Military chivalric orders. Spiritual and knightly orders and their role in the crusades. List of sources used

13.07.2020

Medieval European papacy after separation from the Byzantine Orthodox Church repeatedly undertook crusades and other military campaigns to gain influence, land and power. Particular attention was paid to the Catholicization of Protestant and Orthodox countries. Despite the fact that the spiritual and chivalric orders suffered a complete failure in fulfilling their initial tasks, some of them still exist today, supporting historical and cultural traditions and directing their forces to humanitarian missions.

Warband

Founded on the basis of a military hospital near Acre in 1190, the Teutonic Order was originally a German branch of the Order of the Hospitallers of St. John. Subsequently, it developed into an independent organization. The main structural difference of the Teutonic Order from other orders was that absolute power was not concentrated in the hands of the Grand Master, a large number of rights and duties were entrusted to the General Chapter. The order's hierarchy was more structured than in other chivalric organizations. The name of the Teutonic Order is heard by the Russian inhabitant, more or less familiar with his own history - it is the Teutons on Lake Peipsi received a crushing defeat from the squad of the legendary Russian prince Alexander Nevsky while trying to conquer the northern part of the Russian state. On the account of the order there are many military campaigns, in fact, they abolished their humanitarian mission in favor of the development of army power. The order was actively spreading to the east of Europe: the Teutons offered their military force in exchange for the Catholicization of the principalities, thanks to which the papal power was getting closer to Russia. But at the beginning of the 15th century, the Lithuanians, together with the Smolensk people and the Poles, literally defeated the military campaign of the Teutons, killing the head of the order. Having lost its former power, the Teutonic Order was ousted from Western Europe by the Protestants. In 1809 it was officially abolished. After several attempts to reorganize and restore the order, today it exists as a humanitarian organization uniting nuns. Interestingly, the Nazi Reich considered itself to be the successor to the cause of the Teutonic Order, especially with regard to the military advance to the east of Europe.

Templars

At the beginning of the 12th century, immediately after the First Crusade, the most famous and overgrown with the most incredible myths order of the Templars was founded in the Holy Land. Initially, it included only 8 knights, and their task was to protect pilgrims on their way to the Christian shrines of Jerusalem. Returning to their homeland, the Templars recruited many knights to serve in the order, and the richest feudal lords of Europe gave them generous donations. The knights honestly fulfilled their Christian mission for about a century, then the order was expected to gradually degenerate. The Knights Templar began to engage in trade and usury. They established the world's first unique prototype of a modern bank, charging money for the service of safekeeping and sending valuables and money. The Templars became the richest organization ever. To this day, many historians and adventurers are looking for the legendary treasures of the Templars. However, money and great influence corrupted the knights, de facto turning them into a gang of armed warriors. Some evidence speaks of the worship of Satan and the use of magic by the Templars. The clergy turned a blind eye to their crimes, and the secular authorities were afraid of their reputation and power. Officially, the order was abolished by the Pope in 1312, but already a few years before that, the Templars were subjected to severe persecution and executions.

Hospitallers

At the end of the 11th century, a hospital was founded in the Holy Land to help and treat Christian pilgrims and provide an escort to ensure the safety of wanderers. After the Muslims finally settled in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers were forced to cede their possessions. They wandered for a long time in search of a successful and safe place for their residence. Over the years, they settled, built castles and developed a management system in Tripoli, Cyprus, Rhodes, Halicarnassus, until finally in the 15th century they chose Malta. To this day, the residence of the Hospitallers is located there, and their order is the oldest of the current ones. Along with the name "Hospitallers" there is also the name "Johnites". Today's mission of the Knights Hospitaller is humanitarian, educational and charitable. Their legal status on the world stage is also interesting: de facto they are a state without a territory. The official name of today's organization is the Order of Malta. It has many features of statehood and even officially represents the UN. Multiple diplomatic missions around the world are similar to the embassies and diplomatic missions of states, and at the head of this organization is the Grand Master, who acts as the ruler of the organization.

swordsmen

At the dawn of the 13th century, the Order of the Sword was formed in East Prussia. In fact, it was part of a military strategy to conquer and catholicize Eastern European lands. The order was guided by the system and charter of the Templars, with the only difference being that they did not report directly to the pope, but to the bishop. The order lasted a little over 30 years, after which it completely merged into the Teutonic Order. The sword-bearers managed to inscribe themselves in the history of Russia. Several times they unsuccessfully tried to conquer the Novgorod lands, after which they undertook a trip to the places where modern Tallinn is located - it was they who founded the Revel fortress, which became the beginning of the future Estonian capital. Subsequently, they had several more unsuccessful campaigns on Russian lands, although the sword-bearers threw the main forces against the Balts and Lithuanians. Having declared the Crusade against Lithuania, the swordsmen suffered the most devastating defeat in their history, their Grand Master also died. After losing, their remnants were attached to the Teutons.

The emergence of spiritual knightly orders is considered one of the mysteries of the medieval history of Europe. Here is what the British historian Alan Forey writes about this: “The sources that have come down to us do not explain the reasons for the transformation of monastic and charitable organizations into military monastic orders. Obviously the example was provided by the Templars, but it is not clear why it was followed.

In some cases, the actions of specific individuals can be traced: for example, the militarization of the society of St. Thomas Aquinas can be attributed to the initiative of the Bishop of Winchester, Peter de Roche, who came to the East at a time when the monastery of the black clergy was in a state of decline. But there could be other reasons as well. In particular, among the members of these organizations, in addition to St. Thomas Aquinas were certainly men capable of holding arms, and it is possible that they were approached for military assistance due to the constant lack of military strength among the settlers in the Holy Land.

However, this mystery is of the same nature as the entire Crusader movement as a whole. If you understand the idea and the very spirit of the Crusades, as well as the whole chivalry as a whole, then the emergence of spiritual knightly orders becomes a completely understandable and explainable phenomenon. The orders became the highest embodiment of the idea of knightly piety - the combination of religiosity and Christian piety with military prowess and the desire for worldly glory.

For the bulk of chivalry, participation in the Crusades was a relatively rare occurrence. For members of the spiritual knightly orders, this participation was a constant and continuous action, which constituted the whole essence and meaning of their activities.

It must be said that the idea of a spiritual knightly order did not immediately receive recognition. She had her opponents, who usually opposed the idea of the Crusades themselves in general. And in the order itself, not everyone was sure of legitimacy, i.e. legitimacy of the activities of the order. The sharpness of the controversy can be judged from the book of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who set out his arguments for the defense of the spiritual and knightly orders in the essay "De laude novae militae". Despite all the objections and doubts, the order quickly gained support in church circles, which was reflected in the church cathedral in Troyes.

Following the historical truth, knightly orders arose in the era of the Crusades and were originally located at Christian churches in Jerusalem.

The main goal of these organizations was to protect wanderers who came to worship religious shrines. The monk Bernard of Clairvaux was considered the ideologist of the "army of Christ" movement, proclaiming the motto: "Great happiness is to die in God, even happier is the one who dies for God!" .

The order movement was formed on the basis of the ideas of St. Benedict of Nursia, the founder of the Benedictine Union. He was considered the "father" of Western monasticism and was proclaimed the patron saint of all Catholics in Europe. For his monastery in Naples, Benedict of Nursia composed a charter that expressed the basic principles of monastic life.

The mentor of the Benedictines recognized only charitable worldly deeds - such as helping the suffering, caring for the elderly and crippled, fighting evil - the spiritual sword. Unlike their predecessor, the confessors of the knights included a material sword in their arsenal. The first charter of the "new army of Christ" included clauses that put forward the task of the moral rebirth of the brothers.

The largest military-monastic unions that formed the ideology of their followers were the orders of the Johnites and the Templars. Having different goals, the members of these organizations were guided by similar rules, according to which the brothers took vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience, an oath with weapons in their hands to defend fellow believers and Christianity. In addition, the knights took a separate oath personally to the pontiff; not submitting to bishops and secular monarchs, they saw their mission in strengthening the power of the Pope. National orders - Teutonic Alcantara, Calatrava, Santiago or Aviedade brotherhood were formed in the XII century as an additional military force in the service of local sovereigns.

The possessions of the orders were united in komturii, headed by commanders and chapters. The central leadership was carried out by the Grand Master. The heads of the Johnites and the Templars set up their residences in Jerusalem. The highest body - the general chapter in the Catholic chivalric and monastic orders, the collegium of leading persons - rarely met and often made biased decisions.

During the Crusade, the military orders of knights were to provide cover and support for the Christian goals of advancing into the Holy Lands. These knights became the fiercest of all the Crusaders, and the most bitter enemies of the Arabs. These orders continued to exist even when the Crusades in Palestine failed.

The first of these orders were the Knights of the Temple, or simply the Templars, they were founded in 1108 to protect the Holy Sepulcher of Christ, which was located in Jerusalem. The templars were dressed in white robes, which were edged with a large red cross, and they adhered to the same views as the Benedictine monks, namely the protection of the poor, chastity and humility. The Templars were among the most courageous defenders of the Holy Land, but gained a bad reputation for their brutality towards captives. These knights were the very last of the crusaders to leave the Holy Land. In the years that followed, they became very wealthy people, having plundered a huge amount of treasure and refraining from all sorts of political pacts, having a distrust of the monarchs. In 1307, the King of France, Philip the 4th accused them of many crimes, including heresy, all the knights of the order were arrested and their lands confiscated. The rest of the European leaders followed suit, and the Templars finally ceased to exist.

The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, or simply the Hospitallers, were organized to provide assistance to weakened or sick pilgrims who visited the Holy Burial of the Messiah. Soon they were reorganized into a fully military order. They wore a red robe with a large white cross and adhered to the canons of St. Benedict's. The Hospitallers were a well-trained organization in which its members were not allowed to rob the destitute and kill prisoners. After they had to leave their stronghold in the Holy Land, the castle of Krak des Chevaliers, they retreated and settled on the island of Rhodes, and strongly defended it for many years. After they were expelled from Rhodes by the Turks, they settled on the islands of Malta, the third great militarized order was called the Teutonic, and was founded in 1190 to protect the German pilgrims who traveled to the Holy Land.

After the end of the Crusades, they began to develop their activities on the northern borders of Prussia, in the lands coastal to the Baltic Sea. The Teutonic Knights were one of the rulers of parts of Poland and Prussia until Napoleon seized their possessions in the 19th century.

CRUSADES

1. SPIRITUAL AND ROYAL ORDERS

In the XI - XIII centuries. The Catholic Church acted as the organizer of the crusades, the purpose of which she announced was the liberation from the Muslims of Palestine and the "Holy Sepulcher", which, according to legend, was in Jerusalem. The true purpose of the campaigns was to seize land and plunder the eastern countries, the wealth of which was much talked about in Europe at that time.

In the crusader armies, with the blessing of the Pope, special monastic-knightly organizations were created: they were called spiritual-knightly orders. Entering the order, the knight remained a warrior, but took the usual vow of monasticism: he could not have a family. From that time on, he implicitly obeyed the head of the order, the grandmaster, or grand master.

The orders were directly subordinate to the pope, and not to the rulers on whose lands their possessions were located.

Having seized vast territories in the East, the orders launched a wide range of activities in the "holy land". The knights enslaved the peasants, both local and those who came with them from Europe. Robbing cities and villages, engaging in usury, exploiting the local population, the orders accumulated huge wealth. The looted gold was used to buy large estates in Europe. Gradually, the orders turned into the richest corporations.

The first was founded in 1119 by the order of the Templars (templars). Initially, it was located not far from the place where, according to legend, the Temple of Jerusalem stood. Soon he became the richest.

Going on a crusade, large feudal lords and knights often mortgaged their lands and other property in the European offices of the order. Fearing robbery on the way, they took only a receipt in order to receive money upon arrival in Jerusalem. So the Templars became not only usurers, but also the organizers of banking. And it brought them enormous wealth: after all, many crusaders died on the way, not having time to reach Jerusalem ...

The second was the Order of the Hospitallers-St. John. It got its name from the hospital of St. John, who helped sick pilgrims. At the end of the XXI century. the third order of the Teutonic order was formed. Later he moved to the shores Baltic Sea, where in 1237 he united with the Order of the Sword. The united Order of the Swordsmen brutally exterminated and plundered the local Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian tribes. He tried to seize Russian lands in the 13th century, but Prince Alexander Nevsky defeated the knightly army on the ice of Lake Peipsi on April 5, 1242.

In the XI - XII centuries. Three orders arose in Spain. They were created by the knights in connection with the reconquista - the struggle aimed at expelling the Arabs from Spain.

In the XIV - XV centuries. European kings, creating centralized states, subjugated the spiritual and knightly orders. So, the French king Philip IV the Handsome severely cracked down on the richest of them - the Knights Templar. In 1307 the Templars were accused of heresy. Many of them were burned at the stake, the property of the order was confiscated, adding to the royal treasury. But some orders have survived to this day. For example, in Rome there is still an order of St. John - this is a reactionary clerical (church) institution.

2 CHILDREN'S CRUSSES

In the summer of 1212, along the roads of France and Greece, boys from 12 years old and older, dressed in summer clothes, were moving in small groups and whole crowds: in simple linen shirts over short trousers, almost all barefoot and with uncovered heads. Each had a red, even and green cloth cross sewn on the front of his shirt. They were young crusaders. Colorful flags waved over the processions; on some there was an image of Jesus Christ, on others - the virgin with a baby. With sonorous voices, the crusaders sang religious hymns praising God. Where and for what purpose were all these crowds of children sent?

For the first time at the very beginning of the XI century. Pope Urban II called on Western Europe to crusade. This happened in the late autumn of 1095, shortly after the gathering (congress) of churchmen ended in the city of Clermont (in France). The Pope addressed the crowds of knights, peasants, townspeople. monks gathered on the plain near the city, with a call to start a holy war against the Muslims. Tens of thousands of knights and rural poor from France, and later from some other countries of Western Europe, responded to the call of the pope.

All of them in 1096 went to Palestine to fight against the Turokselzhuks, who shortly before that captured the city of Jerusalem, which was considered sacred by Christians. According to legend, there supposedly was the tomb of Jesus Christ, the mythical founder of the Christian religion. The liberation of this shrine served as a pretext for the crusades. The crusaders attached cloth crosses to their clothes as a sign that they were going to war with a religious goal - to expel the Gentiles (Muslims) from Jerusalem and other places sacred to Christians in Palistine.

In fact, the objectives of the crusaders were not only

religious. By the 11th century land in Western Europe was divided

between secular and ecclesiastical feudal lords. According to custom, only his eldest son could inherit the land of a lord. As a result, a numerous layer of feudal lords who did not have land was formed. They wanted to get it by any means. The Catholic Church, not without reason, feared that these knights would not encroach on her vast possessions. In addition, the clergy, led by the Pope, sought to extend their influence to new territories and profit from them. Rumors about the riches of the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, which were spread by pilgrims (pilgrims) who visited Palestine, aroused the greed of the knights. The popes took advantage of this, throwing the cry "To the East!". In the plans of the crusader knights, the liberation of the "Holy Sepulcher" was of secondary importance: the feudal lords sought to seize overseas lands, cities, and wealth.

First time in crusades the peasant poor also participated, suffering severely from the oppression of the feudal lords, crop failures and famine. Dark, needy farmers, mostly serfs, listening to the sermons of churchmen, believed that all the disasters that they experience were sent down by God for some unknown sins. Priests and monks assured that if the crusaders succeeded in recapturing the “Holy Sepulcher” from the Muslims, then the almighty God would take pity on the poor and ease their lot. The church promised the crusaders forgiveness of sins, and in case of death - a right place in paradise.

Already during the first crusade, tens of thousands of poor people died, and only a few of them made it to Jerusalem with strong knightly militias. When in 1099 the crusaders captured this city and other coastal cities of Syria and Palestine, all the wealth went only to large feudal lords and chivalry. Having seized the fertile lands and flourishing trading cities of the "Holy Land", as the Europeans then called Palestine, the "Christ warriors" founded their states. The alien peasants received almost nothing, and therefore, in the future, fewer and fewer peasants participated in the crusades.

In the XII century. the knights had to equip themselves for war under the sign of the cross many times in order to hold the occupied territories.

However, all these crusades failed. When at the beginning of the XIII century. French, Italian and German knights for the fourth time girded themselves with a sword at the call of Pope Innocent III, they did not go against the Muslims, but fell upon the Christian state of Byzantium. In April 1204, the knights captured its capital Constantinople and plundered it, showing what all the pompous phrases about saving the "Holy Sepulcher" were worth.

Eight years after this shameful event, the Children's Crusades took place. Medieval monk-chroniclers talk about them like this. In May 1212, the twelve-year-old shepherd boy Etienne came to the abbey of St. Dionysius, in Paris, from nowhere. He announced that he had been sent by God himself to lead the campaign of children against the "infidels" in the "Holy Land". Then this little boy went to the villages and cities. In the squares, at the crossroads, in all crowded places, he delivered passionate speeches to crowds of people, urging his peers to gather on the road to the "Holy Sepulcher". He said: “Adult crusaders are bad people, greedy and greedy sinners. No matter how much they fight for Jerusalem, nothing comes out of them: the almighty God does not want to give sinners victory over the infidels. Only pure children can receive God’s mercy. will succeed in freeing Jerusalem from the power of the Sultan.By the command of God, the Mediterranean Sea will part before them, and they will cross the dry bottom, like the biblical hero Moses, and take away the "holy tomb" from the infidels.

"Jesus Himself came to me in a dream and revealed that the children would deliver Jerusalem from the yoke of the pagans," the shepherd boy said. For greater persuasiveness, he raised some kind of letter above his head. "Here is a letter," said Etienne, "that the savior gave me, instructing me to lead you on an overseas campaign for the glory of God."

Immediately, right in front of numerous listeners, chronicles (chronicles) tell, Etienne performed various "miracles": he seemed to restore sight to the blind and heal the crippled from ailments with one touch of his hands. Etienne gained wide popularity in France. At his call, crowds of boys moved to the city of Vendôme, which became the rallying point for the young crusaders.

The naive stories of the chroniclers do not explain where such an amazing religious zeal came from among the children. Meanwhile, the reasons were the same that prompted the poor peasants to be the first to move to the East. And although the movement of the crusaders in the XIII century. It was already discredited by predatory "exploits" and major failures of the knights and was on the wane, yet the people's belief that God would be more merciful if the holy city of Jerusalem could be recaptured was not completely extinguished. This faith was strongly supported by the ministers of the church. Priests and monks sought to extinguish the growing discontent of the serfs against the masters with the help of "charitable deeds" - the crusades.

Behind the holy fool (mentally ill) shepherd Etienne were clever churchmen. It was not difficult for them to train him to create pre-prepared "miracles".

Crusader "fever" seized tens of thousands of poor children, first in France and then in Germany. The fate of the young crusaders was very deplorable. 30 thousand children followed the shepherd Etienne. They went through Tours, Lyons and other cities, feeding on alms. Pope Innocent III, the instigator of many bloody wars undertaken under a religious banner, did nothing to stop this insane campaign. On the contrary, he declared: "These children serve as a reproach to us adults: while we sleep, they joyfully stand up for the Holy Land."

A lot of adults joined the children on the way - peasants, poor artisans, priests and monks, as well as thieves and other criminal rabble. Often, these robbers took food and money from children, which were given to them by the surrounding residents. The crowd of crusaders, like a rolling avalanche, increased along the way. Finally, they reached Marseille. Here everyone immediately rushed to the pier, expecting a miracle: but, of course, the sea did not part before them. But there were two greedy merchants who offered to transport the crusaders across the sea without any payment, for the sake of the success of the "God's cause." The children were loaded onto seven large ships. Off the coast of Sardinia, near the island of St. Perth, the ships were caught in a storm. Two ships, along with all the passengers, sank, and the remaining five were delivered by shipbuilders to the harbors of Egypt, where the inhuman shipowners sold the children into slavery.

At the same time, 20 thousand German children set off on a crusade with French children. They were fascinated by a 10-year-old boy named Nikolai, taught by his father to say the same thing as Etienne. Crowds of young German crusaders from Cologne moved south along the Rhine. With difficulty, the children crossed the Alps: from hunger, thirst, fatigue and disease, two-thirds of the children died; the rest of the half-dead reached the Italian city of Genoa. The ruler of the city, deciding that the arrival of so many children was nothing but the intrigues of the enemies of the republic, ordered the crusaders to immediately get out. The exhausted children moved on. Only a small part of them reached the city of Brindisi. The sight of ragged and hungry children was so pathetic that the local authorities opposed the continuation of the campaign. The young crusaders had to return home. Most of them died of starvation on the way back. According to eyewitnesses, the corpses of children lay uncleaned on the roads for many weeks. The surviving crusaders turned to the pope with a request to release them from the vow of the crusade. But the pope agreed to give them a respite only for a while until they reach adulthood.

A terrible page in history - the children's crusades, some scientists tend to consider fiction. In fact, the children's crusades were, not a legend. Many chroniclers of the 13th century narrate about them, compiling their chronicles independently of each other.

The crusades of children were the result of the disasters of the working people and the harmful influence of religious fanaticism, which was inflated in every possible way among the people by Catholic clergy. They were the main culprits of the mass death of the young crusaders.

Spiritual-knightly or, as they are sometimes called, military-monastic orders appeared immediately after the start of the Crusades. Their appearance is as unusual and mysterious as the Crusades themselves. If we take into account the huge role that they played in the struggle for the Holy Land, as well as their subsequent how glorious, just as tragic fate, then we can say with confidence that we are now touching on one of the most interesting and mysterious topics in the history of medieval Europe. .

If in the Middle Ages chivalry was indeed perceived as a path to Salvation, then, probably, in no other chivalric institution this idea was expressed as clearly as in this one. A knight who made three monastic vows became a member of the spiritual and chivalric order: non-possession, obedience and chastity. Entering the order, the knights often made rich contributions to it. They were forbidden to have wives, and they also had to obey strict military discipline. All this together really turned the life of the members of the order brotherhood into a real, severe feat.

However, in addition to the spiritual and knightly orders in the history of chivalry, there were other formations of the order type. In general, knightly orders can be divided into three categories:

1. spiritual and knightly orders, which operated for the most part during the Crusades, the most important of them are the Order of the Knights Templar, the Order of the Hospitallers of St. John, the Teutonic Order, etc .;

2. honorary knightly orders, which were of a completely secular nature and had the goal of rewarding personal merits, and not any special activity, the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Golden Fleece and others;

3. fictional and legendary orders of chivalry, known only in literature, for example, the order of King Arthur, known as the brotherhood of knights Round Table.

The history of honorary secular orders is an important part of chivalric culture. Their heyday falls on the XIV-XV centuries, when the process of general secularization began to gain momentum in Europe. If the spiritual and knightly orders were subordinate to the Pope, then the honorary orders were usually headed by a king or duke and served as an instrument for strengthening their personal power as opposed to the power of the pope. Secular orders are a very interesting topic, directly related to the history of chivalry, but its consideration is already beyond the scope of the Apologia.

After the first Crusade, when the crusaders succeeded in recapturing Antioch and Jerusalem, the need arose for the constant protection of the new Latin states formed in the East from the Arabs and Turks. To this goal - the defense of the Holy Land - two orders of chivalry devoted themselves: the Order of the Knights Templar and the Order of the Hospitallers. The following is Short story these two orders, as well as the history of the Teutonic Order - as the third most powerful and famous knightly order, the history of which affects, in particular, the history of Ancient Russia.

Order of the Knights Templar. It was founded in 1119 to protect pilgrims traveling in Palestine, but a few years later the order begins military operations in Palestine against Muslims. The headquarters of the order is located in Jerusalem, near the former Temple of Solomon. Hence the name of the order - the Templars, or Templars. (le temple, fr. - temple). In 1129 the order was recognized at a church council in Troyes. Pope Honorius II approves the charter of the order. The active military activity of the order begins, both in Palestine and in other theaters of military operations, for example, in Spain from 1143. The order receives help from the most different countries Europe, has numerous branches in Europe, owns land, conducts financial transactions. In 1307, by order of the French king Philip IV the Handsome, all the Knights Templar were arrested in France in one night. After the trial of the Templars in 1312, the order was liquidated by decree of Pope Clement V. In 1314, the last Grand Master of the Order, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake in Paris.

Order of the St. John the Hospitallers. The Brotherhood of John was founded even before the First Crusade at the hospital of St. John the Merciful in Jerusalem, hence the name of the order. The purpose of the brotherhood was to help the poor and sick pilgrims. It has a wide network of shelters and hospitals, both in the East and in Europe. After the First Crusade, it also assumes the functions of the military defense of the Latin states from the "infidels". The headquarters is located in Jerusalem. After the loss of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Crusaders from Palestine, the Hospitallers establish their headquarters on Fr. Rhodes from 1311

In 1522 the Turks besiege and capture about. Rhodes. Hospitallers leave Fr. Rhodes. In 1530 the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V, grants Fr. Malta near Sicily. The order receives a new name - the Order of Malta. The Hospitallers are building a powerful fleet and are actively involved in naval operations against the Turks in the Mediterranean.

In 1792 in France, during the revolution, the property of the order was confiscated. In 1798, French troops led by Napoleon Bonaparte captured Malta and expelled the Hospitallers from there. The Order of Malta is taken under the protection of Paul I, who establishes the Maltese Cross - the highest award Russian Empire. After the death of Paul I in 1801, the order was deprived of patronage in Russia, and from 1834 it acquired a permanent residence in Rome. Currently, members of the order are engaged in providing medical and other assistance to the sick and wounded.

Warband. He grew up from a brotherhood at a German hospital. The founding date of the order is considered to be 1199. In 1225, the Teutonic Order was invited to Prussia, where its headquarters were transferred. From 1229, the order begins the conquest of Prussia, and since then this task has become the main one in its activities.

Reception of knights is carried out mainly only from German lands. In 1237, the Teutonic Order united with the Order of the Sword, after which the conquest of Livonia also began. In 1242, the order was defeated on Lake Peipsi by Alexander Nevsky. In 1245, the order receives permission to conduct a "continuous" Crusade in Prussia. In 1309, the order moved its headquarters to Prussia in the city of Marienburg. In 1410, the troops of the Teutonic Order are defeated in the Battle of Grunwald by the combined forces of Poles, Lithuanians, Czechs and Russians. In 1466, at the conclusion of the Peace of Torun, the Teutonic Order recognizes itself as a vassal of the Kingdom of Poland.

Thus, in the XI - XIII centuries. The Catholic Church acted as the organizer of the Crusades, the purpose of which she announced the liberation from the Muslims of Palestine and the "Holy Sepulcher", which, according to legend, was in Jerusalem. The true purpose of the campaigns was to seize land and plunder the eastern countries, the wealth of which was much talked about in Europe at that time.

As a result of military campaigns in the armies of the crusaders, with the blessing of the Pope, special monastic-knightly organizations were created - spiritual-knightly orders. Entering the order, the knight remained a warrior, but took the usual vow of monasticism: he could not have a family. From that time on, he implicitly obeyed the head of the order - the grandmaster, or grand master. The orders were directly subordinate to the pope, and not to the rulers on whose lands their possessions were located.

Having seized vast territories in the East, the orders launched wide-ranging activities in the "holy land". The knights enslaved the peasants, both local and those who came with them from Europe. Robbing cities and villages, engaging in usury, exploiting the local population, the orders accumulated huge wealth. The looted gold was used to buy large estates in Europe. Gradually, the orders turned into the richest corporations. Soon the order of the Knights Templar became the richest order.

Aspects of the detailed history of the creation of spiritual knightly orders and their role in the history of medieval Europe will be covered in more detail and considered in the second chapter of our graduation project.

The modern official name is the Sovereign Military, Hospice Order of St. John, Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta. The official residence is in Rome (Italy).
It got its name from the hospital and the church of St. John the Baptist, where the monastic order created in 1113 was located, which eventually turned into a military-spiritual organization. By their fighting qualities and military prowess, the Joanites were rightfully considered the best warriors Europe. After the Crusaders were expelled from Palestine, the Hospitallers crossed over to Cyprus, where they built a fleet and in 1309 captured the island of Rhodes. 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 charitable activities.

The official name is the Order of the Knights of the Solomon Temple, also the Order of the Knights of Christ. It arose in 1119 in Jerusalem from the knights who 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 operations, due to which he accumulated huge wealth. After the expulsion from Palestine, the order switched almost completely 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, in 1312 the order was dissolved by papal bull.

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. The goals are the protection of the German knights, the treatment of the sick, the fight against the enemies of the Catholic Church. At the beginning of the XIII century, he moved his activities to Prussia and the Baltic states, where he took part in the crusades against the Slavs and the Baltic states. On the conquered lands, the state of the Teutonic Knights, Livonia, was actually formed. 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.

The spiritually knightly order of Calatrava (Calatrava la Vieja) was founded in Spain in 1158 by the monk Raymond de Fetero. Pope Alexander III in 1164 approved the charter of the order. The knightly order got its name from the fortress of Calatrava conquered from the Arabs. The distinctive sign of the members of the order was white and black clothes with a red cross. Order accepted Active participation in the reconquest of the lands occupied by the Moors in 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 chivalry under the auspices of the King of Spain.

The spiritually chivalric order of Alcantara was founded in 1156 in Spain. Initially, it was a military-religious brotherhood of knights, called 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 León to the Order of San Julian de Pereiro. After that, 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.

The official name is the Order of Saint Bennet of Avish. The order was created in 1147 to protect the city of Évora, which had recently been recaptured from the Moors. In 1223
the residence of the order was transferred to the city of Avis, donated by the king of Portugal and fortified by the knights. The order participated in the Portuguese part of the Reconquista and the colonization of the coast of Africa. Disbanded in 1910, but in 1917 restored as a purely civilian, headed by the President of Portugal.

The Order of the Sword is a German Catholic spiritual and knightly order, officially called the "Brothers of Christ's Host". It was founded in 1202 on the initiative of Canon Albert of Bremen, 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 occupied lands were assigned to the order. After a number of defeats from the Russian princes and Lithuania, the remnants of the order in 1237 joined the Teutonic Order.

Spiritually - a knightly order, the successor of the Templars in Portugal. Established in 1318 by the Portuguese king Dinis to continue the struggle begun by the Templars against the Muslims. 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 voyages of Portuguese navigators. Vasco da Gama and other wandering knights of Tomar sailed with the emblem of the order. Like the Order of Avis, it was dissolved in 1910, but in 1917 it was restored as a purely civil order, headed by the President of Portugal.

The official name is the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint 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 Patriarchy. 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 the capture of Jerusalem by Salah ad-Din in October 1187, the order participated in hostilities, in particular during the Third Crusade. In the battle of Forbia on October 17, 1244, the order lost all of 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. The modern Order of Saint Lazarus has branches in 24 countries around the world and continues its charitable activities.