Spiritual and knightly orders: hospitallers. Johnites - Hospitallers Who led the Order of Hospitallers
Order of St. John (Hospitallers)
Christian pilgrims came to the Holy Land exhausted from their journey; many fell ill and were left without charity. Immediately after Jerusalem was taken by the crusaders (1099), several French knights united to establish a hospice in which pilgrims could find shelter. They formed a spiritual congregation whose members pledged to devote themselves to caring for the poor and sick, to live on bread and water, and to wear simple dress, "like the poor, their masters." These knights lived on alms, which the people they sent out collected in all Christian countries and which they then put in the sick room. Their hospital was called the "hospitable house of the Jerusalem hospital" or the hospital of St. John. Later he changed his character. In addition to the knights, there were also novices, that is, servants who went for the sick. Up to 2,000 patients found shelter in the hospital, and alms were distributed daily; they even say that the Muslim Sultan Saladin disguised himself as a beggar in order to get acquainted with the charitable activities of the Hospitallers. This spiritual knightly order retained its name of the Hospitallers of St. John (or St. John's) and its seal, which depicted a sick man stretched out on a bed with a cross in his head and a lamp at his feet. But the knights who entered the order of the Johnites formed a military community whose task was to fight the infidels.
Only knights of noble birth or by-sons of princes were admitted to the number of hospitallers; each new member had to bring with him a full armament or contribute 2,000 Turkish sous to the arsenal of the order. In all the states of Syria, the princes granted the Hospitallers the right to build castles outside the cities and fortified houses in the cities. The main settlements of the spiritual and knightly order of the St. John were in the regions of Antioch and Tripoli, around Lake Tiberias and on the Egyptian border. His Markab castle, built in 1186, occupied the entire area of the plateau, steeply descending into the valley, had a church and a village, it had a garrison of a thousand people and supplies for 5 years; here the Bishop of Valenia took refuge. In all the countries of Europe, the Hospitallers acquired possessions; in the thirteenth century they had, according to legend, 19 thousand cloisters. In each of them lived several knights with commander; many villages bearing the name of St. John (Saint-Jean) are ancient Hospitaller commandership.
Entrance to the Palace of the Grand Masters of the Order of St. John on the island of Rhodes
Order of the Templars (templars)
Before this spiritual-knightly order changed its character, several knights, who were bored with caring for the sick, wanted to find an occupation that would be more in line with their tastes. In 1123, eight French knights formed a brotherhood, whose members undertook to accompany the pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem in order to protect them against the infidels; They chose Hugh de Payens as Grand Master of the Order. King Baldwin gave them part of his palace, the so-called Temple(literally - "Temple") , built on site ancient Solomon's temple; they adopted the name of the Poor Brethren of the Jerusalem Temple, or Templars (lit. - "templars"). The famous saint of the time, Bernard of Clairvaux, patronized them and took part in the drafting of their charter, which partly reproduced the Cistercian charter. The charter of the spiritual knightly order of the Templars was approved at the cathedral in Troyes (1128). The order consisted of members of a threefold kind; monastic vows of poverty, obedience and chastity were obligatory for all. Knights the Templars had people of noble birth; they alone could be the heads of monasteries and hold positions in the order. servants there were wealthy citizens who gave their property to the order and took the place of either squires or stewards; they managed the financial affairs of the Knights Templar; the coastal commander, who oversaw the boarding of ships and the landing of pilgrims, was a minister. Priests performed spiritual duties in the order. The popes, who patronized the Templars, allowed them to have their own chapels and cemeteries and to choose their own priests to perform divine service in their monasteries. They decreed that all ecclesiastics in the service of the order should not be subordinate to their bishop, but to the Grand Master of the Templars (bull 1162). Thus, the spiritual and knightly order of the Templars became in the depths of the Roman Church an independent church, subordinate only to the pope. Secular princes, especially French ones, out of respect for these knights, who devoted themselves to the uninterrupted crusade war, gave them large gifts. Later, the order owned 10,000 monasteries in Europe, a fleet, banks, and such a rich treasury that it could offer 100,000 gold for the island of Cyprus.
Armament and emblem of the spiritual knightly order of the Knights Templar
Both the Hospitallers and the Templars were French orders. As the Germans began to arrive in the Holy Land in greater numbers, they also felt the need to have a hospice where their language was spoken. In Jerusalem, there was a refuge for German pilgrims, but it depended on the Order of the Hospitallers. During the siege by the crusaders of Saint-Jean d "Acre (1189), several Germans gathered their patients on one ship that had become unusable. The German princes gave them funds to found a hospital, which was organized in 1197 on the model of the hospital of St. John. The members of the new order were German knights, who were obliged to both look after the sick and fight the infidels.They adopted the name of the Brothers of the German House, and later they became more commonly called knights of the Teutonic Order. During Emperor Frederick II's stay in Palestine, they acquired estates and built the Montfort Castle (1229) near Saint-Jean d'Acre, which remained the center of the order until 1271.
Hermann von Salza - Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, who transferred his seat from Palestine to the Baltic at the beginning of the 13th century
Common features of spiritual knightly orders
All these three spiritual knightly orders were religious brotherhoods and took the usual three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Each order was organized along the lines of the Cluniac or Cistercian. general chapter(that is, a meeting of officials and heads of the monasteries that were part of the order) ruled the entire order. Separate monasteries were, as it were, lands that were managed at the expense of the order. But these monks were also knights: their mission was war. They were all, without exception, of noble birth, and their leaders were often large lords. The head of the spiritual and knightly order was called not the abbot, but the grand master, the head of the monastery was not called the prior, but the commander. Their clothes were half monastic, half military: they wore knightly armor and a cloak on top. The hospitallers had a black cloak, a white cross; the Templars have a white cloak, a red cross; the knights of the Teutonic Order have a white cloak, a black cross. Each order with its treasury, its estates, fortresses and warriors was, as it were, small state.
Hospitallers or Johnites (also known as the Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta Sovereign Military Hospice Order of St. John, also as the Order of St. John, as the Knights of Malta or the Knights of Malta; fr. Ordre des Hospitaliers, Malt. Ordni ta’ San Ġwann).
Founded in 1080 in Jerusalem as an Amalfi hospital, a Christian organization whose purpose was to care for the poor, sick or injured pilgrims in the Holy Land.
Grand Master Guillaume de Villaret defends the walls of Acre, Galilee, 1291. thin. Dominique Louis Papeti (1815-1849) Versailles
After the capture of Jerusalem by Christians in 1099 during the First Crusade, the organization turned into a religious-military order with its own charter. The order was entrusted with the mission of caring for and protecting the Holy Land. Following the capture of the Holy Land by Muslims, the order continued its activities in Rhodes, of which he was the lord, and then acted from Malta, which was in vassal submission to the Spanish Viceroy of Sicily.
Title and Status
The Jerusalem, Rhodes and Maltese Order of St. John is erroneously called the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. This is not true: the Order itself is called Jerusalem, but not St. John. Among the saints there are, for example, the following: John the Baptist - the Forerunner of the Lord, John the Theologian - the apostle of the Lord and Evangelist, author of the Gospel, the Apocalypse and the three Epistles of the Apostles, John Eleimon (the Merciful) - Patriarch of Alexandria, but such a saint as John of Jerusalem does not exist. The heavenly patron and patron of the Order is John the Baptist.
Regarding the name "Order of the Hospitallers", it should be borne in mind that this name is considered slang or familiar. The official name of the Order does not contain the word "Hospitallers" ("des hospitaliers"). The official name of the Order is the Hospitable Order (l'Ordre hospitalier), and by no means the "Order of the Hospitallers".
Initially, the main task of the Military Hospice Order of St. John was to protect pilgrims on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. At present, when military tasks have faded into the background, the Order is actively engaged in humanitarian and charitable activities. Thus, in the new historical conditions, the name "Hospital Order" acquires a new, special sound.
From the point of view of international law, the Order of Malta is not a state, but a state-like entity. Sometimes it is regarded as a dwarf enclave state, the smallest state in the world (on the territory of Rome, but independent of Italy), sometimes as an extraterritorial state formation, sometimes simply as a knightly order. Meanwhile, in international law, the sovereignty of the Order is considered at the level of diplomatic relations (diplomatic missions), but not as the sovereignty of the state.
In 600, Pope Gregory the Great sent Abbot Probus to Jerusalem to build a hospital, the purpose of which was to treat and care for Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land. In 800, Charlemagne expanded the hospital and also established a library with it. Two centuries later, in 1005, Caliph Al-Hakim destroyed the hospital and about three thousand other buildings in Jerusalem. In 1023, the Egyptian caliph Ali al-Zaire allowed Italian merchants from Amalfi and Salerno to rebuild a hospital in Jerusalem. The hospital, built on the site where the monastery of St. John the Baptist was previously located, received pilgrims visiting Christian shrines. It was served by the Benedictines.
Grand Master and High-Ranking Hospitallers in the 14th Century
The monastic order of the Hospitallers was founded immediately after the First Crusade by Gerard the Blessed, whose role as founder was confirmed by a papal bull granted by Pope Paschal II in 1113. On the territory of the entire Kingdom of Jerusalem and beyond, Gerard acquired lands and property for his order. His successor, Raymond de Puy, established the first significant Hospitaller infirmary near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Initially, the organization took care of the Pilgrims in Jerusalem, but soon the order began to provide the Pilgrims with an armed escort, which quickly grew into a significant force. The Order of the Hospitallers and the Order of the Knights Templar, founded in 1119, became the most powerful Christian organizations in the region. In battles with the Muslims, the order showed its distinctive features, its soldiers were dressed in black tunics with white crosses.
By the middle of the 12th century, the order was divided into brothers-warriors and brothers-healers who cared for the sick. He still remained a religious order and had a number of privileges granted to him by the papacy. For example, the order was not subject to anyone except the Pope, did not pay tithes and had the right to own their own spiritual buildings. Many significant Christian fortifications in the Holy Land were built by the Templars and Hospitallers. During the heyday of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers owned 7 large fortresses and 140 other settlements in the region. The two largest pillars of their power in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Principality of Antioch were Krak des Chevaliers and Margat. The possessions of the order were divided into priories, priories into bailiwicks, which in turn were divided into commanders. Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, entrusted his safety to the Knights of Saint John in a charter of privileges they granted to the order in 1185.
Cypriot and Rhodes Knights
The growing strength of Islam eventually forced the Hospitallers to leave Jerusalem. After the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (Jerusalem fell in 1187), the Hospitallers were driven back to the County of Tripoli, and after the fall of Acre in 1291, the Order found refuge in the Kingdom of Cyprus.
Realizing the involvement of the Hospitallers in the politics of the Cypriot kingdom, the Grand Master of the Order Guillaume de Villaret decided to establish his own temporary residence. The choice fell on Rhodes. His successor, Fulk de Villaret, put the plan into action. On August 15, 1309, after more than two years of fighting, the island of Rhodes surrendered to the Hospitallers. In addition, the Hospitallers gained control over a number of neighboring islands, as well as over the ports of Anatolia, Bodrum and Kastelorizo.
After the abolition of the Knights Templar in 1312, a significant part of their possessions was transferred to the Hospitallers. The dominions were divided into eight languages (Aragon, Avernay, Castile, England, France, Germany and Provence). Each language was ruled by a prior, and if there was more than one prior in a language, then by a grand prior. in Rhodes and last years in Malta, the knights of each language were led by a bailiff. The English Grand Prior at that time was Philip Thame, who also acquired possessions for the language of England from 1330 to 1358.
On Rhodes, the Hospitallers, then also called the Knights of Rhodes, were forced to become an even more militarized force, constantly fighting, mainly with North African pirates. In the 15th century they repelled two invasions. The first, led by the Egyptian sultan, in 1444, and the second, led by the Turkish sultan Mehmed II in 1480, who, after the capture of Constantinople, made the Hospitallers his main target.
On the video: the island of Rhodes, the knight's castle and the hospital.
In 1494, the Hospitallers founded a fortress on the island of Halicarnassus (today Bodrum). To strengthen the Bodrum fortress, they used the stones of the partially destroyed Mausoleum of Mausolus, one of the seven wonders of the world of the ancient world.
In 1522, an unprecedented number of soldiers landed on the island. 400 ships under the command of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent delivered 200,000 soldiers. The Hospitallers, under the command of Grand Master Philippe Villaret de l'Isle-Adam, could only oppose this force with only 7,000 soldiers, as well as fortifications. After the end of the siege, which lasted 6 months, the surviving Hospitallers were allowed to retreat to Sicily.
Knights of Malta
After seven years of wandering around Europe, the Hospitallers settled in Malta in 1530, after the Spanish King Charles V, who was also King of Sicily, gave the Hospitallers Malta, Gozo and the North African port of Tripoli into permanent fiefdom. The annual payment for this service was to be one Maltese falcon, sent on the day of all saints to the royal representative, the Viceroy of Sicily (this historical fact used as the opening in Dashiell Hammett's famous book The Maltese Falcon).
The legend of the falcon, in turn, echoes the ancient Egyptian myth of the god Horus (Horus, Horus), who was depicted as a man with a falcon's head. Which gives grounds to assume that the Order of the Hospitallers (the Order of Malta) already then fell into the orbit of influence of the 22 Hierophants and became a tool in the hands of the Occult. * (Note by Salvadora).
Great Siege of Malta
The Hospitallers continued their fight against the Muslims, especially against the North African pirates. Despite the fact that they had only a few ships at their disposal, they very quickly incurred the wrath of the Ottomans, who were dissatisfied with the resettlement of the order. In 1565, Suleiman I sent an army of forty thousand to besiege Malta and expel 700 knights and 8,000 soldiers from its territory.
At first, the battle was as unsuccessful for the Hospitallers as the battle on Rhodes: most of the city was destroyed, about half of the knights were killed. By August 18, the position of the besieged had become almost hopeless. Decreasing daily in numbers, they soon became unable to hold the extended fortification line. However, when the council suggested abandoning Borgo and Senglia and retreating to Fort Sant'Angelo, Grand Master Jean Parisot de la Valette rejected the proposal.
The Viceroy of Sicily sent no help. Apparently, the orders of the Spanish King Philip II to the Viceroy of Sicily were so vaguely stated that he did not dare to take responsibility and help the Hospitallers to the detriment of his own defense. A wrong decision could lead to defeat, and consequently expose Sicily and Naples to the Ottoman threat. The viceroy left his son with la Vallet, and he could hardly be indifferent to the fate of the fortress. Whatever the reason for the delay, the Viceroy continued to hesitate until the fate of the battle was practically decided by the efforts of the unhelped Hospitallers, and even then only the indignation of his own officers forced him to move to the aid.
On August 23, another powerful attack followed. According to the testimonies of the besieged, this was the last serious effort. With great difficulty, even the wounded had to take part, the attack was repelled. The position of the besieged, however, did not look hopeless. With the exception of Fort Saint Elmo, the Hospitaller fortifications were still intact. Working day and night, the garrison managed to eliminate the gaps in the fortifications, after which the capture of Malta seemed an increasingly impossible task. Due to the terrible heat and cramped barracks, many Turkish soldiers were sick. Food and ammunition were running out, and the Turkish soldiers became increasingly discouraged by the futility of their attacks and the losses they had suffered. A serious blow was the death of an experienced commander, privateer and admiral of the Ottoman fleet Dragut, which followed on June 23, 1565. The Turkish commanders Pial Pasha and Mustafa Pasha were too careless. They had a huge fleet, which they only once successfully used. They also neglected to communicate with African coast and made no attempt to track down and prevent the transfer of reinforcements from Sicily.
On September 1, the Turks made their last attempt, but the morale of the Ottoman troops had already fallen, and to the great joy of the besieged, who saw the way to salvation, the attempt was in vain. Perplexed and indecisive, the Ottomans learned of the arrival of reinforcements from Sicily at the Bay of Millia. On September 8, not knowing that the reinforcements were very small, the Turks lifted the siege and retreated. The Great Siege of Malta must have been the last battle in which an army of knights won a decisive victory.
After the retreat of the Ottomans, only 600 people remained in the ranks of the Hospitallers. According to the most reliable estimate, the Turkish army then numbered 40,000 people, of which, in the end, only 15,000 returned to Constantinople. The siege is vividly depicted in the frescoes by Matteo Pérez d'Aleccio in the Hall of Saint Michael and Saint George, also known as the Throne Room, which is located in the Grand Master's castle in Valletta. Four original sketches, painted in oil by Matteo d'Aleccio between 1576 and 1581, can be seen in the Square Room of the Queen's Palace, Greenwich, London. After the siege, a new city was built - today it bears the name of Valletta, in memory of the Grand Master who defended it.
In 1607, the Grand Master of the Hospitallers was granted the title of Reichsfürst (Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, despite the fact that the territory of the order was always south of the territory of the Holy Roman Empire). In 1630, the Grand Master was awarded the clergy equivalent to a cardinal and the unique mixed title of His Most Illustrious Highness, reflecting both properties and thus recognizing him as a true Prince of the Church.
conquest of the mediterranean
After the Hospitallers of Malta had regained their strength, they found that there was no longer any reason for the order to exist. The goal with which the order was created, namely the promotion of crusades in the Holy Land, was now unattainable, both due to economic and military weakness, and because of the geographical position. Decreasing payments from European sponsors, no longer willing to support a costly and "unnecessary" organization, forced the Hospitallers to turn their attention to the growing piracy threat in the Mediterranean, largely from Ottoman-backed North African pirates.
By the end of the 16th century, emboldened by their invincibility inspired by the successful defense of their island in 1565 and the joint victory of Christian forces over the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the Hospitallers set themselves new tasks, namely the protection of Christian merchants trading with the Levant. , as well as the liberation of Christian slaves, who were both the main subject of trade for North African pirates and the basis of their fleet. The activities of the Hospitallers were called corso.
However, the order continued to suffer from a lack of finances. By taking control of the Mediterranean Sea, the order thereby assumed the duties traditionally performed by the maritime city-state of Venice. However, the financial difficulties of the Hospitallers did not end there. The exchange rate of the local currency escudo, adopted in circulation at the end of the 16th century, was continuously falling, which meant for the hospitallers a reduction in the profits received in merchant trading posts.
Agricultural difficulties caused by the barrenness of the island occupied by the Order, forced many of the Hospitallers to disregard their sense of duty and start plundering Muslim ships. More and more ships were subjected to their plunder, the income from which allowed many Hospitallers to lead an idle and rich life. Profits also allowed them to take local women as their wives, to be hired in the French and Spanish fleets in search of adventure, experience and, oddly enough, money.
All of the above conflicted with their monastic vows of poverty and chastity, which they swore to observe before joining the order. The changing position of the Hospitallers was multiplied by the effects of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, as well as the lack of stability experienced by the Catholic Church.
The consequences of these events had a strong impact on the order in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, when the decline in the religious mood of many Europeans called into question the need for the existence of a religious army, and as a result, the need for regular financial contributions to the maintenance of the order. The fact that during the accession to the throne of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I, the Catholic order insisted on the re-entry of England as a member state, which was previously not allowed under Henry VIII, along with monasteries, eloquently testified to the new religious tolerance for the order. In the possession of the order was even German, equally Protestant and Catholic.
During the 14th and 16th centuries, the order experienced a noticeable moral decline, as eloquently evidenced by the choice of many knights who preferred to rob as part of foreign fleets, of which French was especially popular. This choice directly contradicted the vows of the Hospitallers. In the service of one of the European powers, there was a high probability of clashing in battle with another Christian army, which, in essence, happened in a series of Franco-Spanish clashes of that period.
The greatest paradox is that for many years France remained on friendly terms with the Ottoman Empire, the greatest enemy of the Hospitallers. By signing numerous trade treaties and agreeing to an informal (but ultimately effective) ceasefire between the two states, the Hospitallers have called into question the raison d'être of their own existence.
The fact that the Hospitallers identified themselves with the allies of their sworn enemies demonstrates their moral ambivalence and the new commercial nature of relations in the Mediterranean. Service in a foreign fleet, in particular in the French, gave the hospitallers the opportunity to serve the church and especially the French king. Knights could improve their chances of promotion, both in the navy that hired them and in the navy of Malta. They could get higher salaries, relieve boredom with frequent sailings, join high-priority short-term trips with large caravans, provide them with patronage, and also indulge in traditional port brawls. The French received in their person a mobile and experienced fleet, which made it possible to keep the vassals in check and protect France from the Spanish threat. The change in position of the Hospitallers was aptly noted by Paul Lacroix:
“Showing off with wealth, weighed down by privileges that gave it virtually complete sovereignty, the order eventually became so demoralized by excesses and idleness that it completely lost the understanding of what it was created for, and devoted itself to the lust for gain and the pursuit of pleasure. The thirst for profit soon went beyond all possible limits. The knights behaved as if they were beyond the reach of crowned persons, they robbed and looted, not caring who owned the property: pagans or Christians.
As the fame and wealth of the Hospitallers grew, European states began to treat the order more respectfully, at the same time, showing less and less desire to finance an organization known for its ability to earn large sums on the high seas. Thus, the vicious circle increased the number of raids, and consequently reduced the subsidies received from European states. Soon, the island's balance of payments became completely dependent on conquest.
Meanwhile, the European states were completely not up to the hospitallers. The Thirty Years' War forced them to concentrate all their forces on the continent. In February 1641, a letter was sent from Valletta by an unknown person to the most trusted ally and benefactor of the Hospitallers, King Louis XIV of France, reporting on the problems of the order:
“Italy supplies us with little; Bohemia and Germany are practically nothing, and England and the Netherlands have been providing absolutely no help for a long time. Your Majesty, only in your kingdom and in Spain do we still have something to support us.”
It is important to note that the Maltese authorities in every possible way avoided mentioning the fact that they receive significant income by exercising control over the seas. The authorities of Malta quickly appreciated the importance of corsairry for the economy of the island and encouraged it in every possible way. Contrary to the oath of poverty, ordinary knights were allowed to keep part of the loot, which consisted of prize money and cargo seized on a captured ship. In addition, they were allowed to equip their own galleys with the proceeds. To compete with the North African pirates, the island authorities also turned a blind eye to the slave market that existed in Valletta.
A lot of controversy was caused by the insistence of the Hospitallers on observing the right of whist. The right of whist allowed the order to board any ship suspected of carrying Turkish goods, as well as confiscate its cargo with subsequent resale in Valletta. Often the ship's crew was its most valuable cargo. Naturally, many states declared themselves victims of the excessive desire of the Hospitallers to confiscate any cargo remotely related to the Turks. In order to do something about the growing problem, the Maltese authorities created a court, the Consigilio del Mer (nautical council), in which captains who considered themselves wrongly injured could appeal their case, often successfully. The practice of using a letter of marque, and consequently state support for privateering, which existed for many years, was strictly regulated. The island authorities tried to call to account the unscrupulous Hospitallers in their choice of means in order to appease the European powers and a few benefactors. And yet, these actions did not bring much benefit. The archives of the Maritime Council contain numerous complaints of Maltese piracy in the region since 1700. Ultimately, the excessive softness of the Mediterranean powers led to the collapse of the Hospitallers during this period of their history. After transforming from a military outpost into another small trade-oriented nation in Europe, their role was taken over by the North Sea merchant states, also well-versed in piracy.
Knights in Malta
Favoring Malta, the Hospitallers stayed on the island for 268 years, turning what they called "a solid sandstone rock" into a flourishing island with powerful defenses and the capital Valletta, known among the great European powers as Superbissima (Very Proud).
In 1301, the order was converted into seven languages in order of precedence: Provence, Auvergne, France, Spain, Italy, England and Germany. In 1462, Spain was divided into Castile-Portugal and Aragon-Navarre. The language of England temporarily ceased to exist after the order's territories were confiscated by Henry VIII in 1540. In 1782 the language of England was restored as Anglo-Bavarian, incorporating the Bavarian and Polish priories. At the end of the 19th century, the structure of languages was replaced by a system of national associations.
Not surprisingly, the construction of hospitals was one of the first projects carried out in Malta, where French soon supplanted the official Italian (despite the fact that the indigenous people continued to speak among themselves in Maltese). In addition, the Hospitallers built fortresses, watchtowers and, of course, churches on the island. The capture of Malta signaled a renewed maritime activity for the order.
The growth and fortification of Valletta, named after the Grand Master La Valetta, began in 1566. Soon the city became the home port of one of the most powerful Mediterranean fleets. The hospitals on the island also grew in size. The main hospital, reputed to be one of the best in the world, could accommodate about 500 patients. Being at the forefront of medicine, the Malta Hospital included a school of anatomy, surgery and pharmacy. Valletta was known as a center of culture and art. In 1577, the construction of the church of St. John the Baptist, decorated with works by Caravaggio and other authors, was completed.
In Europe, most of the hospitals and chapels of the order survived the reformation, but not in Protestant countries. Meanwhile, in 1716, a public library was founded in Malta. Seven years later, the University was founded, and after the University, the School of Mathematics and the School Natural Sciences. The dissatisfaction of some of the inhabitants of Malta, who viewed the order as a privileged class, grew despite the improvements. The number of dissatisfied even included some representatives of the Maltese nobility who were not accepted into the order.
On Rhodes, the hospitallers were quartered in inns (fr. Auberges). Inns were also divided into languages. A similar structure was preserved on the island of Birgu from 1530 to 1571, and then, starting in 1571, migrated to Valletta. The ownership of the inns on Birgu is largely uncertain. Valletta still has a Castile-Leon language inn built in 1574 and restored by Grand Master de Vilhena. Today, this building houses the office of the Prime Minister. The inn of the language of Italy has been preserved (restored in 1683 by the Grand Master Garaffa, today it is a postal office), the language of Aragon (built in 1571, today the Ministry of Economy), the language of Bavaria (formerly the Carnerio Palace, bought in 1784 for the newly formed language) , Provence language (today it is the National Museum of Archeology). The inn of the Auvergne language was destroyed in the second world war, after which a courthouse was built in its place. The inn of the language of France was also destroyed during the Second World War.
In 1604, each language received a chapel in the Cathedral of St. John, after which the coats of arms of the languages adorned the walls and ceiling of the cathedral.
- Provence: Archangel Michael, coat of arms of Jerusalem
- Auvergne: Saint Sebastian, the Blue Dolphin
- France: conversion of St. Paul, coat of arms of France
- Castile and León: Saint James the Lesser, two quarters coat of arms of Castile and two quarters of León
- Aragon: George the Victorious, a chapel dedicated to the Mother of God (Per pale Aragon and Navarre)
- Italy: St. Catherine, curved blue inscription ITALIA
- England: Flagellation of Christ, coat of arms not found; on Rhodes, the language had an English coat of arms (two quarters coat of arms of France and two quarters of England)
- Germany: Epiphany, Black double-headed eagle.
Unrest in Europe
The result of the growth of Protestantism and French egalitarianism in Europe was the loss of many European possessions by the order, however, the order continued to exist in Malta. The property of the English branch was confiscated in 1540. In 1577, the Bailiwick of Brandenburg became Lutheran, but continued to pay contributions to the order, until this branch was turned into an honorary order by the King of Prussia in 1812. The Order of Malta (Johanniter Orden) was re-established as the Prussian Order of the Knights Hospitaller in 1852.
Many knights of Malta were in the ranks of the Navy of the Russian Empire, as well as in the ranks of the revolutionary French fleet. De Poinsy, appointed governor of the French colony of St. Kitts in 1639, decorated the uniform of his retinue with the symbols of the order, as by that time he was already a prominent knight of the Order of St. John. In 1651, the Hospitallers purchased St. Kitts, St. Martin, and St. Barthelemy from the Company of the American Isles. The presence of the order in the Caribbean was overshadowed by the death of de Poincy in 1660, who also acquired, as a personal property, the island of Santa Cruz and transferred it to the Knights of St. John. In 1665, the order sold its possessions in the Caribbean to the French West India Company, thus ending its presence in the region.
The Decree of the French National Assembly Abolishing the Feudal System (1789) abolished the order in France. V. Tithes of any kind, as well as the duties that were performed in their place, under whatever name they were known or collected (even when the parties came to a mutual agreement), owned by a lay or professional organization, owned by landowners or beneficiaries, members of associations (including the Order of Malta and other religious and military orders), as well as those intended for the maintenance of churches, those obtained from the sale of church lands and entrusted to secular people and those replaced by the corresponding part, are abolished. The French revolutionary government confiscated the values and lands of the order in France in 1792.
Loss of Malta
The fortress of the Hospitallers in Malta was captured by Napoleon in 1798 during an expedition to Egypt. Napoleon resorted to cunning. He asked permission to enter the bay of Valletta to resupply his ships, and once inside, he turned against the host. The Grand Master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Boleim failed to predict Napoleon's intentions and prepare for the impending danger, he also failed to provide effective leadership, on the contrary, he readily surrendered to Napoleon, explaining his actions by the fact that the charter of the Order forbade the Hospitallers to fight Christians.
The Hospitallers were dispersed, but the order, although noticeably reduced in size, continued to exist, negotiating with European governments for the return of its former power. The Russian Emperor Paul I granted asylum to the majority of the Hospitallers in St. Petersburg.
This act marked the beginning of the existence of the Order of Hospitallers in the Russian tradition, and also contributed to the recognition of the Maltese awards for military merit along with the Imperial ones. The fugitive hospitallers in St. Petersburg elected Paul I as Grand Master of the order. He became a rival to Grand Master von Hompesch, but von Hompesch's abdication made Paul I the only Grand Master.
While serving as Grand Master, Paul I created, in addition to the already existing Roman Catholic Grand Priory, the Russian Grand Priory, which included at least 118 commanders, thereby lowering the importance of the rest of the order and opening it to all Christians. The election of Paul I as Grand Master, however, was never approved by the Roman Catholic Church. Thus, Paul I was a Grand Master de facto rather than de jure.
By the beginning of the 19th century, the order was greatly weakened by the loss of priories in Europe. Only 10% of the income the order received from traditional sources in Europe, the remaining 90% of the income until 1810, the order received from the Russian Grand Priory. This situation was partly reflected in the administration of the order, which, from 1805 to 1879, was ruled by lieutenants instead of grand masters, until the restoration of the post of grand master by Pope Leo XIII. The reinstatement of the position of Grand Master signaled the revival of the order as a humanitarian and religious organization. Medical activity, the original occupation of the order, again became the main concern of the Hospitallers. The medical and charitable activities undertaken by the order on a small scale during the First World War were significantly intensified and increased in volume during the Second World War. During the Second World War, the order was administered by Grand Master Fra Ludovico Chigi della Rovere Albani (Grand Master from 1931 to 1951).
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta has recently established a diplomatic mission in Malta. The mission was founded after the order signed an agreement with the Maltese government granting the order the exclusive right to use Fort Sant'Angelo for a period of 99 years. Today, after the restoration of the order, historical reconstructions are held in the Fort, as well as cultural events dedicated to the Order of Malta. The Honorary Order of Saint John has been in Malta since the end of the 19th century.
Revival in Britain under the Name of the Honorary Order of Saint John of Jerusalem
The order's possessions in England were confiscated by Henry VIII because of his dispute with the Pope about the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The dispute led to the liquidation of the monasteries and, as a result, to the confiscation of the property of the Hospitallers. Despite the fact that the activity of the order was not formally terminated, the confiscation of property led to the cessation of the activity of the language of England. The few Hospitallers from Scotland continued to maintain contact with the language of France. In 1831, the French Hospitallers, on behalf of the Order in Italy, as they claimed (probably they did not have such powers), founded the British Order. In time it became known as the Most Glorious Order of Saint John of Jerusalem in the British Kingdom. In 1888, the order received a royal privilege from Queen Victoria and spread throughout the United Kingdom, as well as the British Commonwealth and the United States of America. It was only recognized by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 1963. The most famous activities of the order are those associated with the Hospital of St. John, as well as the Hospital of the Eye of St. John in Jerusalem.
Restoration of the Order in Continental Europe
The consequences of the reformation was that the majority of the German chapters of the order declared their unchanging commitment to the order, while recognizing the Protestant ideology. Under the name of the Brandenburg Bailiwick of the Noble Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (Balley Brandenburg des Ritterlichen Ordens Sankt Johannis vom Spital zu Jerusalem), the order continues to exist today, increasingly moving away from the mother Catholic order.
From Germany, the order came to some other countries, namely Hungary, the Netherlands and Sweden, but this branch was already Protestant. Branches in these countries are also autonomous today. All three branches are in alliance with the British Order, as well as with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The union is called the Union of the Orders of St. John of Jerusalem.
Imitator Orders
After the Second World War, taking advantage of the absence of state orders in the Italian Republic, some Italian declared himself a Prince of Poland and the Grand Prior of the fictitious Grand Priory of Podolia sold Maltese crosses until he was sued for fraud. Another crook claimed to be Grand Prior of the Holy Trinity of Villeneuve, but quickly retracted his claims after a police visit. The organization, however, resurfaced in the United States in 1975, where it still continues to operate.
Huge entry fees collected by the American Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the early 1950s tempted another man named Charles Pichel to form in 1956 his own Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the Knights Hospitaller. Pichel avoided the complications of imitating the Sovereign Military Order of Malta by fabricating a mythical founding story for his organization. He claimed that the organization he headed was founded in 1908 within the Russian tradition of the Order of the Hospitallers. A false statement, however, it has misled many, including some scientists. In fact, the foundation of his organization had nothing to do with the Russian tradition of the Order of the Hospitallers. The fact is that the Order of Pichel attracted many Russian nobles into its ranks, which gave some credibility to his statements.
The founding of this organization led to the creation of many other counterfeit orders. Two branches of the Pichelovsky Order managed, allegedly, to secure patronage last king Yugoslavia Peter II, and King Mihai of Romania. The aforementioned order was based in California, where it acquired many followers under the leadership of Robert Formals. For several years, and with the support of historical organizations such as the Augustinian Society, he claimed to be a Polish prince from the Sangushko family.
Grand Masters of the Order
The Order of Malta, or the Order of the Hospitallers, has how many equivalent names, such as:
- Sovereign Military Hospitable Order of Saint John, Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta (official full name);
- Order of Malta;
- Order of the Hospitallers;
- Order of the Johnites;
The order grew out of a religious and charitable brotherhood, which was created around 1048-1050 at the hospital (hospitable house) of St. John the Merciful in Jerusalem. The official date of the creation of the Order should be considered February 15, 1113, when Pope Paschal II accepted John's hospital under the patronage of the Holy See. At the same time, John the Baptist became the heavenly patron of the Order.
The final formation of the Order took place in 1120, when, after the death of Blessed Gerard, the founder of the Order, Raymond de Puy was elected rector. He turned the brotherhood into a military monastic order and was named master (chief, mentor) of the Order of St. John. Master Hugh de Revel in 1267 received the title of "Grand Master" from Pope Clement IV.
History is an unreliable science, and therefore you should not take everything you read below at face value. It should be understood that since the events of the last century cause numerous disputes and suggest different versions of what is happening, it is not at all possible to establish historical accuracy in the presentation of events of a thousand years ago, at least using those tools and sources that are available to "mere mortals".
At the same time, this is what creates an aura of mythical legend around the centuries-old history, which makes the study of ancient history an incredibly entertaining process. And first of all, this applies to all kinds of sects, society, cults and other organizations, the details of whose activities were not widely publicized. And among others, religious orders of chivalry, directly subordinate to the Holy See, are of particular interest.
One of these orders is the Hospitallers, they are also Johnites, whose organization still exists today, bearing the name of the Sovereign Military Order of the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem Rhodes and Malta. Or simply - the Order of Malta.
It is worth noting here that the Order did not originate in Malta at all, and it has a mediocre relation to the modern Republic of Malta, but the Knights Hospitallers reached their highest military glory at a time when their main base was in Malta, whose modern capital, the city of Valletta, is named in honor of Jean Parisot de la Vallette, Master of the Order and founder of the city. It was under his leadership that the knights withstood the battle, later called the Great Siege of Malta. However, first things first.
At the beginning of the 6th century, when Jerusalem was still in possession of Byzantine Empire, at the initiative of Pope Gregory the Great, a hospital was organized in this largest place of pilgrimage for Christian pilgrims, where they could receive treatment and rest. Two centuries later, the hospital will receive "investments" from Charlemagne, and two centuries later it will be thoroughly destroyed by the "Egyptian" Caliph Al-Hakim, who waged wars with Christian Byzantium.
However, already in 1023, Caliph Ali Al-Zair allowed the restoration of a Christian hospital in Jerusalem, entrusting this business to merchants from the wealthy Italian community of Amalfi. The hospital was located on the site of the former monastery of St. John the Baptist and continued its activities. Initially, monks from the Order of St. Benedict "worked" in it. But, immediately after the end of the First Crusade, as a result of which Jerusalem fell into the possession of the Christian army, the monastic order of the Hospitallers, also known as the St. John the Baptist, was founded on the basis of the hospital, after the name of John the Baptist, the heavenly patron of the Order.
The founder of the Order, Gerard the Blessed, began to actively buy up land and establish order infirmaries-representations in the cities of Asia Minor, which was continued by his follower, Raymond de Puy, by establishing a hospital for hospitals near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. However, the organization quickly acquired character traits paramilitary group, starting not only to take care of Christian pilgrims, but also to provide them with an armed escort, and eventually to take part in hostilities between Christians and Muslims.
By the middle of the XII century, the Johnites were finally divided into warrior brothers and healer brothers. The order enjoyed substantial rights, reporting directly to the pope. At that time, within the limits of Christian possessions in Asia Minor, the Hospitallers owned 7 large fortresses and 140 other settlements.
But, the period of prosperity was not long. In less than two centuries, the Christians lost all the conquered lands - the last major stronghold of the crusaders, the city of Acre, was taken by the troops of the young Mamluk sultan al-Ashraf Khalil in 1291. The surviving knights were forced to leave the Holy Land.
Remaining a very significant military force and not wanting to take part in the internal politics of the Cypriot kingdom, which sheltered the Johnites, the knights captured the island of Rhodes, which formally belonged to Genoa, but the Byzantine garrison was stationed on it. Moreover, the knights bought the island from the Genoese, but the Byzantines, who were supported by the local population, resisted the Hospitallers for several more years. In 1309, Rhodes still submitted to the knights and became their main base until 1522.
In 1312, the Knights Templar were liquidated, the wealth of which was divided by the French king and the pope, and the lands, for the most part, passed into the possession of the Johnites. Based on these possessions, eight langs (administrative units) were formed, but the main activity of the Order continued in the Mediterranean.
For two centuries, the Rhodes knights, having turned, for the most part, into a militarized structure, fought African pirates with varying success and stopped attempts to organize sea invasions of Europe by Arabs and Ottomans. In 1453 Constantinople fell. The Ioannites remained the only combat-ready force on a regular basis opposing the ever-growing power of the Muslim world.
The end of the stay of the Hospitallers in Rhodes was put by Suleiman the Magnificent, who organized a military campaign against the Order. In 1522, after a six-month siege, in the conditions of the total numerical superiority of the Ottomans, Rhodes was captured. The surviving knights were allowed to leave the island by the magnanimous Sultan.
Siege of Rhodes
In 1530, the King of Spain, Charles V, gave the island of Malta to the possession of the Hospitallers. The knights continued their activities and in 1565, Suleiman, who had already grown old, again organized a campaign against the Order of St. John. However, in the heroic defense of Malta, the knights survived, and the Turkish army, due to a number of circumstances, was eventually forced to retreat, having suffered heavy losses.
Siege of Malta
Victory in this confrontation, known today as the Great Siege of Malta, spread the good news throughout Europe, with horror at that time related to Ottoman Empire whose troops had recently besieged Vienna. Almost immediately after the victory of the Maltese, the city of Valletta was founded. Thanks to generous donations from the European sovereigns that flowed after the glorious victory, Valletta very quickly grew into a beautiful modern city.
Here you can see that Valletta was the first European city built according to a pre-developed master plan in accordance with the norms and rules of architecture. The work was supervised by the Italian architect Francesco Laparelli. The city was equipped with a sewer system, and the layout of the streets was developed taking into account the currents of the sea breeze, which freely penetrated everywhere, purifying the air and contributing to the effect of conditioning.
Plan of Valletta
One of the best hospitals of that time was located in Valletta, where not only treatment was carried out, but also research was conducted in the fields of anatomy, surgery and pharmaceuticals. At the beginning of the 18th century, a public library appeared in Malta, and after that - the University, Schools of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
One of the main architectural monuments of Valletta is the Church of St. John the Baptist, decorated with works by Caravaggio and many other prominent authors.
The Department of Urban Planning, created together with Valletta itself, still operates, which strictly regulates everything related to development, so modern Valletta has retained many elements of historical buildings that are carefully restored and maintained, attracting many tourists to the island every year.
But the Hospitallers, having won their main battle, gradually began to degenerate. The main goals of their organization, for which it was created, were unattainable - they could not take care of the pilgrims to the Holy Land. The monastic foundations on which the charter of the Order was based, due to material well-being, began to be violated everywhere. Well, gradually ceasing donations forced the Maltese to earn money by controlling shipping in the Mediterranean.
Over time, privateering, and sometimes outright piracy, began to be practiced, especially in relation to Arab ships. Actively used so-called. "the right of whist" - the power to board any ship suspected of transporting Turkish goods, with the subsequent confiscation of these goods, which were resold in Valletta, where, under the guise, the slave market was operating quite calmly.
The moral decay of most of the Order led to the inglorious surrender of Malta in 1798 to the troops of Napoleon, who, through a simple trick, occupied Valletta and dispersed the Order. In other matters, not all members of the Order finally fell morally, resigned to such an inglorious end, and the organization, although being in exile, continued to exist. For some time they were sheltered in St. Petersburg by Paul I, who was eventually awarded the title of Grand Master. However, after the assassination of the emperor, the activities of the Order in the Russian Empire were quickly curtailed.
The Order inexorably impoverished and fell into decay, having no permanent base. So, for most of the 19th century, the Order did not even have grand masters, and lieutenants were in charge. In 1879, Pope Leo XIII restored the position of Grand Master, which was evidence of a partial revival of the Order. Medical, humanitarian and religious activities have become the main areas of work of the renewed organization.
During the 20th century, members of the Order helped the civilian population during the world wars, but their activities were not large-scale, which, however, did not prevent them from establishing themselves by the end of the century as a sovereign state, in the likeness of the Vatican. And although disputes over the legal status of the Order of Malta continue, its diplomatic contacts still give the right to talk about it as a dwarf, but still a state.
Today, the leadership of the Italian Republic treats the Order of Malta as a sovereign state on its territory and recognizes the extraterritoriality of its residence in Rome. And since 1998, the Government of Malta has transferred to the Order the possession of Fort St. Angelo, for a period of 99 years. It was this fort that once played a decisive role in the Great Siege of Malta.
As a result, the Order of Malta cannot be called a secret organization. At first sight. Because if you take a closer look, it becomes obvious that nothing is known for certain about the type of activity of the members of the order, of which there are about 13.5 thousand (not counting the whole army of volunteers and doctors), as well as about the reasons why every third country in the world maintains official diplomatic relations with this organization.
One can only assume that the occult mysteries practiced in all knightly orders, despite all their external "religiosity", did not disappear anywhere - their adherents carefully passed on the secret knowledge from generation to generation, diligently protecting them from the wicked representatives of the human race, even if they were members of the same order. Well, the wisdom and knowledge accumulated over a centuries-old, almost thousand-year history is the very tool that allows such a small, on a global scale, organization to force even the strongest of this world to reckon with their opinion.
The era of the Crusades gave birth to three famous knightly orders - the Templars, the Teutons and the Hospitallers (the latter are also known as the Order of Malta). The Templars were excellent financiers and usurers. The Teutons are famous for their policy of ruthless colonization of the Baltic and Slavic lands. Well, the hospitallers ... What did they become famous for?
The Order of the Hospitallers was founded shortly after the First Crusade (1096-1099) by the knight Pierre-Gerard de Martigues, also known as Gerard the Blessed. Very little is known about the founder of the order. It is believed that he was born in the town of Amalfi in the south around 1040. During the Crusade, he and several of his associates founded the first shelters (hospitals) for pilgrims in Jerusalem. The charter of the brotherhood of St. John, whose goal is to take care of pilgrims, was approved by Pope Paschal II in 1113. From that moment on, the official history of the Order of the Hospitallers has been counting down.
Years of wandering
In European everyday life, the knights of the order were usually called simply Hospitallers, or Johnites. And since the island became the residence of the order, one more thing has been added to these names - the Knights of Malta. By the way, traditionally the Order of Malta is called the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. This is not entirely true: the order itself was originally called Jerusalem. And such a saint as John of Jerusalem does not exist at all.
The heavenly patron of the order is Saint John the Baptist. The full name of the order sounds like this: "Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta Sovereign Military Hospice Order of St. John." The hallmark of the Knights Hospitaller was a black cloak with a white cross.
The Hospitallers quickly became one of the two (along with the Templars) influential military structures. However, after the crusaders suffered several severe defeats from the combined forces of the Muslims, the knights gradually left the occupied territories. Jerusalem was lost in 1187. And the last stronghold of the crusaders in Asia Minor - the fortress of Acre - fell in 1291. The Knights of St. John had to seek refuge on. But they didn't stay there for long. Convinced that the local nobility was not very happy with uninvited guests, the Grand Master of the Order Guillaume de Villaret decided to find a more suitable place for his residence. The choice fell on the island of Rhodes. In August 1309, Rhodes was captured by the Hospitallers. Here they first encountered North African pirates. The military experience gained in Palestine allowed the knights to easily repel their raids. And in the middle of the 15th century, the Hospitallers quite successfully coped with the invasion organized by the Sultan.
The Rhodes period ended with the appearance of the mighty Ottoman Empire on the horizon. In 1480, Sultan Mehmed II, who had previously conquered the Byzantine Empire, struck a blow. And in 1522, the huge Turkish army of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent nevertheless squeezed out the knights from the island. The Hospitallers became "homeless" again. Only after seven years of wandering, in 1530, the Hospitallers settled in Malta. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V generously "gave" them this island. The symbolic payment for the "gift" was one Maltese falcon, which the order was supposed to present annually on All Saints' Day to the royal representative.
A gift with a twist
Of course, Charles V made his generous gift, guided by far more than just "Christian sympathy." In order to realize all the insidiousness of the royal gift, one must understand what the Mediterranean Sea was like in the 16th century. It was a real snake ball - seething and deadly.
The entire Mediterranean was teeming with Barbary pirates - the so-called people from the Muslim regions of North Africa. Harbors served as a haven for thousands and thousands of ferocious sea robbers who kept all of Southern Europe at bay.
The main target of their raids was the coastal settlements of Italy,. These countries had a particularly hard time, although more distant states also got it - Muslim corsairs even sailed to, and!
The goals of the pirate raids were simple: gold and slaves! Moreover, the hunt for slaves can even be put in the first place. The Barbary organized special raids, during which they combed the coastal European lands, trying to capture as many Christian captives as possible. The captured "live goods" were sold in the slave markets, Algeria,. Historians estimate that at least one million Europeans were captured and sold into slavery by Barbary pirates. And this was in those days when the population of Europe was not very large!
For major operations, scattered pirate squadrons were combined into entire fleets of tens and hundreds of ships. And if we also take into account that the Ottoman Empire actively helped pirates of the same faith, then we can understand the full magnitude of the danger that Europe was then exposed to. Having presented the hospitallers with an island in the very center of the Mediterranean Sea, at the crossroads between Tunisia and Sicily, the emperor threw the knights into the very epicenter of a fierce battle. Willy-nilly, the Hospitallers were supposed to serve as a shield of Europe against the onslaught of Muslim corsairs ... This was quite within their power. Moreover, they learned to resist pirate raids during the defense of Rhodes.
mediterranean shield
The Knights of Malta fulfilled their mission with honor. Here is the answer to the question: “What are the hospitallers famous for?” Years of stubborn struggle with the terrible Barbary pirates - that's what gave the order the right to historical immortality.
A paradoxical situation arose: the Knights Hospitallers wrote the most glorious pages in their history when the era of chivalry had actually come to an end. Knightly orders either ceased to exist (like the Templars), or abandoned any independent role, merging into the centralized states (like the Teutons). But for the Hospitallers, the 16th century turned out to be a truly “golden age” ...
Having received their possession of Malta, the Hospitallers challenged the thugs of North Africa. The Maltese created their own fleet, which became one of the key figures on the geopolitical "chessboard" of the Mediterranean. The once exclusively land-based order of knight-kings-cavalrymen has now turned into an order of sailors. Serious changes were made to the charter of the order: now only one who had participated in the sea campaigns of the order for at least three years could become a full-fledged knight of Malta.
Of course, there is no need to idealize the Knights of Malta. They fought with the pirates with the same pirate methods. The extermination of entire settlements along with the inhabitants, cruel executions and torture, robberies and violence - all this was in the practice of Christian knights. Such were the cruel customs of the time.
The knights of Malta did not disdain to go out on the sea "high road" themselves: the leadership of the order in every possible way encouraged the corsairs. Contrary to the vow of poverty, which was given by all members of the military monastic orders, ordinary knights were allowed to keep part of the loot. The master of the order even turned a blind eye to the slave market that existed in Malta (in this market, of course, not Christians were sold, but Muslim prisoners).
Toughie
In 1565 the Hospitallers won greatest victory throughout its history. An army of 40,000, made up of Turks and Barbary pirates, landed on Malta to do away with a small island that had become a big problem. The Maltese could oppose them from the strength of 700 knights and about 8 thousand soldiers (of which half were not professional soldiers, but "people's militias"), the Armada was sent by the same Suleiman the Magnificent, who had already defeated the Johnites once.
The fortifications of the Knights of Malta on the island consisted of two forts: the subsidiary Fort St. Elmo (St. Elm) and the main Fort St. Angelo (St. Angelo). The Muslims turned the first blow on Fort St. Elm, hoping to quickly deal with it, and then fall on the main fortifications. But the defenders of St. Elm showed simply miracles of courage and stamina - the fort held out for 31 days!
When the attackers finally broke in, only 60 wounded soldiers remained alive. Their heads were all cut off, and their bodies were nailed to wooden crosses and sent by water to Fort St. Angelo. When the waves brought the terrible Turkish "parcels" to the walls of the fortress, a terrible howl rose over the bastions - the wives and mothers of the dead defenders of St. Elmo mourned their men. The Grand Master of the order, the stern Jean de la Valette, in response, ordered the immediate execution of all Turkish prisoners, then their heads were loaded with cannons and fired towards the Turkish positions.
According to legend, the leader of the Turkish army, Mustafa Pasha, standing among the ruins of St. Elmo and looking at Fort St. Angelo, said: “If such a small son cost us so much, then what price should we pay for a father?”
Indeed, all attempts to take St. Angelo failed. The Knights of Malta fought fiercely.
The aged Grand Master Jean de la Valette (he was already over 70 years old!) himself, with a sword in his hand, rushed into the thick of the battle, dragging the fighters with him. The Maltese did not take prisoners, not listening to any requests for mercy.
An attempt to land troops on boats to the Turks also failed - the indigenous people of Malta interfered. Excellent swimmers, they threw the Turks from the boats and fought them hand to hand right in the water, where they had a clear advantage. Fort Sant'Angelo managed to hold out until the arrival of reinforcements from Spain.
When the Spanish flotilla appeared on the horizon, hastening to the aid of the Maltese, the Turks realized that their cause was lost. The Ottomans had no choice but to lift the siege. By that time, no more than 600 people remained in the ranks of the Maltese. It should be noted that the help sent by the Spaniards was very small. But the Turks, of course, could not know this.
Shards of former glory
The Great Siege of Malta thundered throughout Europe. After her, the prestige of the Order of Malta rose as never before. However, "from the top of the mountain, only a descent down is possible." From the end of the 16th century, the gradual decline of the order began.
The Reformation in a number of European countries led to the confiscation of the possessions of the Catholic Church and its divisions, which was considered the Order of the Hospitallers. This dealt a severe blow to the finances of the Maltese. The glory of invincible warriors is also a thing of the past. The relatively small brotherhood of knights was lost against the backdrop of massive European armies. And the pirate threat was far from being as acute as before. All this led to a decline.
By the end of the XVIII century, the Order of Malta was only a pale shadow of the former mighty organization. The final point in the existence of the knightly state was put by Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1798, on his way to Egypt, he captured Malta without a fight. The leadership of the order explained this amazing surrender of the strongest fortifications by the fact that "the charter of the order forbids the hospitallers from fighting Christians, which, no doubt, are the French."
But here, too, the Hospitallers managed to leave a mark on history by pulling off an unusual combination. Rummaging around the European courts in an attempt to find the most august patrons, the top of the order suddenly made a completely unexpected diplomatic "somersault". She offered the title of Grand Master of the Order... Russian emperor Paul I. The delicacy of the situation was that the Order of Malta was exclusively Catholic. In addition, members of the order took a vow of celibacy. Paul was Orthodox (that is, from the point of view of the Catholic clergy, a heretic), and besides, he was also married with a second marriage. But what will you not do for your own salvation!
History of the Order of Malta Zakharov V A
Chapter 1 THE ORDER OF JOHNITES at the end of the 11th - beginning of the 14th century
ORDER OF JOHNITES
late 11th - early 14th century
Causes of the Crusades. First crusade. Capture of Jerusalem. Creation of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Grand Master Raymond de Puy. Fortress of the Johnites. Second Crusade. War with Saladin. Third and Fourth Crusades. The defeat of the crusaders in the East. Knights of Cyprus
Causes of the Crusades
Late 11th–13th centuries in Europe passed under the sign of the Crusades.
Bernard Kugler in his "History of the Crusades" explains the causes of the Crusades in this way: "Already from ancient times, Christians with pious tenderness visited those places in Palestine where the Lord's foot trod, but only since the church pointed out the praiseworthiness of traveling to the Holy Places , only since then, as in the labors, costs, dangers that the pilgrim took upon himself, the ascetic mood began to see the work of repentance pleasing to God, and in prayer in a particularly sacred place, in touching relics, it began to see the most faithful cleansing from sins, - only from that time, and mainly during the 11th century, did the journey to the Holy Places become an important factor in the Christian life of the Middle Ages.
When the people of the West reached Jerusalem, they were naturally ambivalent. When it fell to their lot to have the opportunity to pray at the Holy Sepulcher, they not only indulged in insane delight, but also resolutely embraced their ardent anger at the fact that the enemies of their faith ruled in the most holy places for them, and lacked only some external impetus, to cause a huge military-religious explosion in the West.
This impetus was given by the Seljuks ... ".
The same opinion is shared by the Russian historian A.A. Vasiliev:
"The situation of European pilgrims in Jerusalem and other Holy Places immediately deteriorated. The Arabs treated them well, freely allowed them to worship shrines and perform services. The Turks, having captured Jerusalem, began to put up all sorts of obstacles, persecute and insult pilgrims. Little by little, a conviction was created in Europe in the need to help Christianity in the East and return to the Christian world its most precious and revered shrines.
For all classes of medieval society, the crusades seemed very attractive from worldly points of view. Barons and knights, in addition to religious motives, hoped for glorious deeds, for profit, for the satisfaction of their ambition; merchants expected to increase their profits by expanding trade with the East; the oppressed peasants were freed from serfdom for participation in the crusade and knew that during their absence the church and the state would take care of the families they left behind in their homeland; debtors and defendants knew that during their participation in the crusade they would not be prosecuted by the creditor or the court.
First crusade. Capture of Jerusalem
In 1095, the desperate Byzantine Emperor Alexei Komnenos turned to the Pope for help against the Seljuk Turks. In November 1095, Urban II convened an ecclesiastical council in Clermont, France, which was attended by 14 archbishops, 200 bishops and 400 abbots. The Council decided to organize a Crusade to the East - "for the sake of the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem."
In August 1096, a 100,000-strong army of crusaders from Lower Lorraine, Italy and France set off on a campaign. "The main militias that moved to liberate the Holy Sepulcher were four: 1) Lorraine under the command of Gottfried of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine, with whom his brother Baldwin was; 2) middle and north French, in which the main leaders were the brother of the French king Hugh of Vermandois, Duke of Normandy Robert and Robert Friese of Flanders; 3) South French or Provençal, led by Raymond, Count of Toulouse, and 4) Norman from southern Italy under Bohemond, Prince of Tarentum, joined by his nephew Tancred" .
The Seljuks were defeated by the crusaders on July 1, 1097 in the terrible battle of Dorilei - the outcome of the war in Asia Minor became obvious.
At the beginning of 1098, Baldwin's troops took Edessa, a large Armenian trading city on the way from Syria to Mesopotamia. Baldwin founded the County of Edessa - the first crusader state in the East.
After the capture of Antioch by Bohemond of Tarentum in June 1098, the second state formation of the crusaders was created - the Principality of Antioch.
By the time the crusaders stormed Jerusalem was already in the possession of the Egyptian caliph.
The anonymous Italo-Norman chronicle of the 11th century, "The Acts of the Franks and Other Jerusalemites," describes the capture of Jerusalem by the crusaders on July 15, 1099:
“And so we approached Jerusalem on Tuesday, 8 days before the Ides of June. Robert of Normandy besieged Jerusalem from the north side, near the church of the first martyr St. Stephen, where he was stoned for Christ. Count Robert of Flanders adjoined the Duke of Normandy. From the west, the city Duke Gottfried and Tancred besieged from the south, fortified on Mount Sion, the Count Saint-Gilles led the siege.
On Friday, July 15, we rushed to the fortifications. There was such a massacre that ours stood ankle-deep in blood. Entering the city, our pilgrims drove and killed the Saracens to the Temple of Solomon, gathering in which they gave us the most fierce battle of the whole day, so that their blood flowed throughout the temple.
In the History of Damascus, Ibn al-Kalyanisi describes the capture of Jerusalem as follows: “Then they went to Jerusalem at the end of the Rajab of this year. They set up a siege tower and moved it to the city walls, and continued to fight until the end of the day. And the next day, the Franks again approached the city, climbed the siege tower and from there poured onto the walls, and the townspeople fled. And the Franks entered the city and captured it ".
The medieval chronicle of Raymond Agilsky "The History of the Franks who took Jerusalem" continues: "Ours, already exhausted, started running to the walls, others began to attach ladders and throw ropes. fortifications that the Saracens did just with those erected opposite the wooden tower of the duke and both counts (Gottfried of Bouillon, Robert of Flanders, Eustathius of Boulogne. - Auth.); the sacks were stuffed with cotton. The fire, having flared up here, put to flight those who defended the fortification. Then the duke and those who were with him quickly threw a shield cover of woven rods, which covered the tower from front to top to the middle, and, having made a bridge, fearless, they began to break through to Jerusalem in this way.
So, on July 15, 1099, the crusaders, after a long siege and a fierce assault, took Jerusalem. The first sovereign of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was Gottfried of Bouillon, who was replaced in 1100 by his heir Baldwin of Edessa, who ruled until 1118.
From 1100 to 1124 the crusaders took the most important trading ports of Haifa, Arsur, Caesarea, Acre, Tripoli, Sidon, Beirut and Tire and founded new crusader states - kingdoms, principalities, counties, divided into baronies, fiefs and fiefs.
Creation of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem
When visiting the Joannite hospice, the first Jerusalem king, Duke Gottfried of Bouillon, donated the village of Salsola, located near Jerusalem, to maintain the hospital. Four crusader knights from the retinue of the king - Raymond de Puy, Dudon de Comps, Conon de Montague, Gastus voluntarily stayed with Gerard de Thorn, having taken the monastic vows of the Benedictines.
In 1099, the brotherhood of the Johnites was transformed into an Order, the first head of which was Gerard de Thorne. At the same time, black long clothes with an eight-pointed cross sewn on it came into use for members of the Order. At first, members of the Order cared for the sick and wounded, and from the first half of XII centuries began to participate in wars with the Muslim states of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and guard pilgrims who arrived in Palestine in two ways - by land through Asia Minor and Byzantium or by mediterranean sea. The brotherhood began to accept knights as members, obliging them to protect pilgrims along the way.
Researcher of medieval monasticism L.P. Karsavin noted:
“The ascetic ideal influenced not only the church layers. It also influenced the laity, and from its fusion with the ideal of chivalry, a peculiar form was obtained - knightly orders. Not yet ascetic, and not yet merging with the monastic, the knightly ideal was already a Christian ideal. The knights were, according to ideologists, the defenders of the weak and unarmed, widows and orphans, the defenders of Christianity against the infidels and heretics.Mission of protecting pilgrims to the Holy Land, helping those of them who, sick or poor, needed it, protecting the Holy Sepulcher from infidels flowed from the ideal of Christian chivalry. Thanks to the dominance of the ascetic worldview, it was combined with the taking of monastic vows, and so the knightly orders arose. "
Almost at the same time, in 1118, the order of the Templars or Templars was founded by the French knights, and later the Teutonic knightly order was also created.
"The first orders of chivalry - the three most famous orders of the Holy Land and the three Spanish orders - arose as the purest embodiment of the medieval spirit in the combination of monastic and knightly ideals, at a time when the battle with Islam was becoming ... a reality."
"The spirit of the Crusades was chiefly military and religious, so it gave birth to monastic chivalry, which is the best expression of the mood and interests of the era when Christianity was forced to repulse the armed propaganda of Islam by force of arms.
Almost at the same time, some monks began to gird themselves with a sword around their cassock and some knights put on a monastic cassock over chain mail.
In 1104, King Baldwin I of Jerusalem, who succeeded Gottfried of Bouillon, once again recognized and confirmed the privileges of the Brotherhood of Hospitallers as a military-spiritual Order. And in 1107, he allocated a piece of land to the Order (since that time, the Knights Hospitaller began to acquire land in other European countries).
In 1113, Pope Paschal II, with his Bull, approved the brotherhood of the Hospital of St. John, took them under his protection and ensured the right to freely choose their primates, without the interference of any secular or ecclesiastical authorities. The Pope also gave the right to address questions concerning the Order directly to him.
Grand Master Raymond de Puy
In 1120, Gerard de Thorn died, and the hero of the assault on Jerusalem, Raymond de Puy, from the noble family of Dauphine, was elected in his place. Since that time, the head of the Order began to be called the Grand Master.
Preserving the famous hospital, the St. Johnites considered the military protection of pilgrims on the roads of the Holy Land leading to Jerusalem no less important for themselves.
For this purpose, the members of the Order were divided into three classes: knights, who had to be of noble birth and perform both military and sitting duties, chaplains, who were responsible for the religious activities of the Order, and squires.
To fulfill the tasks of the Order, the Grand Master Raymond de Puy compiled the first Charter of the Order - the Rules of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (the full text of the Rules is given in Appendix No. 1). In 1120, Pope Calistus II approved this Charter.
The members of the Order were divided into 3 groups: knights, chaplains (priest brothers) and squires (employees who were supposed to serve the representatives of the first two groups). Only a hereditary nobleman could become a knight. The inclusion of novice sisters in the Order was also encouraged. All members of the Brotherhood of Hospitallers had to faithfully serve their religious and spiritual ideals. They did not accept into the Order those people whose parents were engaged in trade or banking.
During rite of passage in the Order, new members took an oath of allegiance to the Grand Master, vows of chastity, personal poverty, obedience, mercy and pious deeds.
On the banner of the Order, approved in 1130 by Pope Innocent II, a white eight-pointed cross was embroidered on a red background. On the Order Seal, a lying patient was depicted with a cross at the head and with a candle at his feet.
The black cloth clothing of the Joannites was made after the example of the clothing of John the Baptist, made of camel hair, the narrow sleeves of which symbolized the renunciation of secular life, and the linen white eight-pointed cross on the chest is their chastity. The four directions of the cross spoke of the main Christian virtues - prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance, and the eight ends meant the eight blessings that were promised by Christ to all the righteous in paradise in the Sermon on the Mount.
In the first decades of its existence, the young Order, like most of the monastic orders of the Western Church, was an integral part of a strict church hierarchy. And, although by its legal nature the Order was a religious corporation, it nevertheless differed from other orders, since it was located not in a Christian country, but outside it, being on the territory of domination of Muslim rulers.
Already in 1124, with the help of the Knights of St. John, the siege of the Arabs was lifted from the main port of the Kingdom of Jerusalem - Jaffa, and Tire, the richest city in the Eastern Mediterranean, was taken.
Having turned into a powerful military alliance, the Order began to be called: "Knights Hospitallers of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem." As the glory and merit of the Order grew, more and more noble aristocrats and knights from all over Europe joined it. During the 30 years of the leadership of the Order by Grand Master Raymond de Puy, the tasks of this brotherhood have far outgrown the purely local scale of activity.
A selfless and bloody armed defense of the Holy Land was carried out from the Saracens and Ottomans, who for several centuries tried to expand their borders and enter the European Mediterranean. We also note the independence of the Order from the very beginning from all other states, based on papal institutions, as well as the generally recognized right to have an army and conduct military operations.
The popes of Rome constantly gave privileges to the Johnites, excluding them from the subordination of local secular and spiritual authorities and giving them the right to collect church tithes in their favor. The priests of the Order reported only to the Chapter and the Grand Master.
In 1143, Pope Innocent II issued a special bull, according to which the Order of St. John did not submit to either spiritual or secular authorities - only directly to the pope himself.
In 1153, Pope Anastasius IV, with the bull "Christianae Fidei Religio", divided the members of the Order into knights, dressed in red semi-monastic, semi-military clothes with a black cape, and squires.
The hierarchy of the Order of St. John - knights, priests and brothers-hospitallers was approved by the pope later, in 1259. Further privileges were granted to the Order of Pope Adrian IV, Alexander III, Innocent III, and Pope Clement IV awarded the head of the Order the title: "Grand Master of the Holy Hospital of Jerusalem and Rector of the Host of Christ."
Fortresses of the ioannites
Pilgrims from Europe were provided with protection, treatment, housing and food in numerous hospitable houses and hospitals. The second main task of the knights of St. John - the fight against the infidels - also assumed the participation of the Order in all military campaigns and the defense of the crusader states formed in the East. The castles of the Joannites in Palestine and their unparalleled defense have become legendary.
In 1136, Count Raymond of Tripoli ordered the Knights of St. John to defend the fortress of Beth Jibelin, which covered the approaches to the port city of Ascalon in southern Palestine. The knights successfully passed the test and the count handed over several more of his fortresses to the ioannites.
Within a few years, the Order of St. John had about half a thousand members who successfully defended more than fifty fortresses in the Levant alone.
In many coastal cities of the East, Byzantium and Western Europe Johnites opened hospice-hospitals. Johnite fortresses were located on almost all the roads of pilgrims - in Acre, Saida, Tortosa, Antioch - from Edessa to Sinai.
The main fortresses of the Order of St. John in the north of Palestine were Krak des Chevaliers and Margat, and in the south - the castles of Belver and Bet Jibelin.
The ioannites built their fortresses on elevated places, and they dominated the entire surrounding area, allowing them to control the entire territory within a radius of several kilometers. The Arab author, describing the fortress of Belver, compared it with an eagle's nest. In fortresses and castles, Johnites, as a rule, always built a second line of fortifications.
The fortress of Krak des Chevaliers, located on the slopes of the Lebanese mountains, was transferred to the Johnites by Count Raymond II of Tripoli in 1144 and had powerful double walls built by knights with high towers and a moat punched into the rocks. Inside the fortress (with a total area of about three hectares) there were residential buildings, barracks, the chamber of the Grand Master, grain granaries, a mill, a bakery, an oil mill, and stables. An aqueduct was laid in the fortress, through which drinking water, sufficient for the two thousandth garrison.
None of the fortresses of the Johnites was surrendered without a fight. Beth Djibelin Castle fell in 1187, Bellver Castle - in 1189 after a siege by Saladin's troops.
Krak des Chevaliers from 1110 to 1271 withstood twelve sieges, and only in 1271 was taken by the troops of the Mameluk Sultan of Egypt, Baybars.
The fortress of Margat was handed over to the Hospitallers by Count Raymond III of Tripoli in 1186. This fortress was located south of Antioch, 35 kilometers from the sea, and was built of rocky basalt with double walls and large towers. Inside was a large underground reservoir. The reserves of the fortress allowed the thousandth garrison to withstand a five-year siege. For a long time, the fortress of Margat was one of the main residences of the Order. The Margat Charters adopted in it are known (in which for the first time the knights began to be divided according to nationality into "Languages" or "Nations"). Margat fell after a brutal siege by the Mamelukes in 1285.
Second Crusade. War with Saladin
In 1137, the troops of the Byzantine emperor John Komnenos briefly captured Antioch, and in December 1144, the detachments of the Seljuk emir Imad-ad-din defeated the Principality of Edessa. After the appeal of the ambassadors of Christian states in the East to the Pope Eugene III in the summer of 1147, the Second Crusade began, in which the Johnites also took part.
The seventy-thousand-strong army of crusaders led by the French king Louis VII and the German king Conrad III Hohenstaufen returned home to Europe with nothing after the unsuccessful siege of Damascus - the II Crusade ended unsuccessfully.
In 1153, the Joannites participated in the capture of Ascalon, an important Egyptian city, in 1168, in the unsuccessful siege of Cairo. By the end of the 12th century, there were more than 600 knights in the Order of St. John.
In 1171, the Egyptian vizier Yusuf Salah-ad-din, named Saladin in Europe, seized power in Egypt, uniting Syria and Mesopotamia under his control for several years.
A fierce struggle between the Mamelukes and the Crusaders began.
In 1185, the king of Jerusalem and Salah ad-Din signed a peace treaty for four years. But at the beginning of 1187, the owner of two fortresses - Kerak and Krak de Montreal - Baron Rene of Shatillon attacked the Salah ad-Din caravan, which was going from Cairo to Damascus. Among the captured prisoners was the sister of the ruler of Egypt. The Sultan demanded an explanation, but Rene replied that he had not signed the contract and was not complying with it.
Salah ad-Din declared a holy war on the crusaders - "jihad".
The 60,000-strong Mameluke army led by Salah ad-Din invaded the land of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and on July 1, 1187 took Tiberias. On July 5, near Hittin, located between Lake Tiberias and Nazareth, the crusaders were utterly defeated by the army of Salah ad-Din - the Jerusalem king Guido Lusignan, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar and many knights were captured. After the defeat of the crusader army near Hittin, more than 200 knights were executed; René of Chatillon was beheaded by Salah ad-Din himself.
After Hittin, the detachments of Salah ad-Din took the ports of Acre, Toron, Sidon, Beirut, Nazareth, Jaffa and Ascalon - the Kingdom of Jerusalem was cut off from Europe.
In mid-September 1187, Salah ad-Din's army laid siege to Jerusalem. On October 2, the city surrendered - Jerusalem opened the gates. The inhabitants of Jerusalem could leave the city only by paying a ransom - 10 gold dinars for a man, 5 for a woman and 1 for a child; those who could not do this - became a slave. 3,000 poor people were released just like that.
The crusaders still had Belfort, Tire, Tripoli, Krak des Chevaliers, Margat and Antioch.
Third and Fourth Crusades
In May 1189, the III Crusade began, led by the German emperor Frederick Barbarossa, the French king Philip II and the English king Richard the Lionheart. The Joannite knights also took part in the campaign. On the way, King Richard took the island of Cyprus, which had been set aside from Byzantium, of which he became king. former head Kingdom of Jerusalem Guy de Lusignan. On July 11, 1191, the Crusaders stormed Acre, where the main residence of the Order of St. John was located. The residences of the Joannites were also in Tire and Margat.
Richard the Lionheart besieged Jerusalem, but could not take the city - on September 2, 1192, a peace was concluded with Salah ad-Din, according to which Jerusalem remained with the Mamelukes, and only a narrow coastal strip from Tire to Jaffa remained behind the crusaders. The capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was moved to Acre.
The Ioannites also participated in the IV Crusade, which began in 1199. The troops under the leadership of the Italian Margrave Boniface of Montferatt and Baldwin of Flanders on the Venetian ships Enrico Dandolo instead of war with Egypt, at the request of the pretender to the imperial throne, the Byzantine prince Alexios Angel, approached Constantinople and after the siege on April 13 1204 took the capital of Byzantium. Count Baldwin IX of Flanders was chosen as Emperor of the new Latin Empire on 9 May.
The Crusaders seized and divided among themselves the lands of Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, Attica, Boeotia, the Peloponnese and the islands of the Aegean Sea. At the same time, with the participation of the Ioannites, the Principality of Morea was formed on the Peloponnesian Peninsula.
The Order gradually became a major landowner. First, he received possessions both in Palestine (in the conquered lands) and in Europe as a reward for military exploits and services rendered to monarchs. Secondly, the knights of honor (or "knights in justice"), who took all the vows (including the vow of poverty), donated their property and real estate to the Order. Thirdly, the Order inherited the lands of its dead knights (in the Rules of Raymond de Puy, the knight on his way was instructed to "make a spiritual testament or other order", and very often the knights declared the Order their heir).
Each separate domain of the Order was called a commandery, and, as usual, in each such domain (both in Palestine and in Europe), the Order arranged a hospital in honor of St. John of Jerusalem.
During the Crusades, there were several states of the Joannites (the state of the Johannites in Akkona with its capital in Acre was the last crusader state in Palestine after the fall of Jerusalem).
The defeat of the crusaders in the East
During the Fifth Crusade 1217–1221 the ioannites participated in the unsuccessful siege of the fortress of Tavor (77 towers), and during the campaign against Mamluk Egypt, they took part in a long siege and capture of the fortress of Damista.
In 1230, the Johnites made contacts with the Assassins, a secret Muslim organization-state formed at the end of the 11th century in Iran and which had fortresses and castles in Syria and Lebanon.
In August 1244, Jerusalem was taken by the troops of the Egyptian Sultan as-Salih. On October 17, 1244, the united army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was defeated at Harbshah by the troops of the Egyptian Sultan Baybars. Of the 7,000 knights, only 33 Templars, 3 Teutons and 27 Joannites survived; about 800 knights were taken prisoner. In 1247, the Egyptians also captured part of Galilee and the city of Ascalon, which was defended by the knights of Johannism.
In 1265, Sultan Baybars took Caesarea and Arsuf, in 1268 - Jaffa, Antioch and the powerful fortress of the Teutonic Order of Montfort. In 1271 the fortress of Krak des Chevaliers in Syria was taken.
In 1270, the last Crusade took place - the eighth. On July 17, crusader troops, led by the French king Louis IX, landed in Tunis, where the king died of a fever. The campaign ended in vain, peace was signed - the crusaders could not turn the tide in their favor.
In 1285, the troops of Sultan Baibars took Margat, in 1287 - Latakia, in April 1289 - Tripoli.
In 1291, despite all the valor of the Knights of the Red Cross (Templars) and the Knights of the White Cross (Hospitallers) fighting side by side, Acre was lost in the face of the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Muslim forces. The Kingdom of Jerusalem ceased to exist, as did the last possessions of the crusaders in the East.
Knights of Cyprus
At the end of the XIII century. the johannites moved to Cyprus, captured back in 1191 by the detachments of the English king Richard the Lionheart and sold to the Templars, who then ceded the island to the king of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan (this dynasty held the island until 1489). Through the efforts of the Grand Master Jean de Villiers, the St. Johnites in Cyprus already had castles in Nicosia, Kolossi and other places.
The retreat to Cyprus was quite combative - "Grand Master Jean de Villiers and his knights cut their way to the order galley, while from the deck the archers covering their valiant retreat rained down hails of arrows on the enemy, who sought to destroy the last of the surviving heroes of the Great Christian Armies Broken and wounded, but not subjugated or broken, the knights landed in Cyprus, where King Guy de Lusignan received them in a friendly manner.The Order became a vassal of the King of Cyprus and received from him the fief of Limassol (Limisso) as a fief. Saint Samson merged with the Order of the Hospitallers, and this union became known as the "knights of Cyprus".
In 1291, the King of Cyprus, Anri II Lusignan, presented the knights with the city of Limisso, (which was approved by Pope Clement V), where then for eighteen years the residence of the Order was.
"A General Chapter was held in Limiss, so that since the founding of the Order there had not been such a crowded meeting. Some of the cavaliers advised the Grand Master to move to Italy, but he and other senior cavaliers, having ever returned the Promised Land in the subject, rejected the offer of the former, but they decided to stay for a while in Limiss. Here the Grand Master founded an inn for the poor and strangers, ordered the gentlemen to arm the ships on which they arrived in Cyprus, and use them to protect worshipers, who, even after the loss of Jerusalem by Christians, did not stop visiting the Holy Places. Soon after this, the gentlemen went to the sea, where, collecting strangers, they escorted them to their fatherland and fighting for them with corsairs, they received great booty, which increased the weapons of the Order so that in a short time many ships left the harbor, and the flag of the Order of St. John on all seas was at last in great respect.
Due to the inconstancy of the king of Cyprus, his incessant disagreements with the gentlemen continued, which is why the Grand Master decided to change this place. He turned his gaze to the island, which was then owned by Leon Gallus, who had fallen away from the Greek emperor. Gallus, having gathered the Turks and the Saracens, armed himself and resisted the cavaliers in the complete conquest of the island for more than two years. The islands of Nissaro, Episcopia, Colchis, Simia, Tilo, Leros, Kalalu and Kos also swore allegiance to the Grand Master.
In accordance with the medieval fief law, although the Order retained a certain freedom in solving its own affairs, it was forced to be in a certain dependence on its lord, which was expressed, in particular, in the payment of tribute and military service. As we can see from the above passage, Grand Master Guillaume de Villaret did not have a relationship with the lord de Lusignan, and the proud knight began to look for another place for himself.
Twenty years in Cyprus allowed the Order to recuperate. The treasury was filled with numerous receipts from Europe, as well as booty from naval victories over corsairs and Turks. The influx of new knights from Europe increased. The Order regained its former power. While the Knights Templar and Teutonic, after the loss of the Holy Land, moved to the home countries of their knights and, despite their importance, eventually found themselves dependent on their lords, the Knights of the Order of St. John decided to conquer the island of Rhodes.
This fact, and the fact that pilgrims to the Holy Land sailing by sea were often attacked by Barbary pirates, predetermined the transformation of the Order, which until then had only a land army, into a maritime power, which later became one of the most significant in the Mediterranean. Everyone soon became convinced that the Order was as formidable at sea as it was on land.
In 1294, the General Chapter revised the constitution of the Order, which now began to correspond to its supranational character, which was manifested in the organization of internal government according to the principle of "Languages" (or "Nations"), mentioned in the Margat Charters already in 1206. But then the Order opened for himself the opportunity, having taken possession of the island of Rhodes, to establish an independent and independent principality - an order state, and thereby win the position that would later be called sovereignty.
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