The Order of the Knights of St. John
The Order of the Knights of Saint John, also known as the Knights Hospitaller, was established in the eleventh century (in 1099) as a group of Benedictine monks, led by Brother Gerald, and were responsible for tending to the sick and wounded at the Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem and also looking after the poor and offering hospitality to pilgrims and travellers to Jerusalem. This was during the Crusades.
They cared for anyone who needed help, regardless of their nationality, religion or sex. They would search for those who were too ill or infirm to get to the hospital themselves and carry them in and admit them. The monks also operated an outreach service to support mothers who were too ill or poor care for their babies. In addition they also took in and educated abandoned children and orphans. The Order also had nuns as nursing Sisters, affiliated to the hospital and owing allegiance to the Order. The Sisters had been part of the Order from the early days, tending to the needy in the Holy Land, in their Hospital of St Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem.
The first hospital was next to the church of St. John The Baptist and the order took their name from this.
At this time the Hospitallers were a normal monastic order, the brethren taking the standard vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, and a forth vow, to be the serf and slave of our lords the sick. The main role of the order became the building, furnishing and improvement of hospitals, research in medicine and the training of doctors and surgeons. Further hospitals were built in the Holy Land, including one in Acre.
Because the Holy Land was a dangerous place for travellers, especially unarmed pilgrims, a Frankish knight Hugh de Payns inspired a number of fighting men to take monastic vows to defend the Holy Land. This happened around 1119. This organisation grew into the Knights Templars and gained formal recognition in 1128. The combination of fighting skills and monastic discipline was so successful that the Hospitallers later adopted it also.
Under their next leader, Warden Raymond du Puy, they added the task of defending pilgrims to their duties. At the same time the order adopted a new Rule of Constitution which was of a more Augustinian nature compared to their previous Benedictine rule.
By 1126 the military development of the Hospitallers had begun. Defence of the Holy Land had been added to the rules of the Order and the Hospitallers must wear the sign of the cross on their cloaks. This took the form of a white cross on a black background.
By 1160 the Order was an international organisation, having land and estates in almost every country in the western civilised world of that time. The main headquarters was in Jerusalem and called the Convent (from the word convention). The order was headed by a Master and its land was organised into administrative areas called Tongues. Each Tongue had a Priory of the Order as its headquarters. The Head of the Order was called a Grand Master, and he was answerable only to the Pope.
Following the conquest of the Holy Land by Islamic forces, forcing them out for good in 1291, the remnants of the Hospitallers and Templars sailed for Cyprus but they were not made welcome there. In 1310 the order seized the land of Rhodes, built a new hospital and began a new lease of life.
During their time on Rhodes, the Hospitallers restructured, changing from being a single centralised organisation to a loose federation of national societies (the Tongues). Each Tongue took charge of its own affairs. The number of Tongues increased and at the head of each was a Conventual Bailiff, known as the Piliar of that Tongue, who resided permanently in Rhodes.
The Hospitallers successfully fought off several attempts by the Turks to take the island of Rhodes, but in 1522 , after several unsuccessful frontal attacks, the Turks under Suleiman starved out the island garrison.
With the loss of Rhodes in 1522, the Order was again homeless and began a search for a new base. In March of 1530, Emperor Charles V of Germany and Spain gave Malta to the Hospitallers, “in order that they may perform in peace the duties of their Religion for the benefit of the Christian community and employ their forces and arms against the enemies of the Holy Faith”. In return for Malta, the Order were to pay a fee of one falcon, on All Saints Day, to the Emperors Viceroy in Sicily. This was the origin of the phrase “the Maltese Falcon”.
So closely has the history of the Order been entwined with the island of Malta over the last few centuries that the eight pointed cross, which had become the emblem of the Order, is known today as the Maltese Cross, and is also the emblem of the island of Malta.
The Knights stayed in Malta for 268 years, transforming it into a rich and flourishing island with mighty defences and a capital city coveted by the great powers of Europe. Over that time they changed into an organisation that was more ceremonial than military. In 1798, Napoleon overcame the garrison in two days, with almost no bloodshed, and expelled the Order. They drifted in disarray for many years until 1834, with the support of Pope Gregory XVI, they re-established their headquarters in Rome.
The Sovereign and Military Order of the Knights of Malta still exists today. The English branch of this Roman Catholic Order , still Rome based, maintains the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth at Hampstead, in London.
In England, the Order had a more chequered history following king Henry VIII break from the Catholic Church in Rome. After dissolving the monasteries and persecuting any Order loyal to the Pope in Rome, the Hospitallers were suppressed and their land, goods and money seized for his Treasury.
Today, the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (as it is now known), and its charitable foundations, have once again grown into an international Order. It is this Order of St John which we see and know today mainly for its First Aid work and Ambulances. Its members wear their distinctive black uniforms with a white Maltese cross, and every year the Norfolk branch holds its special services at Carbrooke church.
They cared for anyone who needed help, regardless of their nationality, religion or sex. They would search for those who were too ill or infirm to get to the hospital themselves and carry them in and admit them. The monks also operated an outreach service to support mothers who were too ill or poor care for their babies. In addition they also took in and educated abandoned children and orphans. The Order also had nuns as nursing Sisters, affiliated to the hospital and owing allegiance to the Order. The Sisters had been part of the Order from the early days, tending to the needy in the Holy Land, in their Hospital of St Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem.
The first hospital was next to the church of St. John The Baptist and the order took their name from this.
At this time the Hospitallers were a normal monastic order, the brethren taking the standard vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, and a forth vow, to be the serf and slave of our lords the sick. The main role of the order became the building, furnishing and improvement of hospitals, research in medicine and the training of doctors and surgeons. Further hospitals were built in the Holy Land, including one in Acre.
Because the Holy Land was a dangerous place for travellers, especially unarmed pilgrims, a Frankish knight Hugh de Payns inspired a number of fighting men to take monastic vows to defend the Holy Land. This happened around 1119. This organisation grew into the Knights Templars and gained formal recognition in 1128. The combination of fighting skills and monastic discipline was so successful that the Hospitallers later adopted it also.
Under their next leader, Warden Raymond du Puy, they added the task of defending pilgrims to their duties. At the same time the order adopted a new Rule of Constitution which was of a more Augustinian nature compared to their previous Benedictine rule.
By 1126 the military development of the Hospitallers had begun. Defence of the Holy Land had been added to the rules of the Order and the Hospitallers must wear the sign of the cross on their cloaks. This took the form of a white cross on a black background.
By 1160 the Order was an international organisation, having land and estates in almost every country in the western civilised world of that time. The main headquarters was in Jerusalem and called the Convent (from the word convention). The order was headed by a Master and its land was organised into administrative areas called Tongues. Each Tongue had a Priory of the Order as its headquarters. The Head of the Order was called a Grand Master, and he was answerable only to the Pope.
Following the conquest of the Holy Land by Islamic forces, forcing them out for good in 1291, the remnants of the Hospitallers and Templars sailed for Cyprus but they were not made welcome there. In 1310 the order seized the land of Rhodes, built a new hospital and began a new lease of life.
During their time on Rhodes, the Hospitallers restructured, changing from being a single centralised organisation to a loose federation of national societies (the Tongues). Each Tongue took charge of its own affairs. The number of Tongues increased and at the head of each was a Conventual Bailiff, known as the Piliar of that Tongue, who resided permanently in Rhodes.
The Hospitallers successfully fought off several attempts by the Turks to take the island of Rhodes, but in 1522 , after several unsuccessful frontal attacks, the Turks under Suleiman starved out the island garrison.
With the loss of Rhodes in 1522, the Order was again homeless and began a search for a new base. In March of 1530, Emperor Charles V of Germany and Spain gave Malta to the Hospitallers, “in order that they may perform in peace the duties of their Religion for the benefit of the Christian community and employ their forces and arms against the enemies of the Holy Faith”. In return for Malta, the Order were to pay a fee of one falcon, on All Saints Day, to the Emperors Viceroy in Sicily. This was the origin of the phrase “the Maltese Falcon”.
So closely has the history of the Order been entwined with the island of Malta over the last few centuries that the eight pointed cross, which had become the emblem of the Order, is known today as the Maltese Cross, and is also the emblem of the island of Malta.
The Knights stayed in Malta for 268 years, transforming it into a rich and flourishing island with mighty defences and a capital city coveted by the great powers of Europe. Over that time they changed into an organisation that was more ceremonial than military. In 1798, Napoleon overcame the garrison in two days, with almost no bloodshed, and expelled the Order. They drifted in disarray for many years until 1834, with the support of Pope Gregory XVI, they re-established their headquarters in Rome.
The Sovereign and Military Order of the Knights of Malta still exists today. The English branch of this Roman Catholic Order , still Rome based, maintains the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth at Hampstead, in London.
In England, the Order had a more chequered history following king Henry VIII break from the Catholic Church in Rome. After dissolving the monasteries and persecuting any Order loyal to the Pope in Rome, the Hospitallers were suppressed and their land, goods and money seized for his Treasury.
Today, the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (as it is now known), and its charitable foundations, have once again grown into an international Order. It is this Order of St John which we see and know today mainly for its First Aid work and Ambulances. Its members wear their distinctive black uniforms with a white Maltese cross, and every year the Norfolk branch holds its special services at Carbrooke church.