The Order of St. John and the Impact of the First Crusade
The Order of St John and the Impact of the First CrusadeThe Order of St John and the Impact of the First CrusadeThe Order of St. John can be viewed as not only an innovative development in monastic orders -hospitality as a direct consequence of deep spirituality - but as the first hospital order of the Church, establishing a precedent for others to follow.. Not only did the Order provide care and comfort for weary pilgrims , but aslo through the development of the order, protection in both the temporal as well as spiritual spheres, drawing its name from its patron St. John the Baptist.>From the discovery of the grave of Christ, 'The Holy Sepulchre', by the mother of Constantine, Helena, Jesusalem became a Place of pilgrimage, for the Christian faithful. Pope St. Leo granted the "Indulgence of the Cross" for those who undertook a pilgrimmage to the Holy Sepulchre in AD. 1053. Beside the Holy Sepulchre was the Benedectine Monastery of St. Maria Latina, founder by merchants from Amalfi containing a house for guests and visitors. This guest house slowly became more and more of a hospital for sick and exhausted pilgrims, the journey to jerusalem from Europe being arduous both physical
The hospital reaped the enormous rewards following the fall of Jerusalem in the form of donations of Land and money both within the newly formed Latin States and greatful benificaries upon their successful return to Europe. It marks the evolution of the Order from carers of the pilgrims into the 'militia Christi'. At the height of their prosperity the order held seven major strongholds, and 140 casalia in the Latin states However it must be remembered that despite the emphasis placed on military prowess and control in the period prior to the First Crusade it must be remembered that at no point did the order relinquish its primary goal the fullfilment of hospitality. This too was another direct result of the First Crusade - the order went form virtually landless to a landed power - both in Outremer and in Europe - A fact that ensured their survival after the fall of Jerusalerm. Acquisition of PropertyThe transition of the Hospitallers into a fully flegded miliatary order was aider through the acquisition of vast tracts of land and property. This in turn evolved into participation in battle. In 1136, they were granted the important castle of Bethgeblin, south fo Palestine to hold against the Moslem advanceClass DistinctionDespite the early piety and idealism of the early members of the Hospitallers, as the military arm grew in strenght, class distinction began to pervade the order. Evolution into a military Order - A Natural ProgressionThe Order of St. First Crusade and its ImpactThe First Crusade can truly be observed to be the spark that ignited the inferno. The very resilience of the order stand alone as a testiomony to the success and applications of their ideals. was under the second master of the Order, Raymond du Puy the the order of St John was reorganised along military lines , seeing the creation of the Knights Hospitallers. He Initiated the military role of the Hospitallers by primarily organising convoys to ensure safe passage for pilgrims. coming to and returning from the Holy land. However it is not until the Rule of the ninth Master, Alfonso of Portugal that military duties are laid down and class distinction, which will be referred to later occur. Furthermore the Brethern -at-Arms, were too diferentiated by class lines, the Knights were of noble birts while the 'inferior' classes were Serjants-at-Arms, although realisiically there was little or no difference in their roles.
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