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THE ORDERS

Below is a brief synopsis of the Religious Military Orders of the Crusades. There are numerous facts and details about each order, and in the future, as this site grows, more information will be provided.

Templar

Originally founded as THe Poor Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem, in the year 1118. The name was later shortened to The Knight of the Temple, or just Templar for short. The Order (while not the first Religious Order in the Holy Land) was the fisrt one to be sanctioned by the Pope as a Religious Military Order. The primary purpose was to gaurd the roads of the Holy Land and defend Pilgrime to and from Jerusalem.

Hospitaller

The origin of the Hospitallers was an 11th-century hospital founded inJerusalem by Italian merchants from Amalfi to care for sick and poor pilgrims. The order, The Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem, or The Knights Hospitaller, was formally named and recognized on February 15, 1113, by Pope Paschal II. In 1309 they acquired Rhodes, and Became known as The Knights of Rhodes. In 1530 the Holy Roman emperor Charles V gave them the Maltese archipelago, thus becoming The Knights of Malta, as they are still known to this day.

Teutonic

Bretheren of the German Hospital of Saint Mary, also called Teutonic Knights, was founded in 1189/90, by Papal recognition. This established them as an independent MIlitary Order. In 1229, they were recognized as an independent internation Order of the Church. the Although active in the Holy Land until tha fall of Acre in 1291, the Order is most notable for it's role in the Baltic Crusades. The Order survived until 1561 when it's properties were secularized under Polish suzerainty.

Calatrava

The Military Order of Calatrava was a religious military order founded in the kingdom of Castile in the year 1158, when King Sancho III of Castile ceded the fortress of Calatrava to Raymond, abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Fitero. The initial objective was protecting the village of Calatrava la Vieja from the Moors. The order was formally recognized by the pope in 1164. It became closely affiliated with the Cistercian abbey of Morimond in 1187. The order participated in the Christian Reconquest of Andalusia. The Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, with papal sanction, took over the administration of the order in 1489.

Sepulchre

Originally founded as Milites Sancti Sepulcri, attached to the Augustinian Canons of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, recognized in 1113 by Papal bull of Pope Paschal II and of Pope Calistus II in 1122. It traces its roots to circa 1099 under the Frankish Duke Godfrey of Bouillon, "Defender of the Holy Sepulchre", leader of the First Crusade and first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Early members included secular canons (Sergeants) and armed knights chosen from the crusader troops. Together they vowed to obey the Augustinian Rule of poverty and obedience, and undertook specifically to defend the Holy Sepulchre and the holy places under the command of the King of Jerusalem.