What contribution did the hospitalists make to medicine? Hospitallers. Crusades II to VIII

I became interested in the history of the Order of Hospitallers when I was planning to vacation on the island of Rhodes. These knights were based on the island for several centuries and were known as the Knights of Rhodes. But now the Order of Hospitallers is better known as the Order of Malta.

Initially, it united monks, who were also warriors - knights. This order of chivalry, considered the oldest, was founded during the First Crusade in 1113. That year, Pope Paschal II issued a papal bull.

The symbol of the members of the order is a white eight-pointed cross.

Interior decoration of the Maltese Chapel (St. Petersburg)

Initially, the task of the Order of Hospitallers was to welcome pilgrims to the Holy Land. The Order provided pilgrims with overnight accommodation and medical care. The Latin word "hospital" translates as "guest". In 1107, King Baldwin I of Jerusalem allocated land in Jerusalem to the Ionite Order (as the order was also called).

At first, the Order of the Hospitallers was not involved in military operations, but over time the monks began to guard pilgrims. To do this, they built fortified points and hospitals throughout Europe.

However, Christians did not rule the Middle East for long. In 1187, Saladin invades the Kingdom of Jerusalem and captures Jerusalem. When Jerusalem fell, the Hospitallers moved their residence to Acre.

The Knights of the Hospitaller Order left Acre in 1291, first they moved to the island of Cyprus, then in 1307 to , which they recaptured from Byzantium.

In Rhodes, the knightly order reached its peak. Here, in the palace of the Grand Master, the leadership of the Order of the Hospitallers was located: the Master, the Prior and the administration of the Order.

The administration of the Order of St. John consisted of eight Bailiffs: the Commander-in-Chief (managed the general property), the Marshal (chief of the military staff), the General Hospitaller (managed the hospitals), the Drapier (responsible for the supply of the armed forces), the Chief Admiral (managed the fleet), the Turcopolier (managed mercenaries), Chief Chancellor (managed the office), Chief Bailiff (responsible in Rhodes for protecting the defense of St. Peter's castle). Each of the managers managed branches in Europe.

All members of the Order were divided into three main classes: knights, priests and combat sergeants. Later a fourth class appeared - sisters.

Knights, depending on their origin, were divided into: full-fledged knights, obedient, loyal and preferential. Of course, in order to occupy a high position in the order, it was necessary to come from a good family, but with talent and perseverance, a knight could make a career.

After the Order of the Hospitallers left the Holy Land and settled in Rhodes, it became not just a military order, but a naval order. It was thanks to the presence of the fleet that the Order of St. John outlived all others. The Hospitallers raided Muslim ports and ships, seizing rich booty, including hostages. Nowadays they would call it piracy.

In 1480, the Turks attempted to capture Rhodes, but the knights fought back. However, in 1522, the Ottoman Empire captured the island.

The terms of surrender were very lenient. The Sultan promised that the Catholic faith would be preserved on the island, the churches would not be desecrated, and the Order would be able to leave the island with all its ships, relics, weapons and wealth.

The knights, left homeless, began to wander, and the Grand Master negotiated with European monarchs about their location.

The Order eventually agreed to the island of Malta, which was granted to them by King Charles V of Sicily on March 24, 1530.

The conditions of ownership were an annual tribute in the form of 1 falcon (paid accurately until 1798), not using the harbor of Malta by ships of the Order in conflict with Sicily and recognition of vassalage from the King of Spain. Although in fact it was assumed that the Order's fleet would fight Algerian pirates.

The Hospitallers were also involved in the “ebony” trade, that is, they exported slaves from Africa to America.

Gradually, the Order of Malta became increasingly dependent on the emperor and the Pope. In 1628, the Pope decreed that in the period between the death of one grandmaster and the election of another, the Order was governed directly by the Pope. This gave the Vatican the opportunity to radically influence the election of a new grandmaster.

Through its representatives, the Vatican gradually took away the property of the Order. The Order is in decline.

When the Mediterranean states created their own naval forces in the 17th-18th centuries, the Maltese was no longer needed. Eventually Napoleon conquered Malta and the order lost its sovereignty.

By the end of the eighteenth century, the Russian fleet became the main threat to the fleet of the Ottoman Empire. This led to a rapprochement between the Order of Malta and the Russian Tsar. In 1797, Paul I organized a new main priory on the territory of the Russian Empire and prepared a campaign of ships in defense of the Order of Malta.

However, after his murder in the Mikhailovsky (Engineers) Castle on the night of March 13, 1801, the Order of Malta left Russia.

On February 9, 1803, the Pope appointed Giovanni-Battista Tommasi as grand master of the Order, who temporarily placed the residence of the Order first in Catania, then in Messina on the island of Sicily.

At the end of the Napoleonic wars, the Paris Agreement of the victorious powers on March 30, 1814, Malta was finally recognized as a possession of the British crown.

After Tomassi's death in 1805, the Order eked out a miserable existence. No more than thirty people with the title of knight and a small number of service personnel live in the Order's Residence. After leaving Malta, the Order no longer has any military power and will never have again. The head of the order is approved by the Pope and bears the title of lieutenant master. The Order does not even have the opportunity to invite members of the Order living in the priories to elections. Actually, the Order exists only in name.

In 1831, the seat of the Order moved to Rome to the building of the Grand Priory of the Order in Rome, Palazzo Malta on Aventine Hill, and then to the building of the former residence of the Order's ambassador to the Papal See, Palazzo Malta on Via Condotti. via Condotti) near Piazza di Spagna.

In 1910, the Order organized a field hospital that would save many lives during the Italo-Libyan War of 1912. The Order's hospital ship "Regina Margarita" will transport more than 12 thousand wounded from the combat area.

During the First World War, a whole network of field hospitals of the Order operated in Germany, Austria, and France.

In the post-war period, the Order continued and is still engaged in humanitarian and medical activities, mainly in countries professing Catholicism.

Today the Order has about 10 thousand members and ranks second in number among Catholic organizations after the Jesuit Order (a purely monastic religious non-military organization).

Currently, the Order includes 6 Main Priories (Rome, Venice, Sicily, Austria, Czech Republic, England) and 54 national commanderies, one of which is in Russia.

Joannites - Hospitallers

The order of knighthood was founded in 1099, Jerusalem, at the hospital of Gregory the Great and the library of Charlemagne. WITH 1098 - Hospitallers of St. Lazarus at the leper hospital.

1. Heraldry

Colors- black mantle with a white cross, red mantle with a white cross.Hospitallers of Lazarus - white robe with an eight-pointed green cross. The basis of the order were knights who fell ill with leprosy.

Motto- Pro Fide, Pro Utilitate Hominum - For the faith, for the benefit of people!

Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum - Defending the Faith and helping the poor and suffering!

Motto of the Hospitallers of Lazarus: Atavis et armis - To the ancestors and weapons!

Patron - St. John the Baptist, Hospitallers of Lazarus - St. Lazarus

Control of the Mediterranean Sea - After the loss of the Holy Land, the Johannites set themselves a new goal: protecting Christian ships from Muslim pirates and freeing the slaves they had captured.

Hymn- Ave Crux Alba

Symbols and shrines of the Johannites

Owl - symbol of the wisdom of the order

The right hand (right hand) of St. John the Baptist. The palm is missing two fingers, the little finger and the middle one

2. Location of the Order and chronology

2.1. In the Holy Land

1098 - 1291, Jerusalem

1244, Battle of Forbia. The Order of St. Lazarus lost its master and all its knights, including lepers.

1255, the status of the Hospitallers of Lazarus is confirmed by a bull of Pope Alexander IV

1262, Pope Urban IV also confirms the Lazarite charter

2.2. On the islands

1291 - 1310, Cyprus

1306 - 1522, Rhodes

1348, on the island of Lazaretto in the Venetian Lagoon, the Green Knights founded the Leper Infirmary

1523 - 1530, seven years of wandering

1530 - 1798, Malta

1789 - 1799, during the French Revolution, Louis XVIII, while in exile, as Grand Master of the Green Knights, called them to himself

2.3. Order in Russia

1798 - 1803, St. Petersburg

1798 - 1801, Paul becomes the 72nd Grand Master of the Order of Johannites I . He establishes, in addition to the Catholic one, an Orthodox Priory. 12 conspirators kill him in the Mikhailovsky Castle (St. Petersburg).

1928, in Paris, a complete list of Hereditary Commanders of the Russian Priory is provided, these are 23 names, 10 of which have already died. The living 12 commanders sign the Declaration on the re-establishment of the Orthodox Order of John. The Order of Malta does not recognize its Orthodox brethren, but their organization continues to exist as the Union of Descendants of Hereditary Commanders under the patronage of the House of Romanov.

2.4. Currently in Rome

1853, death of the last Lazarite knighted before the French Revolution

2008 - 2017, Matthew Festing - 79th Grand Master of the Hospitallers

2012, split of the Order and founding of Saint Lazare International in Jerusalem, with its own Grand Master

On April 16, 2012, the Vatican Secretariat of State published a statement on April 16 in response to frequent inquiries to the Holy See about its relationship to this or that order of knighthood. The Apostolic Capital explained that there are only 5 orders that are given the title of knighthood: the Supreme Order of Christ, the Order of the Golden Spur, the Order of Pius IX, the Order of St. Gregory the Great and the Order of St. Sylvester. The Holy See also recognizes the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem as knightly. Other orders - new institutions and everything connected with them - are not recognized by the Holy See, since it does not guarantee their historical and legal legitimacy, their goals and organizational systems. In this regard, the Secretariat of State warns that one must refrain from holding ceremonies in churches and places of worship for the presentation of knighthood diplomas or awards issued without the consent and recognition of the Holy See. Such events are said to be spiritually detrimental to many “people of good will.”

2013, Matthew Festing, who has been Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta since 2008, spoke about the current situation in the Order, which will celebrate the 900th anniversary of its founding on February 9, 2013. The Order currently numbers 13, 5 thousand knights and has diplomatic relations with 104 states, AP reports. “On the one hand we are a sovereign state, on the other hand we are a religious order, on the third hand we are a humanitarian organization. So we are a mixture of all of these,” said Master. Matthew Festing hopes that in the near future it will be possible to make it easier for people of non-aristocratic origin to join the order, especially in Europe. “Of course, this principle [the principle of recruiting new members of the order only from noble families] is not outdated - but we should not forget that we live in the 21st century. In order to become a knight of our order in Europe, indeed, belonging to noble blood is one of the conditions. But this is only one of the conditions - there are a number of other requirements. In other places - Australia, Central and North America, Southeast Asia - the requirements for new members are based on different principles,” said Matthew Festing.

2015, the official process of beatification of the deceased began Andrew Bertie '78 Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitality Order of Saint John, Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta. Andrew Bertie became the head of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 1988 and served the order until his death in 2008. Under his leadership, the Knights of Malta provided aid to the poor and sick throughout the world. Andrew Bertie is the first Knights of Malta leader to be beatified. The inaugural mass for the beatification process, which was also attended by Cardinal Raymond Burke, patron of the Knights of Malta, was officiated by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, Vicar of the Diocese of Rome.

On December 10, 2016, the 50th Grand Master of the Green Knights - Jan, Count of Dobrzensky and Dobrzycki, was consecrated by Pope Francis as Commander of the Papal Equestrian Order

25 January 2017, Grand Master of the Order of Malta Matthew Festing (No. 79) resigned after conflict with the Vatican. This was reported by Reuters. This happened as a result of Festing’s personal meeting with Pope Francis. “The pope asked him to leave his post and he agreed,” an order spokesman said. Now the decision must be approved by the government of the order - the Sovereign Council. After Festing's final resignation and until the election of a new Grand Master, Grand Commander Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumerstein will act as head of the order. This step came as a surprise to the knights - as a rule, the master holds his post for life. Festing's resignation was led to by a conflict with the Holy See after the overthrow of the Grand Hospitaller of the Order, Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager, due to his too liberal interpretation of the tenets of Catholicism. When the pontiff created a commission to investigate the circumstances of the incident, the order issued a statement in which it asked the Vatican not to interfere in its internal affairs. The Order of Malta is a knightly religious order of the Catholic Church. It has observer status at the UN and the Council of Europe and maintains diplomatic relations with 105 states. The order itself considers itself a state, although this assertion is disputed by many international lawyers. At the same time, the order issues its own passports, prints stamps and currency. The Grand Master of the order is the papal viceroy.

Since 2017, Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumerstein has been acting as Master until the elections.

May 2, 2018, b the former locum tenens of the Order of Malta, Giacomo Dalla Torre, was elected grand master. This was announced on Wednesday by the press service of the ancient religious order at the end of the meeting of the State Council, at which the vote took place.As locum tenens, 74-year-old Giacomo Dalla Torre, elected to this post a year ago after the resignation of Grand Master Matthew Festing, was supposed to reform the order's constitution. Dalla Torre became the 80th Grand Master and must take the oath before the Vatican Under-Secretary of State for General Affairs, Archbishop Angelo Becciu, who was appointed papal delegate to the order after Festing's resignation. The Grand Master is elected for life. Dalla Torre has been the head of the Grand Priory of Rome since 2008 (one of the 12 oldest associations of the order) and belongs to the upper class (first class) of knights, who represent the religious elite of the order and from which its head can be chosen. Dalla Torre joined the order in 1985, and in 1993 he took a vow of obedience. He had already been Grand Commander (second in command of the order) and then Locum Tenens (temporary head of the order) after the death of Grand Master Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie in 2008, before the election of Matthew Festing to the post.

3. Structure of the Order

Eight Languages ​​of the Order

1. Provence, symbol - Archangel Michael, emblem - coat of arms of Jerusalem

2. Auvergne, symbol - St. Sebastian, emblem - Blue Dolphin

3. France, symbol - St. Paul, emblem - coat of arms of France

4. Castile and Leon, symbol - St. James the Lesser, emblem - coat of arms of Castile and Leon

5. Aragon, symbol - St. George the Victorious, emblem - Mother of God

6. Italy, symbol - Catherine of Bologna, emblem - blue inscription ITALIA

7. England, symbol - Flagellation of Christ, emblem - coat of arms of England

8. Germany, symbol - Epiphany, emblem - Black double-headed eagle

Management of the Order

At the head of the order was the Grand Master (Master). His rule was elective and usually lifelong, although there were cases of overthrow and even murder of Grand Masters. The master made decisions on all current affairs of the order. However, his power was not unlimited. He was subordinate to the General Chapter, which met at the headquarters of the order usually once a year at the proposal of the Grand Master and determined the policy of the order for the near future. The competence of the Chapter also included the election of the Master. The Pope and the kings of the Crusader states very rarely interfered in these elections; From the 15th century, however, the practice of transferring this position to his protégés began.

The Grand Master's closest associates were:

Grand Commander - Deputy Grand Master and administrative and economic head of the order

Seneschal - dealt with military issues, weapons and the construction of fortresses

Grand Hospitaller - was responsible for the charitable activities of the order, sanitary and medical issues

Great Sacristan - responsible for clothing and partly for military uniforms

Grand Treasurer - was responsible for the finances and treasures of the order.

4. Hospitaller buildings

Famous Hospitaller fortresses

Krak des Chevaliers (Syria)

Markab Fortress (Syria)

Fortress in Akko (Israel)

Rhodes Fortress (Greece)

Fortress in Kusadasi (Türkiye)

Fortress on the island of Halicarnassus (Türkiye)

Hospitaller Library

From the moment of its founding, the Order began diligently replenishing its Charlemagne library with ancient books on philosophy, medicine, including palmistry, shipbuilding and navigation... and now their collection of ancient works is very large.

1. Chief Commander(Grand Commander), who, together with the Treasurer, manages the general property, controls the Accounts committee, acts as Master of the Artillery and appoints some priests.
2. Marshal(Marshal), later Grand Marshal, who acts as the chief of the military staff and deals with all military matters.
3. Hospitaller(Hospitaller) or Grand Hospitaller, who manages the work of hospitals and clinics.
4. Drapier(Drapier), since 1539 the Chief Guardian (Grand Conservator), who is responsible for the supply of the armed forces of the Order and is responsible for the maintenance of some formations.
5. Admiral(Admiral), or Chief Admiral (Grand Admiral), a position created when the Order left the Holy Land and which commands the galleys.
6. Turcopolyer(Turcopolier or Turcopilier), who commands the Turcopoles (Turcopoles), i.e. hired soldiers from the local population in Palestine and Rhodes and Malta, and is responsible for the coast guard.
7. Chief Chancellor(Grand Chancellor), who signs all government orders, puts official seals and monitors the implementation of all decrees and decrees.
8. Chief Bailiff(Grand Bailiff) from 1428, responsible in Rhodes for protecting the defense of the Castle of Saint Peter and later the island of Gozo.

Each of the Langis was controlled by one of the eight highest leaders of the order:

• Provence(Provence) - Grand Commander,
• Avignon(Auvergne) - Marshal,
• France- Hospitaller,
• Italy- Admiral,
• Aragon(Aragon) - Drapier (later Grand Conservator),
• England- Turcopilier,
• Germany- Grand Bailiff (a post invented to satisfy the Germans)
• Castile(Castille) - Portugal - Grand Chancellor.

We praise our names
But the poverty of idle talk will become obvious,
When to raise your cross for ramen

We will not be ready these days.
Christ, full of love, is for us,
He died in the land that was given to the Turks.
Let's flood the fields with a stream of enemy blood,
Or our honor is forever disgraced!

Conan de Bethuis. Translation by E. Vasilyeva

Typically, Western European knights defeated Muslims on the battlefield, and not only when they fought bravely and decisively - these were the qualities for which chivalry has always been famous - but also acted in an organized manner. But it was precisely organization that the knights most often lacked. The reason was that every feudal knight depended on little on anyone, since his peasants were engaged in subsistence farming, and the society itself was distinguished by non-economic forms of forced labor. Moreover, in personal valor he could easily surpass both the duke and the count, and even the king himself! Suger, abbot of Saint-Denis, in his treatise “The Life of Louis VI, nicknamed Tolstoy,” spoke in detail about how in 1111 he planned to punish Hugh du Puizet, since he was engaged in robbery, and besieged his castle in Beauce. Although the king’s army suffered heavy losses, he still took Hugo’s castle, but he treated Hugo himself very gently: he just sent him into exile, although he could have hanged him. Then Hugo returned, declared that he had repented, and Louis VI forgave him. Then Hugo again built the donjon and... took up robbery and other outrages, so that the king was simply forced to go on a campaign against his obstinate vassal again. And again Hugo’s dungeon was burned, and Hugo himself was punished, and then, when he repented once again, they were pardoned again! But then he repeated the same thing for the third time, and it was then that the king became seriously angry: the donjon burned him, and Hugo himself was sent to the Holy Land to atone for his sins before God. He never returned from there, and only after that the inhabitants of Bose were able to breathe easy.

Crusader warrior 1163 – 1200 Fresco on the wall of the chapel of Cressac-Saint-Genis (Charente). The most famous are the frescoes painted on the northern wall. The top row of images tells of the battle with the Saracens that took place in 1163 at the foot of the Krak des Chevaliers castle, when Emir Nureddin, who besieged the castle, was completely defeated by a surprise attack by the Frankish cavalry.

Many other knights were distinguished by the same, if not greater, arbitrariness in that era. And it would be nice in peacetime! No, and on the battlefield they behaved in an equally inappropriate manner! And if some proud knight, before the rest, rushed to the enemy camp in order to be the first to rob it, or fled from the enemy when it was necessary to stand steadfastly in one place and fight the enemy, the king could well lose even the most successful battle!

Making sure that knights were disciplined was what many military leaders dreamed of, but no one could achieve this for many years. Everything changed when the “expeditions” to the East began. There, having become closely acquainted with the Eastern culture, which was completely different for them, the leaders of the West decided that the church itself could become the “basis” of knightly discipline. And all you need to do for this is... make monks out of the knights and at the same time hint that in this way they will get closer to their cherished salvation!

And so the spiritual knightly orders of the crusader knights appeared, created in distant Palestine. But they were only copied from very similar “organizations” among Muslims! After all, it was there, in the East, at the end of the 11th – beginning of the 12th century that such military-religious orders as Rahkhasiyya, Shuhainiya, Khaliliyya and Nubuwiyya appeared, some of which in 1182 were united by Caliph an-Nasir into one large and united spiritual order for all Muslims. knightly order of Futuwwa. Members of this order had a purely knightly rite, when the entrant was girded with a sword, after which the candidate drank “sacred” salty water from a special bowl, put on special trousers and even, as in Europe, received a blow with the flat side of the sword or hand on the shoulder. That is, chivalry itself, as such, came to Europe from the East, which, by the way, is also mentioned in Ferdowsi’s poem “Shahnameh”!

Although, who was the first and from whom to borrow the very idea of ​​a spiritual knightly order is also, in general, unknown - or rather, this is a very controversial issue! After all, long before these events, in the lands of Africa, namely in Ethiopia, there already existed... the ancient Christian order of St. Anthony, and historians quite rightly consider him the oldest among all other knightly orders in the whole world.

It is believed that it was founded by the Negus - the ruler of Ethiopia, who was known in the West as "Prester John", after St. Anthony either in 357 or 358 fell asleep in the Lord. Then many of his followers decided to go into the desert, where they took vows of monastic life to St. Vasily and created a monastery “in the name and heritage of St. Anthony." The order itself was founded in 370 AD, although even a later date compared to all other orders will still be “early”.

Stairs to the cave of St. Anthony the Great. Perhaps salvation can be found here...

Orders with the same name were later in Italy, France and Spain, and were branches of the order, whose headquarters were in Constantinople. It is interesting that the Ethiopian order has survived to this day. The head of the order is its grandmaster and at the same time the President of the Royal Council of Ethiopia. They admit new members very rarely, and as for the vows, yes, they are completely chivalrous. The badge of the order has two degrees - the Grand Knight's Cross and the Companion Cross. He has the right to indicate in his official title the initials KGCA (Knight Grand Cross) and CA (Companion of the Order of St. Anthony).

Both badges of the order have the appearance of a golden Ethiopian cross, covered with blue enamel, and on top they are also crowned with the imperial crown of Ethiopia. But the breast star is the cross of the order, does not have a crown, and is superimposed on an eight-pointed silver star. The order ribbon is traditionally sewn from moiré silk, has a bow at the hip, and its color is black with blue stripes on the edges.

The clothing of the knights of the order were black and blue robes, on the chest of which a blue three-pointed cross was embroidered. Senior knights were distinguished by double crosses of the same color. The order's headquarters was located on the island of Meroe (in Sudan), and throughout Ethiopia the order owned both women's and numerous men's monasteries. The order was simply incredibly rich: its annual income was no less than two million gold. Thus, the idea of ​​such orders was first born not in the East, and, as you see, not in Europe, but in... sultry Christian Ethiopia!

Well, the palm in the creation of the very first order in Palestine belonged to the Johannites or Hospitallers. Usually, non-specialists associate its founding with the first crusade, although the real order is slightly different. It all started when Emperor Constantine came to Jerusalem to find here (and he found it!) the life-giving cross of the Lord, well, the same one on which Jesus Christ was crucified. Then many other holy places were found in the city, which were mentioned in the Gospel, and churches immediately began to be built in these places.

It is clear that any Christian would be very pleased to visit all these places, receive grace from God and hope for the salvation of his sinful soul. But the journey to the Holy Land for the pilgrims was filled with dangers. And when someone got there, they often took monastic vows and stayed to continue doing good to other pilgrims at the same monastic hospitals. In 638, Jerusalem was captured by the Arabs, but for all this “activity” the conditions remained virtually unchanged.

And so, when in the 10th century Jerusalem turned into a world center of Christian piety, a pious merchant was found - yes, there were those then, named Constantine di Panteleone, originally from the Italian trading republic of Amalfi, who in 1048 asked permission from the Egyptian Sultan to build in the city of another shelter for sick pilgrims. They called it the Jerusalem Hospital of St. John, and the emblem of the hospital was the white eight-pointed Amalfi cross. That is why his servants began to be called Johannites, or hospitalers (from the Latin hospitalis - “hospitable”).

For 50 years, the Hospitallers lived quite peacefully - they went after the sick and prayed, but then the Crusaders besieged Jerusalem. According to legend, Christians, like all other residents of the city, were “put on the walls.” And then the cunning Johannites began to throw not stones, but fresh bread onto the heads of the Christian knights! The authorities immediately accused the Johannites of treason, but a miracle happened: right in front of the judges, this bread turned into stone, which proved their innocence, so they were acquitted! When Jerusalem fell on July 15, 1099, Duke Godfrey of Bouillon rewarded the brave monks, and some of his knights even became members of their brotherhood in order to protect pilgrims traveling to the holy city. First, the status of the order was approved by the ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Baudouin I, in 1104, and nine years later, Pope Paschal II confirmed his decision with his bull. And this charter of Baudouin I and the papal bull have survived to this day and are located in the National Library of the island of Malta in the city of La Valletta.

The military brothers of the order were not mentioned in documents until 1200, when they were divided into brother warriors (blessed to wear and use), brother doctors and brother chaplains, who performed the necessary religious rites in the order. The military brothers obeyed only the Pope and the Grand Master of the Order. At the same time, they owned lands, churches and cemeteries. They were exempt from taxes, and it was established that even the bishops did not have the right to excommunicate them!

It received its name, the Jerusalem Order of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John, in 1120 under the first master Raymond Dupuis. Along with the usual monastic attire, the knights wore a black cloak, on the left shoulder of which was sewn a white eight-pointed cross. On campaign, they wore a surcoat, usually scarlet in color, with a white linen cross on the chest with flared ends. They symbolized the following: the four ends of the cross are the four Christian virtues, and the eight corners are the eight good qualities of a true believer. And, of course, the cross against a bloody background symbolized knightly fortitude and loyalty to the Lord. The banner of the order was a rectangular red cloth with a white cross.

In 1291, the order left Palestine and moved to the island of Cyprus, and 20 years later settled on the island of Rhodes, where it remained until 1523, when it was driven out by the Turks. 42 years later, the knights of the order moved to Malta and became known as the “Knights of Malta”. Well, the hospitals founded by the order in various European countries were real centers of medicine at that time.

In 1798, Malta fell under Napoleon's rule, causing a massive dispersion of its members around the world. Emperor Paul I invited the “Knights of Malta” to Russia and condoned them in every possible way, but after his death they had to leave Russia for Rome. Today the order has a complex name, which sounds like this: the Sovereign Military Order of the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta. Note that in battles with Muslims in Palestine, the Hospitallers constantly competed with the Templars, which is why they were placed further away from each other. For example, the Johannites are in the rearguard, and the Templars are in the vanguard, and between them are all the other troops.

Of course, the Hospitallers were not only warriors and healers, but also excellent builders; they built so many different abbeys, churches and cathedrals. In this they also competed with the Templars. Having moved to Cyprus, they built many religious buildings there that have survived to this day.

The Order of Saint John is the oldest crusader order, which was founded in 1099. Initially, it was a Christian organization whose purpose was to provide assistance to sick and wounded pilgrims and pilgrims in the Holy Land, after the Pope built a fairly large hospital with a library back in 600. Speaking of the hospital, the unofficial, but more familiar name of the Order of St. John is “Hospitaliers”; it is not difficult to notice the word “hospital” hidden here, hospitalis - in Lat. "Hospitable". The Hospitallers became a knightly order thanks to Gerard the Blessed immediately after the first Crusade, which ended with the capture of Jerusalem by Christians.

The new knightly order became a serious force in the region. Their symbol was (and is) a white cross, which was sewn onto a black tunic. Despite their great military potential, they still remembered their true purpose, now helping the pilgrims not only medically, but also providing armed protection, and the order itself began to be divided into “brothers - knights” and “brothers - healers”.

After the defeat of the crusaders in the 12th century, the order had to retreat from Jerusalem, but the crusaders did not want to give up their holy mission. They settled on the island of Rhodes, where they built an impenetrable fortress, inside which there was a very cozy hospital. The fortress on Rhodes was a real stronghold of Catholicism in the East. The Knights, who began to call themselves Rhodes, still helped Christian pilgrims, giving them comfortable conditions, thanks to the funding of the order by Christian states. The knights continually made forays in Asia Minor, plundering Muslim villages and driving infidels into slavery. Muslims also actively attacked Rhodes, wanting to crush the Crusader bastion in the East. There were two major invasions, but all attacks ended in failure; the few knights, as if God himself was protecting them, always drove out the invaders, covering their names with shame.

But the order's success could not last forever. By the first half of the 16th century, the hegemony of the Ottoman Empire in the East began. The Ottomans were able to capture the Roman Empire, the Western countries were afraid to confront them on equal terms, and what could the knights, possessing an army of several thousand people, do? The fortress was besieged by more than two hundred thousand Turks. Rhodes was able to hold out for 6 months, after which the surviving crusaders retreated to Sicily.

In 1530, the Hospitallers were given the island of Malta, which also began to be used as a headquarters against the Muslims. The 16th century was not the best years for the crusaders, the orders of the crusaders were disbanded and ceased to exist, knights became an obsolete type of army, and swords began to be replaced with firearms. But the Hospitallers, who had already become known as the Order of Malta, still saw the expulsion of Muslims from Africa and the East as the meaning of their existence. The Ottomans, extremely irritated by this, began the siege of Malta. Ottoman troops of 40 thousand people against 8000 knights believing in victory. At first, the position of the crusaders was hopeless, half of the knights were killed, and most of the city was destroyed. The King of Sicily refused to send reinforcements until the last moment. Nevertheless, after a series of attacks, reinforcements did arrive from Sicily, and the Ottomans, exhausted by heat and disease, had to retreat. This was the last major victory of the knights in world history; out of 40 thousand Turks, only 15 returned back.

Soon the Hospitallers began to experience moral and economic decline. The European powers ceased to see the meaning in the idea of ​​​​returning the holy land, and therefore the meaning of the Crusader Order, which is why their funding, thanks to which the knights lived, was sharply reduced. Looking for a way to make money, the order began to plunder pirate and Turkish ships, and they also passed a law according to which any cargo from the Ottoman Empire must be confiscated and resold. This improved the financial situation of the order, but many members, chasing wealth, ended up enlisting as privateers, in particular in France. This directly contradicted the order’s charter, according to which the crusaders could not enter the service of European monarchs in order to avoid participation in wars between Christians. But in the end, this practice became widespread, the order had to come to terms with it, and France became the patron of the last crusaders. The financial position of the order improved greatly, but its old principles were forgotten, the order even signed a formal truce with the Ottoman Empire, because. France did the same.

At the end of the 18th century, Malta was captured by the French and the order was dispersed. The Crusaders spread throughout Europe in search of a new base. Some of the crusaders found shelter in St. Petersburg, and even made Emperor Paul I the new master of the order, although the Catholic Church did not accept this.

In the mid-19th century, Pope Leo XIII restored the moral integrity of the order, entrusting the Knights of Malta with their old responsibility - humanitarian and medical assistance, but now far beyond the pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem. The newly found meaning of their existence, the knights provided medical care to soldiers and civilians during the First and Second World Wars. The residence of the order settled in Rome, where they became a dwarf state within a dwarf state. Modern crusaders have their own currency, postage stamps and passports. Today the order has diplomatic relations with 107 countries, 13,000 people consider themselves members of the order, and the volunteer base consists of 80 thousand people. More recently, the Maltese government gave the ancient fortress into the ownership of the knights for a period of 99 years, and restoration is now underway there.