What is the Knights Hospitaller?

The Knights Hospitaller was founded in Jerusalem in the year 1070, approximately 26 years before the First Crusade commenced. The Knights Hospitaller was founded as a hospital that tended to sick Christian pilgrims who were visiting the Holy Land (Jerusalem). After the First Crusade ended, the Hospitaller transformed itself into a military order as a safety precaution and resumed its duties as a hospital for Christian pilgrims.

In 1187, Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt and Syria and the founder of the Ayyubid Dynasty, expelled the Hospitaller from Jerusalem after having laid siege to the city using a combination of diplomacy and military might. The Hospitaller would move its operations to Acre, Israel, and after Acre was besieged by the Muslims in 1291, the Hospitaller moved its operation to Limassol in Cypress, an island that is southeast of Greece. In 1309, the Hospitaller captured the island of Rhodes, which is a part of the Aegean Islands of Greece. The knights ruled the Island as a sovereign country and established the right to coin money there. They changed their name to the "Knights of Rhodes," and kept a standing army, a hospital, a church, and they commissioned other public works projects on the island. The Knights of Rhodes ruled the island of Rhodes for more than 200 years. Eventually, however, the Turks would become the dominant Muslim nation in the near-east. They overpowered the Arabs and subsequently expanded into new territories. In 1522, the Muslims, under the leadership of Süleyman the Magnificent, would capture the island of Rhodes and the Knights of Rhodes had to leave the island. This catastrophic event devastated the knights to the point where they had trouble re-establishing themselves as an institution.

The knights wandered from place to place over a seven-year period before eventually settling on the island of Malta, an island 230 miles south of Sicily. This island was given to the knights as a gift from King Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. The Knights of Rhodes then changed their name to the Knights of Malta, and they established themselves on the island, becoming a formidable fighting force. In 1565, they famously and successfully defended themselves from an attack that was spearheaded by Süleyman the Magnificent. This battle was significant because the knights would have lost everything including their freedom, and their lives, had they been defeated.

The Knights of Malta exist to this day under the name of the Order of Malta. The Order of Malta is overseen by the Vatican, and it exists as a staunchly Catholic humanitarian organization. It is always interesting to see medieval orders such as the Knights Hospitaller evolve over time and continue to the present day. Orders such as these have a sense of history, purpose, and political relevance that sets them apart from other religious orders that do not have the same longevity and history.