THE ORDER OF ST JOHN IN JERUSALEM

THE ORDER OF ST JOHN IN JERUSALEM


Part 1.

When the Knights of St John captured Rhodes and assumed authority over virtually the

whole of the Dodecanese, they already had two centuries of history behind them. The exact

date of the founding of their religious-military Order is difficult to determine, since its

beginnings are shrouded in legend and historical obscurity.

It is very possible that future research will bring to light new evidence bearing on this issue,

but at present it may be said, with reservations, that the inception of a philanthropic

Christian Order has been traced back to Jerusalem, in around the middle of the eleventh

century. Amalfian traders obtained permission from the Caliph to build the church of

Sainte Marie-Latine next to the church of the Resurrection, as well as a hospice for the

accommodation of Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. The hospice-hospital was run by

Benedictine monks. It seems that from the end of the eleventh to the beginning of the

twelfth century, that is prior to the First Crusade and the capture of Jerusalem by the

Western Europeans, this first Frankish hospice-hospital had no connections with the

Order of the Hospitallers, as the Knights of St John ( named after their patron St John

the Baptist ) were otherwise known.


Part 2.

In the early years of the twelfth century the enigmatic figure of Pierre Gerard or

Gerard Tenque appeared in Jerusalem, a personality swathed in legend. Neither his

homeland, his family nor his education are known, yet according to all indications to date,

it is he who founded the Order. The Amalfian hospice was merely a precursory foundation.

It is very probable that in Gerard’s day the Knights were only hospitallers and had no

military capacity or organization.

After Gerard’s death, he was succeeded in 1120/1 by Raymond du Puys, who took the title

of Master for the first time. It was then that the Order was organized as a military body, in

accordance with Western European feudal principles, though it did not abandon its original

philanthropic role, at least ostensibly. Through donations, it acquired an enormous property

in land, including entire provinces in the West and East. From the beginning of the twelfth

century, the Knights of St John, together with the Templars, became the most important

representatives of the ideology of the Crusade, wielding their swords against the Mohammedan

foe in the heart of the Holy Land. This explains the zeal with which feudal Europe offered them

economic and moral support. They were ever the spearhead, which initially struggled in the cause

of Western expansionism and the establishment of Western possessions in the East, and later

to defend the West humiliation and defeat at the hands of the “Infidel”. The Knights acquired

military strongholds in Syria and Palestine, such as Jerusalem, Caesarea, Capernaum, Jericho,

Ascalon, Margat, Krak and others.


Part 3.

The Western Europeans barely managed to maintain their hold on the Middle East for two

centuries. In the face of the Arab force, urban centres and fortresses fell one after the other.

The Knights played their part in the defence of the Holy Land and, loyal to their mission, were the

last to retreat. In the wake of the final fall of Jerusalem and Asclon in 1247, came that of Krak

in 1271, and of Margat in 1281. The last beleaguered fortress of the Franks was Acre in Palestine,

which too capitulated in 1291. Decimated and with their Grand Master severely wounded, the

Knights of St John went to Cyprus, where they installed themselves in the region of Limassol.

On Cyprus, however they felt restricted. They were vassals of the island’s Frankish king and

thus unable to act freely. In 1306 the opportunity of acquiring new headquarters befitting their

purpose presented itself. The Grand Master Foulques de Villaret entered into negotiations with

Vignolo de’ Vignoli, who was a liegelord of the Dodecanese. The two men drew up an agreement

whereby, after the capture of Rhodes, Vignolo de’ Vignoli would retain one-third of the island,

the Knights the other two-thirds, the whole of Leros and two-thirds of Kos.