Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem :: Essays Papers

Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem Hospitallers of St. John, or in full The Sovereign Military Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, is one of the most important military orders that existed since before the crusades. It was founded in early 12th century by a person known as Gerard or Gerald. Even if the family name or birth place of this Gerard is not known for sure, his title as a founder of the order was confirmed by an official document, the Bull of Paschal II dated 1113 and addressed to â€Å"Geraudo institutori ac praeposito Hirosolimitani Xenodochii.† Hospitallers of St. John is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and it follows the rules of St. Augustine. The beginning of the order is different from those of other hostelries of its period, because others were dependent on their churches or monasteries while St. John's supported itself. It profited from the presence of the crusaders and from the gratitude people felt for the hospitality they received. Thus, the order had revenues and territories in the new kingdom of Jerusalem and in Europe as well. At the very beginning, the order was completely devoted to the hospitalization of pilgrims visiting the Holy Places in Jerusalem. It started to develop some military characters when Raymond of Provence (1120-1160) succeeded Gerard as the first Grand Master of the order. He sponsored an armed escort for the pilgrims. Eventually, this armed escort evolved into a heavy cavalry whose members were crusaders from Europe and Turcopoles - natives of mixed blood. The very first military dignitaries in the order were â€Å"the marshal† for the command of the knights and â€Å"the turcopoliers† for the command of the turcopoles. Later the grand masters, heads of the church, started to go into battle. For example, Gosbert, the fifth successor of Raymond, died on the battle field in 1177. Rules directly concerning knights were added to the rules of the order by the ninth Grand Master, Alfonso of Portugal, around 1200. The rules made notable distinction between secular knights and the professed knights. The secular knights were externs to the order and did not stay with it for life. They just serve it for some time, and then go on with their lives like usual.