The Medieval Christian Church: Individual Military Orders


Figure 1.--

There were numerous military orders authorized by the Church. Three were of special importance. The three most important were the Hospitallers, the Templars, and the Teutonic Knights. These military orders were "true orders" of the Roman Catholic Curch. Besides these three major military orders there were a number of smaller less well known orders which developed in several European countries. In Spain were the orders of Santiago, Alcantara and Calatrava. In the Baltic were the orders of the Sword and of Dobrin. In England there was the order of St. Thomas of Acre. In Syria there was even an order composed of lepers, the Order of St. Lazarus.

Hospitallers

The Hospitallers were referred to with different names, including the Knights Hospitaller, Order of Hospitallers, Knights of Saint John, and Order of Saint John. They were one of the most famous of the Catholic military orders during the Middle Ages. The Hospitallers grew out of the nursing tradition which developed during the earliest phase of Christian history. In fact both the Hospitlers and the modern hoispital developed out of the same tradition. The benevolent outreach of the developing Church included caring for the sick, although medical knowledge at the time was limmited. The Church was also involved in feeding the hungry, caring for widows and children, clothing the poor, and offering hospitality to strangers. The Christian religious ethos of charity continued as the Church grew and influenced the development of monastic orders to varying degres as the Roman world was collpsing (5th-6th centuries). These monastic orders becme an important part of the Church and the medieval world. Many monasteries added wards to care for the sick. Here the sick were given comfort and spiritual sustenance. At the time hospitals did not exist even in the collapsed urban centrs. Religious orders of men predominated in medieval nursing although there were also religious orders of women involved. Among the hospitals established throughout the West (Maisons-Dieu or Hôtels-Dieu) commonly were operated by both religious communities of both genders. They lived under one roof, following the Rule of St. Augustine, and vowed to perpetual chastity and the service of the sick and poor. The single best known was the Hôtel-Dieu of Paris. The actual founding of the Hospitallers is obscure. Some believe that they originated out of a band of individuals associated with an Amalfitan hospital in the Muristan district of Jerusalem. The Amalfitans were dedicated to St John the Baptist and founded by Blessed Gerard Thom to provide care for poor, sick or injured making pilgrimages to the Holy Land (about 1023). Others believe that the Amalfitans and Gerard's order were separate. After the First Crusade and the Christian Christian conquest of Jerusalem (1095-99), the Amalfitans / Gerard's order organized a religious military order and received a Papal charter. The pope charged the Hospiltars with the care and defence of the now reconquered Holy Land. Following the subsequent reconquest of the Holy Land by Islamic forces, the survuving members of the Order shifted to Rhodes where it established sovereign rule. Later they withdrew further west to Malta which it administered as a vassal state under the Spanish viceroy of Sicily.

Templars

The Templars or Knights Templar were organized after the First Crusade (1095-1099). They are also referred to as the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon. The Crusader states established as a result of the First Crusade neded military support. These Christian states had only a tenuous hold om Jerusalem and other urbn centers. The Levant has become predominately Muslim and there were powerful Mullim states in Egypt and Mesopotamia as well as growing Turkish control over Anatolia. Most of the Crusaders knights returned home after completing their vows and recinqueing the Holy Lands. Christian pilgrims wanted to visit the reqconquered Holy Lands, especially Jerusalem where so many scred shrines were located. At the time, pilgrims had to carry valuables with them to pay for food and shelter as they traveled. Thy were thus tempting targets. The pilgrims were attacked or abused and robbed by Muslim groups with religious or criminal intent, often both. Pitying the plight of these Christian pilgrims, a group of French knights which had participated in the Crusade led by Hugues (Hugh) de Payens offered themselves to the Patriarch of Jerusalem to serve as a military force (1119-20). They decided to devote themselves to the pilgrims’ protection and to form a religious community for that purpose. Baldwin II, king of Jerusalem, gave them quarters in a wing of the royal palace in the area of the former Temple of Solomon, and from this they derived their name. It is beieved that eight or nine knights made the originl commitment. They were awarded the mandate of protecting Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land to visit the important Christian shrines. As the order grew, King Baldwin II of Jerusalem granted the group quarters in a wing of the Royal Palace on the Temple Mount, later the site of the Al Aqsa Mosque (1118–20). It is from the Temple Mount, the location of Solomon's magnificent temple that the Templrs take their name. The Templrs are the best known of the military order of knighthood. They became the model and inspiration for many other Catholic military orders. As they grew they grew, they assumed greater military duties, primarily to defend the crusader satates in the Holy Land (12th century).

Knights of Malta

The Knights of Malta grew out of the Hospitars who were efendung Christian pilgrims and the Crusder states estblished ftr the First Crudase (1095-99). When the last Christian stronghold in the Holy Land fell (1291), the survivors of the order noved to first Cyprus and then led by their Grand Master Fra’ Foulques de Villaret to Rhodes (1310). On Rhodes the Order was the soverign power. By this time the Ottoman Turks had become the major Muslim militay firc. The Ottomans had begun building a navy to expand their conquests wert into the Mediterranean world, inhabitd by Muslims in the south and Christains in the the north. Rhodes was especially vulnerable, situated as it was at the south western corner of Anatolia now diminted by the Ottomans. The Order begn building a powerful fleet. They operated in the eastern Mediterranean, fighting Ottoman naval forces ttempting to conquer Christian reas. They also participated in the last crusades. Knights came to Rhodes from all over Europe to join the order and participate in the struggle. Once in Rhodes they were grouped according to the languages they spoke. There wre intially seven language groups caled Langues (Tongues). As this was a time in which now provincil languages were still important, they included: Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Aragon (Navarre), England (with the Scotts and Irish), and Germany. This was increased to eight when Castille and Portugal were separated from the Langue of Aragon (1492). Each Langue was organized with its own Priories or Grand Priories, Bailiwicks, and Commanderies. The Order was governed by its Grand Master (the Prince of Rhodes) and Council. The pope had grnted independence from other nations in pontifical charter. They had universally recognised right to maintain and deploy armed forces. This constituted grounds for the international sovereignty of the Order. Herec they were asisted by the fact that Rhodes was so vulnerable, thst the developin states in the West were not all tht interested in takingbon the job of defendig Rhodes. The Order minted its own coins and maintained diplomatic relations with other States. The senior positions of the Order were divided among representatives of different Langues. Finally Sultan theMagnifiucent decided to conquer Rhodes. A horific 6-month seige followed. Ultimately the the Knights were forced to surrender (1523). Undr the terms of the surrender, thevknights were lloed to depart with military honurs. This left them, however, without a territory. Grand Master Fra’ Philippe de Villiers de l’Isle Adam took possession of the island of Malta (1530). It was granted to tghe Order by Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and his mother Queen Joanna of Castile. They were also at the time monarchs of Sicily. Pope Clement VII gave his consent with the condition that they honor the Tribute of the Maltese Falcon.

Teutonic Knights

The Teutonic Knights are the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary's Hospital at Jerusalem (Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum). There are in German known as the Deutscher Orden. They originated as a brotherhood formed by crusading German knights besiging Acre (1190). After the Crusaders took Acre, the Teutonic Knights set up their headquarters there. Pope Clement recognized them (1191). The members took religious vows. Their avowed purpose was to give medical aid to pilgrims to the Holyland. The Pope ordered them to take and hold Jerusalem. They were based at Acre. The Order seeing that the Crusades could not succeed in the Holyland, moved their headquarter to Venice. The Order conceived of religious crusades in Eastern Europe where prospects for teritorial conquest seemed more propitious. Pagan tribes still existed in Eastern Europe and from time to time threatened or conducted raids into neigboring Christain kingdoms.

Other Orders

Besides these three major military orders there were a number of smaller less well known orders which developed in several European countries. In Spain were the orders of Santiago, Alcantara and Calatrava. In the Baltic were the orders of the Sword and of Dobrin. In England there was the order of St. Thomas of Acre. In Syria there was even an order composed of lepers, the Order of St. Lazarus.

Sources

Crawford, Paul. "The Military Orders: Introduction, " The Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies (1996).







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Created: April 21, 2004
Last updated: 3:19 AM 12/20/2014