged with the task of providing not just medical, but also military protection for pilgrims visiting the Holy places. In response to this, Grand Master Raymond dePuy founded a new hospital near the Church of the Holy Sepulture in the city.

During the late 12^th century, the order established houses in Europe, England and Ireland where local lords gave them land to establish monasteries and hospitals to service local needs. These were also recruitment centres for young monk knights who saw their futures in military service, which was possibly otherwise denied to them (eg younger sons not in line to inherit estates). Local lords found the Order useful in administration of their territories especially newly acquired lands in places like Ireland after the Norman conquest, which began with their invasion of Ireland in 1169. The European houses also provided retirement homes for wounded and old knights who were not able to endure the hardships of life in the Holy Land.

The Fall of Jerusalem 1187 : After the fall of Jerusalem in 1187 to Saladin, the Order moved its base to Acre on the Mediterranean coast, where they provided the main opposition to the Muslim advance into what was left of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Crusader Kingdom came to an end after the defeat of the Christian forces at the Siege of Acre in 1291. It had endured for a little less than 2 centuries.

 After Acre, the Order moved to the island of Cyprus; but after just 18 years they decided to move base to the island of Rhodes where it provided an outpost to defend Southern Europe against attack from both Muslim forces and Barbary pirates from North Africa. They were eventually dislodged from Rhodes by the advancing Ottomans in 1522. They moved to Sicily for some years before they were granted the island of Malta, along with Gozo and the port of Tripoli, in North Africa, by King Charles V of Spain in 1530 to continue their defence of Southern Europe against the Muslims and North African pirates.

In return the Knights were obliged to pay a yearly rental of a single Maltese Falcon each All Souls Day to be paid to the King’s representative, the Viceroy of Sicily. (This became subject of the famous book written by Dashiell Hammett - The Maltese Falcon).

To this day, the Order carries the name Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM).

The Order moves to Malta (1530) : Malta saw the Hospitallers most glorious military exploit, the defeat of the Ottoman siege of their island stronghold at Valetta in 1565, where 700 knights and 8000 soldiers repulsed an attack by over 40,000 Ottoman soldiers sent by Suleiman to dislodge them and thereby establish a base to attack Southern Europe. Only 600 knights survived the siege. In its aftermath, a new city had to be built. This became the capital city of Malta and was named Valetta after the Grand Master who led the fight, Jean Parisot de la Valette.

This victory along with the famous Christian victory at Lepanto in 1571 under the leadership of the iconic Don John of Austria; saved Europe from being overrun by the Ottomans, at a time when the entire Continent was being torn and weakened by religious wars arising from the Reformation.

Post Crusader Hospitallers - The role of the Hospitallers had by then changed dramatically from that of the original Crusader knights of 1133, and this was reflected in the lack of support they received during the 17^th and 18^th centuries. They became more dependent on what they could take from the Barbary pirates, less on what they could attract from Europe’s rulers. Even the Catholic rulers of Europe were inclined to ignore the Order’s pleas for support as they considered the Order to have grown “soft” and increasingly irrelevant.

Napoleon delivered a decisive blow when he had the Order removed from Malta on his way to occupy Egypt in 1798. The knights were dispersed all over Europe where over the next 30 years, they reconfigured themselves into their founder’s original humanitarian/religious roles as opposed to being providers of military services. In 1834 they established their headquarters in Rome, where they still remain. Several Protestant offshoots were also established in Germany, Holland, Great Britain, Sweden which can trace their origin to the original parent group.  

Dissolution of the Templars - The year 1312 saw the dissolving of the Order’s big rivals, the Templars, who were also a Crusading Order who developed in the early years of the Crusades. The Hospitallers benefitted from this, as they were allowed to take over many former Templar establishments, and proceeded to provide the services formerly performed by the Templars. The dissolving of the Templars was motivated mainly by the wish of the French King of the day to take over their considerable wealth and property.  To help achieve this, all manner of accusations were made to discredit the Templars. Some of these were fantastic in the extreme and gave rise to all kinds of theories about the Order and its practices, some of which are simply incredible. Most recently, the books of Dan Brown (The DaVinci Code, et al) exploit this rich source of material to create what many regard as highly unlikely fact but excellent fiction.     

The Hospitallers in Ireland

The two Crusading Orders of Templars and Hospitallers both had Priories all over the conquered territories in Ireland. The Orders’ houses (also called preceptories), were established after the occupation by the Norman invaders of former Gaelic territories and were another means for holding down and administering the new lands. (The first Norman invasion of Ireland took place under the leadership of Richard deClare, nicknamed Strongbow; in 1169).

While the conquest of the Holy Land was the main objective of the Crusading Orders, they were used in places such as Ireland to provide medical and military services in the newly conquered territories in return for grants of lands and houses from the local lords. These establishments also provided rest and retirement homes for older monk-knights who were not so well able to live in more distant and potentially more challenging locations. The first preceptory for the military orders was founded in 1174 by Strongbow in Kilmainham, which was then on the outskirts of Dublin city.

The Preceptory of St John in Nobber, Co Meath; which is featured in the historic novel ‘Morgallion’; was established by Gilbert deAngulo, a knight from Sir Hugh deLacy’s retinue who had been granted the barony of Morgallion in the Lordship of Meath in 1172. DeAngulo (which was afterwards changed to Nangle), established his caput on the hill overlooking Moynagh Lough, where a crannóg community of native Gaelic people are known to have lived.

The first Norman construction here was a motte and bailey as a base for a permanent garrison. The monks of the Crusading Order of St John of Jerusalem were invited by deAngulo to help establish the caput town which came to be called Nobber; after the Irish “An Obair” = Work. (Note - The native Irish were obliged to provide much of the labour to help the construction and maintenance work, hence the name).

The caput town was built to accommodate the people who followed the invading soldiers, as they settled the new lands. The monk-knights were granted land on which to build their monastery church and hospital. The ruined tower in the old graveyard is all that remains of this. It is thought that the name of the nearby townland of Spiddal derives its name from the lands that were part of the original deAngulo grant to the Order (from the Irish word for Hospital - ‘Ospidéal’).

In the aftermath of the 1312 suppression of the rival Templars military order; any Templar land and houses in England and Ireland that were not taken over by the King, was transferred to the Hospitallers of St John.

A famous Irish Hospitaller Grand Prior : The Grand Prior of the Irish Hospitallers during the Bruce wars (1315-18) was Sir Roger Outlawe, who was based in the chief Priory in Kilmainham, Dublin. This man was the son of the notorious Dame Alice Kyteler from the city of Kilkenny, who was accused (in 1324) of being a witch and was helped by Sir Roger to flee Ireland to avoid suffering the dire fate of being burnt at the stake. This lady had the distinction of marrying and having children by four husbands, the first three of whom died under dubious circumstances.

But that is another long and interesting story.

Morgallion