Order of St John
of Jerusalem

In 1048, Constantino di Pantaleone di Mauro, a merchant from Amalfi negotiated with the Caliph of Egypt the founding of a hospice in Jerusalem to care for weary pilgrims, the sick and the injured. It was built north of the church of the Holy Sepulchre near the church of St. Maria Latina, which had been founded by the merchants of Amalfi between 1014 and 1023. Next to the hospice they also built a chapel dedicated to St John the Almsgiver. The hospice become known as the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem and adopted the eight pointed White Cross of Amalfi. The order established additional hospitals along the pilgrimage routes to Jerusalem.

On 15 July 1099 Jerusalem fell to the Crusaders after a five week siege and the victors proceeded to massacre the city's Muslims and Jews. Godfrey of Bouillon, the leader of the First Crusade gave the hospital land and money to increase and extend its work. A new and larger hospital and hostel was erected on the old site of Charlemagne's hospice, which had been destroyed in the eleventh century. This site was near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and adjoined the church built by the Crusaders to honor St John the Baptist

The creation of the Crusader kingdom and its needs required a new institutional framework. The innovation was the combination of the roles of knight and monk in the creation of the military order of the Knights Templar. The Council of Troyes in 1126 approved the rule for the Knights Templar, which had been written by St Bernard of Clairvaux. Following the great success of the Knights Templar, Raymond du Puy reorganised the order of St John along military lines to become the Knights Hospitaller.

After the great sige of Acre in 1291, the Knights Hospitaller went briefly to Cyrpus. On 13 October 1307, King Philip IV of France arrested the Knights Templar in his kingdom. Pope Clement V abolished the Knights Templar on 3 April 1312. The great international crusading medieval orders of chivalry were succeeded by honorary associations of knights which were established by sovereigns within their dominions. Examples include the Order of the Garter and Order of the Golden Fleece.

In 1310 the Knights Hospitaller moved to Rhodes where they remainded until 1523.

The Knights arrived in Malta in 1535 after negotiations with Charles V of Spain. The Annual Commemorative Day of the Order, 7 September marks the seige of Malta in 1565, after which the Knights built the capital of Valletta. The hospitals of the Knights in Malta were at the forefront of medical science. The capture of Malta by Napoleon in 1798 lead to the dispersal of the Knights throughout Europe and resulted in the various Orders of St John today.

Order of St John

> Amalfi

> St John
the Almsgiver

> Pilgrimage

> chivalry
cult of death

> St John
the Baptist