Western European knights usually defeated Muslims, not only when they acted boldly and decisively - they were always famous for these qualities - but also in an organized way, and it was precisely the organization that they just lacked. After all, every knight-feudal lord in the conditions of conducting a subsistence economy did not depend on anyone, and in personal prowess he could easily surpass any duke, or even the king himself! An excellent picture of the independence of such a feudal lord, was presented by Suger, the abbot of Saint-Denis in the description of "The Life of Louis VI, nicknamed Tolstoy", in which he tells how this monarch in 1111 decided to punish a certain Hugh du Puizet and besieged his castle in Bose for openly robbing the local population. Despite heavy losses, Hugo's castle was still taken, and he himself was sent into exile. Returning, Hugo repented so sincerely that Louis VI pardoned him. But he rebuilt the keep and again took up the old, and the king had to get ready for the campaign again. Donjon was burned. But the punished, and then again pardoned Hugo repeated all the same for the third time! This time the royal cup of patience overflowed: his donjon was burned to the ground, and Hugo himself became a hermit monk and died while traveling to the Holy Land where he went to repent. And only after that, the inhabitants of Bose sighed calmly.
The knights-feudal lords were distinguished by a similar arbitrariness, if not arbitrariness, on the battlefields, which were often lost because some knight rushed to rob the enemy camp earlier than all others, or, on the contrary, took flight when it was necessary only stand still and fight!
Forcing the knights to obey the discipline was the cherished dream of many military leaders, but no one succeeded in doing this for a long time, right up to the first crusades to the East. It was there, having got acquainted with the Eastern culture and got to know it better, many military and religious leaders of the West noticed that the very "stone" on which to build the "building" of knightly discipline and obedience is the church itself. And for this it was only necessary … to turn the knights into monks!
This is how the first spiritual-knightly orders arose, uniting the knights-crusaders under their banners in their struggle against the Muslims. Moreover, it is important to note that such orders, created by the crusaders in Palestine, also existed among the same Muslims! At the end of the 11th - beginning of the 12th century, they created the military-religious orders of Rahkhasiyya, Shukhainiyya, Khaliliya and Nubuviyya, most of which in 1182 were united by the Caliph al-Nasir into the all-Muslim spiritual-knightly order “Futuvwa”. The rite of initiation into members of "Futuvwa" included girding with a sword, then the candidate drank the "sacred" salt water from a bowl, put on special trousers and received a symbolic blow on the shoulder with his hand or the flat side of the sword. Practically the same rituals were performed at the initiation of knights or at the entry into one of the European orders of knighthood!
"The Crusaders are Walking Through the Forest" - a miniature from the "Great Chronicle of St. Denis ". Around 1332 - 1350 (British Library)
However, who from whom was the first to borrow the idea of a spiritual-knightly order is still a question! After all, long before all these orders on the lands of Africa, in Ethiopia, there was … the order of St. Anthony which is rightly considered the oldest knightly order in the world.
According to legend, it was founded by the Negus - the ruler of Ethiopia, known in the West as "Presbyter John", in 370 after the death of St. Anthony in 357 or 358. Then many of his followers went into the desert, accepted the rules of the monastic life of St. Basil and founded the monastery “with the name and heritage of St. Anthony ". From the texts of that time, we know that the order was founded in 370 AD. Although it is considered more likely not so ancient origin of this order.
Orders with the same name at a later time existed in Italy, France and Spain, being offshoots of the order located in Constantinople, and the Ethiopian order still exists. The Order's suzerain is now its Grand Master and Captain General His Imperial Highness Hermias Sale-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Royal Council of Ethiopia. New members are rarely accepted, and their vows are truly chivalrous. The badge order has two degrees - the Grand Knight's Cross and the Companion. The holders of the order have the right to indicate in the official title the initials of the order KGCA (Knight Grand Cross - Knight Grand Cross) and CA (Companion of the Order of St. Anthony - Companion of the Order of St. Anthony).
1 - the coat of arms of the Dobrin Order, 2 - the coat of arms of the Order of the Swordsmen, 3 - the Cross of Alcantara, 4 - the Cross of Calatrava, 5 - the Cross of Montesa, 6 - the Cross of the Order of Santiago, 7 - the Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher, 8 - the Cross of the Order of Christ, 9 - the Cross Knights Templar, 10 - Avis cross, 11 - Hospitaller cross, 12 - Teutonic cross.
The badge of the order is made in the form of a golden Ethiopian cross, covered with blue enamel, and on top is crowned with the imperial crown of Ethiopia. The pectoral star is the cross of the order, but without the crown, which is superimposed on a silver eight-pointed star. The ribbon-sling of the order is made of moire silk, with a bow at the hip, black with blue stripes along the edges.
Siege of Antioch. Only one of the soldiers has a cross on the shield. Miniature from the Chronicle of Saint Denis. Around 1332 - 1350 (British Library)
The knights of the order relied on black and blue robes with a blue three-pointed cross on the chest. The older knights had double crosses of the same color. The headquarters of the order was on the island of Meroe (in Sudan), in the residence of the abbots, but in Ethiopia the order had convents and monasteries everywhere. His annual income was no less than two million gold pieces. So this idea was first born not even in the East, and not in Europe, but in Ethiopia!
The initial "R" representing the Sultan of Damascus Nur-ad-Din. It is interesting that the sultan is depicted with bare legs, but wearing chain mail and a helmet. He is pursued by two knights: Godfrey Martel and Hugh de Louisignan the Elder in full chain mail armor and helmets similar to those depicted in the "Bible of Matsievsky". At the same time, attention is drawn to the quilted kneecap, worn by Godfrey over his chain mail chauss. Thumbnail from Outremer's Story. (British Library)
Well, if we are talking about the most famous orders of knighthood, then here the palm belongs to the Johannites, or Hospitallers. Traditionally, its foundation is associated with the first crusade, but the ground for its creation was prepared much earlier, literally immediately after the recognition of Christianity as the official religion in Rome. Then Emperor Constantine came to Jerusalem, wishing to find here (and found!) The very cross on which the Romans crucified Jesus Christ. Following this, many other holy places were found in the city, one way or another mentioned in the Gospel, and in their place temples began to be built immediately.
Templar seal.
This is how Palestine became the place with which any Christian connects his hopes for receiving grace and salvation of the soul. But for the pilgrims, the journey to the Holy Land was full of dangers. The pilgrims reached Palestine with great difficulty, and if then he left this holy land, he could stay, having taken monastic vows, and do good at the monastery hospitals. All this changed little after 638, when Jerusalem was captured by the Arabs.
When the Holy Land became the center of Christian pilgrimage in the 10th century, Constantine di Panteleone - a pious merchant from the Italian Republic of Amalfi - in 1048 asked the Egyptian Sultan for permission to build a shelter in Jerusalem for sick Christians. The name was given to it by the Jerusalem Hospital of St. John, and its emblem was the white Amalfi cross with eight ends. From that time on, the brotherhood of the servants of the hospital began to be called the society of the Johannites, and its members - the hospitallers (from Lat. Hospitalis - "hospitable").
Charlemagne in battle. It is clear that Charlemagne himself did not wear any surcoat. There was no such fashion in his time. That is, the image on the miniature is contemporary with the writing of the manuscript. But one of the soldiers' surcock attracts attention. It is orange in color with a white Hospitaller cross. Miniature from the Chronicle of Saint Denis. Around 1332 - 1350 (British Library)
For almost 50 years, their lives flowed quite peacefully - they prayed and looked after the sick, but then the siege of Jerusalem by the crusaders interrupted their peace. According to legend, Christians, like all other inhabitants of the besieged city, had to help the army of the Egyptian caliph to defend it. And then the cunning Johannites came up with the idea of throwing fresh bread on the heads of the knights instead of stones! For this, the Muslim authorities accused them of treason, but then a miracle happened: right in front of the judges, this bread miraculously turned to stone, and the Johannites had to be acquitted! On July 15, 1099, Jerusalem, exhausted by the siege, finally fell. And then one of the leaders of the campaign, Duke Gottfried of Bouillon, generously rewarded the monks, and many of his knights joined their brotherhood, and vowed to protect the pilgrims during their travels. The status of the order was approved first by the ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Baudouin I in 1104, and then, nine years later, by Pope Paschal II. Both the charter of Baudouin I and the bull of Pope Paschalia II have survived to this day and are kept in the National Library of the Island of Malta in La Valletta.
Eighth Crusade 1270 Crusaders of Louis IX land in Tunisia. One of the few medieval miniatures in which oriental warriors are depicted with sabers in their hands. Miniature from the Chronicle of Saint Denis. Around 1332 - 1350 (British Library)
The status of the order did not mention military brothers until 1200, when, probably, they were divided into three categories: military brothers (who were blessed to carry and use weapons), brothers-doctors who were engaged in healing, and brothers-chaplains who performed in order of religious rites.
As for their position, the order knights were equated with monks and obeyed only the Pope and their grand master (the head of the order), had their own lands, churches and cemeteries. They were exempt from taxes, and even the bishops had no right to excommunicate them!
Raymond Dupuis became the first Grand Master of the Order, chosen by the Hospitallers in September 1120. It was under him that the order began to be called the Jerusalem Order of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John, and at the same time a black cloak with a white eight-pointed cross on the left shoulder was added to the usual monastic attire for knights. On the campaign, the knights wore a scarlet surcoat with a large white linen cross with expanding ends, which was sewn on his chest. This sign was interpreted as follows: four crosses denote, they say, Christian virtues, and eight corners on it are the good qualities of a Christian. At the same time, a white cross on a red background was supposed to symbolize impeccable knightly honor on the bloody field of war. The banner of the order was a rectangular red cloth with a simple white cross.
In 1291, the knights of the order moved first to Cyprus, and 20 years later - to the island of Rhodes, where they were until the attack of the Turks in 1523. 42 years later, the order settled on the island of Malta, which is why the order's cross was called the "Maltese cross". Hospitals, however, founded by the order in many European countries, have long been true centers of medical art.
In 1798, Malta was captured by Napoleon's troops, and this circumstance put an end to the stay of the order on the island and the beginning of the dispersal of its members around the world. Paul I sheltered the knights in Russia, but after his death they were forced to leave for Rome. The order is now called the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta. It is interesting to note that on the battlefields in Palestine, the Hospitallers constantly competed with the Knights of the Templar Order, therefore, on a campaign they were usually placed in the rearguard, and the Templars in the vanguard, dividing them among themselves by other troops.
