MILITARY
M N-AT-ARMS SERIES
THE KNIGHTS OF CHRIST
TERENCE WISE, RICHARD SCOLLINS
155
EDITOR, MARTIN WINDROW
l'lWIl
MILITARY
MEN-AT--ARMS SERIES
THE KNIGHTS OF CHRIST Text by TERENCE WISE Colour plates by RICHARD SCOLLINS
155
Published in 1981 b) Osprey Publishing Ltd 59 Grosvenor Street, London \\' I X 90.\ Q Cop)right 198,1 O~pre) Ilublishing lAd Reprinted 198s, 1987 t"iee. 1988, IgBg, 199[, 1992 ,\11 ri.l;:hts rt"St"rH'1I.'\p
purpoSt' of pri\-atc stud), rest'arch, crilici~m or rc\ ic\\. as permiuoo under the CoP} ril;hl IX-signs and P,llents ,\Cl. [g88. no part of this publiea[iou may b..• reproduced. stored in a relrie\ al s~ stem, or tT:msmitted in an) form or b) all~ means, ekctronic, declrical. ("hemieal, 1Il('('hanieal, oplical, pholocoPY ing, recording or othen\ is<', wil hout the prior permission of Ihe COP} right 0\\ ncr. Enquiril'S ~hould be addTC"iS<'d to Ihe Publishers.
BritiSh Libf(lry UJIDlol:umg
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Wise, Terence The Knights of ChrisI. ~lcn·al·Arms·scrics: 155) l. KniglllS and knighlluxxl Europe Hislory I. Title II. Series
305.5'2
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Filrnsct ill Cr'eal Britain Primed in I-long Kong
The Kllights 0lelll]J! D,eGlum!, j 11i/itfl/lt The primiti\C ChriSlian Church condemnt..-d war 011 principle, regarding it as an evil sin no mnlter at what level or for what purpose it was waged. \Vhcll Constantine I established toleration ofChrislinnity throughout the Roman Empire in AD 3'3, this immediately created a schism, for the \'cry survival of the empire was dcpendclll upon war. The Eastern Empire accepted war asjustificd in defence of the faith, and its adopLioll of militaristic saillls such as S, George illustrates Ihis. On the olher hand, the Roman Church in the \'Vcst remained firm in its belief that all war was evil, although by the time of Augustine (354-430) it had lx'Come accepted thai one side might have just causc' for war, and indi,·idual soldiers taking part in such \\ars were absolved. By the time of Pope Gregory the Great (P. 5go-604), the West had adopted the illlcn.'sting idea that herctics and infidels could legitimately bc converted to Christianity by force; but it was nOI Ulitil the Carolingian wars against the Saxons in the second halfof the 8th century that Christian leaders weT(' able to convert a 1x>lit.ical war into a religious olle under this guise. :\Ieanwhilc, the Church had been growing ,vealthy, and the Saracen invasions of Spain and France in the early 8th century had posed a threat to that wealth indeed, 10 Christianity itselr. No" the Roman Church could al.'lO support war in defence of the faith; and henceforth war and Church wcnt hand in hand, with Mass said before bailie, and the relics ofsaints carried before the troops to inspire thcm in 'CO(rS work', This oolle..jtul was in somc degree due to the ancielll warrior code of behaviour which had persisted in Christian Europe, Under this code a man's greatest virtues "ere physical strength, skill at anns, bravery, daring, loyalty to the chieftain, and solidaril) within the tribe. The ideals of the
Seal or Lh~ Poor
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primitive Christian Church had been diametrically opposed to such ideals. However, by channelling the martial spirit into the service of God, the brutal warrior of the past was transfonnoo into a guardian of societ). War was acceptable if it "as socially useful, and the warrior codes were harnessed to create a new chivalrolls spirit "hereby the elite warrior class, now the nobility or ruling class, was the defender of the faith, protector of the poor and weak, This new l\filts Chrislianus \\as to become a romantic hero to n\'al the heroes of the old pagan sagas: a member of an international brotherh
d of a single class, \\ith a common code of behaviour, and sharing a common code of ideals, By the mid-11th c('nlllry Pope LCD IX (P, 1049 54) was invoking war against the invading Normans in southern Italy as a means of'liberating Christendom'. Papal blessings and banners "ere isslled for the expedition against the :\Ioslcms in Spain in ((>63, and for the ilwa~ion of 'heretic' En~land in 1066, ..-\11 these campaigns were called 3
ADoLh..r Y..rIliOD O( Ih.. IWO (ound..,.. o(lh., T ..n>p........ aSlrid.. on.. bon." this un>e (ron> r.bnh.,w Pari.' (.i1fl"'Ud M'!i-ra, c.I~35 59- It "hows lh.. black-o,·.. r-wbit.. o( Lh.. Ten>pla,..' banau ad:o.pled (or "I>e 0" .";lIh.Ii' shieldll.
'holy wars', but were really political ill nature; and by the time Pope Cregory VI I (P. 1073 85) raised armies of papal troops by oflcring both financial and spiritual rewards, tbe pope had come to be regarded as a summoner of
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H00' Lflllf/ After.Jerusalem fell to the crusaders in 1099, most of the crusaders who did not return to Europe became committed to selling up independent Christian states; and there arose the problem ofhow to protect the pilgrim routes to the newly won holy places. and to continue the fight against the Moslems surrounding the narrow strip of reconquered land. At this time there were only some 500 knight!; available to defend the kingdom of Jerusalem: obviously, lhey would be fatally weakened if they were thinly scattered throughollt the Holy Land. Therefore, in the beginning, small bands of cruS<"lder knights voluntarily took on Ihis task of guarding the lines of communication. The Knights of the Temple One sueh band was formed in 1115 by Hugue d~ Payens of Burgundy and Codfrey de Saint
Adhcmar, a Fleming, who recruited seven other knights from northern France. This small voluntary association escorted pilgrims on their way from Jerusalem to jericho, and thence to the traditional site of jesus's baptism in the Jordan. In 1118 this small group swore an oath before the Patriarch ofjerusalem to protcct the pilgrims and observe the monaslic vows of poverty, obedience and chastily. The two founder-members had originally had only one horse between them: under their vows they were to wear only those clothes \\hich were given to them, and to own only their wcapons. From these humble ideals stemmed their first name-the I)oor Knights of Christ. The Poor Knights were to some extent subsidised by the Patriarch; and when King Baldwin, impressed b) their devOl ion, gave them quarters in a wing of the royal palace. they lx'Came in effcct an unofficial police force. Their new quarters were on the supposed site of the Temple of Solomon. and this soon gave rise to another name- the Knights of the Temple, or Knights Templar. By now the number ofknights had grown, and it was felt they should Ix organised permanently and officially along monastic lines in accordance w;th their vows, but with slX"Cial rules to allow for their military role. In about r 1'21 H ugue de Payens went to Europe to ask for guidance in the formulation of such rules. He was referred to the Council of the Catholic Church then sitting at Troycs in France, and it was this council which officially gave the Templars the statutes which established them as a military-religious organisation the first official warrior-monks. H lIgue had also met the greatest spiritual authority of thc day Bernard, abbot of the Cistcrcian monastcry of Clairvaux-and the Order's statutes and rules were moslly the work of Bernard. From the beginning, Bcrnard was a finn supporter of the aims of lhe Poor Knights and thus of the concept of warrior-monks. He recognised no comradiction between their monastic vows and their vow to kill Moslems. To him lhey were the first true soldiers of Christ, dedicating theillselves to a dUly which should be that of all Christian knights. He wrote a small pamphlet, On tht Praist oftht Xtw Knighthood, in which he fully justified killing and ,iolence by the knights on behalf of the faith: '... the soldiers of Christ wage the battles of
K.n..i!hl" Templar, f~m a wall pai.." ..! i.. their church al Crps"ac, (.1'70 80. NOI'" rm C",lili of the.ir Order on the brealil of their Ion! while. llurcoals.
their Lord in safety. They fear not the sin of killing an enemy or the peril of their own death, inasmuch as death either infliCled or borne for Christ has no taint of crime and rather merits the greater glory. 'First of all, there is discipline and unqualified obedicnce. Everybody comes and goes according to the will of the commander. Everybody wears the dresses given to him, and no one goes in search for food or garments according to his whims. They live in a community, soberly and injoy, without wifcor children. And to reach evangelical perfection, they live in the same house, in the same manner, without calling anything their own, solicitous to preservc lhe unity of spirit in the bonds of peace. 'Impudent words, senseless occupations, immoderate laughter, whispering or e,·cn suppressed giggling are unknown. They have a 5
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women, and attempting to escape from the Order were punisht.:'(1 by loss of privileges such as having to I live with the slavcs, or being deprived of arms, habit •. - ....- :. ' = : :r":l =..- . . • .._ and horse. Serious Glses of such lesser crimes could be punished by temporary or permanent in~~ carceration in one of the Order's castles. On the purely military side, the rules included \'ows to fight to the death for the holy places of Christendom; to refusc to be ransomed if defeated; to accept cvery combat, no mailer what the odds; to refuse quarter or ransom to the infidel; and to defend any Christian molested by infidels. These vows led to the Templars being feared beyond all other Franks b) the 1\loslems, who retaliated by execut.ing out of hand all Tcmplars taken in battle. Each knight was allo\\ed to possess three horses and to havc a squire with a fourth horse, but his armour, clothing and bedding belonged to the Order. The squires led the spare horses to the battlefield but retired once battle commenced. The The ...resc or Tnnplar5 i. Fn...a: in 1307. (rom • C'ODI'"-tnporary rnaauKr'ipl. The _ . or Lbe Onl"r ill c1norly knights were form<..'d in ranks by squadrons, and ~';"ibh, 0 .. the mo... -tic: .... bi'... there were severe penalties for any knight who broke ranks without permission. horror of chess and dice; they hate hunting; The seal of approval from both the Pope and the)' don'( e"en (,ltiO) the Oight of the falcon. Bernard of Clairvaux resulted in a Rood of The)' despise mimcs, jugglers, story-tellers, donations for the Order, and by the time Hugucdc dirt) songs, performances of buffoons all Payens returned to I)alcstine in 1130 (with somc 300 these thC) regard as vanities and inane follies. knigilis recruited for a crus."1de) he had been able to The)' CUI their hair shori because they know it establish prcceptorics not only in Jerusalem, but in is shal1l(·ful for a man 10 wear it long. Nc\"cr Antioch, Tripoli, Aragon and Portugal. Suboverdressed, they bathe rarely and arc dirty sequently, preceptorics were established in Engand hirsute, wnned by the coat of mail and the land, Aquitaine, Poi tOll, Provence, Apulia, Hunsun,' gary, Gcrmany, Sicily and Greece. The rules for this first Military Order were based Thc preceptories werc L1scd to recruit and train on those of the Cistercians. The Order's hierarchy new members, as well as to administer the consisted of the Cr"nc! Mastcr, Seneschal, Deputy propertics of the Order within the province: at the .Master, Marshal, and the commanders or Masters peak ofit.8 power the Order owncd over 9,000 feudal of the provinces. Uerusalcm city and the kingdom of lordships 01' manors throughout Europe.. and their Jerusalem were separate provinces.) Each province military contingcnts thcrefore frcquently included a was divided into houscs known as preceptorics, each proportion of knights and levies who owed military with its own commander, with a knight- service to the Order in return for the lands held commander as his lieutenant. These divisions were fighting men who were not thcmsel\'t.'S members of uscd for command in the field as well as for the the Order. r..lilitary contingents were also swollen administration of monastic life. by the admission ofsubordinatc members to scrve as 1\lurder, treason, desertion, heresy, purchasing sergeants; and by the admission of'confrerc knights' entry into the Order, plotting amongst the brothers, who served for only a short term (although and re\e1ation of the Order's secrets were all sometimes for several years at a time, and who punishable by expulsion from the Order. Lesser were pennilloo to marry, promising half their offences such as disobedience. consorting with property to the Orda ill the e\-elll of their death. BI •. _
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the time or the Second Crusade the Order could muster nearly 600 knights and, together with the Knights or 5t John, was providing about hair the total number orknights available in the Holy Land. Their first oflcnsive military action had been with Baldwin's expedition to Antioch to suppress rebellion \\ithin the kingdom, but rrom 1147 onwards they were in the rorerront or the war against Islam. By the second hair or the 12th century the Order was one or the leading landowners in Syria and Palestine. ~Ioney and men cominued to arrive rrom Europe, and in order to control and administer this vast wealth the Templars became experts in banking. By as early as 1148 they were moneylenders, despite the official Church ban on usury. and Ihey soon had one of the largest and most efficient banking networks in the Western world. Pilgrims could now not only rely on the protection of the Templars, but could deposit funds at their local preceplor) and wilhdraw money as required b) producing letters of cn.'dil al any other Templar preceptory.lkfore long the Order had its own ships, and had begun 10 1ranSlXlrl pilgrims to the Holy Land. The Order's reputation and strength in the military role \\'as also growing apace. In November I [77,80 Tcmplars with 300 other knights smashed
through Saladin's army in a single crashing cavalry charge led by the Crand ~Iastcr. The Moslems were completely routed, though th(' Grand .\faster was captured, refused ransom and died in prison. His succc.'SSOr, Gerard de Ridcfort, became Ilotorious for his militar)' foolhardiness and political intrigues, yet the first fault could concci\'ably be excused in that he merely obe)ed his vows. In 1187, wilh only 90 Templars and 40 other knights, he charged into a ~Ioslem force ofsome 7,000 cavalry. Only he and t\\'o other Templars managc.-d to cut their way through and escape. Not long afterwards, al the battle of Hallin, he split the Christian ann) and led the cavalry to tOlal defeat. Despite these fool hard) acts the Templars, together with the Hospilaller knights, were the finest fighting force in Ihe Hoi) Land; in battle the) were always accorded the position of honour on the right wing, with Ihe Hospitallers on the left. Throughout the 13th century the Order"s wealth continued 10 grow, but its military strength in the Holy Land began to decline partly because fewer recruits could be found who were willing to die for the faith, and partl) because of growing rivalry between the various military orders which had now Loarr",. n_r HU"'llQ in Anollon, d .. 1inll from lh", Ial'" IILh ClI'nlury w;lh lal",r .ddidons.. Thi. was on", of Ih", T"'n'pl......• m.ai.n .,.,..lroea in Spain.
)
= been created, dissipating their energies and even leading to Order fighting Order. In 1243 Jerusalem was lost. The next year the Christians were dccisively defeatcd at Gaza, and of over 300 Templars present only 36 survived. In 1250 nearly 200 Templars died in the Strccts of i\lansurah. On this occasion the Grand ~fastcr had warned of an ambush but had been O\·cITulcd by Robert of Artois: the Order had been honourbound to follo\\ the crusaders to their deaths. In 1256 the Templars and Hospitallers took opposing sides in the fighting between Genoese and Venetians in Acre, and killed each other in the streets at a time when every knight was desperately needed to countcr a new threat-the brilliant Turkish general Baib.'lrs. Baibars took Caesarea and Arsufin 1265, and Antioch in 1268. A ten-year truce followed: but his successor took TripoH in 128g, despite a gallant defence by Templars and Hospitallers. Only Acre remained in Christian hands, and here the last gallant but futile battle was fought against the ove...."hclming might of the united Islamic forces. After six \\ceksofbattering by siege engines a breach was made in the outer wall. The breach wasSlormed by mamluks, and despite a magnificelll ...,i,tance the knights were eventually compelled to \\ithdraw to the inner Iinc of walls. The final assault came thrcc days later. The Grand ~Iaster of the Templars died fighting amongst the roar of burning and collapsing buildings, but the survivors of the Order managed to withdraw into their castle at the southern end of the city and here made a last stand under their Marshal. Terms were offered, but talks broke down when a group of Moslems who had been allowed into the Temple began to assault civilians sheltering there, and the Templars in obedience to their vows-cut the Moslems down. A second offer failed when the Marshal, who left the Temple to negoliate, was treacherously seized and beheaded. There remained only onc way out, and every knight slill capable of standing prepared himsclffor it. The i\loslcms atlacked the castle with firebombs, catapults and mines. After a week part of the outer wall finally collapsed and 2,000 i\loslems charged through the breach. As the final hand-tohand struggle began, the weakened foundations ga\'e way under the weighl of the mass ofstruggling men; the Temple crashed down, burying the last of
8
thc Tcmplars and their cnemies beneath a smoking pile of rubble. The I-Ioly Land was lost forever, despite the heroic deaths of some 20,000 Templar knights and sergeants since the Order's inception. The Templars had lands in Cyprus, and it was here that they regrouped to create a new powerbase in the Middle East. But although their great financial network continued to function throughout Europe, the Templars failed to find any realistic military role for the future: beyond a few minor and unsuccessful raids on the Syrian and Egyplian coasts, the Order deteriorated illlo bankers and money-lenders. This deterioration \\ as seized 1I1Xln by those \\ ho had for man} years envied the Order its vast possessions and power. its excmption from royal justice and itsovcrbearing pride. Based on the claim that the Hoi} Land had been lost by the military orders, who no longer had a purpose for existence
since they had failed to take any steps to regain it, a series of attacks was launched against all military orders. ,'\Jothing came of tiles<: atlacks ulllil a renegade Tcmplar, ES
the T('mplar'S. Hc I'cjected both proposals as unworkable. When Dc Molay re.:turn('d to Cyprus in 1307, Philip pressed the charges and the Pope agrcl'd to an cnquir). On 15 Scpt('mlX'r I>hilip sent scaled instructions for the seizure of all members of the Ordt'r and "wir propert) throughout France. Only '3 Templars cscap('d the coup; the remainder were thro\\n into prison, \\here all except three e\'entual!) confessed under torture 10 the charges. The I'ope \\ as pcnH'rlcss in the light of the confessions, and on 2'2 XO\'cmber issued a bull commanding Dlher Christian princes to arrest all Templars in their lands. Soon, under lhe agonies of the mOSt atrocious torture, Templars \\cre confessing to homoscxualit), devil \\orship, blasphelll) and corruption. Yet for four Illore )('ars the Ordl'r struggled to survj\'{'. In EnglOlnd, Spain. Cyprus and Germany the Order \\as found innocent of the charges: but in France the persecution continued. and scores of Templars who bra\'el) retracted their confessions when the tonure c('as<--'d wer(' burnt at the stake as heretics. Finall), in April 1312, Philip succeeded in having the Ordersupprcssed: ilS great \\eahh \\ as to be passed to the Knights of St John, for the continuation of their hospitaller role and their ne\\found lla\al operatiolls. It \\as probably 110 coincidence thOlt not OIl(' penny of the Templars' great \\calth in France c\'cr reaehL'(lthe KnighlSof St John. The Knights of 5t John of Jerusalem After Jerusalem fcll to the crusaders its strcets were filled with the dead, dying and wounded, and inevitably there.: followed disease. In about 1°70 a group of Iller-chan ts from Ihe POrt of Atlla In in Italy had founded the Hospice of St John the Almoner, neal' the Chul'ch of the Holy Sepulchre. A hospice was essentially a pbct, of f('st fol' pilgrims, where they might obtain food and recovcr from their travels, and it formed a naltlral part of the main business of the Amain merchants transportmg pilgrims to the Holy Land. The hospice was administered b)' Ikn('diClinc monks and nuns from Amain. under one Brother G('rard. Either before or during th(' siege the hospice had been closed and its staff expelled from the city; but after the siege Brother Gerard reappeared, and the crusaders willin~l)' supported him when he set up a
9
these became known as the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre ('canon' being an ecclesiastical term originally applicable to all the clergy or any large church). Apparentl} crusaderS also swore obedience to the prior or this Ixxly, and took upon themselvcs the military duties orguarding the tomb. The military members arc S<'l.id to have worn white malllics bearing Ihe r('(1 cross or Jerusalem and possibly a \\ hite surCoat with a single red cross on it, and to ha\'e carried into battle a white banner speckled with rt..>(1 drops to signiry the Hal} Blood. These \\ere presumabl} not membcrsofthe Order. but were the first knights to volunteer 10 fight ror the Order, The later, truc Knights or St john were KraJr. dq Che~....tien., ~;f1"'" to the H"pilaU"rs in I '42, and requ.irin5 • pm_n or _ fillhl;nll men 10 IH>ld iL sometimes rererred to as the Knights or Ihe Holy Sepulchre. and \~ hen King Alfonso or Aragon and hospital to carc ror the sick. The first ruler or ~a\'arrc died in 113.1 he lert his kingdom to the jerusalem, Godrre} or Bouillon, recognised the Hospitallers, the Templars and 'the Canons or the \'aluable \\ork or the monks under Gerard by a &>irt Holy Sepulchre'. or land, and his example was rollo\\ed b} many In 1130 the Pope ordainl'd that 'the Religion in others, His successor, Baldwin or Boulogne, also war against the Infidcl shalllX'ar the standard. with supported the hospital, and when he dercated an the \\ hite cross in a field or red.' Six }'ears later the Egyptian army hc gave OllC tenth orall the booty to Order \\3$ given the key rortress ofGilxlin by the the monks ror their good works. This example was king or jerusalem; in '139 Count Raymond II or copied, and soollthe hospital was recei\-ingso much Tripoli, a eonrrere ortlle Hospitallers, bestowed on money and land that by I 120. \\ hen Gerard died, it the Order t\\O or his main castles; and in 1142 the had been able 10 establish a chain or hospiccs and Order rceei\'ed rOllr other castles, ineluding the hospitals throughout the Hal} Land. great Krak d('S Chevaliers. Slich possessions In 1 1 '3 Gerard had abandoned the Benedictine demanded troops to garrison them (Krak des rule ror that or St Augustine, and the I-Iospitallcrs ChC\'aliers alone r('quired a garrison or 200 knights had been created as an independelll religious order and sergeants to withstand a siege), bUI there arc no by papal bull. Gerard's successor, Raymond du records or the Order bei ng involved in any mili tary Puy, extended the original work orthe new Order role at this period, Yel it is inconceivablc that the until all the main ports or embarkation ror pilgrims rulers in the Holy Land would have handed over were equipped with a hospital operated by the such important rortrcsses to an orgarusation Order or St john, I-Iowevel', he also extended the incapable or derending them, We know that in role or the Order to the protection or pilgrims on the I '57 the Order sent a column to relitve the castle of route rrom the sea to jerusalem, The Order's Banyas, and in t 168 it contributed 500 knights to chaner includL>(1 the instruction that it could take the expeditioll to Egypt. It has to be assumed that up arms in derenee orits hospitals, the Order itselr, sizeable military rorces wcrc available to the Order or Jerusalem; but this logical extension or the by at least I J 36. B} this datt: there existed the office Order's duties towards pilgrims was to cause a or ~Iarshal, whose rolc was initially the hiring and major change in the structure or Ill(' Order itself control or mercenaries to perrorm Ihe milital") In 1 t26 a Constabl(: or the Ordn is nWlllioned, duties or the Order, but who commanded the suggesting Ihal Iht're \\ as no\\ soml~ permanent Order's own cOlllingent or 500 knights in I 168. :\'ur military commitment possibl} invoking hired ed-Din, "tabeg or t\losul. considered the Order's troops, although no details arc known. However, soldiers sufficientl} rormidable to order the execu, there is melllioll in other documents or 20 monks tion orthosc captured in 1157: we cannot now teU being detailed to ~uard the tomb or Christ. and whelher these \\cre members of the Oreler, knil!hls
holding fiefs \\ ith mililar) duties owed to the Order, or mercenal'lC'S. In 1179 a papal bull was issued instructing the Order not to dep."1rt from ils original objectives; and it was not until after the disastrous battle of Hattin in 1187 that the Pope recognised the need for their militar) reM. E\·cn so. he still did nothing to encourage it: and it was not until 1206 that the Order's stat lItCS were revised to provide for military brethren, b) whieh date all the important offices of the Order were in thc hands of the soldier-brethren and the :\Iarshal was second in importance only to the Grand i\laster. By this date mcmbership of the Order could take scveral forms. There were brother priests and sisters ofSt John, who fulfilled Ihe hospilall('J" duties, and brother knights and sergeants for the military role. However, the only recognised division up to J 206 was bctwl'cn priests and lay brethren. Confrere knights were admitted under the sallle system as described for tile' Templars. In Europe the houses or 'commanelerics' were ruled by commanders, and these \\crc grouped into provinn"S called 'priories', ruled b) priors, By the late 12th celllury the priories had been collected into larger units called 'grand comrnandcrics', and b) the lat(' 13th (elllury these had been K"0ulX'd into ",,'\·en 'I.an~lles'. or
'tongues'. The hierarchy of the Order resided in the I-Ioly Land anel consisled of the Grand Commander of the Order, the :\1arshal, the I-Iospitallcr, the Treasurer, the DrapieT quartermaster, and the Turcopolier. E\'ery knight \\ as allo\\ed to 0\\ n foUl' hol'Se>, and he \\as probabl) also permitted t\\O esquires. one to lead the spare hOI"!>CS, the olher to calT) his lance. Both esquires \\ere non-combatant and retired to th(' rcar \\ hen action was imminent. \\ here the) came under the authority of thl' Gonfanonicr. Sergeants \\ere permitted two horses. and in 1302 they were allo\\ed an esquire. The rank of :\Iilitaf) Esquir(', presumably commanding the esquires. was an important military office by thisdatc, suggcsting that at least some of the esquircs may now havc had an actiV(' military role, The sergeants seem to havc becn fewer in number than the knights, and used ltss expensive armour. By the carly 13th centllry the I-Iospitallcrs rivalled the Templars as a military power, with perhaps 600 brethren at arms, and clashes between the twO Orders became more and more frequent. In 1':!16 Antioch was captured b) the Ilospitallers A .61b~ ..Il.ry porCMI).,,] or t.be r..11 or Acre ;.. '~I, ..-rw ror t.b.. If1M' or CO$itum.. and "'rn:oo.... lik..ly to b.."., be
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Tho: lIospic.allo:r c:aStlO:.1 Bodnun (H..l.ic:a...........) .... Lbo: "'nt "OUI or Aloia Miaor.
from the Templars, hut the city rose III revolt, expelled the Hospital1ers and confiscated the Order's possessions in thai state. By 1240 the diplomatic and political manocuvres of the two Orders werc aimcd less against the infidel than against each olher. The situation bcrame so bad, with Templars and Hospilallcrs killing each other in the streets of Acre, th;ll in 1258 a Ireaty was drawn up to govcrn the settlement of quarrels between them. But it was already too laiC, The decline had begun with the loss ofJerusalem in 1243, and gained speed as the century drew to a close. At Gaza in 124'1 over 300 I-Iospitallcr knights and their Master were captured. Over the next 25 years Ihe desperate resistances of isolated garrisons failed to prevcnt stronghold after stronghold from falling to the i\ loslems. By 127 1 the greawst fortress in the whole of Christendom, the Krak des Chevaliers, had faHen forced to surrender for lack of sufficient men to defend it. Tripoli fell in 128g; and t\\·o ycars later it was the tlIrn of Acre, called 51 Jean d'Acre after Ihe magnificent Hospitaller church there. After eight weeks of heroic resistance Acre fell, and the Hospitallers died to a man, fighting alongside their former enemies, the Templars.
Within a year of the fall of Acre the Hospitallers had established new headquarters on their lands in Cyprus, with a castle at Colas and the Hospitaller headquarters at Limassol. The Order had possessed a Aeet since thc early 13th century, and operations against the infidels were continued in a small way by raids on the mainland. These raids consisted of a landing, the burning of a village or two, and a swift withdrawal. The king of Cyprus, n.·membering the great power of the Orders in the Holy Land due to gifts of land there. refused to grant the Hospitallers more land in his kingdom. Unable to grow or to rebuild its former military power, the Ordcr began to look elsewhere for ils future. Unlike the Templars, who had resorted to banking, the I-Iospitallers seem to havc realised from their first puny seaborne raids against the Moslems that a milita.oy alternative slill existed. To survive the)' must change; and being TlOW an island-based power, they would have to change from a land power to a naval one. The office of Admiral first appears in 1301. in reference to a small fleet raised the previous year. But these would have been mainly transports used for bringing troops. pilgrims and stOI"(.'S to and from the Holy Land. Such vessels would still be required, but.so would fighting ~hips galleys and galleas.ses and it is while the Order was on Cyprus that such ships are first mentioned.
.....
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Seeking expansion, and seizing on the encroachment of some l\loslems on the Byzantine-owncd island of Rhodes as an excuse, the Order obtained permission from the Pope to expel the infidel intruders. The first major naval operation from Cyprus was therefore against Rhodes, in 1306. By the end of 13°7 the l-Iospitallers had takcn an important stronghold, the fortress of Mount Phileremos, astride the main ridge of mountains and less than ten miles south of the cit y of Rhodes. Pope Clement V issued a confirmation of the Order's possession of the island in August that year: 'that island ... which you have taken under your powtTful arm, and which today by Cod's grace you hold, having driven thence the schismatics [Ihe original Christian owners I and completely overthrown the infidel.' In fact the cit} of Rhodes was to hold out for another t\\O years, leaching the l-Iospitallers lhe great value of the city as a defensible headquarters and costing them their re"enucs for the next 20 years, against which they obtained a loan from a \'cnetian money-lender.
.,
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Gra .... Mali,cr1I An,ooy Ft..vian de la Rivi....... ''1'" 37 (arms Or, a f_s Gutu) in monanic h.hi.; .nd Jolla de l.lIstia, '437 51 {arm" CutPa, a (us A"!;enC) in armour aodjupon. Dra_i"5" of r"6:J7 based 00 concen.porary paincin5S and 'ape..-tries a, M.lla. recendy di"covered in ,he V.,ieao.
This discovery of a new military role from their offshore headquarters, and their 'crusade' against the infidds on Rhodes, cnsurcd that when the general reaction set in against the military orders after the loss of the I-Ioly Land, thc future or thc I-Iospiwllcl's was not seriollsly threatencd. Instead, the possessions of the supprcss(:d Tcmplars passed into their hands. Even this enormous revellue did not clear their debt, however, for they had undertakell a vast programme of building, can· structing massive forti fications on Rhodes as well as building a fleet of warships and colonising scyeral or the islands of the Dodccancse. By 1320 the Hospital owed 500,000 (Iorins to t\\o Italian banking houses. These clt-bts wcre ('Yentually paid ofr and a credit cstablished; bUI in 1343 and 13/16 the two banking houses weill bankrupt, wiping out the HospitalleTS' credit of some 360.000 florins. .:\"eYCnhdl....' . Rhode" ;lIld the Order of 5t John
'3
there. Smyrna remained an important naval base ror Christian rorct..'S Unlil it rell to the ~Iongols in 14°'2· In 1365 a 'crusade' was launched by the Cypriots under Pian: I dt..· Lusignan, and \\as supported by the Hoopitallers. Art('r an initial success at Alexandria, the crusade degenerated into an orgy or looting and destruction. Ne\\ crusades were launched in 1390 and 1396 but the Order's role in these was limited to small contingellls or galle)'sror b) now the Order had evolved into a completely naval power, their attempts to expand their territory beyond Ihe island orRhodes ha\'ing railed. Hencerorlh the) were tOlall) preoccupied with lhe destruction or Turkish shipping along the coast or Asia ~..tinor. As the other Christian jX>wers in the castem :\1(:diterr.lIlean declin<..'d and dis.'lppeared, so the attention or the Egyptian and Oltoman sultans began to turn towards the Hospilallers.ln 1435 the sultan or Egypt, having reduced Cyprus 10 a vassal state, began 10 prepare a move against Rhodes. ReinrorcementS or 500 knights \\ere recruited rrom the West, and in 14-10 the firsl allack by a squadron orEgy'ptian galleys was decisively dereated. In 14+1Grand ~blil r p ..lor.rd'AubusHa., '476 'S03 (a""'lI Or, a eros'" a much larger naval rorce appeared off the island, a ",olin.. GuJ ) rec:ei"ins KniShls HOilpilall ... r u. a .....our and vast army or mamluks was successrully landed and jUponll. NOI.. mail prolO!C:l;On ror uppor.r a ....... and 10rso, popular in hal>-ad perhapli in Rbod ..- ' n Ih.. Ial.. '51h the island eompletel) overrun. The city or Rhodes century becauM i. _II cool ...r 10 wear Ihan pia..,. was besieged ror 0\'("1' a month berore the Egyptians were now exccedingly strong, the island being were finally driven ofr by a daring coumer-auack, ronified and garrison<.'d by about 400 knights. and the invasion was abandoned. When Constantinople rell in [453, Rh
'.
the walls at tbe weakest point the landward side, garrisoned by the Langucs of Aragon and England. Over the next three weeks three major assaults werc made on the breach by fanaucal Moslem troops, exhibiting a religious fervour to match that which had enabled the Christian crusaders to conqucr lhe Holy L.and nearly 300 years earlier. All thrce assaults were beaten off, though not without considerable loss to the garrison. Suleiman no\\ dismissed his commander and appoinu.-d in his place an engineer. CostJ) assaults were replaced by a \\ ar of attrition, with the island scaled off from reinforcements and supplies b) a complete blockade. B) 20 December 1522 the Hospitallers were t."l.ccd with two alternati\'CS: total extermination, or surrender. Suleiman's terms \\(..r(' gcnerous, and \\crc accepted. After 200 ycars the Order was ••gain homeless. The Emperor Charles V rcscltled the Order on the strategic island of~lalta on condition that it also defended Tripoli in North Africa. This was an impossible task, but fortunatcl) the liability ended when Tripoli was taken by the Turks in 155 I after a gallant struggle by the Hospitaller garrison. In the meantime the Order had conVertl-d \Ialta into a great fOrlrl'SS surpassing even its previous 1ft" ";"1':" or Rhod.,. ;n 1480, "howinl! Lb" ,tlad, On Lbe _thhe.ildquaners, and was no\\ busil) engaged in ea,,1 c:o...." .. or 'h" ....11•. 1ft" b~lh.."" of Lb" Onl",.. orSt John ....., w"",.rinl! red " .. reo.ts wit.h th" Ord"r', whil" c:........ fighting the corsairs of the Barbal") coast, centred on Algeria. Thc corsairs had Ix-cn seriously hampering alllVlcditerrancan trade, and evcn carried out raids corsair captains had IX'('n amongst the Christians. into Italy and Spain; but 200 years of naval warfare In 1565 Suleiman arri\·ed orr).lalta with a ncet of had created a Christian force more than thccqual of 18o ships and about 30,000 men. The great siege of the corsairs. Soon the names of the Hospitaller Malta was about to lx-gin. Reinforced by knights captains were as feared arnonh'St the J\'loslctlls as the from every commandery in EurolX-, the HospitaJlcrs set tled down in thei I' spacious and w('l!·supplied D"tan of th" wallllof Rh
-_-...-
'5
retaliated by executing the prisoners they held, and firing their heads into thc cnl'my camp. Thereafter the siege became a grim struggle to the death. with no quarter ~i\'(,11 11\ either ~id('. On IS J llly 1565 a geller'll assault was launched 'i. "l: 0;
.....
,
land and sea. It HI') nearly succeeded. A breach created b) mining 011 7 August, and again the Turks C;IIlll' d;lng('rou~ly dme to ~uccess. On the Skelch of the port of M"lca in 156:., ~how;lIg the various defence.. and the sielle wor.... and camps of Su.I"im"n.
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19th and 23rd two more great assaults wen: launch(·d. but by now the Hospitallers had rcpaired the breaches. and both assaults \\cre beaten off. On 7 Scpt('mbcr a Spanish army arrhed to relieve the garrison: the dispirited Turkish arm) \\as allowed to embark and sail away unmolested. ha\-ing suffered some :q.ooo casualties. The Hospitallers had lost 240 knights and somc 6,000 other troops. The \\('akening of Turkish na\al power at Lepanto in 1571, and the lack of a \cader of Sulciman's calibre in succeedin~ )ears, led to the Orda Ix:coming more and more preoccupied with its commncial interests as the need for its military role declined. The fortn.'.SSC'S were slowly turned into palaccs. and in the 17th ccnturydisscnsion bcganto arise bet wccn the Spanish and French Langucs. Yet the final blow did not fall unlil the French Revolution, when the Order'S estates in Europe were seized. Deprived of revenues, divided amon&'St lhl·msdvt.'S, resented by the tax-burdened ivlaltese, and lacking a strong leader, the Order finally surrendered ~lalta to Napolooll ill 17gB after a siege lasting only two days. The Knights of St Lazarus This was the third military order to develop in Jerusalem. and is bc1ie\'cd to ha\e had its origins in a leper hospital run by Greeks and Armenians before the First Crusade. It was probably founded as the separate Order of St Lazarus in the second decade of the 12th century, although the earliest mention is circa I 130, when the Hospital of Lepers, built on the outer face of the northern wall of Jerusalem, was taken over by Frankish hospitallers who followed the Augustinian rule. These were .6Ih.ccnlury brCIIWlplales ",",tonKing 10 KnighlN HONpilaUer lind be.... ing lh~ ero511 of Ihe Order.
Turkish Cannon baliN of marble, used durin,; the 1480 and 'S"" Ni~,;es of Rhod~li.
possibly members of the Order of 5l John, for tradition holds that the first Master of the Hospitallers was also the first Master of the St Lazarus Order. Certainly the rules of both Templars and Hospitallers stated that a knight who caught leprosy must leave the Order and join the brethren of St Lazarus, who wore a black habit without insignia. The new Order had its own church and convent by 1142, and by 1147 was known as the Leper Brothers of JeruS<"llem. By t 155 the Order had houses in Tiberias and Ascalon. and later in Acre and possibly Caesarea and Beirut. B) the mid-12th century the Order had also developed a force of military brethren, but they wert ne\er very numerous, and the Order remained principally preoccupied with the hospital1er role. A few nonltpn brethren were included in the Order as knights,
,7
Cistercian rule and became' known as the Knights of St Thomas Aeon, soon acquired lands in Cyprus, Sicily, Naples, and latcr CreeC(~; and a headquarters was S('t up in London at the birthplace of Thomasa Becket, now thesitcofthc ~Ierccrs' Hall, the ~lcrcers of the Cit) of London having been patrons of the Order from as carl) as I I go. In 1231 the Bishop of Winchcster bc
France. The French branch The Order of Our Lad) of ~IOlint Carmel and 5t Lazarus-was cultivated by Louis X I V as a rival to the Order of 51 John, and by 16g6 the Order had ovcr '4.0 cOlllll1anclt:rics and maintained it small squadron of warships to 'fighl the English pirates'. These latLerday knights wore a whitt' tunic embroidered with an orange and green cross. The Order was finally suppressed in 1790.
The Hospitallers orSt Thotnas of Canterbury in Acre \"hen the crusaders besieged Acre in 1 ISg 91. the chaplain of the Dean ofSt Paul's in England began to nurse the sick and wounded in the besiegers' camp. Aner the capture of the cit) he built a small chapel. funded b) Richard I, and founded a hospital with nursing brethren for the care of Engli~hmen. The Drd('r. which followed the
,8
11,e Cenllflll Otrla:) The Teutonic Knights During the Fourth Crusade, al the siege of Acre in Ilgo, a group of Cerman merchants from Bremen and Lubeck set up a tented hospital on the shore before lhe city to tend the many wounded and sick crusaders from the large German contingent. Such a step was not unusual, and similar elhnic l'SlablishmenlS had been founded over the) ears for various groups of crusaders who could not speak Frcnch, including Hungarians and oriental Christians. The siege of Acre lasted eight months, and by its end the temJX)rary hospital had become a permanent institution. The financial support of
Frederick ofSchwabcn and his royal brother HCllry VI enabled the hospilallers to create a new hospita~ within the city walls. By 1196 the hospitatlers had scveral branches in the Christian lands, and had been officially rC'Cognised by the Pope as an independent (though rather small) Order, following the rule of the Order of St John. The follo\\ ing )ear a large contingent of German knights arri,-cd in the Holy Land. The earlicst chronicle of the Order, Dil Slatulm dn Dtuurhm Ordms, 'Hitlen some )ears later. describes what happened next: To man) of the German princes it seemed useful and noble to 1x-sIOw on the hospital the Rule of Ihe Templars. For this purpose the Gennan prelatcs, princes and nobles assembled in Ihe house of the Templars [in Acre] and ilwitl..-d to sueh a salul
Kni&hl of 5, John i.n .rm....r aad jupon., ." p:o.i1Iotftl by Puuuricrloio i.n Lh~ frnc:o;a S;~.... CaLhftl....l.
Hochmeisler and mosl of the Ordcr's military brethren were killed. A Ile", headquarters was built north-easl of Acre, the castle of Starkenberg, and the Order continued to participate in all the major military events of the 13th century; but the Tcutonic Knights "'cre ncvcr able to bt'Come a powerful military or political force in the Holy Land, and thus never became..' involved in its disastrous political intrigues. The Teutonic Order had always maintained a dislinct nalional identity, and this, together wilh ils inability to expand in the Holy Lmd, had inevitably call~('d it to develop a special connection with Germany. Soon after Von Salza became I-Iochmeister in 1210, King Andrew of Hungary requestcd thc help of the Order against marauding bands of Kllmans who W(Te..' ravaging the province of Transylvania. In return for their help, the king promised thc Order the district ofBurzenland. The Teutonic Order undt,rtook this 'crusade' al their own expense, and by 1225 had pacified the province and Ix'gun to sct tIc BurLCnland wilh German colonists. An alarmed King Andre\\ ordered their eviction. The Order ,\as nol powerful enough to hold their ne\d) \\on land against the king, and had to wilhdraw; but the campaign had
'9
G.U...... oflheGnoad MalOter ofSt Jol....t Ma.ha. The ....Is-...d _nOUli Uosi&n.ia ...e...., in Lhe. rflI and ,,·bile. of Lhe. Order, the. bull blacll wilh &ih dec:onotion.
turned its attention towards Eastcrn Europe. Church missions had been active in Prussia sincc the loth ccntury, but the resistance of the Prussians to cOllYersion had seemed to increase in prolX>rtion 10 the pressure put on them, and in 121 7 the bishop had had 10 call for crusaders to proteci his converts. The first Prussian crusade \\ as launched in 122 t. This provoked a massivc retaliation, and h) 1224 the Polish Duke Conrad of i\lasovia was asking the Teutonic Knights for help. Herman von Salza was nOt prepared 10 w'n\llrc into what would be virtually a new crusade until he had obtained full approval from both the German emperor and the Pope. :\or was he willing to risk the future ofthe Order without some guar.lJltee that he would nOt be oct rayed again. Negotiations on these points dragged on for some years. In t226the Emperor Frederick II paid the Order a great honour b) making the Hochmeister and all his successors princes of the German Empire, with the right to display the imperial eagle onlheir arms as representatives of the Holy Roman Empire in the struggle to \\ in new lands and converts. When Frederick \\ as crowned kill~ ofJerusalem in I ~!29. it
was the Teutonic Order which pro\'idcd the guard of honour in the Holy Sepulchre. By 1229 the Duke of Masovia had been compelled to surrcnder all rights to the Kuhn province 011 the Vistula, south ofCdansk: and both the Pope and the emperor agreed that the land of the heathen tribes, the Prusiskai, should be held fully and freely by the Order, with only nominal papal suzerainty. Von Salza now had a SCl.:ure base for a Prussian crusade_ A base for initial operations had already been established by the building of a castle at Vogelsang on thc Elbe in 1228, and in 123020 knights and 200 sergeants of the Teutonil.: Orckr, commanded by Frater Hcrmnnn Balke, began the pacification of the Kulm prO\·ince. The fighting \\ as ferocious and merciless, fought O\er an almost impent'trablc wilderness of sand dunes, lakes, rivers, bogs and dense dark forests along the shores of thl.: Baltic. In this gloomy and mysterious world of the heathen tribes ambushes were the normal way of fighting, and prisoners were subjected to frightful tOrturcs in pagan rltcs. Over the next t\\'o years the ti ny force ofTcll tonic knights and sergeants systcmatically reduced all organised resistance. building fortresses as the)' ad\·anced. burning ever) village thc) encountered.
20
•
• and exterminating every man, woman and chitd who would not accept Christianity. The great castle ofKulm was built in 1232, i\laricllwcrclcr in ['233, Thorn in 1'234. and Elbingin 1'237.l\lorcand more nativcs submitted to the new religion, becoming serfs of the Order, and sometimes allies in a biller war against forlllcr rivals. By 1239 the Orcler had reached the coaSI, anc! had established a network of
fonfesses from which they could dominate the whole territory. Hermann Halkc was IIOW ordered to cominuc his work in Livonia with 60 knights, and at this time the Orcler became divided into three distinct branches: the German branch, \\ hich \\ as concentrated mainl) in south and south·\\estern Germany, including Alsacc and possessions in Burgundy; a
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•6Ib-century 8alley under
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Prussian branch in tht' newly conquered territory, with its centre at i\larienburg and its own province commander, called a Landmeister; and the 'new' pro\'ince of Li"onia, originally pacified by the Brethren of the Sword (sec below), and of which Balkt, was made Landmeister. Howeyer. although the Order was no\\ centred in Ilrussia, it maintained it:. role in the Holy Land, and the Hochmeisters normally lived in Acre, so the headquarters of the Order could be said to have remained there. Each pro\ ince was divided into houses or Komturns, each of 12 brothers commanded by a Aom/ur, Smaller terrilOrial sub-diyisions were headed by I'ogtsor caretakers. BeIO\\ the H(Khm~is/" were the officers of the central administration of the Order: the Cross A"omfur, Ordmsmarschall or Gross· marschall, Spiulrr (Hospitaller , Trwl" {Treasurer), and Trapi" (quartermaster:.
22
In 1242 the Livoninll brethren \I'ied to enlarge their provinct' at the expense of other Christiansthe Russians of the Eastel'll Church and an expeditionary force crossc.'(\ the River Nan'a and headed towards Novgoroo. The Order was met by a Russian army led by Ilrince Alexander Nevsky, and was brought to baltle on the frozen Lake Peipus, The icc broke under the weight of the annour and horses ofthe knights, and most perished by drowning, or at the hands of the lighter Russian cavalr)', 'This defeat, which effcctively stopped the Order'sexpansion north\\ ards, was immortalised in Eisenstein's classic film Alua,,'" S~l'sky, In the 5.:'\me fateful year there was a great Prussian upri~in~, organised by Svantepolle of Pomerania, a former ally ofthe Order. The uprising re\·el"S(.'d most of the progress made by the Prussian brethren over the past 12 years; some of the smaller castles "ere lost, and it took them scven years to suppress the Prussians oncc again, The Li\'onian and I}russian brethren Ihen set out to conquer the eoastallands which divided them Samland and Courland. A !-.rrc3t crusade in 1253 led to the founding of Konigsberg, and a series of military and political successes led to the total occupation of Samland by 1260. But in that same year the natin"s, by a scrit'S of lueky accidellls, managed to kill a great number of the Order at the battle of Durben. The neighbouring Lithuanians at onn' repudiated their alliance with the Order: the Prussian tribes rebelled again; and 20 years' work was undone almost overnight. Only massive help rrom olltside (the Pope issued 22 bulls calling for crusaders between 126, alld 1264) saved the Order, By 1272 the tide had begun to lurn once more; the strength of the Order grew again, until by the late 1270S it could field 2,000 military brethren, and by 1290 the last vestiges of rebellion had been crushed. But by this date the !{reat age of crusading zeal. or conquest and conversion, was over. In the Holy Land the castle ofSmrkcnbcrg had bcen lost ill 1'171,and with the fall of Acre in 1291 the Teutonic Knights moved their headquarters to Venice, In 1308, b) which date it had become obvious that there "as no longer any hope of regaining a foothold in the Holy Land, an attempt was made to SUppl'CSS the Order on the grounds of cruelty and witchcraft. Similar accusations, inspired by the persecution
Armour worn b,. V;n.,,,mr.o Cappon; (.54.) ,..). • knighl of Malta, who foughl in Ih" 5;"'5e of 'S'S- (Courte5" Ihe CaPPO"; Colleclion)
of the Templars, were h~,'elled againsl mhe!" military orders in an allempt to find a scapegoat for the loss of the Holy Land, The Teutonic Order solved the problem by concentrating its eflorls and offices in its eastern lands, where crusadcs could still be carried oul with official blessing, and where the Order was secure in the remote vastness of its own territories. In September 1309 the Hochmcisler and other leading officers of the Order entered ~Iarienburg, henceforth to be the headquarters of the Order. The office of the Prussian Landmcisler was taken o,er by the Hochnll'istcr. In about 1310 Ihe kingdom of Lithuania was revived under the leadership ofGedymin, and from lhen onwards the Lithuanian kings wcrc thc chief enemies of the Order, being nOI only thc last heathens in the region but also actively pursuing a course of conquest. In Ihe first thrce-
o..uoil or Ihe Ord"r'• .,rou on the br"a1llplat" of Ih" Cappon; arn.our. (COurl....,. Ih" c.pponi Collection)
the 14th centul) the Order launched some 80 expeditions against the Lithuanians, sometimes waging as many as eight campaigns in one rear. These werc fought o\'er terrain similar to that of Prussia: swamps, dense forcsls, sand dUlles, rivers and lakes. Oftell unable to act as cavalry because of the dreadful terrain, the knights marched on foot through the gloomy forcsts, or used ooalS and rafts 10 carry Ihem across the lakes and misty swamps, The Order's milital) reputation reached its peak during Ihis period, and for generations the highest praise thai could be given to a Christian nobleman was Ihat he had become a knight in Prussia. The greatcsi and noblcst knights of the age, such as the Frenchman .Jean Boucicaut, rode with the Order against the Lithuanian pagans, as did Henry 80lingbrokc (Earl of Derby and later Hellry IV of England), King Louis of Hungar), and KingJohn of Bohemia.
23
However, the expansion and grea t strength of the enemies of the Order Poles, Lithuanians, Russ· Order created jealous t'lIcmies. The two great ians, Bohcmians (under Ziska), Hungarians and Catholic monarchies ofeastt'rn Europe, Poland and even Tartars and Cossacks and invaded the Hungary, allicd themsclvcs in an attempt to curtail Order's territory in july 1410. The Hochmeister the power of the Order; but their intrigues with the decided to strike as quickly as possible, without Lithuanians had little effect until 1380, when the waiting for the Livonian brcthrt'n, and immediate!} Grand Duke of Lithuania married the queen- marched lowards the cllemy. The two armies met regnant of Poland. In olle stroke the I)oles had on the wooded, rolling hills of the Grunwald, or accomplished b) diplomac)' what 75 )ears of Tannenbcrg.jagiello·s army was encamped in the campaigning by the Order had failed to achieve- fort.'St itsclr, thus denring the Order its strongest for the terms of thc marriage scltlement included tactic-the mounted charge of its knights. The the acceptance of Christianit} by the Lithuanian Hochmeister therefore deployed for a defensive people. engagement and waitf.-d for the enemy to attack, With its offieial ra;Jon tfltu removed, the Order rclring on his numerous crossbo\\ men and archers inevitabl} began 10 decline. B} 1400 the number of to halt any assault. military brethren had fallen to 1,600. i\leddling When the allied anny began its attack the in the inlemal po\\er struggles of the new Polish· Order's crossbo\\men and archers did succeed in Lithuanian state did not endear them to their putting to night the Lithuanians on one wing, but former enemies, and soon a series of allegiances and the ccntre and the olher wing came on, and a major treacheries led to a number of skirmishes and struggle ensued. The triumphant pursuers of the eventually to war. Lithuanians wercchecked by Russian cavalr}' and a jagiello (Ladislos II) of Lithuania mobilised an Polish reserve, and for sollle time there was no army of about 10,000 troops, including all the advantage to either side. Then the Hochmeister led his remaining reserve in an attempt to pierce the EffiSl' oCDon J...... Rui~ de Versara, ProdO.. or the L:lo.Dpe or Polish line. He failed; he and the other leading Castil., C....m '573> C....m hi. tomb ... th .. old cathedral or Valladolid. NOl .. ,-eO")' la~ .. eiSbl-poi..led C ..01I.. oftb., Ord.... 0 .. officers of the Order were surrounded and killed, bi.. b~"l: Ihi" _a tb., ..i_ oC cro... pr.,C.,r..m ... t.b., Ord.,r in II.., mid-15th to .6tb c:c.. luri.... and after a brief struggle the rest of his army broke
2.
I; Knight 1l000pitaller. 12th-13th C 2:Turcopole.12th-13IhC 3; Fool -.oldier. 12th-13th C
A
I: Knight Templar, c.ll50 2: Pilgrim, 12th-14thC 3: Knight Temlllllr, late 13th C
3
(
B
3
I: Teutonic Knight, <:.1230 2: Teutonic Knight, <:.1300
3: Sergeant. Teutonic Order.
c.1230
2
c
I: Knight OrSl1Jllillgo. 13th C 2: Frey Martin Vuquez de Arce, died 1486 3: Frey Don Alvaro de Luna. c.14Ml
D
I: Knight Ho.pitaller. early 14th C 2: Knight Ho.pltaller. c. 1~30 3: Knight HOlpitaller. mid-16th C
..,
E
1: Hoehmei.tcr of the Teulonie Order. mid-15th C
2: Fr. Petru. "on Oil.ixIrg. <:.1330 3: Fr. Kuno von Lieben'le)'n, died 1391
2
F
Muter and two Iuligbu or the Order orSt John. 1480
G
2
3
H
/ I: Sir Thomas Docwra, c.lIH6 2: Philip de I'flle Adam, c.1626 3: Knight orMalta (51 John), 17th C
and fled, leaving some 200 of the Order's knights dead on the field. Many others were captured and subsequently tortul'ed and beheaded. The Order never recovered its fonner military strength, and was compelled to avoid outright battle in the wars which followl'd, concluding disadvantagcous peace agreements in both 1422 and 1435. ~Iaricnbllrg had to be abandoned in 1457, and in 1466 \Vest I)russia was surrendered to the Polish king. The Order mo\cd its headquarters to Konigsberg. The decline continued, and in 1525 the Hochmcister had to sign the Trcaty of Cracow, \\ hereby Prussia was henceforth held only as a hereditary duchy from the king of Poland. The Order fought for the Emperor Charles V during the religious \\ars of the Schmalkaldic League. 15-16-47, and the Landmeister of Li\'onia remained inde)X'ndcnt until 155g-60. when h'an the Terrible invaded the province with an army of 130,0
falling apart. The Swedes occupi<..'d nonhern Estonia, the Danes seized the oflShore islands, and the Landmcisler was forced to cede all the Order's territori<.·s in Poland. The Order survived in Cermany, and e\en more so in Austria, under a master now called the Hochund-Deutsehmeister. At the siege of Vienna in 1683 the Order \\a" ,thle to pro\'idc a full regimellt, which proved a mainMay ofthedefence; and from 16g5 the Order's re\enues \\ere used to finance the Hochund-DeulSChmeister Regiment in the fighl against the Turks. The Order's last great battle \\as at Zenta in 16g7, \\ hen PrinC'(' Eugene of 5a\0) practically annihilated a major Turki"h invasion of Hungar) the lasl serious Turkish threat to that count!) . The Austrian Hoch-und-Deutsehmeister RegimCIll sUfyi\"ed to fighl in Ixnh World Wars. but the only real mililar) r6le played b) the Order ilSelf aCler 16g7 la) in the indi\'idual prowess of ilS officers, now limited to 20 nobles \...ho were always officers in the German Army. These included men Malia in the time orGraDd Master Vnhena, '72"
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.
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ESTONIA
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"'~ RUSSIA
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la...& "'vadm aad occup;m by the Teulon.i" Ordn".
such as the master Archduke Karl, Napoleon's great adversary; CoUllt ~Iaxintilian von MeTveldt, who fought against the French in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars with greal disLincLion; the )., Iaster Archduke Eugcn. who played an important pari in the victory of CaporclIo in 1917; and, perhaps, the 12 brelllrcil who were hanged in July 1944 after the plm to assassinate Hitler had failed. The Brethren of the Sword Cistercian missionaries had been active in Livonia from about I t 50, but despite a crusade in I 171-76 the Church was unable to make any feal progress in the province. In 120 I Albrecht von Buxhovden led a large expedition which proved successful, and was able lO found the cit y of Riga. Buxhovden was made bishop of Riga, and either be or his colonists founded in about 1202 a military order, Frotr(j Mili/ioe Christi, for the defence of the colony. A Cistercian order, the knights came to be known as the Brethren of the Sword both from their military role and from the sword badge worn on their clothing. In their first year there were perhaps only ten knights, but within two years this number had increased to :;0, with 100 serving brothers, and fortresses established at \\'cnden and Fellin. ~lost of the knights came from a small area of central Germany.
26
Although eventually possessing '3 commanderies, the Order was never able to build up that network of rich possessions and powerful patrons which would have enabled them to become a strong military and political power, able to survh'e even the "orst setbacks. Almost all the Order's lands lay in newly conquered territory. onethird of which was always given to them for their services, and therefore the revenues from these lands were rarely large. ~Iorcover, any military defeat usually resulted in the loss of these lands, and the loss of revenuc from them, as well as the deaths of knights who wcre diflicult to replace. Xcverthelcss. for the first ten years the Order was successful, and its only real setbacks were the rebellions of 12 12 in Lat\'ia and of 1223 in Estonia, when a third of the Order's members were slain. By 1226 the Order was in control of two-thirds of Li\·onia. A new crusading anny arrived at Riga III September 1236. The Hochmeister, knowing the country ancl the enemy, advised the newcomers to wait for winter. This must have sccmed strange advice to men accustomed to campaigning in spring and summer, but in this part of Europe campaigns were nann ally fOllght in the winter because only then were the marshes made passable by freezing over. The crUS
oJ/JfIlli..I!1 J/li/ilfll]' Orders l\lililary orders aplx'afl'd rather lale in Spain, considering that the ruollquista began in the I I th cellt ur) 1 but Il('\cnhdcss their contingents added a vilal and po\\crful core of professional troops to the crusader armi('S of Spain and Portugal. The Hospilallcrs acquired their first foothold in Co"nod of Thurins'a, G.,."d Ma"lrr of I..b~ T"ulo"ic Order
.239 1', from hi. lon,bIolo"".
.,........,.-.• .}
!
Catalonia in t 143, and the TClllplars were well established in Spain by 1146. Both were generously supported by the Spanish kings, who anticipated military aid by way of return. But neither of these t\\O great Orders was \\ iltillg 10 commit itself to the wars in Spain: the} sa\\ their major role in the Holy Land, and it was for this r('ason that eventually the purdy Spanish and Portuguese military orders ar()';(". It is thought that the earliest of these 'Orders' were no more than associations orknightsdefending small frontier stations dba/s. Such brotherhoods of knights \\ere not uncommon, as we have seen in the Holy Land, but usually the) \\ere of a temporary nature. The first such brotherhood of knights to become established as a pcnnanent force in Spain was that known as:
The Knights of Calatrava The Templars had been granted the royal fonress ofCalatra\ a, on \\hal was then the frontier with Islam, in 1147. Ten years later they abandoned it on the grounds that it was indefensible, leaving the road to Toledo wide open to attack. I n desperation, Sancho of Castile o£lered the fortress to anyone who was prepared to hold it, with suflicient territory to maintain the costs of its defence, A Cistercian abbot from Navarre. Ramon Sierra of Fitero, came forward; and he and his monks were transferred to Calatrava, where the) werejoined by many Navarresc soldiers. By the end of I [58 they had cleared the region of raiders. When Ramon died in I [64 the monks returned to Fitcro, leaving the castle to be held by the knights. The new master, Don Garcia, swore to observe the Cistercian rule; priests were recruited to serve as chaplains, and that same year the Order was recognised by the Pope. In I [79 a commandery was founded at Alcaniz in Aragon to fight the ~doors of Valencia, and this later became one of the Order's greatest houses. In 1195, at the battle of Alarcos, King Alfonso VIII of Castile was defeated by thc Moors; somc 25.lX)() Castillians were killed or captured, among them many of the brethren of Calatrava. The :\Ioors advanced slo\\ly north" ards, and within two years Calatrava itself had been lost. A new headquarters was set up at Salvatierra, and the knights no\\ called themsehcs the Knights of Sah-aticrra,
27
-----
--
----===.----
-
'-,
The Teutomc Ord"r'1I C(lmm...dery III Rhfl:l".., W_I Pru.... ia" ... il appeued in the Iale 13th century.
This headquarters also had to be evacuated in I '21 I, but in the following year Calalrava was retaken. The Masters of the Order then COllcentrated on the Order's position in Castile, disposing oflhei .. lands in the other kingdoms, until the Order was in COlltrol of Castile from Toledo to the Sierra Nevada. Headquarters wcre then moved to Calalravn In Nueva in the Sierra de Alnlayo, as the original Cortress at Calatrava had lost ils strategic importance. The Order was now one ortlle most wealthy and powerflll bodies in the kingdom, providing ilS only standing army, and this created conflict with the king. From I '254 the king look part in the e!t:ction orthe Order's officers, and by 1476 the crown had begun to control the Order. When the i\laster died in 1487, no new ~Iaster was appoillled. By 149-1 members or the Order were allowed to marry, and it had lost both its original form and its original purpose. ~Iembers or the Order originally wore a hooded
28
white mamlc, that Orllle CQbalL~ros being shortened for riding. On active service a long sleevelesssurcoat was worn, and sometimes a rur-lined cloak. There was no insignia, but the kniglus' armour was always black. In 1397 the Order adopted a red cross lIlsigllla originally a cross f1ClIfy, but the 'leaves' or the f1cur-de-lis were later bent baek until they lOuehed the 'stem' to rorm an M for 'Maria', i.e. more like a cross flory. From about [400 onwards the knights wore a shan dark grey or black tunic with the fed cross on the lert breast, but all brethren still wore the white mantle in the cloisters.
The Knights of Santiago Some time afLCr [ 158, when the Moorish threat was at its height, a small band of 13 knights operating near Caceres in Castile offered their services to the Canons of St Eloi in Leon ror the protection of pilgrims travelling to the shrine of St James at Compostella. In about t 16.J. these Knights of caceres were given the Castillian fromier lOwn of Ucles to defend. By 1171 there were clerics as well as
knights following Ihe Augustinian rule, and in 1175 the brothcrhood was recognised by Ihe Pope as a new Order. Thc rule was adaplcd from Ihose ofSI Augustine and the Templars, with the lay brcthrcn divided into knights and foot soldiers, and thc Order was governed by a ~Iasler and a council, undcr Ihe general supe~'ision of the Pope. The Knights of Santiago wcrc Ihe mOSt unonhodox of Ihe religious mililary orders in that they were, slriclly speaking, nOI a monastic order. Although Ihe brelhren livcd in communities in Iheir castles and werc inspired by religiolls fervour, Ihe knights were allowed to marry and to havc personal possessions c;:meelling two of Ihe three monastic vows. This seems 10 have been a special privilege gramed by Ihe Pope. However, on tbe death of a knight all his wealth was inherited by Ihe Order, which then became responsible for the care of his family. The Order's prime role was always the military one, ,md its knights rendered valuable service in the unceasing frontier wars of the Order's early years their commitment extending so far as to ignore royal truces with the Moors, which they did not recognise as binding on their Order. The Order grew rapidly in the nexi decade, and acq uired lands in France, Italy, Palestine, Ii ungary and England. Headquaners were established at i\lonlalban in Aragon. Among Ihe Order's acquisitions was a caslle at Palme1a in Portugal, which became a commandery (rncomimda and recruited Ilonugucsc knights. By 1287 Ihe knights at this mcomimda had formed themselves into a separale Order, Sao Thiago, with Iheir own
1'o1aIOO.... C..c1~) besid~ tlt~ Rinr Nopot u. Pola.. d, built r.• ,.J6 .ad h_dqWlor1~ or 110., Teutonic: Ord.,r from 'J119- Th..i......p6c:enl buildi"lII ...... ~"Iored ... the .gch a:... ury, bu. redu<:ftl to ....;n" durinlll Lh., SecoDd World War. Man",bu~ (.. ow
~laslcr,
although their indcpendcllI idenul) was not recognised b) Ihe Pope until 1317. By the mid-13th eenlury Ihe Order's fame was such Ihal it was promised large lands in Asia 1\linor if it could send knights to fight for Baldwin of Conslantinople, but Ihe Order was nOI numerous enough to lake up the oller. By this date the Order insisled on noble birth for anyone wishing 10 cnter as a knight: Ihis increase in nobility within the Order led to a much closer connection with the royal courl, and a corresponding increase in royal illlerCSI in ils activities. From 1254 the king expected to have a sa y in the election ofofficers, and by 1275 he was promoting his OW1l favourites to the post of Master. In 1342 the king's gifl of the mastersbip to his seven-year-old bastard led 10 protesls frolll, amongst others, the i\lasler of Alcantara, who was besieged in his castle and beheaded. Shonly afterwards the Master of Calatrava was assassinated by P<:dro the Cruel for plouing against lhe king's favourile, The last flowering or the rtConquista led to a revival of the old crusading spirit, and the Order's ConSlable Alvaro de Luna (~Iasterfrom 1445 won a greal \;Clor)' at Higucra in 1431. Significantly. he was execuled after a palace rc\'olution in 1453. From 1485 the mastership of the Order was reservccl for thc crown.
'9
The .,."Lle and co,·e.red brid!e 10 I.he ...,wa!e lower .1 Marirowudu (DOW KwidltYD) in Poland, buill by lhe. Teutonic Kni5hl5 ,.I~ onwards.
rron,
The Evora and Aviz Orders Asearlyas I 162 a small group of Portuguese knights known as the Brethren of Santa ~'I!aria was guarding the open plains of the Alcmtejo province. In It70 they obtained from King Alfonso an fflcomienda at Evora, 100 miles south-cast of Lisbon, and adopted the Benedictine rule. The Order was too weak to maintain the encomie1/da, however, and E\'ora was handed over to the Templars, the Knights of Evora then coming under the jurisdic· lion of the Order of Calatrava. After the i\loorish invasion of Portugal in 1190 many nuomimdas \\ cre built north of the Tagus, and in I'll 1 Alfonso II ga\'c the Order lhe lawn ofA\"iz. The brethren then took Ihe name the Knights of A\-iz.
In 1218 the Order of Calatra\'a gaw all its Portuguese pro(X'rI) (0 thl' Knights of Adz. and 3°
from then on, although still tht'Ol·ctieally pari of the Order ofCal:llrava, the Knights of Aviz became an independent ordcr once more. The Order declined during the 15th century, and in 1496 its brethren were given permission LO marry. Details of the mantic worn by the Order arc not known, but being under the Benedictine rule it would presumably haw I)('(:n black. Alfonso IV obtained papal permission for the Order to weaf a green cross early in the 14th century. The Knights of St Julian and Alcantara In about ( 166 a small groupofknighls known as the KnighlS of San J lilian de Pereira was operating on the fromier of Leon and Castilc. In 1176 they were granted lands by Ferdinand II of Li'On, and were recognised as a religious order by the Pope in I 183. In I 187 the Order, needing Ihe support ofa more powerful bod). placed ilsdfllndcr Ihejurisdiction of the Knights of Calalra\'a. although it rClained its 0\\11 de('uod Prior. In 1117 ,\Ifonso of Leon ga\'e
Alcantara 10 the Knights of Calatrava, but the following year tbis Order ceded the town and all its other possessions in Leon to the Order ofStJulian, which was then I'cnamed the Order of the Knights of Alcantara. By t234 the Ordcr could muster 600 knights and 2,000 foot soldiers. Like the other Spanish orders, Alcantara was gradually taken over by the Crown, and its last :\Iaster died in 149.1. The cabal/nos and dtngos of the Order wore a plain black habit without insignia, but by about 1400 began to usc a green cross fleury, in which the leavcs of the fleur-de-lis curved back to touch the stcm, as in the cross of the Knights of Calatrava. The Knights of Our Lady of Montjoie This Order \\ as founded circa 1 176 in the Holy Land by a Spaniard, CoUllt Rodrigo, a former knight of Santiago. Rodrigo gave the Order lands in Castile and Aragon, and the king of Jerusalem gave the knights several towers to garrison in i\scalon. The Order's headquarters were at ~lontioie, a castle on a hill outsideJerus..'llem. The Order was recognised b) the Pope in I lBo, and followed the Cistercian rule. It was intended to be an international order, but had difficulty in attracting recruits, and remained almosl entirely Spanish. The knights wore a white habit with a red and white cross, the form of which is unknown. A small detachment represented the Order at Hattin, and died there to a man. The survivors of the Order arc supposed to have retired to Aragon, but at least a handful appear to have remained in the Holy Land, joining the Templars. [n Aragon the Order became known as the Order of Trufac, bUI in 1221 Fernando of Aragon ordered it to be incorporatcd with the Knights ofCalatrava. The Mercedarians This was an Aragonesc order founded in 1233 by a Provcllf~al nobleman., Perc Nolasco, to ransom penniless Christian sl"\'(:5. This role led 10 their also rescuing slaves and pilgrims by force where possible, and the Order soon became a military one, the clerics not regaining prominence until drca 1317 sec also Montesa). The Order was never \'ery numerous, and was able to field only small contingents of knights. They wore a \\ hite habit, and had a small shield bearing
.
-r
Fron"'''' or .", edi •. ;o.. or ChMu:lt P'nnJi. by Fra. P~rus ~'o" OU",bu"", (c.I330)."ho..·" iA mOllll!JIoC h"bi. on th.. ri&bt. 0 .. ,b.. Icr, ill th .. Hochmnll.....r .·ra. W........r "on O ...... t.... (Ip.f JO) s ..o..... ill "rmour or ,b.. lat... "h C
Ihe royal arms of Aragon on a neck chain. The Knights of 5t George of AlfaDl.a This Spanish order was founded in Aragon Circa 1200, and followed the Augustinian rule. The Order does not seem to have lhrived, or to have accomplished much, yet was nOt taken under the control of lhe Molltcsa Order (sec below) until 1400. The brethren wore a white habit but do not seem to have used an insignia until tbe union with MOlllesa, when they adopted the cross of that Order. The Knights of Christ The dissolution of the Templars in 13t2 led King Dinis of Portugal to create this order in 1318 to prevent the Order of 5t John from becoming too powerful in his kingdom. By 132 I the new order had 6g knights, nine chaplains, and six sergeants. Henri the Navigalor became ~Iaster of Ihe Order al the beginning of the 15th century; during his reign of office the Ordercmplo)'ed the foremost geographers
3'
Tlle lto/ifll/ Orr/en The Order of St JalDes of Altopasdo This order, commonly known as lhe Order of lhe Tau from ilS insignia, is considered by some aUlhors lO be the oldest of all military orders, yet it has been ignored by English wrilers until no\\. Around the mid-loth century a hospital was founded at Ahopascio ncar Lucc.a by some Augustinian monks wilh the intention of giving assiSlance to pilgrims making Iheir way by this rOllte to Rome or Santiago de Compostella. The first document mentioning this hospital datcs back to the year 952. The next document is dated 1056, by which time the Order had dr facto become military. for the monks had begun 10 pro\-ide an armed escort for the passage of pilgrims along the sull llncivilised route between Froae;lI or et." rul" or c.b" Ord".. or Sane"'!o, ill.. ~er:lltiaA: c.b" Lucca and Genoa. Ho\\ever, the main role of the " " - i.oo.§i!.... orebe Ord"... (Coun"y c.b" Cappolli Collectioa) Order remained non-milit31)'. The rule of the or the day, and iu ships carried out expediuons Order was not approved by the Pope unul 1239, by which were halr-missional) and haJr
3'
corsairs. The Order followcd the Benedictine rule, with the Grand Dukes as patrons and i\lasters. There \,·erc fOlIr claSSf..'S of brethren: knights-who had to be of noble blood; chaplains; scrving brethren; and cannoncsscs. TIl(" Order's headquarters, eonsistingofa ehUl'eh and convcnt, wcrc built at Pisa. The Order's gallcy~ co-opcrated \\ ith those ofthc Knights of .\lalla in patrolling thc ~Iediterrancan, and 12 gallc)'S ofthc Order fought at the dccisi\·c battle of Lcpalllo in 1571 when the Turks finally losl control of Ihe f\lediterranean. The knights wore a white elo.... k lined in pale red. with a red, gold-cdged ~Ialtcse cross on the left breast. The serving brelhren \\ore a white eloak or lunic wilh a plain red cross: the chaplains, whjte with a red cross edged with yellow. Effi", of Frty Ma.rt.in Vasq .. n de Aree nf th.. Ord..r of Santiap;o, killed befort Gnlllada iD '486. Fro... hi.. lo... b in tbe cathedral a' Sip;.... n.za... No... dl....... ntl.. with " ...ural tJpaM iDsipia oflb.. Order, aDd Ib.. ,UI.. of scate armo.. r ev.... OIl Lh.is la,e da,e.
Sources
R. Barber, 7/11' A-niglt/ alld Chit'al1)' (London, 1970)
T. S. R. Boase, A'ingdoms and strongltolds qf tIlL Crusadns (London, 1971) E. Bradford, Thr Sltirld alld Ih~ Sword: lh~ Anights of .Ilalta (London, (972) Rev. E. L. CUtiS, &mu alld characlm qf th~ Midd/~ Jlgrs London, IBgo Lt.CoI. G. R. Gayre, Tht Iinaldf)'ojtht Anigh/sojSt John I t\lIahabad, 1956 H. W. Koch, A /listory of Prussia London, 1978 D. W. Lomax, TI" Ruonquista of Spain London, 1978 J. Prawer, Th~ LA/in Kingdom qf JmJSolnn London, 197 2 J. Prawer, Th~ II 'orldofthtCrwadm London, 1972 J. Riley-Smilh, TIlL iI'"ightsofS/ John inJousalonond C]/Jrus. IOjO-I310 London, 1967 R. Rudorfl~ Tht iI-nigh/s and tht-ir World London, 1974
33
lurcopolcs sometimes rode in the second rank of a D. Seward, TIlt Monks oj War (London, 1972) R. C. Smail, Crusading Waifou 1097 1193 (Cam- cavalry formation to support the knights, although this was not their main role. bridge, '956) H. von. TrcilSchke (trans Paul), Origins of Prussianism: /hi Ttlltoni, KnighlJ (London, Effi5}' of DoD Alvaro de Lu...., MalOler of Santiaso 1445 52., 194-2 )
T. Wise, lI'ar.J oj /hi Crnsodis, to!fi-I2y1 l London, 1978 The author also wishes to express his thanks to :\'iccolo Capponi of Florence, who so generously supplied infornlation on the Order of St James of Altopascio.
Tile Plates AI: Knight Hospitolltr. 12th 13th unturitS This knight wears t)'pical crusading gear: fiattopped 'great helm', kite shield with rounded top, all-mail armour, and long surcoat. Both the Benedictine and Augustinian habits were black, and as the Hospitallcrs followed the rule of these Orders their mantle was also black from the ,"cry beginning. Between 1120 and 1160 it was laid down that a white cross should be worn on the breast of this mantle to distinguish the Order. No example of this cross survives from the 12th century, but in 1224 the Master's seal showed a plain Latin cross as illustrated here. The cumbersome mantle was replaced in 1248 by a black surcoat with the white cross on the breast. The banner ilJustl·ated is lhat attributed to the 'Knights of the Holy Sepulchre' (see lext under Hospitallers). A2: Turcopole, 12th-131h tellturies
Tun:opok'S were Syrian mercenaries employed by the Military Orders during the crusades period to provide mounted archers. Contemporary sources describe them as 'light-armed', and this figure is based on these descriptions" The quilted akClon is lhe most likely form of body armour, aketon being a corruption of 'al-Quwn', the name of the quilted armour worn by many Saracens for its combination of Lighllless and strcngth. A small shield was also carried, which may have been paintcd to distinguish the ~Iilitar)' Order to which the turcopole belonged. A light lance may have been used; the
34
eonstable of Calltile a ..d virtuat ruler of lhal kinsdom for almost 35 yean. Note (l~ i"5i&"ia 0" b .....st.
113: Fool !loldier, 1211t-1311, {(nll/rit'S This figure is based on contemporary descriptions, with detail taken from the :\laciejowski Bible, c.1250 (~1638, f.27). i\lcrcenary infall(ry had always been employed by the crusaders, and wcre either spearmen or crossbowmcn. This figure wears typical equipment for both: quilted body armour o\"er a long sureoat, kettle helmet, mail leggings, and a large shield bearing the identifying cross and colours of the Order. B1: Knight TnT/piar. c.f/50 The Templars \\crc granted permission by the Ilope in 1145 to wear a \\hite, h
Contemporary accounlS refer to pilgrims as wearing a grey-coloured, shaggy wool robe and a round felt hat with a brim; also as being barefoot, although sandals would have SCeffil.-d an essential for the long distances covered on foot. Pilgrims usually vowed not to cut their hair or beard unlil their pilgrimage was accomplished. Other marks of the pilgrim were a stnll~ some five to seven feet long, with a hook for a water boulc or bundle, and a scrip or small bag for food and other necessities. The scrip shown here bears the scallop-shell badge of a pilgrim who has been to the shrine of StJames at Compostella. The scallop-shell is a common charge in the arms of English knights, lllany of whom Slopped off en route to the Holy Land to serve against the Moors in Spain under the banner of the Order of Santiago. B3: Knighl Temp/ar, /au 131h unillry
John of Drcux, who lived in 1'275, is here dressed in the manner normal for knights within their prcceplories. The detail is drawn from the effigy on his tombstone. Confrere knighlS \\cre not allowed to wear the "hite mantle. Beards were compulsory in
Cat......". I.. Nu""",, h ....dqu ...nen or,he from c•• 2.6 o ....... rd••
K.n..i~hl. orCal.., .... ~..
all three of the main military orders in the Holy Land Hospilallers, Templars and Teutonic~and indeed, the warrior-monks look pride in a dishevelled appearance. CJ: Teufonic Kllighl, C.123O The Teutonic Knights appeal' (0 have worn a white cloak orsurcoat with a black Latin cross from about 1191. The cross was repeated on the knight's shield. This IIgurc's clothing and armour are typical of the crusading period. Note the presence of a heavily padded arming cap under the mail coif. C2: Teulollic Kllighl, c. JJOO This figure is a confrere knight the famous minnesing" Tannhauscr from the equally famous Manessa Codex. Confrere knighlS were allowed to bear their o\\n arms on their shields. The original painting shows the cross of the Order on lhe right breast of the mantic, contrary to other sources. The
35
headgear is diflieult to interpret, evcn from the original. It is definitely of ·pill·box' design, bllt the whitc drapery around it may be a pillow and have nothing todo with the hat itself. If that were so, then the 'pill·!:>ox' would rcscmble closely the caps shown on warrior monks in other sources: e.g. see 83.
resembled a sword blade, and this form of cross became known as the Cross ts/J
"""0
~taha.
D3: Frry Don Almro dt Luna This figure is )..tasler of the Order of Santiago,
Orden \!llildr dr 1.1 Em ill~ - Id, tlr Sanfi.ll~o -Id.dr Iii fnl7.ad;l-k! delo~ Trll1Il1anll\-lll.t1r S~ Salvador-Id tlr .\lriilllar.l.-Irl Or Calalrina
1445 53, based on the Tf/(lblo by Sancho de Zamora in the chapel orSanliago, at Toledo cathedral. He wears Ihe gilcled rull ptate armour or Ibe J\'!aSler, with the \\ hite mantle and red espada or the Order. No illustration exists orthe Order's banner, but al Ihe rail orSe"ille in 1248 it was described thus: The :\Iasler planted the red damask standard or St Jamcs and the \\hite horse high on the city walls.' £1: Knight Hospitalltr. ~arly 14th unrury This figure is taken rrom a contemporary manuscript in Ihe British J\luseum Royal 16g6, r.335 , showing the Prior or the Hospital at Jerusalem and the j\laster or the Templars berore Ihe king or France. Beside the Prior is the figure illuslrated here, identified as Raymond du Puy. In
1259, as a result or a petition by the Hospitallers, permission was granted ror all military brethren to wear surCOillS 'and other military insignia which shall be or a red colour, and in which a while coloured cross is plan'd, in the same manner as in your standard.' The Pope also confirmed an attempt to diflcrentiate knights and sergeants by not granting the red surcoat to the latter; but in the statute or 12]8 it was laid down that all brethren at anns werc to \\car the red sureoat, and all brethren to wear the black mantic. The Order's cross had now taken the shape or a cross rormee. The Order's banner, one rorm or which is illustrated here, was gralllcd in I 130 and remained Commaad..ry or the Ordu or Saat;alllo., Sq;ura de'" S;........
Ja.e.-.
37
~s of the Order of Ahopa5do, ilhunratili! variou.. fonns of 'tau' Croll., lh.. in'!';!.... of ,he Order.
ullchanged throughout the Order's history. The gwallow-wiled lance pennons of the knights werc emblazoned with the same cross and colours. There was a guidon version for thc Order's ships when it became a naval power. 1:."2: K"'glll f1ospitaller. u5JO The figure has been dated by its c!ublx:d shoes. The habit remained monastic, but the knights now followed more closely the current fashions in clothing, and dressed mueh morc richly than in prc\;ous centuries. A feather was frequently v..orn with guch hats.
£3: Knighl I-!ospitaller, mid-16th etntllry Knights of the Military Orders also followed the fashion in arms and armour, and this knight illustrates how the advent of effective gunpowder weapons had led to the abandoning of much armour. The 'braided' armour, open-faccd burgronet, and unarmoured legs are typical of thc equipment worn by knights during thc sieges of Rhodes and ~laha. This particular figurc is based on an illustration on the titlc pagc of a contcmporary book. F,: H()(Mlnstn of 1M T ro/()nic Ord". mid·/sth unlury This figure is clad in thc type of armour worn during the first half of the 15th century for fighting on foot. The \;soroo and articulated sallet and thc poleaxe both date from t.1455. The tunic of the Hochmcistcr is based on a contemporary de· scription, and bears the I mpcrial cagle granted to the Order by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1226.
I::;: Fra KwlO von Liebensteyn. died '39' This figure is taken from his brass at Nowcmiasto in Poland, which was made at the ~larienburg. He wears burnished plale armour, bascinet and a\'entail, and the white tUlucofthe Teutonic Order. The pa\-i.se is also in the Order's colours. GI. 2.3: .\last" and hL'O knights oflhe Ord" ofSI Jolm These figures are depicted at the siege of Rhodes in 1480, and are taken from a lale 15th century manuscript. All three wear a mixture of plate armour and civilian dress, but the insignia of Ihcir Ordcr remains the dominant factor. The tabard· style garment \\om over their armour was either slLldded or dccorated in gold, and frequently bore religious 'slogans'. H,: Sir Tlto/}J(fs Docwra This knight was the Crand Prior oflhe Order ofSt John in England, 1501-1527, and his likeness is taken from a contemporary cngraving. The Order reached the height of its prosperity in England under Sir Thomas, a renowned soldier and diplomat who stood high in the fa\'ourofHenry VII and Henry VIII. 1-12: Philip de fMe Adam The famous Crand ~lasler of the Order of StJohn, 1521 34, as ponrayed in a painting of his arrival in ~'lalta. NOIe the clubbed shoes and white ruffof the period; and the richness ofthe mantle, which is now civilian in style, no longer monaslie.
H3: Knight of Malta (St John), 17th unlury This knight is taken from an anonymous portrait in the Slibbert Museum, Florence. Notc the large /<"2: Pra Petl'us /JOlI DilsbuI'g. '.1330 This figure is portrayed as he appears in the cross of the Order on the breastplate: this was the frontispiece 10 the [679 edition of his C/lrOllide 4 size preferred by the Order. The remainder of the Prussia. The banner is based on a contcmporary knight'S clothing is typical for any soldier of the first description following its capture at the battle of half of the 17th century. Tannenberg in 1410.
39
Note!!! !Our Ie!> planches A. Ln Chnahtn H~ .. poo'l........ don< 1Ubi<
born
~n
cou.leur
Farbtareln
'",imt ... mtlt'ch ~lO... <'td
r c. cr.... blanc .... 'nnpk rUI pon'" _ ... ponnIW !",mld" 'y"'"'* A~ C.. ,;ilirn~""S,"""'""ploo, ... PM IaOrd ... des bo:>uriIor.- pno' am" etc pnn. danl Ia roultun d'un Ord..... ~;.,.,I A] U, OO..d ..... dr .....okbl. dom now Prom t''''P'''"' ~""...J dr ,'" IlIbk
B. '\f'1""''''"''''';'''''''''''' .. [""'" d" """" ,><11(>11<, 1M I'm' III..·.. 1101''''''"1 "" hahn hla, ... ,'. toll' ,... k,i"" tll.,... I..... 'H'" un... nM~ ""u~<,,,,.I<''''1Il~aoch..; Iasnp".h ,k lOrd,. porta...", «tlt "..,;, , .. r .."" pori",;,... loruol' Ba ll"apr;" dn ''''u... h ndrno
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D. I.·hal., I~a"f do- ...., 0,,11.. I"",a" "".. rnu ml'l(" "" Ii,",,,, .fq...., r,.,.... I;(l,d ... 1'"r.,,~a.. tIr :-.., IIII.,ll" po""" <1(alrn..-'" "no .... ,~.,,'~. mai, ..,,,. "'... croix {I<>n,la I>;o"i.. inf;nc" .... t'di, .... ron".. d" Ii •. D. n'allr~' I·dfilli.. dr I., """I.· ,k , •. j,,.,...MJI,._. ,,," .. (;"·,,ad.. '" • 111<, l'nr 'rllr .tn"",,· I~c", n;", probablt.....'" p>pula.i ... dan. IN ,ha.",", l>:J I... ~lai' d.. rOm., d.. s..""a~. 'H~ ~J. port.. u arumr...." paaq..... mmpk.... a' finitlon dort-... "'''''' q .... It 1' rOrd"" E. O'aprn lin ~"PC do; 1""1""1...., prno:ntan' un«n;un ka,1IItlnd d .. 1'10, 1""''''''''bra ...........,.dr-I'Ont''' ponaonl' It "'...... ""'Ilt" ... l1 ........ lund... .. partir .... '2~a'~....., ...I"" "'.I 1·onirT I"'"'"'" ,,",,"",n '.78 all pl.. oanl & 11.' """n, n, de pl pre. Illabillcmnl,
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F. I.·annu'" du ff.J-ruJn N' ,)'piq rdnn" ... p"tI.. ks mmh... "'" ra'":usi,,, ;O"I1T dr F,. 1)'.pr+o "" h~... d.. ,679. l.a d·a " ",... d....-nl'..or' dr rfVO'\lH". 8u monM"n' "" sa capt"re ~ Tannt:"",.,'X"" '01 '0, F] I)·apr I. pbt, .... mor'''''''' r" (",,,.. "" 'omb..' :-_..""asto, P~. I.. , ...."' k dam It:s rotlltun rOnl", Tnl"""'l ....
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G., .. ] OBI pu .~'" a do; Rhoda", '+flo: un': d'"n man....pt do; 11 lUI d .. 'y ....dr. ~ rq ~ I.. mda"ll" dr-I'a............. dtt ,itnnrnll ."..... H. ('. ._n~_ titrOrd"'dt-btj....n .... Anj(in"",,, ' ' '1. St.l1oom d;~a rOrd",d"",n, .. pn1odrdr-pl.. ~ ~ t e pl.. ~oo fa, 11:11.... ~.; ... maj,,,,dc rOtd... a l"i'p>q"" du _ t i t 'bll": ........... 01\10.
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A. llo.pml...... IriJlll'rn d R'lId" drr Bmtdih'nrt u tr1Jf;'I"IIorh.."rw- 10'",....._ \b ':4-jahrhundn1 __ .-..; ......... 10' auf Orr Ilr\ISl "-:I f.,JD brnu ,,-.ud>tr ~ . drr .... cIii Krn.zn"nn umpf'... I)... !>rhild "'U,""" hnchnnlirh III . . . F"Mbooo nlllp."d ,,,lt-n Ordct.. ~,nr""" A] 0 hild diacJ SoIda,rn. ~ A ·,.. ,k. M......,....,l,_1lJ1x-1 "",,"'h ,. ""If' ....hnd..."ohdI dl<' farbt ".><1 dao 10' ". 0,,1....., 8. AI> d" ·,· I'rriod. 'ru!,:,"" t1 ... Tempi", .. ~ijoc K"urn ",>mp .........,h' ' 8]1)", 0nkn>Ir...... 1"'11"'''' Klrid.. no:;. tiM- ....... L",bbold clnjohanlW:l '(10' l>onuc.... ... . . , Ibn ..... l'florh'.
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G., -a,] -..hnrbrinbch bci dc.- ~ ''On IU.odo._j.... ,oj.llo a .... I"" Klrid""l!: .. "rdc rinrt &hrifl a.. dnn . .,.... ,~J~ no,,,,,,,,,,,",. Mh'.... SOt- a.. rd... ~h.ch"",! ''On R .... ,,"'! "nd /.t,,jUnd,,..
H, G• • r... '''''' St. johanlW:l-On:kn '" ~~bnd ''On 1'\0' "7 ..... So. 11oomao, d
