Augustinian Order. Appeared in the second half of the 13th century and received the privileges of a mendicant order. The Order united several hermit communities in Italy (Johnbonites, Tuscan Eremites, Britinians, etc.) into one congregation. The order's charter was not strict. In the 14th century, with an even greater weakening of the original strictness of the charter, the order was transformed into numerous new congregations, one of them was the Saxon one, to which Staupitz and Luther belonged.
Franciscan Order. The founder was the son of a merchant - Francis of Assisi. Francis, having taken a vow of perfect mendicancy, became a traveling preacher of repentance, apostolic poverty, asceticism and love of neighbor in 1208. Soon several students gathered around him, with whom he formed Order of Friars Minor or minorities. Pope Innocent 3, to whom Francis appeared, although he did not approve the order, allowed him and his brothers to engage in preaching and missionary work. In 1223, the order was solemnly approved by a bull of Pope Honorius 3, and the minorities were given the right to preach and make confession everywhere. In 1212, Clara of Assisi founded the order Clarissa, to which Francis gave a charter in 1224. After the death of Francis in 1226, the order spread throughout all countries of Western Europe and numbered thousands of monks.
Dominican Order. The Order was founded at approximately the same time as Francis by a priest and canon Dominican Republic. At the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries. Many heretics appeared in the Roman Church, who found shelter in southern France and caused great unrest. Dominic, traveling through southern France, became acquainted with its heretical population, and decided to found an order specially designed for this purpose to convert heretics. Having received permission in 1215 from Pope Innocent, and from Pope Honorius a charter, the order declared itself. According to this charter, the main activity of the order was to be the conversion of heretics. But Honorius, also to strengthen the Catholic faith, granted the order the right to engage in preaching and confession everywhere. From preaching, the Order of Dominic was originally called the Order brother preachers, later in honor of the founder it began to be called Dominican. In 1220, Dominic made a change in the charter of his order, adding, following the example of the Franciscans, begging to the main vows of the brethren. In principle, the Dominican Order was very similar to the Order of Francis. The difference lies in the fact that, in accordance with its task of converting heretics and establishing the Catholic faith, it took upon itself primarily the educational direction and acted as an order engaged in in-depth study of theology among the upper classes. Dominicans founded their own educational institutions. At the same time, the Franciscans were rivals and opponents of the Dominicans in many dogmatic issues. After Dominic's death in 1221, his order spread throughout Western Europe.
The Franciscan and Dominican monastic orders had, like no other, special importance in the Roman Church, having the status of mendicants, except for the Jesuit order that subsequently appeared. The reason lies in the special nature and direction of their activities, different from other orders. Monks of other Western orders, in accordance with their vows, had to spend their lives away from society and care only about their own salvation; they were not given participation in church affairs. On the contrary, even pastoral activities, through which they could influence society, were prohibited by the popes. The Franciscan and Dominican orders were intended by their founders to promote the interests of the church among society, and the popes not only prevented this, but also made it easier for them to fulfill their given purpose, giving members of both orders extensive rights to widespread pastoral activity. The Franciscans and Dominicans formed a specific hierarchy that was at the direct disposal of the papal throne. Based on this state of affairs in the church, mendicant monks take an active part in all areas of spiritual activity. They are preachers, confessors, learned theologians and philosophers, university professors and agents of popes. The Franciscans were the confessors of sovereigns from the 13th to the 16th centuries, and enjoyed great influence in secular affairs until they were supplanted by the Jesuits. Together with the Dominicans, the Franciscans served as the Inquisition, founded in the 13th century. It should be noted, however, that at first the Dominicans and Franciscans, when the vow of poverty was observed by them in all severity, were representatives of pious life. And all this taken together strengthened their importance in the Church. But the influence of a close connection with the papacy and serving its interests left an imprint on the activities of the mendicant orders and, as a result, they more and more deviated from their original purpose - the salvation of human souls. They directed all their interests and activities towards the spread and establishment of papal power. The basic vow of both orders - apostolic poverty - was forgotten, and strict discipline gave way to licentiousness.
In addition to monastic orders in the Western European Church in the Middle Ages, orders appeared, partly monastic and partly lay - spiritual knightly orders. Their appearance expressed the general trend of Western medieval life, when the Church, defending its interests, attracted all classes of society, including knighthood, to its service. The natural reason for the emergence of spiritual knightly orders in the political situation of the current era was the Crusades. The most noticeable contribution to the history of the Middle Ages in general, and in particular to the history of the Crusades, was made by three orders - the Hospitallers, the Templars and the Teutons. The Templar Order ceased to exist in the first half of the 14th century; the rest still exist today, but do not play a significant military-political role. The orders degenerated into charitable public organizations.
One of the first orders of this kind was the Order of St. John or Hospitallers. In 1048, long before the Crusades, Amalfi was founded by civilians hospice of Saint John the Baptist- a Christian organization or hospital for the shelter of poor and sick pilgrims; a brotherhood was also established at the hospital. Ioannites - Jerusalem, Rhodes and Maltese Sovereign Military Hospitable Order of St. John. In 1099, when the Christian kingdom was founded by the crusaders during the first crusade in Jerusalem, the members of this brotherhood accepted monastic rules and the organization turned into a religious-military order. Initially, the main responsibility of the Brothers of St. John was hospitality and caring for the sick. Later, these duties were supplemented by the duty to protect the pilgrims with weapons and concern for the defense of the Holy Land. The latter duties soon became the main ones and the Johannites devoted themselves exclusively to the fight against the infidels. A spiritual knightly order was formed. Pope Innocent II approved it. The Johannites were divided into three classes: knights, priests and service brothers. The order was led by the Grandmaster. The formation of the order with the aim of fighting the infidels was met with sympathy in Europe, and as a result, large donations began to be made in favor of the Johannites. Solomon moved to Cyprus, and from there they migrated to Western Europe and lived on their rich estates, especially in France. The center of concentration was Paris. Subsequently, the French king Philip IV the Handsome, fearing the knights’ plans against the state and wanting to take away their enormous wealth, began to bring terrible accusations against the order. Philip the Fair over time confiscated the order's property and directed the Inquisition against the brotherhood. Members of the order were accused of a terrible heresy - of renouncing Jesus Christ. Pope Clement 5, who lived at that time in Avignon and was completely dependent on Philip, was forced to contribute to the destruction of the order. In 1312, a papal bull declared the Templar order heretical and destroyed.
History of the spiritual - knightly order
The spiritual - knightly order is a military-monastic organization of feudal lords, created in the 12-13th centuries under the leadership of the Catholic Church with the aim of protecting, strengthening and expanding the possessions captured during the Crusades, as well as for new territories. The spiritual-knightly orders include the orders of the Johannites, the Templars, the Teutonic Order, the Order of Alcantara, and the Order of Calatrava.
Spiritual knightly orders arose during the first crusades. In the 11th century, the Catholic Church organized the crusades, the purpose of which was the liberation of Palestine and the Holy Sepulcher, which, according to legend, was located in the city of Jerusalem, from Muslims. The true goal of the campaigns was to seize new lands. City And Jerusalem
In addition to land, the opportunity opened up to thoroughly plunder the richest cities of the East. In the armies of the Crusaders, after the capture of Jerusalem, special spiritual knightly organizations were created on the basis of various brotherhoods: they were called spiritual knightly orders. The primary task of knightly orders is to protect Christian pilgrims and protect Christian possessions from attacks by followers of Islam. The ideologist of the Crusades, Bernard of Clairvaux, who lived in the 12th century, tried to justify their existence in an essay specially dedicated to the knightly orders.
Spiritual - knightly orders Support for the Crusader movement Armed defense of the Holy Land from attacks by “infidels” Order of the Hospitallers 1113 “Order of the Horsemen of the Hospital of St. John” Order of the Templars 1118-1119 “Secret Society of Christ and the Temple of Solomon” Teutonic Order 1190 “Order of the Holy House” Mary of Teutonia"
Order of the Hospitallers Order of the Templars Teutonic Order
Upon entering the order, the knight took the usual vow of monasticism: poverty, chastity, obedience. The knight had to: fulfill the duty of hospitality and tirelessly wage war against the infidels. Members of the orders could be both knights and commoners, who formed a separate group. And some military monastic orders even allowed women into their ranks. Members of the knightly order unquestioningly obeyed the head of the order - the grandmaster, or grand master. Spiritual orders of knighthood were in almost every way similar to monastic orders, but they had a specific charter approved by the Pope and special distinctive clothing.
Spiritual knightly orders that arose in the Holy Land took part in military operations in other territories of the Christian world. For example, the Knights Hospitaller and Templar were the first to enter the war in Spain. The Iberian Peninsula attracted the attention of knightly orders as a source of income. The influence of the Knights Hospitaller and Templar led to the fact that, already in the 12th century, several of their own military monastic orders arose in Spain. The Spanish knightly orders were patronized by the Christian rulers of Spain.
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 enormous role they played in the struggle for the Holy Land, as well as their subsequent glorious, equally tragic fate, then we can say with confidence that we are now touching on one of the most interesting and mysterious pages in the history of chivalry.
If in the Middle Ages chivalry was indeed perceived as the path to Salvation, then, probably, in no other knightly institution was this idea expressed as clearly as in this one. A knight who took three monastic vows became a member of the spiritual-knightly order: non-covetousness, obedience and chastity. Upon joining the order, knights often made rich contributions to it. They were forbidden to have wives, and they also had to submit to strict military discipline. All this together really turned the life of the members of the order brotherhood into a real, harsh feat.
However, in addition to spiritual knightly orders in the history of chivalry, there were other order-type formations. In general, knightly orders can be divided into three categories:
spiritual knightly orders, which operated for the most part during the Crusades (the most important of them are the Order of the Templars, the Order of the St. John the Hospitallers, the Teutonic Order, etc.);
honorary orders of knighthood, which were completely secular in nature and aimed at rewarding personal merit, and not any special activity (Order of the Garter, Order of the Golden Fleece, etc.);
fictitious and legendary orders of knighthood, known only in literature (for example, the Order of King Arthur, known as the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Round Table).
The history of honorary secular orders forms an important part of knightly culture. Their heyday occurred in the 14th-15th centuries, when the process of general secularization began to gain momentum in Europe. If spiritual knightly orders were subordinate to the Pope, then honorary orders were usually headed by a king or duke and served as a tool for strengthening their personal power as opposed to the power of the pope. Secular orders are a very interesting topic that directly relates to the history of chivalry, but its consideration lies beyond the scope of the Apology.
A little from the history of spiritual knightly orders
After the First Crusade, when the Crusaders managed to recapture Antioch and Jerusalem, there was a need for constant protection of the new Latin states formed in the East from the Arabs and Turks. Two knightly orders devoted themselves to this goal - the defense of the Holy Land: the Order of the Templars and the Order of the Hospitallers. Below is a brief history of 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 Rus'.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE THREE MOST FAMOUS SPIRITUAL CHRISTIAN ORDERS
Order of the Knights Templar. Founded in 1119 to protect pilgrims traveling through Palestine, but a few years later the order began military operations in Palestine against Muslims. The headquarters of the order is located in Jerusalem, near the former Temple of Solomon. This is where the name of the order comes from - the Templars, or Templars ( le temple, fr. - temple). In 1129, the order received recognition at a church council in Troyes. Pope Honorius II approves the order's charter. The order's active military activity began both in Palestine and in other theaters of military operations, for example, in Spain (from 1143). The Order receives help from various European countries, has numerous branches in Europe, owns lands, and conducts financial transactions. In 1307, by order of the French king Philip IV the Fair, 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 St. John the Hospitallers. The Brotherhood of St. 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 goal of the brotherhood was to help 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 took on the functions of military defense of the Latin states from the “infidels”. The headquarters is located in Jerusalem. After the loss of Jerusalem and the ousting of the Crusaders from Palestine, the Hospitallers established their headquarters on Fr. Rhodes (since 1311). In 1522 the Turks besieged and captured the island. Rhodes. Hospitallers leave Fr. Rhodes. In 1530, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V granted Fr. Malta near Sicily. The Order receives a new name - the Order of Malta. The Hospitallers build a powerful fleet and actively participate in naval operations against the Turks in the Mediterranean. In 1792, during the revolution in France, 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 patronage of Paul I, who establishes the Maltese Cross - the highest award of the Russian Empire. After the death of Paul I in 1801, the order lost its 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 fraternity 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 moved. In 1229, the order began the conquest of Prussia, and since then this task has become the main one in its activities. The 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 received permission to conduct a “continuous” Crusade in Prussia. In 1309, the order moved its headquarters to Prussia, to the city of Marienburg. In 1410, the troops of the Teutonic Order were defeated at 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 recognized itself as a vassal of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1525, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Albrecht of Brandenburg converted to Lutheranism, and the secular state of Prussia was formed in the territories of the order.
In addition to the orders listed above, which are best known to the modern reader, other, less well-known military monastic orders also arose in Europe. Here's one example. Few people know that in addition to the Order of the Sword, founded in 1202 in Livonia with the support of Bishop Albert, at the same time there was also the Order of Dobrin, founded in 1228 in Prussia on the initiative of Bishop Christian of Prussia and the Polish prince Konrad of Mazovia. Subsequently, in the 1230s. The Dobrin Order, like the Order of the Sword Bearers, became part of the Teutonic Order. And many such examples can be given. In Spain alone in the 12th century. six military monastic orders were established - the Order of Calatrava (1158), the Order of Santiago (1170), the Order of Montegaudio (c. 1173), the Orders of Avish and Alcantara (c. 1176) and the Order of San Jorge de Alfama (c. 1200) ). Who among my readers knows or has heard anything about them?
However, among all this many orders, only two orders had international status - the Order of the Templars and the Order of the Hospitallers. The rest were purely national orders - for example, the Teutonic Order was purely German. That is why the history of these two orders is especially interesting. Although the history of spiritual knightly orders, of course, is not limited to them - this is a whole and very extensive page in the history of the Middle Ages.
Why and how spiritual knightly orders arose
The emergence of spiritual knightly orders is considered one of the mysteries of Medieval history. Here is what the British historian Alan Forey writes about this:
The sources that have reached us do not explain the reasons for the transformation of monastic and charitable organizations into military monastic orders. Apparently the example was provided by the Templars, but it is unclear 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 of Acre 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. In particular, among the members of these organizations (except St. Thomas of Acre) there were probably people capable of holding weapons in their hands, and it is quite possible that they were turned to 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 all chivalry in general, 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 valor and the desire for worldly glory. For the bulk of knighthood, participation in the Crusades was a relatively rare occurrence. For members of spiritual knightly orders, this participation was a constant and continuous action, which constituted the entire essence and meaning of their activities.
It must be said that the idea of a spiritual knightly order did not immediately gain recognition. She had her opponents, who usually opposed the idea of the Crusades themselves as a whole. And in the order itself, not everyone was confident in the legitimacy, that is, the legality of the order’s activities. The severity of the controversy can be judged from the book of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who outlined his arguments for the defense of spiritual 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 at the church council in Troyes, where the order received legitimate status. Pope Honorius II personally approved the order's charter, after which this charter became a model for all other Western European orders.
The spiritual knightly orders were the vanguard and the most reliable support of the Crusader movement. It should be noted that in general the knightly army was not very disciplined. There were frequent cases of insubordination and violation of military discipline, including on the battlefield. For members of the order this was an unacceptable phenomenon. Alan Forey continues elsewhere:
Despite the fact that there were relatively few knight-monks, they were respected even by their opponents (especially in the East) for their bravery. The brothers were a force more disciplined and organized than many secular military units. The Templars followed strict rules of behavior in camp and on the march, and, of course, the brothers of all orders were bound by a vow of obedience, the violation of which threatened with severe punishment. The punishment for desertion in battle was exclusion from the orders, and in the Templar Order, for attacking without permission, the offenders were suspended from the life of the order for a certain period. Of course, the threat of punishment could not eliminate all cases of disobedience, but many researchers of the crusader movement share the point of view of the Grand Master of the Templar Order, Jacques Bernard de Molay (), who believed that the Templars, thanks to their vow of obedience, were superior to other troops. Some scientists see the advantage of knightly orders in the East also in the fact that they, being constantly there, had extensive experience in local warfare, in contrast to the crusaders arriving from the West.
In the East, the Templars and Hospitallers, of course, were respected for their bravery, but at the same time they were fiercely hated. If the Arabs managed to capture the crusaders, they were ready to release them in exchange for a ransom or other captured Arabs. But if they fell into the hands of the Templars or Hospitallers, they were all mercilessly given the death penalty.
Destruction of the Templar Order
Of the two most important orders in Europe, the Order of the Hospitallers has the longest history. The Order of the Hospitallers was liquidated on the initiative of the French king Philip IV the Fair and with the blessing of Pope Clement V at the beginning of the 13th century. Here's what Alan Forey writes about this story:
In October 1307 (then the order's headquarters were in Cyprus), the Templars in France were unexpectedly arrested by order of King Philip IV. They were accused of forcing candidates to renounce Christ, spit on the cross, and behave indecently during entrance ceremonies; In addition, they were charged with sodomy and idolatry. Pope Clement V initially protested against Philip's actions, but after Templar Master Jacques de Molay and other Templars acknowledged the most serious charges, he ordered all Western European rulers to arrest members of the order and confiscate their property. And only in the Kingdom of Aragon did the executors of the papal order encounter difficulties: the Templars there took refuge in their castles and put up resistance (several castles managed to hold out for more than a year).
At the beginning of 1308, the investigation into the affairs of the order was suspended due to friction between the pope and King Philip, but by 1311 the Inquisition became involved. As a result, in France and in some areas of Italy, the majority of the Templars recognized the charges as fair, the Parisian parliament recognized their guilt as proven, and the knights accused of heresy, along with their Grand Master Jacques de Molay, were condemned to death and burned at the stake. However, in Cyprus, the Kingdom of Aragon, Castile and Portugal, no confessions could be extracted from the Templars, and in England only three Templars admitted to what they were accused of. The fate of the order was finally decided at the Council of Vienne, convened at the end of 1311. The Templars who arrived at the council, who wanted to speak in defense of their order, were not given a word, despite the fact that many prelates wanted to listen to them. On March 22, 1312, two days after King Philip arrived at the council, Clement announced the abolition of the order.
The trial of the Templars and the serious charges brought against them caused heavy damage to the Crusader movement. After this, the Crusades clearly began to decline, although even before this previous burning, the liberation of the Holy Land from Muslims in Europe was no longer observed. The trial of the Templars was important because they were the first knight-monks in history. All other spiritual knightly orders were equal to the charter of the Templar Order. In view of this, this order could be called Order No. 1. The liquidation of the Templar Order largely shook faith in the very idea of the Crusades and the mission that a united Christian Europe carried out in the East. The weakening of this faith has become one of the reasons for the intensification of the processes of secularization in the West.
What happened? Did the Templars really apostatize from Christ and thereby, in the eyes of the entire Christian world, become criminals and traitors to the cause that they led? Alan Forey continues:
Since the very time of the trial of the Templars, disputes have not stopped about how justified the charges brought against them were and why Philip IV decided to destroy the order. It is difficult to believe that the Templars were really guilty of all the crimes of which they were accused. After all, even in France, where the Templars were captured completely unexpectedly, no material evidence was found - neither idols, nor texts of secret charters. Moreover, the confessions of the accused are not credible - they are inconsistent, unconvincing, none of the knights even tried to explain or justify the actions of which they were accused. It seems that the Templars admitted to something of which they were not guilty, that is, they laid false accusations on themselves. Some of them later renounced their words and repented, but this did not help anyone, and they were still burned as having fallen into heresy for the second time. If the order had really fallen into heresy, and even long before the arrest of its members, it would hardly have gone unnoticed. It should also be borne in mind that the accusations brought against the Templars were not original - previously supporters of various heresies and Muslims were accused of the same thing. In addition, confessions were wrested from the Templars under cruel torture, which the medieval Inquisition mastered to perfection.
Well, maybe so. In any case, researchers in most cases are inclined to think that the Templar Order was defeated completely in vain. They explain the actions of Philip IV simply by his desire to take possession of the property and financial resources of the order. In addition, the order was directly subordinate to the Pope, and the French king was clearly undesirable of such a powerful paramilitary papal organization on his territory. However, not everything was so simple. The same Alan Faury notes that accusing the order of heresy was not the best or most convenient way for the French king to solve these problems. After all, the trial of the order would belong in this case to the pope. Most likely, Philip IV actually believed the rumors circulating about the order, and therefore decided to take such a radical step as arresting all the Knights Templar in one night.
When talking about the Templars, we should not forget that many of them came from aristocratic families in Provence and Languedoc - the southern regions of France. And this was precisely the reason for their great sympathy for the Cathars who settled in Languedoc and the county of Toulouse. When the French King Philip II Augustus began the First Albigensian War with the blessing of Pope Innocent III, the Knights Templar officially took a neutral position in the conflict. In response to calls from Innocent III to join the French troops, the Templars stated that they did not consider this invasion of the County of Toulouse a “real” Crusade and therefore did not intend to participate in it. Unofficially, the order's commanderies located in Languedoc gave refuge to the Cathars and even protected them from the crusaders. Moreover, in 1213, the Templars took part in the Battle of Murat, fighting on the side of the Cathars.
The Cathars saw the Templars as their protectors and the only way to save themselves. It is not surprising, therefore, that they began to join the ranks of the order in droves. Moreover, high-born Cathars began to occupy leadership positions in the southern French order communities and even become members of the order's highest board. It is here that we must look, apparently, for the reasons for the difficult to explain rite of renunciation of Christ, when the newly initiated had to spit on the cross. This was due to the teachings of the Cathars, who, denying the Divine essence of Christ and recognizing him as just a divinely inspired prophet, considered the cross not an object of worship, but simply an instrument of execution. They also denied the worship of icons, considering it idolatry.
Apparently, by the beginning of the 13th century, heresy had already taken very deep roots in the order. And the French king saw in the Templars the same opponents with whom his ancestor, Philip II Augustus, fought. Moreover, the Templars had incomparably greater power than the Count of Toulouse - huge financial resources were concentrated in their hands. The Order was actively involved in financial and banking operations throughout Europe and parts of the East. Under these conditions, the Templars could already pose a pan-European threat, which the French king opposed. However, apparently not all Templars were involved in heresy. It was mainly the French knights, led by their master Jacques de Male, who confessed to apostasy from Christ. The Templars in other countries - in Cyprus, in the Kingdom of Aragon, Castile, Portugal and even in England (with the exception of three Templars) - did not want to admit anything like that. Consequently, the order could still be preserved somehow. But the Inquisition did not look into the details - the order was liquidated, and Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake in 1314.
Further history of spiritual knightly orders
Despite the liquidation of the Templar Order, other spiritual knightly orders continue their active military activities. At the same time that the Templars were being tried in France, the Hospitallers, driven out of Palestine, moved their headquarters to Fr. Rhodes (1311). From this time begins a two-hundred-year period of their active military operations in defense of the island. With the loss of Rhodes (1522), the headquarters of the order was moved to the island. Malta, after which the order received the name Maltese. All this time, right up to the 18th century, the Order of the Hospitallers continued to remain a powerful and very active military organization. Moreover, it is the main military outpost in the struggle of Christian states with the Ottoman Empire. The ranks of the Hospitallers are experienced, battle-hardened warriors. The Order has a powerful military fleet, which conducts active military operations against the Turks throughout the Mediterranean.
This vitality of the order cannot but surprise the historian. While the Teutonic Order and the Spanish spiritual-knightly orders underwent radical transformations in the 16th century, the Hospitallers not only formally retained their charter, but in fact continued the traditions of the Crusader movement. I do not have the opportunity to describe the entire history of the Order of Malta, although it is very interesting and multifaceted. I will touch only on the history that connects the Order of Malta with the history of Russia and the name of Emperor Paul I. Here is how the British historian Anthony Luttrell describes the last years of active activity of the Order of Malta in the Mediterranean:
The Age of Enlightenment and the emergence of Freemasonry also influenced the Order of Malta. These new trends increased the knights' dissatisfaction with the old regime. The masters increasingly quarreled with bishops, papal inquisitors and representatives of the Maltese population and clergy. The well-managed estates and forests of the three French provinces supplied half of the order's foreign income, which ensured the French first places in the administration. As the order's military functions dwindled to zero and its income dwindled, the order tried to take desperate measures - alliances with the Americans, Russians or British, the founding of an Ethiopian company, the creation of a Polish priory, the purchase of estates in Canada, the acquisition of Corsica; in 1651 the order bought three islands in the Caribbean, but had to sell them already in 1665.
In 1775, a rebellion broke out in Malta led by the local Maltese clergy, which was supported by the rural population, driven into poverty by misrule. Grand Master Rogan () made every effort to raise the faded military spirit in the order, improve the administration and court, and increase income. In 1776, he convened for the last time the highest legislative institution of the order - the General Chapter, which in 1779 issued the code of laws of the Order of Malta. But Rogan's efforts were in vain. In 1792, the French National Assembly confiscated the French property of the order, and on June 12, 1798, Malta surrendered to Napoleon without a fight. Of the three hundred and thirty brothers who were then on the island, two hundred were French, and many of them were ready to resist, but the Spanish Hospitallers refused to fight, there was no firm military leadership, and the master was afraid to take any decisive measures, fearing popular unrest.
After the surrender of the island, the knights accused Master Ferdinand von Gompesch of treason and removed him from office. On December 16 of the same year, the Russian Emperor Paul was elected Grand Master, and the seat of the order (convention) was moved to St. Petersburg, after which the fleet began to be equipped in Kronstadt to return Malta. However, after the death of Paul, Alexander I renounced the title of Grand Master, and then completely abolished the order on Russian soil. Gradually, the order began to lose its lands in other countries, and in 1834 the chapter of the order was moved to Rome. Since then, the fate of the Order of Malta has been closely connected with the history of the papal throne.
With the loss of Fr. The history of the Crusading movement actually ends with the Hospitallers of Malta. The Crusades are becoming a thing of the past along with the Ancien Regime - the European system of royal rule - which the French Revolution was aimed at destroying. It is symbolic that the Hospitallers from Malta are expelled not by anyone, but by Napoleon Bonaparte, the future French emperor, who ruled, no longer relying on the nobility and clergy, but on completely new national structures created during the French Revolution (bureaucracy, bourgeoisie, military, etc.).
Anthony Luttrell briefly mentions Freemasonry in the above passage in connection with the history of the Order of Malta. This allows us to move on to the next chapter, where the next question will be asked: what is Freemasonry and how is it related to chivalry? And another, private question: weren’t the Knights of Malta specifically Masons, and wasn’t Paul I himself a Mason?
History of the Crusades. – M.: KRON-PRESS, 1998. – P. 219-220
History of the Crusades. – M.: KRON-PRESS, 1998. – P. 230-231
History of the Crusades. – M.: KRON-PRESS, 1998. – P. 249
Albigensian Cathars - participants in the heretical movement in southern France in the 12th-13th centuries. The Cathars were suspected of teaching dualism (the world is an arena for the struggle of two equal principles - good and evil, the god of light and the god of darkness), rejection of the dogmas of the Holy Trinity, the Resurrection of Christ, the Sacraments of Communion and marriage. This doctrine was a variant of the Manichaean heresy, which penetrated into France from the East. One of the centers of the Cathars in France was the city of Albi, where the name of the sect comes from. By the beginning of the 13th century, heresy had captured almost the entire south of France - from simple artisans and peasants to the highest aristocracy. For example, Count Raymond IV of Toulouse openly patronized heretics. The Cathar heresy was completely eradicated in France during the Albigensian Wars ().
History of the Crusades. – M.: KRON-PRESS, 1998. – P. 404-406
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 enormous role they played in the struggle for the Holy Land, as well as their subsequent glorious, equally 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 the path to Salvation, then, probably, in no other knightly institution was this idea expressed as clearly as in this one. A knight who took three monastic vows became a member of the spiritual-knightly order: non-covetousness, obedience and chastity. Upon joining the order, knights often made rich contributions to it. They were forbidden to have wives, and they also had to submit to strict military discipline. All this together really turned the life of the members of the order brotherhood into a real, harsh feat.
However, in addition to spiritual knightly orders in the history of chivalry, there were other order-type formations. In general, knightly orders can be divided into three categories:
1. spiritual knightly orders, which operated for the most part during the Crusades, the most important of them being the Order of the Templars, the Order of the St. John the Hospitallers, the Teutonic Order, etc.;
2. honorary orders of knighthood, which were completely secular in nature and aimed at rewarding personal merit, and not any special activity - the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Golden Fleece and others;
3. fictional and legendary orders of knighthood, known only in literature, for example, the Order of King Arthur, known as the brotherhood of the Knights of the Round Table.
The history of honorary secular orders forms an important part of knightly culture. Their heyday occurred in the 14th-15th centuries, when the process of general secularization began to gain momentum in Europe. If spiritual knightly orders were subordinate to the Pope, then honorary orders were usually headed by a king or duke and served as a tool for strengthening their personal power as opposed to the power of the pope. Secular orders are a very interesting topic that directly relates to the history of chivalry, but its consideration lies beyond the scope of the Apology.
After the First Crusade, when the Crusaders managed to recapture Antioch and Jerusalem, there was a need for constant protection of the new Latin states formed in the East from the Arabs and Turks. Two knightly orders devoted themselves to this goal - the defense of the Holy Land: the Order of the Templars and the Order of the Hospitallers. Below is a brief history of 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 Rus'.
Order of the Knights Templar. Founded in 1119 to protect pilgrims traveling through Palestine, but a few years later the order began military operations in Palestine against Muslims. The headquarters of the order is located in Jerusalem, near the former Temple of Solomon. This is where the name of the order comes from - the Templars, or Templars. (le temple, fr. - temple). In 1129, the order received recognition at a church council in Troyes. Pope Honorius II approves the order's charter. The order's active military activity began, both in Palestine and in other theaters of war, for example, in Spain in 1143. The Order receives assistance from various European countries, has numerous branches in Europe, owns lands, and conducts financial transactions. In 1307, by order of the French king Philip IV the Fair, 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 St. John the Hospitallers. The Brotherhood of St. 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 goal of the brotherhood was to help 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 took on the functions of military defense of the Latin states from the “infidels”. The headquarters is located in Jerusalem. After the loss of Jerusalem and the ousting of the Crusaders from Palestine, the Hospitallers established their headquarters on the island. Rhodes since 1311
In 1522 the Turks besieged and captured the island. Rhodes. Hospitallers leave Fr. Rhodes. In 1530, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V provided the Hospitallers with Fr. Malta near Sicily. The order receives a new name - the Order of Malta. The Hospitallers build a powerful fleet and actively participate in naval operations against the Turks in the Mediterranean.
In 1792, during the revolution in France, 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 patronage of Paul I, who establishes the Maltese Cross - the highest award of the Russian Empire. After the death of Paul I in 1801, the order lost its 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 fraternity 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 moved. In 1229, the order began the conquest of Prussia, and since then this task has become the main one in its activities.
The 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 received 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 were defeated at 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 recognized itself as a vassal of the Kingdom of Poland.
Thus, in the XI - XIII centuries. The Catholic Church organized the crusades, the purpose of which was the liberation of Palestine and the “Holy Sepulcher” from Muslims, which, according to legend, was located in Jerusalem. The true goal of the campaigns was to seize lands 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. Upon 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 unquestioningly obeyed the head of the order - the grandmaster, or grand master. The orders were subordinate directly to the pope, and not to the rulers on whose lands their possessions were located.
Having captured vast territories in the East, the orders launched extensive activities in the “holy land”. The knights enslaved the peasants, both local and those who came with them from Europe. By robbing cities and villages, engaging in usury, and exploiting the local population, the orders accumulated enormous wealth. Large estates in Europe were bought with the stolen gold. Gradually the orders turned into the richest corporations. Soon the Knights Templar became the richest order.
Going on a crusade, large feudal lords and knights often pledged their lands and other property in the European offices of the order. Fearing robbery on the way, they only took a receipt in order to receive the money upon arrival in Jerusalem. So the Templars became not only moneylenders, but also organizers of banking. And it brought them enormous wealth: after all, many crusaders died on the way, not having time to reach Jerusalem...
Aspects about the detailed history of the creation of spiritual knightly orders and their role in the history of medieval Europe will be covered and discussed in more detail in the second chapter of our diploma project.
