One of a variety of Christian societies of knights
Military orders' presence in theCrusader states (inGerman). Column content: order - main seat - property (castle, commandery, hospital, etc.) - territory. Line by line:Hospitallers (white cross - red dot - salmon);Templars (red cross - green dot - green);German Order (black cross - blue dot)Reconquista of the main towns in theIberian Peninsula (per year; inSpanish)Extent of theTeutonic Order in 1410
The Knights Templar, the largest and most influential of the military orders, was suppressed in the early fourteenth century; only a handful of orders were established and recognized afterwards. However, some persisted longer in their original functions, such as theSovereign Military Order of Malta and theOrder of Saint John, the respective Catholic and German Protestant successors of the Knights Hospitaller,[1] alongside theOrder of the Holy Sepulchre, which remains active under the Pope's sovereignty. Those military orders that survive today have evolved into purely honorific or ceremonial orders or else into charitable foundations.
In response to theIslamic conquests of the formerByzantine Empire, numerous Catholic military orders were set up following theFirst Crusade. The founding of such orders suited the Catholic church's plan of channeling the devotion of the Europeannobility toward achieving the Church's temporal goals, and it also complemented thePeace and Truce of God.[3] The foundation of theKnights Templar in 1118 provided the first in a series of tightly organized military forces for the purpose of opposingIslamic conquests in theHoly Land and in theIberian Peninsula — see theReconquista — as well as Islamic invaders andpagan tribes inEastern Europe which were perceived as threats to the Church's supremacy.
The original features of the military orders were the combination ofreligious and military ways of life. Some of them, like theKnights Hospitaller, theKnights of Saint Thomas, and theOrder of Saints Maurice and Lazarus also had charitable purposes and cared for the sick and poor. However, they were not purely male institutions, asnuns could attach themselves asconvents of the orders. One significant feature of the military orders was thatclerical brothers could be subordinate to non-ordained brethren.
In 1818, orientalistJoseph von Hammer compared the Catholic military orders, in particular theKnights Templar, to certain Islamic models such as theMuslim sect ofAssassins. In 1820,José Antonio Conde suggested they were modeled on theribat, a fortified religious institution which brought together a religious or hospital way of life with fighting the enemies of Islam. However popular such views may have become, others have criticized this view, suggesting there were no such ribats aroundOutremer until after the military orders had been founded.
The role and function of the military orders extended beyond their military exploits in theHoly Land,Prussia, and the Baltics. In fact, they had extensive holdings and staff throughout Western Europe. The majority were laymen. They provided a conduit for cultural and technical innovation, such as the introduction offulling into England by the Knights Hospitaller, and the banking facilities of the Knights Templar.
Map of the branches of theTeutonic Order in Europe around 1300. Shaded area is sovereign territory, Grand Master HQ in Venice is highlighted
In 1147 Bernard of Clairvaux persuaded Pope Eugenius III that the Germans' and Danes' conflict with the paganWends was a holy war analogous to the Reconquista; he urged a crusade until all heathens were baptised or killed. The new crusaders' motivation was primarily economic: the acquisition of new arable lands and serfs; the control of Baltic trade routes; and the abolishment of theNovgorodian merchants' monopoly of the fur trade.[5] From the early 13thcentury the military orders provided garrisons inOld Livonia and defended the German commercial centre,Riga. TheLivonian Brothers of the Sword and theOrder of Dobrzyń were established by local bishops. The Sword Brothers were notorious for cruelty to "pagans" and converts alike. The Teutonic Knights were founded during the 1190s in Palestine, but their strong links to Germany diverted efforts from the Holy Land to the Baltic. Between 1229 and 1290, the Teutonic Knights absorbed both the Brothers of the Sword and the Order of Dobrzyń, subjugated most of the Baltic tribes and established a ruthless and exploitativemonastic state.[6][7] The Knights invited foreign nobility to join their regularReisen, or raids, against the last unconquered Baltic people, theLithuanians. These were fashionable events of chivalric entertainment among young aristocrats.Jogaila,Grand Duke of Lithuania, converted to Catholicism and married QueenJadwiga of Poland resulting in a united Polish–Lithuanian army routing the Knights atTannenberg in 1410. The Knights' state survived,from 1466 under Polish suzerainty. Prussia was transformed into asecular duchy in 1525, andLivonia in 1562.[8]
These are military orders listed chronologically according to their dates of foundation and extinction, sometimes approximate due to scarce sources, and/or repeated suppressions by Papal or royal authorities.
They are divided into international and national according to their adherence, mission, and enrollment, disregarding the extent of eventual gradual geographical distribution outside of their region of concern.
One of the oldest institutions of Western and Christian civilisation, founded in Jerusalem in the 11th century, with a long history of service to the vulnerable and the sick. Since 1834 the Order of Malta's government seat has been in Rome, where it is guaranteed extraterritorial rights. A lay religious order of the Catholic Church since 1113 and a subject of international law, the Sovereign Order of Malta has diplomatic relations with over 100 states and the European Union, and permanent observer status at the United Nations. Recognizes a Protestant successor, theOrder of Saint John. There are only five legitimate and mutually recognized Orders of St. John that continue to carry on the historic work of the Knights Hospitaller. These are the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta (The Order of Malta), Die Balley Brandenburg des Ritterlichen Ordens Sankt Johannis vom Spital zu Jerusalem, commonly known as the Johanniter Orden (Germany), Johanniter Orde in Nederland (Netherland), Johanniterorden I Sverige (Sweden), and the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (Order of St. John, sometimes referred to as the Most Venerable Order). In 1961, an alliance was formed between the Most Venerable Order, the Johanniter ORden, Johanniter Orde in Nederland, and Johanniterorden I Sverige; these four orders compromise the Alliance of the Orders of St. John.
Thus when being recognized, the Pope allowing only the "Order Of Christ" a Portuguese order andits Papal branchSupreme Order of Christ can claim to have any descent from the Templars, which is now used for Honorary State merits in Portugal and preserved as such.[16][18][19]
Secularised 1789. Statutes revised repeatedly together with the other Portuguese orders of merit, during the First Republic (1910–1926), then in 1962, and again in 1986.
KingCharles III of Spain requested old orders to contribute to his new order in his name (1775), which led to dissolution. Confiscated by King Joseph (1808), re-established byFerdinand VII at the Restoration (1814). Secularised in 1838.
Historically both religious and chivalric. In 1692 in France, KingLouis XIV merged it with his ownOrder of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The remaining organisation wasedicted in 1700 as purely religious order.[27] Offshoots of the order in France survived into the 20th century.
Small number, maximum 35 knights. Battled by thePrussians, around 1235 most knights joined theTeutonic Order. In 1237 the rest of the brothers reinforcedDrohiczyn by order of Konrad. Last mentioned when Drohiczyn was captured byPrince Daniel ofKiev in 1240.
Revived 1808 by Prince Regent John, laterJohn VI of Portugal. Since theend of the monarchy in 1910, all military orders abolished except the Order of the Tower and Sword, with President of Portugalex officio its Grand Master.
A few of the institutions survived into honorific and/or charitable organizations, including thepapal orders of knighthood.
While other contemporary Catholic societies may share some military organizational features and ideology, such as theSociety of Jesus,[37] they differ from the medieval military orders in the absence of military purposes or potential.
Modern orders may still be founded explicitly as a military order; the Military Order of Loyalty (Spanish:Orden Militar de la Constancia) was founded in 1946 by theSpanish protectorate in Morocco. Awarded to both Spanish and Moroccanmilitary officers andsoldiers, the single-class order was abolished in 1956.
^McCreery, Christopher (2008).The Maple Leaf and the White Cross: A History of St. John Ambulance and the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in Canada. Dundurn. p. 187.ISBN9781770702806.there are only five legitimate and mutually recognized Orders of St. John that continue to carry on the historic work of the Knights Hospitaller. These are the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta (The Order of Malta), Die Balley Brandenburg des Ritterlichen Ordens Sankt Johannis vom Spital zu Jerusalem, commonly known as the Johanniter Orden (Germany), Johanniter Orde in Nederland (Netherland), Johanniterorden I Sverige (Sweden), and the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (Order of St. John, sometimes referred to as the Most Venerable Order). In 1961, an alliance was formed between the Most Venerable Order, the Johanniter ORden, Johanniter Orde in Nederland, and Johanniterorden I Sverige; these four orders compromise the Alliance of the Orders of St. John.
^Riley-Smith, Jonathan Simon Christopher (1999).The Oxford History of the Crusades.Oxford University Press.ISBN9780192853646.Teutonic knights are still to be found only in another interesting survival, Ridderlijke Duitse Orde Balije van Utrecht (The Bailiwick of Utrecht of the Teutonic Order). Like the Hospitaller Bailiwick of Brandenburg, this commandery turned itself into a noble Protestant confraternity at the time of the Reformation.
^Anderson, James (1732).Royal genealogies: or, The genealogical tables of emperors, kings and princes, from Adam to these times; in two parts. London: James Bettenham. pp. ix. Retrieved9 December 2011.St Michael's Wing in Portugal founded by the said King Alphonse 1165 or 1171 after his obtaining a notable Victory over Moors and Alberto King of Seville in which Battle MICHAEL the Arch Angel is said to appear on the right Side of Alphonse and fight against them. This Order is now out of use.(1732)
^abAlmeida, Gomes Abrunhosa Marques de and Manuel Ângelo (2007).Precedentes histórico-teóricos dos regionalismos dos Açores e da Galiza. Santiago de Compostela: Univ Santiago de Compostela. p. 187.
^Sainty, Guy Stair (2006-11-22)."Royal Order of Saint Michael of the Wing".rec.heraldry.Archived from the original on 2012-11-09. Retrieved2011-01-21.While the Duke of Braganza is the unquestioned heir and successor of Dom Miguel, the institution of the Royal Brotherhood of St Michael of the Wing is better seen as a modern memorial revival of the original institution than any kind of continuation of the Miguelist award.
^Carmichael, Montgomery (1901).In Tuscany: Tuscan Towns, Tuscan Types and the Tuscan Tongue. New York: E P Dutton. p. 173.The Order was swept away by the French Revolution but was revived again in a modified form in 1817. The Italian Revolution once more swept it away beyond hope of revival on 16 November 1859 and its Church and property became the property of the State. Alas that modern Italy should not be a little more tender of the memories of her past glories.
^Bernardini, Rodolfo (1990).Il Sacro Militare Ordine di Santo Stefano Papa e Martire (in Italian). Pisa: Familiare della Casa Asburgo Lorena.
^Cardinale, Hyginus Eugene (1983).Orders of knighthood awards and the Holy See. Gerrards Cross: Van Duren. p. 157.ISBN978-0-905715-13-1.