By the early middle-ages, Jerusalem had become a major place of pilgrimage, although the difficulties that would be encountered by travelers passing through lands constantly in turmoil, divided by wars and quarreling princes, coupled with a long trip by sail across seas devastated by pirates and marauders, made the venture extremely risky. On reaching the Holy Land there were few Christian organizations able to provide assistance to travelers, who were harassed and sometimes captured and held for ransom by the local inhabitants. The original Order of Saint John, surviving today as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta (the Sovereign Military Order of Malta), could be traced back to a hospital probably founded in about 1080 by the brothers of the Benedictine Monastery of Saint Mary Latina. This Order may be regarded as the first of the Chivalric Orders of Knighthood that were imitated across Europe, both as Religious Military foundations, and later as Princely awards for their allies and supporters.
The earliest Rector or Master known to historians was a certain Gerard (later Beatified), whom it has been claimed came from Martigues in Provence, although his origins are unproven. Most sources are agreed that he was probably governing the Hospital when the soldiers of the First Crusade captured Jerusalem on Friday, 15 July 1099. His rule has provided the origins of the statutes of the Order and is an astonishing text for its time. The hospital, which was run on Greek lines and divided into wards, may have had as many as two thousand beds at the peak of Christian rule - an immense edifice and tribute to both the financial means and devotion of the Knights. Through the introduction of relatively sophisticated Arab medical techniques, western European knowledge of medicine was considerably enlarged.

Image - Map of Jerusalem
page I
The proximity of the original hospital buildings to the Church of Saint John the Baptist, a short distance from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the adjacent Abbey of Santa Maria Latina, seems to have led to the choice of Saint John the Baptist as patron. It was organized in two sections, one (for men) dedicated to Saint John, the other (for women) to Mary Magdalen and both initially under the authority of the Abbot of Santa Maria Latina. The help given to the wounded and sick, without any distinction being made between those of differing faiths, proved to be so valuable that, with the gifts received from grateful crusaders, the hospital was able to establish its independence from the Benedictine Abbot, soon after the capture of the city. With independence, it abandoned the rule of Saint Benedict for that of Saint Augustine, more appropriate to its functions.
Under the leadership of Gerard, the brothers formed themselves into a religious confraternity, taking the solemn vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. To symbolize their abandonment of worldly possessions, they chose as their uniform a simple robe and a white cross, which was later to acquire its present eight-pointed form commemorating the eight Beatitudes. By the Bull Pie Postulatio Voluntatis of 5 February 1113, Pope Pascal II approved their foundation, but made no mention of any martial duties. This Bull, addressed to "His Venerable Son Gerard, Founder and Director of the Hospital of Jerusalem and his legitimate successors in perpetuity", continues "...you have asked us that the hospital you have founded in the city of Jerusalem, near the church of Saint John the Baptist, should be fortified by Authority of the Holy See and strengthened by the protection of the Apostle Saint Peter ...we accede to your demands with paternal clemency and we place by authority of this present decree, this House of God, this Hospital, under obedience to the Apostolic See and the protection of Saint Peter ...given that you are actually administrator and director of this hospital we wish that, at your death, no-one may be put at its head by ruse or violence and that the professed brothers may proceed to this election following the inspiration of God... We confirm in perpetuity, both for you and your successors ... all the advantages, honorifics and possessions that it presently holds in Asia and Europe and that it may acquire in the future", exempting them from all tithes.
The Pope went on to identify hospitals in Saint-Gilles, Asti, Pisa, Bari, Otranto, Taranto and Messina already under Gerard's authority, evidence not only of the esteem in which the institution was held but also the organizational abilities of its founder. Gerard's epitaph describes an extraordinary man, the "humblest among the dwellers in the East, servant of the poor, a welcoming friend to strangers ... provident in many things, painstaking in all he did ... he gathered from everywhere the means to feed his people". He died in 1120 and the date is still commemorated in the calendar of the Order of Malta.
The example of the devoted monks seems to have inspired a small group of crusader knights, led by Raymond du Puy (who later succeeded Gerard as second Master of the Hospital), to join the religious brothers and dedicate themselves permanently to Christ, through service to the poor and sick. There is some dispute as to the precise ate when military functions were assumed "to defend the Holy Sepulcher to the last drop of blood and fight the unfaithful wherever one finds them". But it seems to have been not earlier than 1126 and before 1140. The first military commitment made by the new knight-brothers was the physical protection of pilgrims who, passing from Jaffa to Jerusalem, were constantly harassed by bandits. From henceforth until the fall of Malta, the Masters or Grand Masters (from 1489), were both the Religious Superiors and Military Commanders of the knights.
page II
The Knights Hospitaller soon took the style "Ordo" (Order) to describe their confraternity and future religious-military confraternities were generally described as such. The identity of none of the earliest members is known but since the majority of the first crusaders were Frenchmen, it is likely that France also provided the majority of the original knights of Saint John. The existence of a number of Hospitaller foundations in southern Italy would suggest that there were also Italian knights while the frequent donations to the Order in Spain must presuppose an expanding Spanish membership. Initially there were no requirements for formal "proof of nobility", and not until the thirteenth century did knights have to prove they were themselves the sons of knights. The members of the military class from which most crusader knights were recruited were easily identifiable: their families were landed, although often modestly, their properties held by feudal tenure from a superior lord to whom the "vassal" knight owed homage and military service; they were well trained in the military arts; and they possessed the necessary military equipment, armor, sword and horse, to enable them to fulfill their role. Not all the members were of equal status, however, and until the separation of the class of knight-brothers in 1206 many of those engaged in military service on behalf of the Order may have been attached as confratres on temporary service while making their pilgrimage. Certainly they seem to have been differentiated from the permanent fratres who, after making profession, spent the remainder of their lives in the service of the hospital.

Jerusalem: the Damascus Gate
The new Kings of Jerusalem, themselves with limited authority over the various minor princes who had established autonomous territories within the kingdom and on its borders, were extremely grateful for the military assistance provided by the members of the rapidly expanding military Orders. In 1136 the Hospitallers were given the fortified town of Bethgibelin, a strategic outpost on the southern border, in the hope that they would establish a strong military presence there. It would seem unlikely that they would have been charged with such a responsibility if they were still military novices.
The Castle of Krac des Chevaliers[the square tower on the right is a later Turkish addition]
Between 1142 and 1144 they acquired five major castles in the county of Tripoli, a sovereign principality on the north of the Kingdom; these became immensely powerful and the most famous, Krak (Crac) des Chevaliers, still stands as a symbol of crusader might and has been used by modern militia as a base in the ongoing struggle between Moslem and Jew. The Order was also expanding within Jerusalem itself, taking over the buildings of the Abbey of Santa Maria Latina (which was forced to relocate in another part of the city), and dominating the center of the old city.
The Grand Master's Palace, Rhodes
Following the definitive defeat of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem with the loss of Acre in 1291, the Order transferred its headquarters to the island of Cyprus. It had already acquired substantial estates in each of the countries of the seven, later eight Langues and, following the suppression of the Knights Templars, was granted much of the latter's properties by a Bull of May 2, 1312, effectively doubling the wealth of the Order. Like the Templars and Teutonic knights, the Hospitallers had become a major international political and military force. Renowned for their courage, the members of the crusader Orders were a professional fighting body still dedicated to the monastic tradition and endowed with enormous wealth, thus they provided a serious potential challenge to the existing monarchical states in which their properties were situated. Fortunately for the Hospitallers, they were able to find an important role in the Mediterranean, but without this new responsibility as the protector of Christian shipping, it is probable that ultimately the Order either would have been suppressed or at least been forced to forgo its military function. By 1312 they were firmly established as sovereign rulers of the Island of Rhodes, remaining there until 1523 when they were defeated by an enormous Turkish force. Seven year later they were granted a new home on the Island of Malta, where they remained until 1798.
page III