Knightly Orders. Which of the knightly orders have survived to our time The very first spiritually knightly order

emergence knightly orders, due to the appearance of the crusades in the XII-XIII centuries. Such organizations were communities of military personalities and Catholic monks. The ideology of the orders was associated with the confrontation of infidels, pagans, robbers, heretics, Muslims and other, as they considered impious heresies. The knights of such orders were on the side of the Inquisition and fought witches. In the plans of the orders, there were constant sorties and raids in the Holy Land, the Ottoman Empire, Spain, Lithuania, Estonia, Prussia and even Russia. In these lands, their necessity was to introduce Catholicism to Orthodox believers, or to overthrow Muslim domination by force.
Many knightly orders, under the influence of constant state support, became wealthy and dominant. At their disposal, included land, peasant labor, economics and politics.
At the head of the order of chivalry was the Grand Master or Grand Master. Its leadership was appointed by the Catholic Pope. The master gave instructions to the chiefs, commanders and marshals. The chiefs were subordinate to the provincial divisions of the orders. Marshals were in charge of financial affairs. The commanders carried out the orders of castles and fortresses. Volunteers who had just joined the orders were called neophytes. Each newcomer went through a rite of passage. To serve in a knightly order was considered honorable and prestigious. Heroic deeds were greatly appreciated by their fans.
In total, there were about 19 knightly orders. The most famous of them are the Order of the Knights Templar, the Order of the Hospitallers and the Teutonic Order. They are so famous that legends are made about them to this day, books are written, films are made and games are programmed.

Warband

Warband was a German, knightly community with a spiritual ideology, which was formed at the end 12th century.
According to one version, the founder of the order was a noble duke Friedrich of Swabia November 19, 1190. During this period, he captured acre fortress V Israel, where the hospital guests found a permanent home for him. According to another version, at the moment when the Teutons captured Acre, a hospital was organized. Ultimately, Frederick transformed it into a spiritual knightly order headed by the clergyman Conrad. IN 1198 the community of knights was finally approved under the name of the spiritual knightly order. Many spiritual personalities of the Templars and Hospitallers, as well as clergy from Jerusalem, arrived at the solemn event.
The main goal of the Teutonic Order was to protect the local knights, heal the sick and fight against heretics, who by their actions contradicted the postulates of the Catholic Church. The most important leaders of the German community were Roman Pope And Holy Roman Emperor.
IN 1212-1220. The Teutonic Order was moved from Israel to Germany , in town Eschenbach, which belonged to the lands of Bavaria. Such an initiative came to Count Boppo von Wertheim and he turned his idea into reality with the permission of the church. Now the spiritual and chivalric order has become rightfully considered German.
By the same time, the success of the knightly order began to bring great enrichment and glory. Such a merit could not do without the Grand Master Hermann von Salza. In the Western states, many fans of the Teutons are beginning to appear, who want to take advantage of the mighty strength and military power of the German knights. So, Hungarian King Andrew II turned for help to the Teutonic Order for support in the fight against the Polovtsians. Thanks to this, the German soldiers gained autonomy in the lands of Burzenland, southeastern Transylvania. Here, the Teutons built 5 famous castles: Schwarzenburg, Marienburg, Kreuzburg, Kronstadt and Rosenau. With such protective support and support, the cleansing of the Cumans was carried out at an accelerated pace. In 1225, the Hungarian nobility and their king showed strong envy of the Teutonic Order. This led to numerous evictions from Hungary, only a small part of the Germans remained, joining the Saxons.
The Teutonic Order was involved in the fight against the Prussian pagans in 1217 who began to seize Polish lands. Prince of Poland Konrad Mazowiecki, asked for help from the Teutonic Knights, in return, promising the occupied lands, as well as the cities of Kulm and Dobryn. The sphere of influence began in 1232 when the first fortress was built near the Vistula River. This justification marked the beginning of the construction of the city of Thorn. Following this, numerous castles began to be erected in the northern regions of Poland. These included: Velun, Kandau, Durben, Velau, Tilsit, Ragnit, Georgenburg, Marienwerder, Barga and famous Königsberg. The Prussian army was larger than the Teutonic one, but the Germans cunningly fought with small detachments and lured many to their side. Thus, the Teutonic Order managed to win victories over them, even despite the help of the enemy from the Lithuanians and the coasts.
The Teutons also invaded Russian lands, taking advantage of the moment of their weakening from the Mongol oppressors. Gathering a united army Baltic And Danish crusaders, and also inspired by the instructions of the Catholic pope, the German order attacked Pskov possessions of Rus' and captured village Izborsk. Pskov was under siege for a long time, and later was finally captured. The reason for this was the betrayal of many Russian residents of this region. IN Novgorod lands, the crusaders built a fortress Koporye . Russian sovereign Alexander Nevskiy, during the fighting he liberated this fortress. And in the end, having teamed up with the Vladimir reinforcements, he returned Pskov to Rus' in a decisive Battle on the Ice April 5, 1242 on Lake Peipsi. The Teutonic troops were defeated. The decisive defeat forced the order to leave the Russian lands.
Ultimately, the Teutonic Order began to weaken and significantly lose its power. The constant influence of the German invaders, aggressively set Lithuania And Poland against the order . Polish army And Lithuanian principality forced the Teutons to suffer defeat in the Battle of Grunwald July 15, 1410. Half of the army of the Teutonic Order was destroyed, captured, and the main generals were killed.

Order of Calatrava

Order of Calatrava was the very first knightly and Catholic order of Spain from the XII century. The order was founded by Cistercian monks in Castile in 1157. And in 1164, the order was officially fixed by the pope Alexander III. The very name " Calatrava" originates from the name of the Moorish castle, located in the lands of Castile and held in battles by the king Alphonse VII V 1147. Enemies constantly encroached on the existing castle. At first it was defended by the Templars, and later, at the insistence of Abbot Raymond, monastery knights of peasant origin came to the rescue, headed by c Diego Velazquez. After constant skirmishes with enemies, Order of Calatrava received a new birth in 1157 under the leadership of King Alphonse.
Later, after 1163 the influence of the order expanded significantly, which made it possible to carry out attacking raids. Many knights did not like the new militarization and left the community. New rules were included in the disciplinary schedule. Warriors had to go to bed in knightly armor and wear white cloth, with the symbol of a cross-shaped flower in the form of a red lily.
In the Order of Calatrava, a number of military campaigns were organized with successful combat sorties. The king of Castile rewarded the knights, where victorious glory warmed up the soldiers to serve Aragon. But after glorious victories, a losing streak followed. The irreconcilable enmity with the Moors from Africa forced the warriors of the order to surrender their positions and the fortress of Calatrava in 1195. After that, the order began to accumulate new forces in a new, built Castle of Salvatierre . New warriors were invited there. But in 1211 and this castle fell crushingly before the Moors. To return the lost Calatrava to the knights, the Crusade helped 1212. Under such pressure, the Moors weakened and their dominance lost its significance. The Order of Calatrava, for security reasons, moved its residence to a new location. The distance from the old location was about 8 miles. Under the new influence, 2 new orders were organized: Alcantara and Avisa.
In the XIII century, the Order of Calatrava became strong and powerful. In military engagements, the community could field a huge number of knights. But further wealth and power forced him to show the envy of the royal nobility and give rise to new conflicts.

Order of Avis

The appearance is due community Calatravas when former members at the time of the crusade 1212, for reliability organized in new lands, Portuguese order of Avis to protect against the Moors. In the interests of the kings, the idea arose to keep crusader knights in the service to confront the infidels. The Templars, who previously lived in the Portuguese lands, had a huge influence on the Order of Avis. IN 1166 knightly community, the eastern city was successfully liberated Evora. In honor of such a significant event, the sovereign presented the leadership of the order with existing lands. IN 15th century, the Royal Council of Portugal, organized a campaign in North Africa. The very first leader of Avis, became Pedro Afonso. Avis Castle was made the main center of the order. Important decisions and spiritual statutes were made here. Ultimately, the knights of the Order of Avis became full landowners with their own colonies. The Portuguese order acquired financial power, which allowed them to manage political and economic decisions.

Order of Santiago

Order of Santiago was a Spanish order of chivalry, which was formed approximately in 1160. The word "Santiago" was named after the patron saint of Spain. The main task of the order was to protect the road of pilgrims to the chambers of the Apostle James. The order originated in two cities at once, Leon And Cuenca. These 2 urban lands competed with each other, thereby taking the dominant influence into their own hands. But after their unification by the Castilian king Ferdinand III, the problem was successfully solved. The order was transferred to the city of Cuenca.
Unlike other chivalric communities and Calatrava, Santiago's routine was much softer than the rest. All members of the order had the right to marry. Due to this, the Order of Santiago was much larger in the number of its inhabitants and in its proportionate volume. He had 2 cities, more than a hundred villages and 5 monasteries.
The number of troops was 400 horsemen and 1000 foot knights. The Order of Santiago actively participated in the battles with the Muslims and the Crusades. The charter required newcomers, before joining the ranks of the soldiers, to serve as rowers for a six-month period. All the ancestors of this crusader had to be noble and noble blood.
The managing leaders of the order were constantly changed to others. For several centuries, 40 masters have changed. Whole 15th century, passed in the championship for the right-holding influence over the order.

Order of Saint Lazarus

Order of Saint Lazarus arose in Palestine under the influence of the Crusaders and Hospitallers in 1098. At first, the community was a hospital for visitors. In her chambers, knights who were ill with leprosy were received. Later, it evolved into a powerful, paramilitary military order. It contained the Greek ideology, which was responsible for spiritual decisions. Lazar's symbol was a green cross on a white background. Such an image was applied on coats of arms and on clothes made of light matter. At the very beginning of the historical period, the Order of Lazarus was not recognized by the church leadership and was considered unofficially existing.
"Saint Lazarus"took part in hostilities against Muslims in Jerusalem. This was the period of the Third Crusade in 1187. And in 1244 the order of Lazarus lost the battle in Phorbia which happened 17 October. Such a defeat ended with the expulsion of the knights from Palestine. The order was transferred to France, where he began to practice medicine.
IN 1517 there was a union of the community with the orders of Saint Mauritius. Despite this, the Order of Lazarus still continued to exist.

Order of Montegaudio

Order of Montegaudio is a Spanish order of chivalry founded by Count Rodrigo Alvarez in 1172. This founder was a member of the Order of Santiago. The name Montegaudio was given by the participants in honor of a hill from which the crusaders discovered Jerusalem. Thus, a fortress was built on this hill, and soon the order itself was formed. IN 1180 the community officially recognized the church leadership and the Catholic pope Alexander III. The symbolism of Montegaudio was a red and white cross, which was half painted over. It was worn on all attributes of equipment, including on clothes made of white matter. All members of the community led an alienated lifestyle. Their routine was similar to that of the Cistercians.
IN 1187 many members of the Montegaudio order took part in the bloody battle at Hattin with the Muslim armies. The outcome of the duel ended in the complete defeat of Montegaudio, where most of the knights were killed. The survivors took refuge in Aragon. Here, in 1188, V city ​​of Teruel, members of the former chivalric community organized a medical hospital Holy Redeemer.
IN 1196, the Montegaudio order was dissolved due to a lack of knights to replenish the ranks. Former members teamed up with Templars and with Order of Calatrava .

Order of the Sword

Order of the Sword was a German, knightly order with a Catholic ideology, formed in 1202 monk Theodoric. He also served as deputy bishop Albert Buxhoeveden from Latvia, who preached in Livonia. The order was officially approved by the Catholic Church in 1210. The main symbolic pattern was a red cross painted over a scarlet sword on a white background.
The swordsmen obeyed the leadership of the bishop. All actions were carried out only with his approval. The whole routine was supported by the charter of the Templars. The community of the order was divided into knights, priests and employees. The knights were descendants of petty feudal lords. Employees were recruited from ordinary citizens who became squires, servants, messengers and artisans. master stood at the head of the order, and chapter handled important matters.
As in all other orders, castles were built and fortified in the occupied territories. Most of the occupied lands were transferred to the rule of the order. The rest was given to the bishop.
The Order of the Sword-bearers was at enmity with Lithuania and the Semigallians. Military campaigns were carried out by both sides against each other. On the side of the Lithuanians, Russian princes often also participated. IN February 1236 took place crusade against Lithuania, which ended in the complete defeat of the order and the murder master's Volguin von Namburg. The remnants of the swordsmen joined the Teutonic Order May 12, 1237.

Dobrinsky Order

Dobrinsky Order Poland, was organized as a defense against Prussian invasions. Its founders are Polish princes and bishops who wanted to create a prototype of the Teutonic Order. 1222, a significant date of its creation. The symbolism of the community was very similar to the swordsmen. The routine and discipline were exactly like them and the Knights Templar.
The same red sword was visible on the images, but only for the place of the cross, a scarlet star was applied. She characterized the conversion of Jesus to the Gentiles. The drawing could be seen on all the knightly paraphernalia of this community.
Order hired 1500 German knights for his retinue, who gathered in the Polish city of Dobrynya. At the head " dobrinichi" got up Konrad Mazowiecki.
The glory and exploits of the Dobrinsky Order were unsuccessful. The community existed for about 20 years and only in 1233, in the battle of Sirgun the knights distinguished themselves by defeating 1000+ Prussians. Further, the order united with the Teutons, with the goodwill of the pope. Later, in 1237 Konrad Mazowiecki wanted to reassemble the Dobrinsky Order in the Polish castle Dorogichin, but Danil Galitsky broke them. The final cessation of existence occurred in XIV century when absolutely all the leaders of the order died.

Order of Montesa

Order of Montesa was a Spanish, knightly order, which was formed in XIV century. It was organized in 1317, in Aragon. He continued the ideology of the Templars and approximately observed the tradition of the crusaders. The Spanish crown was in dire need of protection from the Moors from the south, so it was always happy to support the followers of the Templars. New Decree of the Catholic Pope 1312, who oppressed the rights of the Templars, obliged them to transfer to the ranks of this order of Montesa from the command King of Sicily Jaime II.
The order was named after the fortress Saint George in Montes. Here he was first educated. IN 1400 merged with the order San Jorge de Alfama, doubling the existing force. IN 1587 the kingdom of Spain subjugated Montesa's property and the order became dependent on him. This state of affairs continued until 19th century until all the possessions of the knightly community were confiscated by Spain.

Order of Christ

Order of Christ was a knightly order in Portugal, which continued the craft of the Templars. IN 1318 Portuguese King Danish, officially accepted and established this community. All members of the order received from Pope John the dominant lands and the castle Tomar . This stone defense withstood the formidable onslaught of the warring Moors.
IN 1312 the order turned out to be dissolved, and for many noble leaders this situation did not suit. IN 1318 King Danish gathers all the former knights into a new community called "Christ's Militia". The new castle became the dwelling place Castro Marim south of the Algarve. After a turbulent time in the fighting with the Moors, the knights were again in danger of disintegration. Prince Henry set up the order against the rulers of Morocco, in order to collect fees from Africa's products for the restoration of the castle of Tomar.
Many members of the order took part in seafaring voyages, including Vasco da Gama. On the sails of the ships, the symbols of the order flaunted, in the form of a large, scarlet cross. Some members of the order began to contradict the rules and regulations associated with celibacy. Therefore, Pope Alexander Borzhd had to make significant changes to the internal routine of the discipline, in favor of its participants.
King Manuel relied on the constant support of the order and, ultimately, such dependence led to the seizure of church property in favor of the state. The final transition of the Order of Christ from ecclesiastical influence to the kingdom took place in 1789.

Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem

The foundation of this order is Gottfried of Bouillon. This famous leader, led First crusade, and after its completion, created a community in 1113 with blessing Pope. Gottfried had a great opportunity to take the proposed power into his own hands over the rule of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. But the knight's noble disposition chose the path of renunciation of the throne, while choosing the status of the main defender of the Lord's Sepulcher.
The main goal of all members of the order was to protect Christian pilgrims from aggressive foreigners and spread the faith in the earthen districts of Palestine. Many of the pilgrims eventually made the decision to join the chivalric community. Replenishment in the ranks of sacred warriors could be carried out by mercenaries from Palestine.
IN 1496 Order of the Holy Sepulcher Lord's Jerusalem was transferred from Jerusalem V Rome. This position contributed to lead the community Pope Alexander IV as Grand Master.

Order of Saint George

Order of Saint George is an order of chivalry Hungary created by the king Carl Robert in 1326. The reason for the creation of such an order was to strengthen the position of the king, which was threatened by the Hungarian aristocracy. The whole mess turned into armed confrontations between the true sovereign and the barons. In this fight Carl Robert I had to steadfastly adhere to my titular position, which was encroached upon by third-party nobility. Many nobles supported the king and his views.
The demonstration event marking the official beginning of the opening of the order was a jousting tournament. The number of knights of St. George did not exceed 50. They took an oath to serve faithfully to their king, to protect the church craft from heretics and pagans, and also to protect the weak from vile enemies and invaders. New warriors were accepted only with the agreement of all members of the community. The Order, unlike many, did not have a Grand Master. But St. George had a chancellor, as well as a secular and spiritual judge.
The symbolism of the order was a red shield with a white, double cross applied to it.

Using additional literature and the Internet, find out which of the knightly orders have survived to our time.

Answer

The history of knightly orders began in the Middle Ages and has not been completed to this day.

Warband.

The motto of the Teutons is "Help-Protect-Heal". At the dawn of their formation, representatives of the order did this, and then there were glorious and inglorious military campaigns ... The headquarters of the modern Teutons is located in Vienna. Today, the order is engaged in charity and treatment of the sick.

Order of the Dragon.

According to official data, this order was founded by King Sigismund I of Hungary. The Order of the Dragon included the father of the legendary Vlad Tepes (Vlad Dracul), who received his famous nickname just because of his membership in the order (dracul in Romanian means “dragon”). Currently, the order is more like a community of titled and wealthy people.

Hospitallers.

The Knights of Malta, or St. John the Knights, is the oldest spiritual order of chivalry, which received its unofficial name in honor of the church of St. John the Baptist. The order was large in composition and had an international character. The Russian Emperor Paul the First was a member of this order and was the 72nd Grand Master.

The emergence of spiritual knightly orders

The spread of Christianity, the recognition of it as the state religion, introduced into the life of believers a reverent attitude towards eastern shrines, to those places that have been assigned one name - the Holy Land, Palestine, those lands where Christ lived, preached, worked miracles and was crucified on the cross. A special reverence for these places was diligently cultivated, and already in the III-IV centuries. believers begin to make pilgrimages to this distant land, from where they begin to bring shrines, particles of relics, even pieces of land from these places. For pilgrims, they begin to create original guidebooks. One of the earliest and most famous was the Itinerary of Bordeaux. It contains a description of a journey from Bordeaux (Burdigala) to Jerusalem to the holy places (333). Known are the “Code of Information about Jerusalem”, compiled in the 5th / 6th centuries, “On the Position of the Holy Land” (“De situ Terrae Sanctae”) by Theodosius and attributed to Antoninus of Placentia. This itinerary presents a description of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, made around 570. A special place is occupied by Egeria's itinerary. Such itineraries are an important document for studying the mentality of the population of that time and the pilgrimage movement in general, and also contain valuable information on the geography, topography and archeology of Palestine.

But far from everything was simple in the fate of the pilgrims, dangers awaited them along the way, and the Arab invasion that began soon did not stop the ardor of the believers, but only provoked many of them. The desire to get to Jerusalem by any means became even stronger, the popularity of the pilgrimage only increased. And then warriors came to the aid of the pilgrims.

The Western Christian Church was not at all alien to the winged expression taken from the Old Testament, "Man's life is a struggle." In the translation of Holy Scripture into Latin, made in the IV century. n. e. (the so-called "Vulgate"), the word "struggle" is translated by the word militia.

The word "militia" in its Latin meaning has nothing to do with the similar-sounding modern Russian word "militia" and has nothing to do with any law enforcement activity. The Russian word undoubtedly has a Latin origin and is related to the original, but today these are two different nouns with completely different meanings. So, the Latin "militia" comes from the word "miles", which in ancient times meant a free warrior, volunteer, member of the militia, and later a knight. In the Middle Ages, this word began to refer to knights who also participated in military enterprises as free warriors, in contrast to recruited forced peasants and mercenary regular troops. In the literal sense, the word "miles" meant "army", "army", "militia". Thus, the main thing in this concept is the principle of voluntary participation.

Jean Flory, dealing with the problem of the ideology of the medieval nobility, made several interesting conclusions that relate directly to the essence of our study. Analyzing the words denoting the self-name of the knights, he noted that since the beginning of the Crusades, both the “worldly” soldiers and the crusaders began to use the word militia to designate them. At the same time, it began to be used also for members of military orders - the Hospitallers and the Templars, and even for monks and bishops, who were often called milites Dei or milites Christi and even simply milites. But by the 12th century, only knights were called militia.

Out of ignorance of these facts came the later error, which is so common in our day. In the modern English name of the Sovereign Order of Malta: The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, the word "Military" is erroneously translated as "military". While correctly it should be translated as "knightly". This is how it is translated, for example, into German: "Der Souverane Malteser-Ritter-Order".

However, the first Christians waged "spiritual warfare" and fought exclusively with the "spiritual sword", because their hands were often in chains. But they waged, albeit spiritual, but still battle, and, apparently, because St. Benedict of Nursia, the founder of Western European monasticism, in 543 called monastic life "spiritual military (i.e. military) service", and the monks, leaving the world and all that is in the world for the sake of the Lord - "Christ's army" or "Christ's army" (militia Christi).

The famous Russian historian and philosopher L.P. Karsavin, in his book on the history of Christian monasticism, wrote: “The brotherhood of those striving for God appears to Benedict in the form of a military detachment - schola<…>Therefore, the activity of a monk is expressed by the word militare - “to serve”; and the charter is nothing but lex, sub qua militare vis - the law is inviolable and immutable, just as the law of military discipline is immutable. The holy charter contains everything necessary for the warrior of the Lord; this is the “charter-mentor”. And obedience itself - the discipline of the monastery - and the unlimited power of the abbot turn the brotherhood into the army of Christ. So, the image of a Christian as a warrior of God is present in the Church from the very moment of its foundation and is an integral part of the Christian tradition.

As chaos grew in Europe, which from the beginning of the Middle Ages was subjected to attacks by countless hordes of barbarian peoples hostile to Christianity - Hungarians (Magyars), Avars, Normans, Cumans and many others, the Roman Church was forced, along with the spiritual sword, to arm itself with a completely earthly, iron sword. fallen from the weakened hands of secular power. And already the end of the XI - the beginning of the XII centuries. The Western Church is changing its attitude towards war. Views appear

that war in no way contradicts Christian ethics, but on the contrary, it can be a “Holy War”. All this contributed to the emergence of a special mindset, a special type of thinking of a medieval person, called by the German historian of the 20th century K. Erdman “crusader thinking”, who devoted an excellent book to this problem. Well, since a war can be sacred, if it benefits the Church, then the Church can not only bless such a war, but also call for it. From here, as Hartmun Bockman rightly wrote, “before the advent of the military monastic-knightly brotherhood, it’s within easy reach, and it’s all the easier to do this because the change in the attitude of the Christian religion to war turned the military craft into a Christian craft, gave rise to a new chivalry with its own inherent ethics” .

Indeed, the ideal of Christian chivalry soon emerged in medieval Europe. The image of a knight (miles) in the minds of people is still associated with nobility and fearlessness. His mission is to protect those who, for whatever reason, are unable to fend for themselves. L.P. Karsavin remarks on this: “Not yet ascetic and not yet merging with the monastic, the knightly ideal was already a Christian ideal. Knights - "those who serve the Mother of God, devoted with all their hearts", were, according to ideologists, the defenders of the weak and unarmed, widows and orphans, the defenders of Christianity against infidels and heretics. Thus, religious structures appeared that combined the ideals of Christian asceticism and military service. They, of course, had to fight for their faith and with weapons in their hands. And contrary to current ideas, this did not at all contradict the essence of Christianity. “There is no such law,” wrote St. Bernard of Clairvaux - who would forbid a Christian to lift a sword. The gospel prescribes restraint and justice to soldiers, but it does not tell them: “Drop your weapons and give up military affairs!”. Thus, the crusader knights became a symbol of selfless service to God and the Church, and for a long time this noble image served as the banner of all medieval Europe. Many saints: St. Peter of Amiens, St. Bernard

Clairvaux, St. Adyutor of Vernon, bl. Urban II and others were the initiators and active participants in the movement of Christian chivalry towards the liberation of the Holy Land.

St. Francis of Assisi at the beginning of his journey also dreamed of becoming a knight of the Church, although he subsequently chose a different form of service to God. “A new chivalry has appeared - the army of God (militia Dei), writes Karsavin in his book. He does not need the feminine garb of worldly chivalry. The new chivalry closed the doors of their homes to mimes, magicians, and buffoons; it despises games, fears the hunt. Rare leisure hours are devoted to mending clothes and weapons. Prayers fill the day, and outbursts of laughter have been replaced by holy singing of psalms."

It is curious that even Pope Gregory VII Hildebrand (1073-1085), during a campaign against the Normans, supplied all his messages with a mandatory postscript: "From the military camp." By the way, he was the first to come up with the idea of ​​a crusade against the infidels. This happened literally in the first years of his pontificate, after in 1071 Jerusalem, which had previously been owned by Byzantium, fell into the hands of the Seljuk Turks. But only his struggle for the primacy of the Roman high priest, and then for the investiture, to which he devoted almost all the years of his reign, did not allow these plans to come true.

In general, the popes of Rome at that time constantly had to take care not only of the spiritual education of people, but no less important was the concern for the preservation and increase of wealth, for the preservation of the territories subject to them. All this led to the idea of ​​having not just a mercenary army, but somehow organizing the monks existing in significant numbers into a kind of army. The Church is seriously thinking about the theological justification for the idea of ​​chivalry. But only in 1145, Pope Eugene III issued a special bull dedicated to Christian chivalry, which was called “Militia Dei”. So, everything was prepared for the official approval of what existed semi-legally.

Here is another reflection of Hartmun Bockman. In the chapter on the establishment of spiritual knightly orders, in his book on the German Order, he writes literally the following: “It seems that the transition from a Christian knight to a monk-knight, who observed the monastic charter, but took up arms, is already overdue.”

Armed monasticism already existed, and the question of its official recognition was only a matter of time. A chain of cases helped, which, in fact, became a pattern. And although this did not happen immediately and far from Rome, in distant Palestine, nevertheless, the beginning was laid in 1118 by the official recognition of the first spiritual and knightly order - the “Order of the Temple”.

Their predecessors, as we have already said, were paramilitary brotherhoods, the appearance of which dates back to the time of Constantine the Great (305-337), when his mother, Queen Helen, began to actively search for traces of Christ's presence in the Holy Land. The fame of this spread throughout the world of that time. During the reign of Constantine, not only did the official recognition of Christianity take place in 313, but a process began that the Hungarian historian of the papacy E. Gergely very aptly described with the following words: to the authorities of the empire, in connection with which, the emperors began to interfere in church and religious issues. As a result of the merging of the state and Christianity, a common destinies arose. Thanks to this, with the help of the state, the power of the church increased, but for this, the authorities repeatedly took precedence over the church.

So, the incessant flow of pilgrims to Palestine required the protection of travelers. Even before the Crusades, this work was carried out by members of the paramilitary brotherhoods that appeared in the Holy Land. They provided assistance to pilgrims, took care of the sick, as well as their protection from robbers and Muslims, which was important in that era.

They can not only be compared with the spiritual and knightly orders that appeared several centuries later, but it can also be argued that they were their prototype. One of the differences between these brotherhoods and military religious orders was that some of them, for example, the brotherhood of St. George in Lydda and Bethlehem, united in their ranks not only the "Latins" (i.e., confessors of the Western Christian rite), but also Eastern Christians - Nestorians, Melkites, Jacobites, Maronites, and in the Edessa County and Armenian Gregorians. Gradually, the military brotherhoods turned into monastic communities that lived according to the rules established by themselves, which were not even always converted into a charter. The Christianization of Europe at the state level, coming from Constantine the Great, underwent various collisions. His followers did not always consistently continue it, there are known cases of alienation from Christianity and the assimilation of a pagan worldview, which, as we remember, was under the emperor Julian (Apostate). But attention should be paid to the following, very significant example, which made it possible to attract a significant number of supporters to any creed. We are talking about the famous letter of Julian to the high priest of Galatia named Arsacius, written in 362/3, in which, in particular, there are the following lines:

... In every city, arrange a sufficient number of hospices so that strangers take advantage of our hospitality, and not only those who belong to our faith, but all who need help. I have taken measures regarding the means of maintenance. Every year 30,000 modi zhita and 60,000 xests of wine will be distributed throughout Galatia; a fifth of this is assigned to the poor and to those who serve under the priests, the rest is for the benefit of foreigners and the needy.

In the Middle Ages, the religious nature of travel intensified, which some Soviet atheists incorrectly called "mass religious fanaticism." Religious beliefs, sincere faith in God, prompted millions of believers, adherents of various religious teachings, to make pilgrimages to shrines: Muslims to Mecca, Christians to Jerusalem and Rome. Travelers were received in hotels, but mostly in monasteries and hospices, which were a kind of hotels and were maintained by religious structures.

Later Christians actively used such "missionary" tactics not only in the Holy Land, but also in many regions of the medieval ecumene. Despite the difficulties of life in Palestine, its transition from one hand to another, Christian hospices continue to exist, they are in the hands of small communities, not always monastic. Later they became subordinate to the chapters that existed under the numerous bishops of Palestine.

During the XI-XIV centuries. fifteen major spiritual and chivalric orders arose, which constituted the main shock military force of the Western Christian peoples in the fight against Muslims and pagans. Unlike the crusading militias of secular chivalry, who returned home at the end of the next “pilgrimage”, the monk-knights constantly remained on the “front” of the struggle against anti-Christian forces.

We would like to draw attention to an interesting and important for historians article by Yu. V. Yashnev “Spiritual and knightly orders”, in which the author, although briefly, but scrupulously and analytically, approached the stated problem as an objective historical phenomenon of that time.

At the same time, Yu. V. Yashnev drew attention to the fact that the process of studying spiritual knightly orders still has its own difficulties, of which the legendary and fantastic nature of the information given by many authors is in the first place. Thus, Yu. V. Yashnev reports that the famous English historian Alan Forey pointed out that already the first such encyclopedic work, published in 1603, contained a lot of fiction.

There were even more fictions in the books of A. Favin and M. Marcuse, information about the orders that never existed, invented by them, roam from edition to edition, for nearly three centuries now.

The main conclusion of Yu. V. Yashnev is that “spiritual and knightly orders, despite the sometimes noted similarity with medieval military organizations of some countries of the East<…>are, of course, of Catholic origin and arose precisely in the conditions of European Christian military expansion under the spiritual leadership of the Roman Church in the 11th-13th centuries. Two directions of this expansion - the Crusades to the Holy Land and the Spanish Reconquista - gave life to almost all spiritual and chivalric orders "- certainly fair.

Among the studies of Western European scholars devoted to the history of spiritual knightly orders that appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, one should mention the work of Henrik Prutz, and although this book is somewhat outdated, the author summarized all the material that existed at that time and critically reviewed it. If we make a list of the main military monastic orders of the Middle Ages, we will see that all of them are well known to both contemporaries and historians:

1) The Order of the Temple, the Templars, or the Templars (“The Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon”) - this is the first officially registered order created exclusively for military purposes - for the armed protection of pilgrims to holy places. It was founded around 1120; later he gave rise to the Spanish order of Montesa and the Portuguese order of Christ;

2) The Order of St. John, or Hospitallers (hospitals) - from the word "hospital", i.e. "Hospital House". The meaning of "military hospital" this word acquired later, since the order was created between 1050 and 1080. as a brotherhood for the care of hungry and tired pilgrims, and only six decades later the order also assumed the functions of a military knightly order;

3) The Order of the Holy Sepulcher, or the Holy Sepulcher, was founded in 1120 to protect this most important shrine of the entire Christian world. It differed from the Templars, the Joannites and other religious military orders established in Palestine in that from the very day of its foundation it was subordinate not to the Pope, but to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. After the liquidation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, due to the impossibility of further protecting the Holy Sepulcher, the order lost its former significance, but has survived to this day and, by the way, has an Orthodox branch;

4) The Order of St. Lazarus (the exact year of foundation is unknown), whose knights (cavaliers), mostly of Italian origin, wearing black clothes with a white border and a green eight-pointed cross, along with military service, treated sick pilgrims (therefore, the order hospital was called "infirmary") . Later, the Order of St. Lazarus switched exclusively to the treatment of lepers (even choosing a master from among the knights infected with leprosy!), And the hospitaliers took over the care of other patients;

5) The Order of the Holy Spirit, established in 1190 also for the care of sick and wounded pilgrims;

6) Order of St. Benedict of Aviz (Evora) - founded in 1145 to fight the Muslims (Moors), mainly in Portugal;

7) Order of Alcantara - founded in 1157, like the next three orders, to fight the Moors, also mainly in Spain;

8) Order of Calatrava (or Salvatierra) - founded between 1158 and 1163;

9) Order of the Wing of St. Archangel Michael - founded in 1167;

10) Order of St. James and the Sword (Santiago) - founded in 1160–1170;

11) Order of the Lily (the exact year of foundation is unknown);

12) Order of St. Lawrence (only its name has come down to us);

13) Order of Montjoie - founded in 1180;

14) Teutonic, or German, Order (full name: "Order of the German Hospital of St. Mary in Jerusalem", later - "Teutonic Order of St. Mary", "Order of the Knights of the House of St. Mary of the Teutonic", etc.) - founded in 1190 ;

15) Order of the Gladifers or Brothers of the Sword, founded in 1202

16) Dobrinsky (Dobzhinsky) order (founded in 1228).

The first twelve of the above spiritual and knightly orders were founded by representatives of the Romanesque peoples - the French, Italians, Portuguese, Spaniards. The next two orders were "Germans" (in the then sense of the word - subjects of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation), the last - Poles (although its backbone was also made up of German knights).

However, only three military-spiritual orders, international in composition, were destined to gain wide international fame - the templars, the hospitallers, and even the Teutonic (or German) order. The fate of other, smaller "national" orders was most often similar to the fate of their countries, and they, like their states, were forced to recognize over themselves the supreme authority of the local king, or were dissolved as such. In 1312 such a fate befell even the most powerful and wealthy military-spiritual order of the templars.

The Dobrinsky Order and the Order of the Swordsmen, which consisted of Germans, were absorbed by the Teutonic Order, the first of them in 1235, and the second in 1237 (since then it has existed as a branch, but, contrary to widespread misconception, by no means under the name of the "Livonian Order" ).

So, like many other knightly Orders, the Order of the Hospitallers was born in Palestine, long before the first Crusades and the separation of churches, and, according to some researchers, back in the 4th century.

Over the course of centuries of history, the Order was forced to change its location and therefore the knights were called geographically (“Knights of Cyprus”, “Knights of Rhodes”, and then they became “Knights of Malta”), while remaining to this day “Knights-Joannites”, "Knights Hospitaller" or "Order of St. John of Jerusalem".

But we consider it extremely necessary to dwell on the question, what is a knightly Order and under what conditions can it be born?

This problem is not new, it has found coverage in a significant list of literature, both in our country and abroad. We find the most consistent reflection in the book of J. J. Roy "The History of Chivalry". No less interesting is the study of the famous Swiss historian Jean Flory.

Starting from the 7th century The greatest threat to the Christian civilization of Western Europe began to pose Islam, also called Mohammedanism after its founder. On the one hand, the Muslims were quite benevolent towards the Gentiles, as they considered Christians who made pilgrimage to the holy places of Palestine. This is eloquently evidenced in his notes by the monk Arkulf, who visited there in 670, he did not find any reason to reproach the "unbelievers". On the other hand, after the death of Caliph Mu'awiyah, civil strife began, which turned into civil wars, marked the beginning of an ideological split in Islam, which was followed by the division of the Caliphate into a number of states. The attitude towards Christians has also changed.

By 732, the Muslims had taken from Christendom the territories of North Africa and Western Asia that had been fully Christianized many centuries before, with the exception of Asia Minor. But by the year 1000, the Muslims had already conquered most of Asia Minor and tried, using their superiority at sea, to conquer the Mediterranean Christian countries of Western Europe as well. True, they managed to firmly gain a foothold only in Spain.

This series of Muslim conquests in the 7th, 8th and especially in the 11th centuries. brought the Christian Church to the brink of catastrophe, depriving it of more than half of the cultivated lands, moreover, the most prosperous, rich and cultural ones.

Finally, Christians, having gathered their strength, in the period 1096-1291. (in the so-called era of the Crusades) they conquered and held for a long time Syria and Palestine - the Holy Land, with the main shrines of the Christian world. In doing so, they drove a wedge between the Muslim powers of Asia and Africa, which entered into a period of internal conflicts, which led to the weakening of their rapid offensive power, which owes the huge Islamic conquests of previous centuries.

Crusaders (who called themselves pilgrims or pilgrims to the Holy Land) led by knights, that is, horse warriors (in Latin “militia armata”, because the Latin word “miles” - “warrior”, “warrior” by that time began to denote exclusively a knight ), went to battle under the banner of the Cross, with the battle cry "Deus vult!" ("That's what God wants!").

At the same time, under the influence of ascetic ideas, already in the 4th century in Western Europe, and then in North Africa, a joint life of a bishop with his clergy appeared. It resembled the life of monastic communities, and the presbyters and deacons formed something reminiscent of the Roman Senate. The names of those who lived together were entered into a special “matricula” (also called “canon”), and their life was called “vita canonica”, and they themselves became known as “canons” (canonici).

Usually these persons constituted a congregation (assembly, union, brotherhood), which later became equivalent to the term “order”. To maintain order in the congregation, a charter was drawn up, which was most often based on the charter of the Augustinians that had already been tested in practice for several centuries. All members of such an association were subordinate to the local bishop. During the period of the Crusades, such associations began to exist independently of the monasteries and canons of the congregation. Some of these brotherhoods joined the "knightly orders".

It is interesting that already in the VI-VII centuries. during common prayers, meetings, a joint meal of monastic clerics (canons), the chapters (capitula) of their charter were read, which is why the canons began to be called chapters. But even such a subordinate position of the canons to their rector did not prevent them from possessing personal property, and sometimes breaking up into groups according to their spiritual dignity and administrative position in the chapter. From the ninth century, the division of the income of the chapter begins into a part that goes to the bishop, into a part intended for the chapter, and into income given to individual members of the chapter.

It should be noted that the term “order” (from the Latin “ordo”, i.e. “order”) for designating new monastic, and later military monastic unions, did not settle down right away. For a long time, these orders were also called "fraternitas" ("brotherhoods"), "liga" ("leagues") and even "religio" ("religions" in the same sense of "associations"). Often, to this day, there are disputes about what these or those of them were. The fact is that along with the spiritual and knightly orders in the XII and XIII centuries. in the Holy Land, military-religious associations of Christian townspeople, similar in nature to orders, also called brotherhoods, arose, and later historians often confused them with each other. There are seven such militia brotherhoods that arose in the second half of the 12th century:

6) an English brotherhood named after King Edward the Confessor;

7) the brotherhood of St. George in the cities of Lydda and Bethlehem.

The main difference between these military brotherhoods and the military religious orders was as follows. The brotherhoods were not permanent, but temporary militia associations, which included fellow countrymen-pilgrims, mainly merchants and craftsmen (blacksmiths, gunsmiths, masons, carpenters, saddlers, carpenters, jewelers, etc.), who arrived on their business in Jerusalem the kingdom and other crusader states in the East, and forced, sometimes by virtue of a vow, but more often by force of circumstances, to take part in the armed struggle against the Saracens (i.e. Muslims) - for example, rectors, i.e., leaders of the Italian Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit, were two goldsmiths.

One of the first associations of monks organized according to these principles was the Brotherhood of Hospitallers, who devoted themselves to caring for the sick in monastic and city hospitals. This association later became known as the Order.

However, the inner life of these monastic communities differed sharply from what was happening outside the walls of the monastery or hospital. In the course of the so-called "holy war", the monks-hospitallers finally managed to overcome the contradictions between serving God and military service. Therefore, the knightly, or military-spiritual, unions or brotherhoods - orders that arose in the era of the Crusades, were completely equalized in rights with the monastic orders that arose somewhat earlier. From now on, knights who fought with a sword in their hand could simultaneously take monastic tonsure and wear a cassock with a cross over their armor.

This is how a new “host of Christ” (“militia Christi” in the literal sense of the word) arose, recognizing only the power of the Pope over itself, although initially the Patriarch of Jerusalem tried to stand between him and the Pope.

Officially, the term "order" ("ordo") began to be used to refer to new military-monastic unions only after the IV-ro Lateran (1215) and N-th Lyon (1274) cathedrals. Then a special papal confirmation of the brotherhoods into the order became necessary. So, among these orders of the Western

Churches also appeared knightly orders (ordines militares, regulares militares). The first to transform into knightly orders were the orders of the Templars (better known as the Templars) and the Hospitallers.

We should also dwell on the term hospital, which is understood today by everyone as a military hospital or a hospital for the wounded during hostilities. Now it is a purely medical institution, but in those days it had a broader concept. The Latin word "hospes" is translated as "guest", the adjective from it is hospitalis. The hospital of that time was a hotel or shelter where the traveler could receive the full range of services that he needs (accommodation, food, treatment, rest, protection, security, religious requirements), and largely free of charge.

Help in the hospital was provided to the wounded and sick of any religion, which brought the hospital not only fame, but also a lot of income from grateful patients. In subsequent years, under the auspices of the Order of St. John, hospitals for pilgrims were founded in Europe, mainly in the port cities of Sant Giles, Asti, Pisa, Bari, Otranto, Taranto and Messina. In these hospitals, the pilgrims could prepare for the pilgrimage, wait for the ship, and prepare for the long and perilous journey through the Mediterranean, and then after the pilgrimage, before returning home, rest.