1

The modern official name is the Sovereign Military, Hospitable Order of St. John, Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta. The official residence is in Rome (Italy).
It got its name from the hospital and church of St. John the Baptist, where the monastic order created in 1113 was located, which over time turned into a military-spiritual organization. In terms of their fighting qualities and military prowess, the Ioanites were rightfully considered the best warriors in Europe. After the Crusaders were expelled from Palestine, the Hospitallers crossed to Cyprus, where they built a fleet and captured the island of Rhodes in 1309. In 1522, after a six-month siege of Rhodes by the Turks, the fleet of knights moved to the island of Malta, where the order ruled until 1798. At the present time, the order is engaged in charitable and merciful activities.

2

The official name is the Order of the Knights of Solomon's Temple, also the Order of the Knights of Christ. It arose in 1119 in Jerusalem from knights who had previously served at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Along with the Hospitallers, he was engaged in the protection of pilgrims and the protection of Christian possessions in Palestine. He was also engaged in trade, usury and banking, due to which he accumulated enormous wealth. After the expulsion from Palestine, the order almost completely switched to financial activities. In 1307, by order of Pope Clement V and the French King Philip IV, arrests of members of the order on charges of heresy and confiscation of property began. After the execution of several members, including the Grand Master, the order was dissolved by papal bull in 1312.

3

The official name is Fratrum Theutonicorum ecclesiae S. Mariae Hiersolymitanae. Founded in 1190 on the basis of a hospital founded by German pilgrims in Acre. In 1196 it was reorganized into a spiritual knightly order headed by a master. Goals: protecting German knights, treating the sick, fighting the enemies of the Catholic Church. At the beginning of the 13th century, he transferred his activities to Prussia and the Baltic states, where he took part in the crusades against the Slavs and Balts. In fact, the state of the Teutonic Knights, Livonia, was formed on the conquered lands. The decline of the order began after the defeat in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. Currently, the order is engaged in charity and treatment of the sick. The headquarters is located in Vienna.

4

The spiritual knightly order of Calatrava (Calatrava la Vieja) was founded in Spain in 1158 by the monk Raymond de Fetero. Pope Alexander III in 1164 he approved the order's charter. The knightly order got its name from the Calatrava fortress conquered from the Arabs. Distinctive sign Members of the order began to wear white and black clothes with a red cross. The Order took an active part in the reconquest of lands captured by the Moors on the Iberian Peninsula (Reconquista). Ceased to exist in 1873.

The official name is the Grand Military Order of the Sword of St. James of Compostela. Founded in Spain around 1160. Named after the patron saint of Spain. He took part in the crusades and wars with Muslims. It operates to this day as a civil order of knighthood under the patronage of the King of Spain.

6

The spiritual knightly order of Alcantara was founded in 1156 in Spain. Initially it was a military-religious brotherhood of knights, bearing the name San Julian de Pereiro. In 1217, the Knights of the Order of Calatrava, with the permission of the king, transferred the city of Alcantara and all the possessions of the Order of Calatrava in Leon to the Order of San Julian de Pereiro. After which the Order of San Julian de Pereiro was renamed the Knightly Order of Alcantara. The Order took part in the Reconquista. In the 1830s. the order was nationalized and ceased to exist.

7

The official name is the Order of St. Bennett of Avish. The order was created in 1147 to protect the city of Evora, which had recently been recaptured from the Moors. In 1223
The residence of the order was moved to the city of Avis, donated by the King of Portugal and fortified by the knights. The Order took part in the Portuguese part of the Reconquista and the colonization of the African coast. Dissolved in 1910, but in 1917 restored as a purely civilian body, headed by the President of Portugal.

8

The Order of the Swordsmen is a German Catholic spiritual-knightly order, officially called the "Brothers of Christ's Host". It was created in 1202 on the initiative of the Bremen canon Albert, who became the first bishop of Riga. The goal was to capture the Eastern Baltic, carried out crusades against the Baltic peoples, while a third of the captured lands were assigned to the order. After a series of defeats from the Russian princes and Lithuania, the remnants of the order joined the Teutonic Order in 1237.

9

Spiritually - a knightly order, the successor of the Templars in Portugal. Established in 1318 by the Portuguese king Dinis to continue the fight against Muslims begun by the Templars. Pope John XXII allowed all the possessions of the Portuguese Templars to be transferred to the order, including the castle of Tomar, which in 1347 became the residence of the Grand Master. Hence the second name of the order - Tomarsky. The Tomar knights, like their Avis brothers, took an active part in the overseas travels of Portuguese sailors. Vasco da Gama and other Tomar knights-errant sailed under sails with the emblem of the order. Like the Order of Aviz, it was dissolved in 1910, but in 1917 it was restored as a purely civilian one, headed by the President of Portugal.

10

The official name is the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem. Founded by the Crusaders in Palestine in 1098 on the basis of a hospital for lepers, which existed under the jurisdiction of the Greek Patriarchate. The Order accepted into its ranks knights who fell ill with leprosy. The symbol of the order was a green cross on a white cloak. After Saladin's capture of Jerusalem in October 1187, the order saw action, particularly during the Third Crusade. In the Battle of Forbia on October 17, 1244, the order lost all its personnel (both healthy and leper knights along with the master). After the expulsion of the crusaders from Palestine, the order settled in France, where it continued its hospital activities. Modern order St. Lazarus has branches in 24 countries around the world and continues its charitable activities.

They founded states and dictated their will to European monarchs. The history of knightly orders began in the Middle Ages and is not finished yet.

Order of the Knights Templar

Date of foundation of the Order: 1119
Interesting Facts: The Templars are the most famous knightly order, the history and mysteries of which are the subject of many books and films. The topic of the “curse of Jacques de Molay” is still actively discussed by conspiracy theorists.

After being expelled from Palestine, the Templars switched to financial activities and became the richest order in history. They invented checks, carried out profitable usurious activities, and were the main lenders and economists in Europe.

On Friday, October 13, 1307, by order of King Philip IV the Fair of France, all French Templars were arrested. The order was officially banned.
The Templars were accused of heresy - of denying Jesus Christ, of spitting on the crucifix, kissing each other indecently and practicing sodomy. To “prove” the last point, it is still customary to mention one of the emblems of the Templars - two poor knights sitting on one horse, which served as a symbol of the non-covetousness of the knights of the order.

Warband

Date of foundation of the order: 1190
Interesting Facts: The Teutonic motto is “Help-Protect-Heal.” Initially, this is what the order was doing - helping the sick and protecting German knights, but at the beginning of the 13th century it began military history order, it was associated with an attempt to expand the Baltic states and Russian lands. These attempts, as we know, ended unsuccessfully. The “black day” of the Teutons was the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, in which the combined forces of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania inflicted a crushing defeat on the Order.
Deprived of its former military ambitions, the Teutonic Order was restored in 1809. Today he is involved in charity work and treating the sick. The headquarters of the modern Teutons is in Vienna.

Order of the Dragon

Date of foundation of the order: 1408
Interesting Facts: Officially, the Order of the Dragon was founded by the King of Hungary, Sigismund I of Luxembourg, but in the Serbian folklore tradition, the legendary hero Milos Obilic is considered its founder.
The knights of the order wore medallions and pendants with images of a golden dragon with a scarlet cross curled into a ring. In the family coats of arms of the nobles who were members of the order, the image of a dragon was usually framed by the coat of arms.
The Order of the Dragon included the father of the legendary Vlad the Impaler, Vlad II Dracul, who received his nickname precisely because of his membership in the order - dracul means “dragon” in Romanian.

Order of Calatrava

Date of foundation of the order: 1158
Interesting Facts: The first Catholic order founded in Spain was created to defend the Calatrava fortress. In the 13th century it became the most powerful military force in Spain, capable of fielding between 1,200 and 2,000 knights. At its peak, under Chiron and his son, the order controlled 56 commanderies and 16 priories. Up to 200,000 peasants worked for the order, its net annual income was estimated at 50,000 ducats. However, the order did not have complete independence. The title of grandmaster, starting from the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, has always been borne by Spanish kings.

Hospitallers

Date of foundation of the order: around 1099.
Interesting Facts: The Hospice Order, the Hospitallers, the Knights of Malta, or the Johannites, is the oldest spiritual order of knighthood, which received its unofficial name in honor of the hospital and church of St. John the Baptist. Unlike other orders, the Hospitallers accepted female novices into their ranks, and all men who joined the order were required to have a noble title.

The order was international, and its members were divided according to linguistic principles into seven langes in the Middle Ages. I wonder what Slavic languages belonged to the Germanic Lang. The 72nd Grand Master of the order was Russian Emperor Paul the First.

Despite the vow of non-covetousness, the Hospitallers were one of the richest orders of knighthood. French army During Napoleon's capture of Malta, it caused damage to the order of almost three tens of millions of lire.

Order of the Holy Sepulcher

Date of foundation of the order: 1099
Interesting Facts: This powerful order was created during the First Crusade and the emergence of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Its king stood at the head of the order. The order's mission was to protect the Holy Sepulcher and other holy places in Palestine.

For a long time, the Grand Masters of the order were the Popes. It was not until 1949 that the title was transferred to members of the Vatican Curia.
The order still exists today. Its members around the world are representatives royal families, influential businessmen, political and scientific elite. According to a 2010 report, the order's membership exceeded 28,000. Its headquarters are located in Rome. More than $50 million was spent on the order's charitable projects between 2000 and 2007.

Order of Alcantara

Date of foundation of the order: 1156
Interesting Facts: The Order was originally created as a partnership to defend the frontier fortress of San Julian de Peral in Spain against the Moors. In 1177 the partnership was elevated to an order of knighthood; he pledged to wage perpetual war against the Moors and defend the Christian faith.
King Alfonso IX in 1218 donated the city of Alcantara to the order, where it settled under a new name. Before the occupation of Spain by the French in 1808, the order controlled 37 counties with 53 towns and villages. The history of the order was full of vicissitudes. It grew richer and poorer, it was abolished and restored several times.

Order of Christ

Date of foundation of the order: 1318
Interesting Facts: The Order of Christ was the successor to the Templars in Portugal. The Order is also called Tomar - after the name of the Tomar Castle, which became the residence of the Master. The most famous Tomarese was Vasco da Gama. On the sails of his ships there is a red cross, which was the emblem of the Order of Christ.
The Tomarians were one of the main pillars of royal power in Portugal, and the order was secularized, which, of course, did not suit the Vatican, which began to award its own Supreme Order of Christ. In 1789 the order was finally secularized. In 1834, the nationalization of his property took place.

Order of the Sword

Date of foundation of the order: 1202
Interesting Facts: The official name of the order is “Brotherhood of the Warriors of Christ.” The knights of the order received the nickname “sword bearers” because of the swords depicted on their cloaks under the clawed Templar cross. Their main goal was the seizure of the Eastern Baltic. According to the agreement of 1207, 2/3 of the captured lands became the property of the order.
The plans of the eastern expansion of the Swordsmen were thwarted by the Russian princes. In 1234, in the battle of Omovzha, the knights suffered a crushing defeat from the Novgorod prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, after which Lithuania, together with the Russian princes, began campaigns on the lands of the order. In 1237, after the unsuccessful Crusade against Lithuania, the Swordsmen joined the Teutonic Order and became the Livonian Order. It was defeated by Russian troops in the Livonian War in 1561.

Order of Saint Lazarus

Date of foundation of the order: 1098
Interesting Facts: The Order of Saint Lazarus is notable for the fact that initially all its members, including the Grand Master, were lepers. The order received its name from the place of its founding - from the name of the hospital of St. Lazarus, located near the walls of Jerusalem.
It is from the name of this order that the name “infirmary” comes from. The knights of the order were also called “Lazarites”. Their symbol was a green cross on a black cassock or cloak.
At first, the order was not military and was engaged exclusively in charitable activities, helping lepers, but from October 1187 the Lazarites began to participate in hostilities. They went into battle without helmets, their faces, disfigured by leprosy, terrified their enemies. Leprosy in those years was considered incurable and the Lazarites were called “the living dead.”
In the Battle of Forbia on October 17, 1244, the order lost almost all of its personnel, and after the expulsion of the crusaders from Palestine, it settled in France, where it is still engaged in charity work today.

The history of religion tells of spiritual quests different nations in centuries. Faith has always been a person’s companion, giving meaning to his life and motivating him not only for achievements in the internal sphere, but also for worldly victories. People, as you know, are social creatures, and therefore often strive to find like-minded people and create an association in which they could jointly move towards the intended goal. An example of such a community is monastic orders, which included brothers of the same faith, united in their understanding of how to put the precepts of their mentors into practice.

Egyptian hermits

Monasticism did not originate in Europe; it originated in the vast expanses of the Egyptian deserts. Here, back in the 4th century, hermits appeared, striving to get closer to spiritual ideals in a secluded distance from the world with its passions and vanity. Not finding a place for themselves among people, they went into the desert, lived in the open air or in the ruins of some buildings. They were often joined by followers. Together they worked, preached, and offered prayers.

Monks in the world were workers different professions, and everyone brought something different to the community. In 328, Pachomius the Great, who was once a soldier, decided to organize the life of the brothers and founded a monastery, the activities of which were regulated by the charter. Soon similar associations began to appear in other places.

Light of knowledge

In 375, Basil the Great organized the first large monastic society. Since then, the history of religion has flowed in a slightly different direction: together the brothers not only prayed and comprehended spiritual laws, but were engaged in studying the world, comprehending nature, and the philosophical aspects of existence. Through the efforts of the monks, the wisdom and knowledge of humanity passed through the dark without getting lost in the past.

Reading and improvement in the scientific field were also the duties of the novices of the monastery in Monte Cassino, founded by Benedict of Nursia, considered the father of monasticism in Western Europe.

Benedictines

The year 530 is considered the date when the first monastic order appeared. Benedict was famous for his asceticism, and a group of followers quickly formed around him. They were among the first Benedictines, as the monks were called in honor of their leader.

The life and activities of the brothers were conducted in accordance with the charter developed by Benedict of Nursia. Monks could not change their place of service, own any property and had to completely obey the abbot. The regulations prescribed prayers seven times a day, constant physical labor, interspersed with hours of rest. The charter determined the time of meals and prayers, punishments for the guilty, necessary for reading the book.

Structure of the monastery

Subsequently, many monastic orders of the Middle Ages were built on the basis of the Benedictine Rule. The internal hierarchy was also preserved. The head was the abbot, chosen from among the monks and confirmed by the bishop. He became the lifelong representative of the monastery in the world, leading the brothers with the assistance of several assistants. Benedictines were expected to submit completely and humbly to the abbot.

The inhabitants of the monastery were divided into groups of ten people, headed by deans. The abbot and the prior (assistant) monitored compliance with the charter, but important decisions were made after a meeting of all the brothers together.

Education

The Benedictines became not only an assistant to the Church in converting new peoples to Christianity. In fact, it is thanks to them that today we know about the contents of many ancient manuscripts and manuscripts. The monks were engaged in rewriting books and preserving monuments of philosophical thought of the past.

Education was compulsory from the age of seven. Subjects included music, astronomy, arithmetic, rhetoric and grammar. The Benedictines saved Europe from the harmful influence of barbarian culture. Huge libraries of monasteries, deep architectural traditions, and knowledge in the field of agriculture helped maintain civilization at a decent level.

Decline and rebirth

During the reign of Charlemagne there was a period when the monastic order of the Benedictines experienced better times. The Emperor introduced tithes in favor of the Church, demanded that monasteries provide a certain number of soldiers, and gave vast territories with peasants to the power of bishops. The monasteries began to become richer and became a tasty morsel for everyone eager to increase their own well-being.

Representatives of the worldly authorities were given the opportunity to found spiritual communities. The bishops transmitted the will of the emperor, becoming more and more immersed in worldly affairs. The abbots of the new monasteries only formally dealt with spiritual issues, enjoying the fruits of donations and trade. The process of secularization gave rise to a movement for the revival of spiritual values, which resulted in the formation of new monastic orders. The center of unification at the beginning of the 10th century was the monastery in Cluny.

Clunians and Cistercians

Abbot Bernon received an estate in Upper Burgundy as a gift from the Duke of Aquitaine. Here, in Cluny, a new monastery was founded, free from secular power and vassal relations. The monastic orders of the Middle Ages experienced a new rise. The Clunians prayed for all the laity, lived according to a charter developed on the basis of the provisions of the Benedictines, but more strict in matters of behavior and daily routine.

In the 11th century, the monastic order of the Cistercians appeared, which made it a rule to follow the rules, which frightened off many followers with its rigidity. The number of monks increased greatly due to the energy and charm of one of the leaders of the order, Bernard of Clairvaux.

Great multitude

In the XI-XIII centuries, new monastic orders of the Catholic Church appeared in large numbers. Each of them marked something in history. The Camaldoules were famous for their strict rules: they did not wear shoes, encouraged self-flagellation, and did not eat meat at all, even if they were sick. The Carthusians, who also respected strict rules, were known as hospitable hosts who considered charity a vital part of their service. One of the main sources of income for them was the sale of Chartreuse liqueur, the recipe of which was developed by the Carthusians themselves.

Women also made their contribution to monastic orders in the Middle Ages. At the head of the monasteries, including men's, of the Fontevrault brotherhood were abbesses. They were considered the vicars of the Virgin Mary. One of the distinctive points of their charter was the vow of silence. The Beguines, an order consisting only of women, on the contrary, did not have a charter. The abbess was chosen from among the followers, and all activities were directed towards charity. Beguines could leave the order and get married.

Knightly and monastic orders

During the Crusades, associations of a new kind began to appear. The conquest of Palestinian lands was accompanied by a call to liberate Christian shrines from the hands of Muslims. Headed to the eastern lands a large number of pilgrims. They had to be guarded in enemy territory. This was the reason for the emergence of spiritual knightly orders.

Members of the new associations, on the one hand, made three vows monastic life: poverty, obedience and abstinence. On the other hand, they wore armor, always had a sword with them, and, if necessary, took part in military campaigns.

The knightly monastic orders had a triple structure: it included chaplains (priests), brother warriors and brother ministers. The head of the order - the grandmaster - was elected for a life term, his candidacy was approved by those who had supreme power over the association. The chapter, together with the priors, periodically assembled a chapter (a general gathering where important decisions were made and the laws of the order were approved).

The spiritual and monastic associations included the Templars, the Ionites (Hospitaliers), the Teutonic All of them were participants in historical events, the importance of which is difficult to overestimate. The Crusades, with their assistance, significantly influenced the development of Europe, and indeed the whole world. Its name is sacred liberation missions received thanks to the crosses that were sewn onto the robes of knights. Each monastic order used its own color and shape to convey the symbol and thus differed in appearance from the others.

Decline of authority

At the beginning of the 13th century, the Church was forced to fight a huge number of heresies that arose. The clergy lost their former authority, propagandists spoke of the need to reform or even abolish the church system as an unnecessary layer between man and God, and condemned the enormous wealth concentrated in the hands of ministers. In response, the Inquisition appeared, designed to restore the people's respect for the Church. However, a more beneficial role in this activity was played by the mendicant monastic orders, which set prerequisite service complete renunciation of property.

Francis of Assisi

In 1207, His head, Francis of Assisi, began to take shape; he saw the essence of his activity in preaching and renunciation. He was against the founding of churches and monasteries, and met with his followers once a year at an appointed place. The rest of the time the monks preached to the people. However, in 1219, a Franciscan monastery was built at the insistence of the Pope.

Francis of Assisi was famous for his kindness, his ability to serve easily and with complete dedication. He was loved for his poetic talent. Canonized just two years after his death, he gained a large following and revived respect for the Catholic Church. In different centuries, branches were formed from the Franciscan Order: the Capuchin Order, the Tertians, the Minimas, and the Observants.

Dominic de Guzman

The Church also relied on monastic associations in the fight against heresy. One of the foundations of the Inquisition was the Dominican Order, founded in 1205. Its founder was Dominic de Guzman, an irreconcilable fighter against heretics who revered asceticism and poverty.

The Dominican Order chose to train high-level preachers as one of its main goals. In order to organize suitable conditions for training, the initially strict rules requiring the brothers to live in poverty and constantly wander around the cities were even relaxed. At the same time, the Dominicans were not obliged to work physically: thus, they devoted all their time to education and prayer.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the Church was again experiencing a crisis. The clergy's commitment to luxury and vices undermined authority. The successes of the Reformation forced the clergy to look for new ways to return to their former veneration. This is how the Order of Theatines was formed, and then the Society of Jesus. Monastic associations sought to return to the ideals of the medieval orders, but time took its toll. Although many orders still exist today, little remains of their former greatness.

Introduction

Military monastic orders, orders of knighthood, orders of merit

In 1120, in Jerusalem, under conditions that are still poorly known, the first medieval military monastic order was founded - the Order of the Temple (Templars). Its first adherents called themselves pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici, that is, "the poor champions of Christ and the temple of Solomon." They obeyed the master, followed the charter and pledged to protect pilgrims on the roads leading to Jerusalem. At the beginning of 1129, their activities were legalized by the Roman Church: a council meeting in Troyes under the chairmanship of a legate approved their charter. After a short time, Saint Bernard, who took an active part in this cathedral, wrote for them “De laude novae militiae”, or “Praise to the Holy Army”: here he justified the mission of those who in his eyes were both monks and knights. Do not be confused: the concept of “military monastic order” is not equivalent to the concept of “knightly order”. In Western countries, at different points in their history, “knighthoods”, knightly orders arose; but even if the Order of the Temple, a military monastic order, was designed primarily for knights, it would be a mistake to see historical continuity between these concepts. The creation of the Order of the Temple was a new and original phenomenon. This order grew out of change - or simply evolution - Western society after the thousandth year and was born thanks to the crusade.

Indeed, corporate groups arose in different eras, sometimes defined by the word ordo(plural ordines), “order”, “class”, in the definition of which - “equestrian”, “knightly” - a horse is mentioned.

In Rome, under the Republic, the fighters of the twenty-eight cavalry centuries were recruited among wealthy citizens, each of whom was assigned a “public horse.” Together they constituted a class of equestrians, distinct from the class of senators: the expression ordo equester is an exact equivalent to the concept equites romani or equites romani equo publico. Under the empire, horsemen ( equites, equites) were entrusted with administrative and military posts, which were increasingly neglected by the Senate aristocracy. Thus, the equestrian class was supposed to allocate an “elite” to serve the state. Finally, this class merged with the senatorial class and disappeared in the last period of the empire, leaving no traces in posterity. The military monastic orders of the Middle Ages owed him nothing or almost nothing; some clerics who read Latin authors sometimes used the expression ordo equester, denoting by it the class of “fighters” in a society divided into three classes, or three functions. This is what he did at the beginning of the 12th century. Guibert Nozhansky.

The Romans also knew the word miles, meaning soldier in general; after all the best part The Roman armies were made up of infantrymen. So the word militia meant " military service"or "soldier's craft", a military- “to serve in the army” or “to be a soldier.” Command was entrusted to magistr militum, or magistria militiae. During the period of the late empire (III–V centuries), noticeable changes took place in the army and administration: civil and military functions, previously separated, began to be combined (except for the reign of Diocletian) and increasingly assigned to the military. At the same time, everyone in the army greater value cavalry began to acquire and a division into magister peditum[master of infantry ( lat.)] And magister equitum[master of the horsemen ( lat.)]. However, the word miles retained the general meaning of "soldiers". But in a word militia eventually they began to call any public service to the state. It is in this sense that it is predominantly used in the Code of Justinian in the 6th century. (3, 25).

During the Middle Ages, cavalry became the main branch of the military, and cavalryman was almost synonymous with someone who "fights." It was designated by the word miles(plural - milites). But this word, while retaining the technical meaning of “one who fights on horseback,” also acquired an ethical meaning and began to mean the elite of mounted fighters. Local dialects in most cases shared these two meanings: chevalier - cavalier[knight - horseman, in French], Ritter-Reiter German, knight-rider or horseman in English, but in Italian only cavalier, and in Spanish - caballero.

The clergy of that time imagined the ideal Christian society as divided into three classes (or three functions), which are hierarchically arranged and solidary: those who pray, those who fight (and command), those who work. Knights were placed in the second, ordo pugnatorum, class - fighting (or bellatores); but this “order” did not correspond to any institution. Nevertheless, it was from among the knights that the most prominent representatives and management team military monastic orders, first the Temple, Hospital, Teutonic, and then Spanish orders. However, these orders cannot be defined as knightly. First of all, these were monastic orders, like Cluny, like Citeaux (by the way, the Spanish orders, except Santiago, were all part of the Citeaux order), but these monastic orders were primarily - although, of course, not exclusively - designed for the participation of knights and meet their religious needs. The Templars were not monks ( moines), and military ministers of the church ( religieux).

Since the 14th century The circumstances and needs that led to the creation and flourishing of military monastic orders gradually began to disappear, but the orders, except the Temple, did not disappear. The concept of chivalry also no longer reflected the ideal and military prowess of the nobility, which had degraded as a result of the crisis of the end of the Middle Ages. Monarchs still needed nobles and used the title of knight to bestow it on trusted people. They began to create secular orders of knighthood, collecting in them the knights most worthy of serving as models for others. One of the first was the Order of the Ribbon in Castile, but the most famous are the Order of the Garter in England (1347) and the Order of the Golden Fleece in the Burgundian states (1429). The Order of the Star, founded by John the Good in France, included 500 knights (1350).

These secular orders had no relation to the military monastic ones: their members were inspired by other ideals and driven by other needs. But contemporaries believed in their continuity, thanks to which these orders became instruments for the establishment of the royal religion. In the British Library in London there is a manuscript whose author connects the Latin Rule of the Order of the Temple with the statutes of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

However, ultimately the secular and military monastic orders merged. In new times and modern era Every state, every principality considered it their duty to establish orders of merit. In France, revolutionary upheavals led to the creation of a completely new order - the Legion of Honor, but in England the Order of the Garter, and in Portugal the military monastic Order of Aviz were transformed into orders of merit. Some military monastic orders created in the Middle Ages have survived to this day, but at the same time abandoned the military character that constituted their originality in order to adapt to new times or turn into charity organisations. This happened with the Teutonic Order, whose seat is now in Vienna, or the Order of the Hospitallers, which became the Order of Malta and now settled in Rome. These orders again took upon themselves the mission of doing mercy, which was due to them from the very beginning, before militarization. They retained their military attire, which is now no more frightening than the swords of the academicians!

Military monastic orders led an original way of life only in the Middle Ages. Therefore, in this book I will give an overview of their history in the corresponding period - from the beginning of the 11th century, when the concept itself arose, and until 1530, when the Hospitallers expelled from Rhodes Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, went to the island of Malta, which was provided to them by Charles V.