Religio-Military Orders (Military History)

Introduction

Christian society generated two types of religiomilitary order: military orders and Christian orders of chivalry. Some orders have survived, but they have not engaged in warfare since the end of the 18th century, although there was a new and very short-lived foundation in 1890. Military orders are orders of the Roman Catholic Church, the brothers (and occasionally sisters) of which are professed religious. Some of them had the right and duty to bear arms. Since priests are forbidden by canon law to use force, these orders were unusual in that they were run by their lay brothers the knights. Many flourished in the central Middle Ages, ranging from international corporations—the Temple, the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (the Sovereign Military Order of Malta), and the Order of St. Mary of the Germans (the Teutonic Order)—through smaller bodies like St. Lazarus, to the Iberian orders of Calatrava, Aviz, Santiago, Alcántara, Christ, and Montesa; the German Brothers of the Sword and Knights of Dobrzyn; and the tiny English Order of St. Thomas. The Iberian military orders were secularized in the late 15th and 16th centuries. They were no longer legitimated by the church, but were subject to the sovereignty of princes and their constitutional or dynastic successors. But in some of them the transformation was only partial, because elements from their religious past were retained. Although warfare was no longer their first priority, their knights continued to serve in North Africa or in Mediterranean galley fleets or in the Portuguese Empire, and their membership continued to entail public, as opposed to private, obligations that related to the defense of Christendom or the faith. These Iberian hybrids influenced a number of new creations that mirrored their nature. They included the Tuscan Order of St. Stephen (1562), which ran an effective navy for nearly two centuries, the Savoyard Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus (1572), the French Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Lazarus (1609), the Parmese Constantinian Order of St. George (1697), the Papal Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (1847), and five Protestant orders, claiming to have inherited in one case the traditions of the Teutonic Order and in four others those of the Hospital of St. John: the Bailiwick of Utrecht (1815) and Order of St. John (1946) in The Netherlands, the Bailiwick of Brandenburg (1852) in Germany, the Most Venerable Order of St. John (1888) in the British Commonwealth, and the Order of St. John (1920) in Sweden.

General Overviews

It is hard to find historians prepared to tackle all aspects of an enormous field of study stretching from the late 11th century to the present and covering not only theaters of war from the Levant to the Baltic and the Atlantic, as well as the management of the western properties that provided support for the orders’ frontier activities. Widespread academic interest only began to be evident from the 1960s. The number of historians seriously involved in 1960 could probably have been counted on the fingers of two hands, whereas no fewer than 240 scholars contributed to Bériou and Josserand 2009. Most attention has been paid to the great international orders. Land and sea warfare has not attracted nearly as much interest as institutional, social, and economic topics. Only two works, Bériou and Josserand 2009 and Sainty and Heydel-Mankoo 2006, cover both the military orders and the Christian orders of chivalry. Demurger 2002, Forey 1992, and Prutz 1968 focus only the military orders proper, particularly the Temple, the Hospital, and the Teutonic Order, and concentrate on the period before 1312. Luttrell 1995 is an introduction to the later period. All make some reference to military activities.

Bériou, Nicole, and Josserand, Philippe, eds. Prier et combattre: Dictionnaire européen des ordres militaires au Moyen Âge. Paris: Fayard, 2009.
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Written by acknowledged experts, who have been recruited by the editors from all over the world, this provides a good entrée into the orders’ history.
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Demurger, Alain. Chevaliers du Christ: Les ordres religieux-militaires au Moyen Âge (XIe–XVIe siècle). Paris: Editions du Seuil, 2002.
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This deals with the military orders in some detail before 1300, but its treatment thereafter is cursory.
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Forey, Alan J. The Military Orders from the Twelfth to the Early Fourteenth Centuries. Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan, 1992.
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Covering the military orders in the 12th and 13th centuries, this is written by one of their leading historians and has an interesting section on military affairs, together with a good bibliography.
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Luttrell, Anthony T. “The Military Orders, 1312–1798.” In The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades. Edited by Jonathan Riley-Smith, 326–364. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
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An important chapter by a leading scholar on the orders’ history from the 14th century to the end of the 18th, including some discussion of naval warfare.
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Prutz, Hans. Die geistlichen Ritterorden: Ihre Stellung zur kirchlichen, politischen, gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftlichen Entwicklungen des Mittelalters. Berlin: Haude & Spener, 1968.
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The classic introduction to the history of the military orders up to the fall of the Templars in the early 14th century. Prutz was a great historian, but he was more interested in ecclesiastical, social, and economic topics than in warfare. First published Berlin: E.S.Mittler und Sohn, 1908.
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Sainty, Guy Stair, and Rafal Heydel-Mankoo, eds. World Orders of Knighthood and Merit. 2 vols. Wilmington, DE: Burke’s Peerage & Gentry, 2006.
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At first sight this glossy production looks more like something for a coffee table than a library, but it is a scholarly survey of all known orders of knighthood and merit. It also contains an extensive bibliography.
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Bibliographies

With the exception of Bériou and Josserand 2009 on all the orders; Oliveira, et al. 2011 on the Portuguese orders; and perhaps Mizzi 1970, the bibliographies dedicated to specific military orders—Dessubré 1966 (first published in 1928), Hellwald 1968 (1885), and Rossi 1968 (1924)—are too old to be very useful. Historians have to rely mostly on bibliographies of the crusades, of which the best are Mayer 1960 and Mayer and McLellan 1989, and on the list of publications that appears annually in the journal Crusades.

Bériou, Nicole, and Josserand, Philippe, eds. Prier et Combattre: Dictionnaire européen des ordres militaires au Moyen Âge. Paris: Fayard, 2009.
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Each article in this encyclopedia is followed by a short bibliography.
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Dessubré, Marguerite. Bibliographie de l’ordre des Templiers: Imprimés et manuscrits. Nieuwkoop, The Netherlands: B. De Graaf, 1966.
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Still the only reasonably good bibliography of the Templars. First published Paris: E. Nourry, 1928.
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Hellwald, Ferdinand de. Bibliographie méthodique de l’ordre souv. de St. Jean de Jérusalem. Farnborough, UK: Gregg, 1968.
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Very good in its day. First published Rome: Imprimerie Polyglotte de la Propagande, 1885.
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Mayer, Hans E. Bibliographie zur Geschichte der Kreuzzüge. Hanover, West Germany: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1960.
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A comprehensive list of works relating to crusades to the eastern Mediterranean region and to the settlements established in the Levant in the wake of the crusades, but with few references to crusading elsewhere, even to the Teutonic Order’s activities in northeastern Europe. Hans E. Mayer added the titles of works published between 1958 and 1967 in his “Literaturbericht über die Geschichte der Kreuzzüge,” Historische Zeitschrift Sonderheft 3 (1969).
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Mayer, Hans E., and Joyce McLellan. “Select Bibliography of the Crusades.” In A History of the Crusades. Vol. 6, The Impact of the Crusades on Europe. Edited by Harry W. Hazard and Norman P. Zacour, 511–658. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989.
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This bibliography included publications to 1982, but it covers less ground than did Mayer 1960.
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Mizzi, Joseph. “A Bibliography of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (1925–1969).” In The Order of St. John in Malta, with an Exhibition of Paintings by Mattia Preti, Painter and Knight. Edited by Joseph Mizzi, 108–204. Valletta, Malta: St. Paul’s, 1970.
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Quite a thorough survey.
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Oliveira, Luís Filipe, Luís Adão da Fonseca, Maria Cristina Pimenta, and Paula Pinto Costa. “Military Orders.” In The Historiography of Medieval Portugal (c. 1950–2010). Edited by José Mattoso, Maria de Lurdes Rosa, Bernardo Vasconcelos e Sousa, and Maria João Branco, 425–457. Lisbon, Portugal: Institute of Medieval Studies of the New University of Lisbon, 2011.
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This is the product of an active group of Portuguese historians.
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Rossi, Ettore. Aggiunta alla bibliographie méthodique de l’ordre souv. de St. Jean de Jérusalem di Ferdinand de Hellwald. Farnborough, UK: Gregg, 1968.
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An attempt to bring Hellwald 1968 (1885) up to date. First published Rome: Tipograffia Poliglotta, 1924.
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Archival Source

The Malta Study Center holds a microfilm collection of documents from Malta, including the Archive of the Order of Malta (AOM), housed in the National Library of Malta, Valletta (NLM).

Malta Study Center, Hill Museum and Manuscript Library.
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This website provides an electronic finding aid for the archive of the Order of St. John (of Malta). The material in this archive ranges from the 12th century to the late 18th century.
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Conference Proceedings

Although there have been a few short-lived journals dedicated to the military orders, most scholars turn to academic periodicals covering history in general or to the specialized journal Crusades, which is published annually by the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East. International conferences have become another popular means of communication. Of particular interest are those held in Toruń (Ordines Militares), Palmela (As Ordens Militares), and London (Military Orders).

As Ordens Militares. Palmela, Portugal: Camera Municipal de Palmela, 1991–.
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The proceedings of a conference at Palmela, Portugal, organized by the Municipality of Palmela, which has met every four years since 1989. Although covering all aspects of the subject, there is a focus on the Iberian Peninsula.
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The Military Orders. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 1994–.
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The proceedings of a conference that has been held in London every four years since 1992 and is organized by the London Centre for the Study of the Crusades. It is open to all topics associated with military orders and Christian orders of chivalry.
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Ordines militares: Colloquia Torunensia Historica. Toruń, Poland: Toruń University Press, 1981–.
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The proceedings of a conference that has been held at Torun, Poland, every two years since 1981 and is organized by the Institute of History of the Nicholas Copernicus University. The contributions cover all the orders, but there is a stress on the Teutonic Order and the Baltic. This has now become an annual publication.
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Ethos

The emergence of the military orders in the early 12th century marked the final stage in a radical shift in the church’s thinking on the use of force. The seizure in 1099 of Jerusalem by the First Crusade appeared to demonstrate divine approval of the new notion of violence as a penitential activity for lay men and women. With the founding of the military orders the right to perpetrate acts of force under certain circumstances was extended to professed religious. The ideology that justified the warfare of the military orders is now attracting attention. Constable 2008, Licence 2005 (continued in 2006) and Purkis 2008 concentrate on the 12th century. Cerrini 2000 and Riley-Smith 2010 cover both the 12th and 13th centuries. Allen 2007 concerns itself with the 16th century.

Allen, David Frank. “The Hospitaller Castiglione’s Catholic Synthesis of Warfare, Learning and Lay Piety on the Eve of the Council of Trent.” In The Hospitallers, the Mediterranean and Europe: Festschrift for Anthony Luttrell. Edited by Karl Borchardt, Nikolas Jaspert, and Helen Nicholson, 255–268. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2007.
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An interesting treatment of the ideas of an intelligent brother knight of the Hospital of St. John in the 16th century, a time when the order was coming under Counter-Reformation influences.
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Cerrini, Simonetta, ed. I Templari, la guerra et la santità. Rimini, Italy: Il Cerchio, 2000.
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A collection of essays on the ethos of the Templars, containing papers on the relationship of warfare to religious devotion. There is a good bibliography.
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Constable, Giles. “The Military Orders.” In Crusaders and Crusading in the Twelfth Century. By Giles Constable, 165–182. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2008.
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A leading authority on 12th-century religious life discusses the attitude of churchmen to the role of the military orders.
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Licence, Thomas. “The Templars and the Hospitallers, Christ and the Saints.” Crusades 4 (2005): 39–57.
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See also Thomas Licence, “The Military Orders as Monastic Orders,” Crusades 5 (2006): 39–53. Two articles on the religious dispositions of the Templars and the Hospitallers.
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Purkis, William J. Crusading Spirituality in the Holy Land and Iberia c. 1095–c. 1187. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2008.
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This contains (pp. 98–111) the most intelligent interpretation so far of the attitude toward the military orders of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, an early apologist for the Templars.
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Riley-Smith, Jonathan, Templars and Hospitallers as Professed Religious in the Holy Land. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2010.
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A study of the brothers of the Temple and the Hospital on active service in the Levant, stressing their condition as professed religious.
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The Order of the Temple (Templars)

Founded during the winter of 1119–1120 to defend to the pilgrim roads in Palestine and then the western settlements in the Levant, the order was granted a rule in 1129 and was privileged by the papacy ten years later. By the middle of the 12th century it was one of the richest and most highly privileged religious orders in Latin Christendom. It came to share the chief burden of the defense of the western settlements in the Levant with the Hospital of St. John. The Muslim advance in the later 13th century and the loss of the last beachheads in Palestine and Syria in 1291 exposed it to severe criticism. In 1307 all of the Templars resident in or visiting France were arrested on charges of blasphemy, and the order was suppressed in 1312. Most of its European properties were granted to the Hospital of St. John.

Histories

More ink has been spilled on the Knights Templar than on any other medieval group. The general standard of the books about them is appalling. Barber 1994 and Demurger 2005 are efficient and trustworthy and consider the history of the order and its roles, including its function as a fighting machine, in the Levant and in Europe.

Barber, Malcolm. The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
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A scholarly account of the Templars’ history from their foundation to their dissolution in 1312.
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Demurger, Alain. Les Templiers: Une chevalerie chrétienne au Moyen Âge. Paris: Editions du Seuil, 2005.
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This covers much the same ground as Barber 1994, but it is differently organized, with an emphasis on the order’s inner life.
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The Fall of the Templars

The dissolution of the Temple in the early 14th century was a cause célèbre, generating an enormous amount of source material, including the reports of enquiries on behalf of the church into the brothers and their order. The reason for the Templars’ demise is still debated, with Barber 1978 and Forey 2011 holding to the majority opinion and Riley-Smith 2004 challenging it.

Barber, Malcolm. The Trial of the Templars. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1978.
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The most commonly held opinion—that the Templars were falsely accused for political and financial reasons—is argued for at length.
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Forey, A. J. “Were the Templars Guilty, Even If They Were Not Heretics or Apostates?” Viator 42 (2011): 115–141.
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A forceful defense of the consensus.
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Riley-Smith, Jonathan. “Were the Templars Guilty?” In The Medieval Crusade. Edited by Susan J. Ridyard, 107–124. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2004.
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This paper questions the consensus, suggesting that in some instances the Templars could have been guilty of blasphemy. A subsequent paper, “The Structures of the Orders of the Temple and the Hospital in c.1291.” In The Medieval Crusade. Edited by Susan J. Ridyard, 125–143. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2004, argues that the order was anyway in a chaotic state.
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The Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (Hospitallers/Knights of Malta)

The Hospital of St. John originated around 1070 in a hospice for pilgrims to Jerusalem. After the capture of Jerusalem by the First Crusade in 1099, the fame of the hospital grew. It was endowed by the West and was privileged by the papacy. It began to add military to its nursing functions from the 1120s and joined the Temple in assuming a major role in the defense of the western settlements. Expelled with the rest of the settlers from Palestine and Syria in 1291, the Knights Hospitaller established themselves first on Cyprus, from which they began to turn to naval warfare. They invaded the island of Rhodes in 1306 and moved their central government there in 1309. Rhodes and the Dodecanese was ruled by them as an order state until 1522, when the islands fell to the Turks. The Knights Hospitaller reestablished an order state on the Maltese archipelago, which was leased to them by the Emperor Charles V in 1530. They held Malta until driven from it by Napoleon in 1798. They renounced military activities in the 19th century, reverting to their original role of nursing, which they had never abandoned. The order survives today as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta. A multivolume academic history of the order was planned fifty years ago, but was never completed. All the better general accounts are written for a wide audience. Although Nicholson 2001 is perhaps the most academic, Sire 1994 benefits from more inside knowledge. Galimard Flavigny 2005 is less detailed. Nicolle 2008 is to be read for the author’s expertise on armor, and Spiteri 2001 as an introduction to fortifications.

Galimard Flavigny, Bertrand. Histoire de l’ordre de Malta. Paris: Perrin, 2005.
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A semipopular history, briefly covering the ground to modern times.
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Nicholson, Helen. The Knights Hospitaller. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2001.
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A competent history of the order to the present day.
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Nicolle, David, Knights of Jerusalem: The Crusading Order of Hospitallers, 1100–1565. Oxford: Osprey, 2008.
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Useful for the dress and armor employed by the Knights Hospitaller from the order’s militarization to the siege of Malta.
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Sire, H. J. A. The Knights of Malta. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1994.
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The best survey so far, although there is a focus on the order’s European provinces.
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Spiteri, Stephen C. Fortresses of the Knights. Hamrun, Malta: Book Distributors, 2001.
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A study of the evolution of Hospitaller fortifications from the Holy Land to Malta.
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The Order of St. Mary of the Germans (Teutonic Knights)

The order, which originated in a German field hospital on the Third Crusade, was formally established as a military and nursing institution in 1198. Although it contributed to the defense of the Levant, in which its headquarters were situated in the 13th century, it increasingly concentrated on the Baltic region, where it had been invited to help defend the Christian missions to the Slavs and Balts. It eventually established its own order state in Prussia and Livonia (modern Latvia). It waged war on pagan Lithuania and sometimes on Orthodox Russia. Its campaigns became a fashionable activity for the European nobility in the 14th century. After Prussia and Livonia became Lutheran duchies in the 16th century, the headquarters of the Teutonic Knights survived somewhat decoratively in southern Germany, where the grand masters ruled a tiny principality until 1809 from Mergentheim and sent brothers to fight in the Habsburg wars against the Turks. The order survives today, with its headquarters in Vienna, although its membership is confined to priests. Militzer 2005 is efficient. Arnold 1990 is good on artifacts. Boockmann 1981 is the best for military history.

Arnold, Udo, ed. 800 Jahre Deutscher Orden. Gütersloh, Germany: Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, 1990.
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A beautifully produced catalogue of an exhibition that celebrated eight centuries of history, this comprises a first-class general history.
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Boockmann, Hartmut. Der Deutsche Orden: Zwölf Kapitel aus seiner Geschichte. Munich: Verlag C. H. Beck, 1981.
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The best general history of the order. Boockmann pays attention to military topics.
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Militzer, Klaus. Die Geschichte des Deutschen Ordens. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2005.
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A competent survey of the order’s history from its origins to the 20th century.
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The Iberian Orders

The Templars and Hospitallers were established in the Iberian Peninsula from early in the 12th century, but the continuing frontier war against the Moors encouraged the foundation of indigenous orders. The first Spanish military order came into existence when a confraternity that was assembled to defend the exposed castle of Calatrava was admitted into the Cistercian Order in 1164 and was given a modified Cistercian rule. The foundation of the Order of Calatrava was followed by those of Evora soon after 1166—this was later known as Avis and was affiliated to Calatrava; Santiago in 1170; Montegaudio in c. 1173, which was absorbed by Calatrava in c. 1221; and San Julian del Pereiro shortly before 1176, which was also affiliated to Calatrava and in the 13th century took the name of Alcántara. These orders flourished in Castile, Léon, and Portugal, but not in Aragon, where the Templars, who had decided after much soul-searching to engage in warfare, and the Hospitallers were predominant. It was only with the suppression of the Temple that the crown of Aragon endowed with Templar properties the new creation of the Order of Montesa, which was later to be incorporated into the Hospital. The Iberian orders were secularized, and those in Portugal came to play a significant role in the 16th century. The Order of Christ, in particular, which had, like Montesa, been endowed with confiscated Templar properties, was given the management of the Portuguese Empire. The history of these orders has benefited from a flowering of scholarship in Spain, here represented by Ayala Martínez 2003 and Rodríguez-Picavea 2008, and Portugal, represented by Barbosa 1999, Fonseca 1982, Fonseca 2008, Pimenta 2001, and Silva 2002. Prolific schools of historians have emerged since the 1980s, particularly in Madrid and Porto, where they center on the persons of Carlos de Ayala Martinez and Luís Adão da Fonseca, respectively.

Ayala Martínez, Carlos de. Las órdenes militares hispánicas en la Edad Media, siglos XII–XV, Madrid: Marcial Pons, 2003.
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A general history by the leading Spanish historian of the orders.
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Barbosa, Isabel Maria de Carvalho Lago. “A Ordem de Santiago em Portugal nos finais da Idade Média (Normativa e prática).” Militarium Ordinum Analecta 2 (1999): 93–288. Porto, Portugal: Engineer António de Almeida Foundation.
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The standard work on the Order of Santiago in Portugal.
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Fonseca, Luís Adão. O Condestável D. Pedro de Portugal, a Ordem Militar de Avis e a Península Ibérica do seu tempo (1429–1466). Porto, Portugal: Instituto Nacional de Investigação Científica, 1982.
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The basis of all later research on the Portuguese military orders.
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Fonseca, Luís Adão da. “The Portuguese Military Orders and the Oceanic Navigations: From Piracy to Empire (Fifteenth to Early Sixteenth Centuries).” In The Military Orders. Vol. 4, On Land and by Sea. Edited by Judi Upton-Ward, 63–76. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2008.
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A short introduction in English making the subject available to non-Portuguese speakers.
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Pimenta, Maria Cristina Gomes. As Ordens de Avis e de Santiago na Baixa Idade Média: O governo de D. Jorge. Militarium Ordinum Analecta 5. Porto, Portugal: Engineer António de Almeida Foundation, 2001.
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A good book on the Portuguese orders of Santiago and Avis.
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Rodríguez-Picavea, Enrique. Los monjes guerreros en los reinos hispánicos: Las órdenes militares en la Península Ibérica durante la Edad Media. Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros, 2008.
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A detailed account, covering Portugal as well as the Spanish kingdoms.
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Silva, Isabel Luísa Morgado de Sousa e. A Ordem de Cristo: 1417–1521. Militarium Ordinum Analecta 6. Porto, Portugal: Engineer António de Almeida Foundation, 2002.
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A detailed study of the structure of the Order of Christ.
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Lesser Military Orders

Only three medieval orders, the Swordbrothers, St. Thomas of Acre, and St. Lazarus, have been given scholarly treatment: by Benninghoven 1965, Forey 1994, and Jankrift 1996, respectively. For the Institut Religieux et Militaire des Frères Armés du Sahara, founded as late as 1890 and suppressed two years later, see Renault 1971 and Riley-Smith 2008.

Benninghoven, Friedrich. Der Orden der Schwertbrüder: Fratres Milicie Christi de Livonia. Cologne: Böhlau, 1965.
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An authoritative and detailed history. The order was founded in Livonia in 1202 to help defend the Christian mission there. By 1230 it held almost half of Livonia and parts of Estonia, but in 1236 it was decimated by the Lithuanians in battle and in 1237 was incorporated into the Teutonic Order.
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Forey, Alan J. “The Military Order of St. Thomas of Acre.” In Military Orders and Crusades. By Alan J. Forey. Aldershot, UK: Variorum, 1994.
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Originally an order of canons regular, this was transformed into a military order in the late 1220s. It moved from Acre to Cyprus, but in 1379 its government was transferred to London and it lost its military functions. It disappeared in the dissolution of the English monasteries. The article was first published in English Historical Review 92 (1977): 481–503.
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Jankrift, Kay. Leprose als Streiter Gottes: Institutionalisierung und Organisation des Ordens vom Heiligen Lazarus zu Jerusalem von seine Anfängen bis zum Jahre 1350. Münster, Germany: Lit, 1996.
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An account (covering militarization on pp. 73–85) of an order that originated in a hospice for lepers established just outside Jerusalem. From at least the 1190s, the community was admitting knights who had contracted leprosy, and in 1253 the pope allowed nonleprous knights to become members. After the early 14th century St. Lazarus lost touch with the crusading movement.
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Renault, François. Lavigerie, l’esclavage africain et l’Europe, 1862–1892. 2 vols. Paris: E. de Boccard, 1971.
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This includes a detailed treatment of Cardinal Lavigerie’s military ventures, including his establishment of the Institut Religieux et Militaire des Frères Armés du Sahara.
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Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008.
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Puts the Institut Religieux et Militaire des Frères Armés du Sahara into the context of crusading.
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Later Christian Orders of Chivalry

Although the Order of St. Stephen of Tuscany contributed significantly to naval warfare in the 16th and 17th centuries, the histories of many of the other orders might be termed a postscript to the activities of the military orders, particularly as they retain much of the old language and imagery. Angiolini 1996 and Gennes 1995–2004 describe two Catholic orders. Mol 2006, Riley-Smith 1994, and Sarnowsky 2006 describe the origins of the Protestant ones.

Angiolini, Franco. I cavalieri e il principe: L’ordine di Santo Stefano e la società toscana in età moderna. Florence, Italy: Edifir, 1996.
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Deals with the order’s origins and early activities, but is mostly concerned with internal affairs up to the 18th century.
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Gennes, Jean-Pierre de. Les chevaliers du Saint-Sépulcre de Jérusalem: Essai critique. 2 vols. Cholet, France: Editions Herault, 1995–2004.
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Rather discursive and uncritical, but the only general history in existence.
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Mol, Johannes A. “Trying to Survive; The Military Orders in Utrecht, 1580–1620.” In The Military Orders and the Reformation: Choices, State Building and the Weight of Tradition. Edited by Johannes A. Mol, Klaus Militzer, and Helen J. Nicholson, 181–207. Hilversum, The Netherlands: Verloren, 2006.
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On the survival of the orders in Utrecht at the time of the Reformation and the eventual conversion of the commandery of the Teutonic Order there to Protestantism.
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Riley-Smith, Jonathan. “The Order of St. John in England, 1827–1858.” In The Military Orders. Vol. 1, Fighting for the Faith and Caring for the Sick. Edited by Malcolm Barber, 121–138. Aldershot, UK: Variorum, 1994.
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Describes the origins of the Most Venerable Order of St. John. It emerged from a scheme by French knights of Malta to launch an expeditionary force to the eastern Mediterranean in support of the Greek rebels against the Turks.
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Sarnowsky, Jürgen. “Vorgeschichte und Anfänge der Reformation in der Ballei Brandenburg des Johanniterorden.” In The Military Orders and the Reformation: Choices, State Building and the Weight of Tradition. Edited by Johannes A. Mol, Klaus Militzer, and Helen J. Nicholson, 119–137. Hilversum, The Netherlands: Verloren, 2006.
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On the origins of the German Protestant Bailiwick of Brandenburg.
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Palestine, Syria, Cyprus Before 1309

The territorial entities in the eastern Mediterranean region established in the wake of the crusades included the Kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus, the Principality of Antioch and the Counties of Tripoli and Edessa, and to the northeast the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, which developed such close relations with the westerners that it has come to be treated almost as another settlement. The military orders played a large part in this expatriate world. The Templars and the Hospitallers, and to a lesser extent the Teutonic Knights, came to bear the chief burdens of its defense until the westerners were driven from the mainland at the end of the 13th century. Their importance to almost every aspect of the history of the so-called crusader states was such that they play some part in every academic study.

Studies Relating to More than One Military Order

Smail 1995 and Marshall 1992 cover the military history of the settlements from 1098 to 1291. The western settlers were always at a disadvantage when it came to resources. They more than held their own for the first three-quarters of the 12th century, but thereafter their deficiencies, particularly in terms of manpower, became all too apparent. They relied particularly, therefore, on the Templars and Hospitallers, who had the wealth, based on vast European estates, to employ mercenaries, with which they contributed to almost every force put into the field, and to build, maintain, and garrison castles, which were very expensive. When the castle of Saphet (Safad/Tsefat) was rebuilt by the Templars in the middle of the 13th century the cost was estimated by them to be 1,100,000 Saracen besants. Since mercenary knights were serving in Palestine for 120 besants a year, this was the equivalent of paying a year’s wages to over nine thousand knights. The annual bill for the maintenance of Saphet came to 40,000 Saracen besants, the equivalent of bearing a permanent establishment of 333 knights. From their fortresses, especially in northern Syria, the orders conducted independent foreign policies with respect to neighboring Muslim powers. The extent of their commitment to castle building throughout the Latin East is apparent in the treatments of Boas 2006, Deschamps 1934–1977, Pringle 1993–2009, and Pringle 1997, while Chevalier 2009 describes their defensive role in Cilician Armenia. Burgtorf 2008 considers their internal chains of command, and Demurger 1995 contributes to our understanding of their performance on campaign.

Boas, Adrian J. Archaeology of the Military Orders: A Survey of the Urban Centres, Rural Settlement and Castles of the Military Orders in the Latin East (c. 1120–1291). London: Routledge, 2006.
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A wide-ranging survey of the state of our knowledge of the castles, particularly those in Israel. It also contains a useful gazetteer.
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Burgtorf, Jochen. The Central Convent of Hospitallers and Templars: History, Organization, and Personnel (1099/1120–1310). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2008.
DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004166608.i-761Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A scholarly description of the officers at the headquarters of the Orders of the Temple and the Hospital. It is therefore an essential guide to chains of command.
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Chevalier, Marie-Anna. Les ordres religieux-militaires en Arménie cilicienne: Templiers, Hospitaliers, Teutoniques et Arméniens à l’époque des croisades. Paris: Geuthner, 2009.
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This best study of the contribution made by the military orders to the defense of Cilician Armenia.
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Demurger, Alain. “Templiers et Hospitaliers dans les combats de Terre Sainte.” In Le combattant au Moyen Âge: Actes du 18e Congrès de la société des historiens médiévistes de l’enseignement supérieur public, Montpellier 1987. 2d ed. 77–96. Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1995.
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One of very few detailed treatments of the brothers’ contribution on campaign, supplementing Marshall 1992 and Smail 1995.
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Deschamps, Paul. Les châteaux des croisés en Terre Sainte. 3 vols. Paris: Geuthner, 1934–1977.
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Still the most complete consideration of “crusader” castles, including those in the principality of Antioch and county of Tripoli. Archaeological excavations have rendered some of Deschamps’s conclusions obsolete, but his book remains the best guide to many locations.
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Marshall, Christopher. Warfare in the Latin East, 1192–1291. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
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The standard work on warfare in the Levant in the 13th century, written to continue the work of Smail 1995.
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Pringle, Denys. The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Corpus. 4 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1993–2009.
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This is primarily concerned with ecclesiastical buildings, but since every castle had a chapel it provides up-to-date information on the castles as well and has good bibliographies. Confined, however, to the Kingdom of Jerusalem proper.
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Pringle, Denys. Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: An Archaeological Gazetteer. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
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A brief description with bibliography of every castle in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
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Smail, R. C. Crusading Warfare. 2d ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
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The standard introduction to 12th-century warfare in the Levant, first published. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1956.
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The Temple

Most of the work on the military role of the Templars in the East has been devoted to their castles, but there are a few comprehensive accounts of their activities, represented by Claverie 2005, and studies of specific topics, represented by Bennett 1992. Reports of excavations that are too recent to have been covered in the more general surveys include Ellenblum 2007, Barbé and Damati 2004, and Edwards 1983.

Barbé, Hervé, and Emanuel Damati. “La forteresse médiévale de Safed: Données récentes de l’archéologie.” Crusades 3 (2004): 171–178.
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A report by the excavators of the Templar castle of Saphet, northwest of the Sea of Galilee.
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Bennett, Matthew. “La Règle du Temple as a Military Manual, or How to Deliver a Cavalry Charge.” In The Rule of the Templars. Translated by J. M. Upton-Ward, 175–188. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 1992.
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A rare study of battlefield tactics.
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Claverie, Pierre-Vincent. L’Ordre du Temple en Terre Sainte et à Chypre au XIIIe siècle. 3 vols. Nicosia, Cyprus: Centre de Recherche Scientifique, 2005.
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This covers the entire spectrum of the Templar contribution to the history of the settlements in the Levant.
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Edwards, R. W. “Bağras and Armenian Cilicia: A Reassessment.” Revue des Études Armeniennes 17 (1983): 415–455.
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An authoritative treatment of one of the largest and most important Templar castles, Gaston (Bağras), which controlled the Syrian Gates, the pass through the Amanus Mountains from Cilicia into Syria. Edwards argues that most of the surviving structures are Templar.
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Ellenblum, Ronnie. Crusader Castles and Modern Histories. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511497247Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Valuable for its treatment of the archaeological excavations at Vadum Jacob, a Templar castle taken by the Muslims while in the course of construction.
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The Hospital of St. John

Although the narrative of the Hospitallers’ military contribution is covered in Riley-Smith 2012, the importance of finance is underlined in Bronstein 2005, and the spectacular excavation of the order’s headquarters in Acre is described in Stern 2006, monographs relating specifically to military activities tend to focus on the castles. Listed here are the reports of excavations that are too recent to have been covered in the more general surveys. They include Harper and Pringle 2000 on Belmont and Roll and Arubas 2006 on Arsur; the new survey of Crac des Chevaliers in Biller 2006; and, above all, the significant discoveries at Margat made by Balázs Major and his team, reported in Edbury 2012. Results of some of the most important excavations, such as those at Bethgibelin (Bait Jibrin/Bet Guvrin), have not yet been published.

Biller, Thomas, ed. Der Crac des Chevaliers: Die Baugeschichte einer Ordensburg der Kreuzfahrerzeit. Regensburg, Germany: Schnell & Steiner, 2006.
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This fortress was held by the Hospitallers from 1142 to 1271. It is the best preserved of all crusader castles and is a fine example of early concentricity. Written as a result of a German survey, this magnificent volume replaces the account in Deschamps 1934–1977 (cited under Studies Relating to More than One Military Order).
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Bronstein, Judith. The Hospitallers and the Holy Land: Financing the Latin East, 1187–1274. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2005.
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A study of the measures taken to finance the order’s activities, especially warfare, in the East.
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Edbury, Peter W., ed. The Military Orders. Vol. 5, Politics and Power. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2012.
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This contains three preliminary reports on the discoveries of a Hungarian-Syrian team that has been excavating the enormous castle of Margat (al-Marqab), acquired by the Knights Hospitaller in 1187 and held by them until 1285: Gergely Buzás, “The Two Hospitaller Chapter Houses at al-Marqab: A Study in Architectural Reconstruction,” pp. 49–64; István Kováts, “Meat Consumption and Animal Keeping in the Citadel at al-Marqab: A Preliminary Report,” pp. 65–74; and Balázs Major, and Éva Galambos, “Archaeological and Fresco Research in the Castle Chapel at al-Marqab: A Preliminary Report on, the Results of the First Seasons,” pp. 23–47. The team’s discoveries have led to revolutionary conclusions about the castle and the order’s building program there.
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Harper, Richard P., and Denys Pringle. Belmont Castle: The Excavation of a Crusader Stronghold in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
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A report on the excavation undertaken by the British School in Jerusalem of a castle in the Judean Hills that was the center of an important group of sites, including a small infirmary and a shrine wrongly supposed to have been the location of Emmaus.
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Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Knights Hospitaller in the Levant, c. 1070–1309. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.
DOI: 10.1057/9781137264756Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A history covering all of the order’s activities in the Latin East from its origins to the transfer of its headquarters to Rhodes. Published to replace Riley-Smith’s The Knights of St. John in Jerusalem and Cyprus, c. 1050–1310 (London: Macmillan, 1967).
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Roll, Israel, and Benjamin Arubas. “Le château d’Arsur.” Bulletin Monumental 164 (2006): 67–81.
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The Knights Hospitaller were given the responsibility of defending the castle of Arsur (Arsuf) a few years before it fell to the Egyptians in 1265. Its excavation was due to the single-minded enthusiasm of a professor of classics at Tel Aviv University. A few Hospitaller elements have been identified.
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Stern, Eliezer. “La commanderie de l’ordre des Hospitaliers à Acre.” Bulletin Monumental 164 (2006): 53–60.
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A report on the excavation of the Hospitaller headquarters in Acre, the distribution center for the order’s castles and commanderies throughout the Levantine mainland.
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St. Mary of the Germans

Although their headquarters were in Acre for most of the 13th century and they owned a few castles, of which Montfort, described in Boas and Khamissy 2008, was the most significant, and large estates in the royal domain near Acre, the Teutonic Knights never rivaled the Templars and Hospitallers as defenders of the Holy Land. In the 13th century their attention was already focused on the Baltic coast. Forstreuter 1967 and Militzer 1999 provide general accounts.

Boas, Adrian, and Rabei Khamissy. “The Teutonic Castle of Montfort/Starkenberg (Qal’at Qurein).” In L’ordine Teutonico tra Mediterraneo e Baltico. Edited by Hubert Houben and Kristjan Toomaspoeg, 347–361. Galatina, Italy: Mario Congedo Editore, 2008.
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An up-to-date description of the order’s most important castle in Palestine.
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Forstreuter, Kurt. Der Deutsche Orden am Mittelmeer. Bonn, Germany: Verlag Wissenschaftliches Archiv, 1967.
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Surveys the activities of the Teutonic Order throughout the Mediterranean region.
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Militzer, Klaus. Von Akkon zur Marienburg: Verfassung, Verwaltung und Sozialstruktur des Deutschen Ordens, 1190–1309. Marburg, Germany: Elwert, 1999.
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A scholarly study of the order from its foundation to the transference of its headquarters to Prussia, focusing on its development as an institution, but with some references to military activities.
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Rhodes and the Dodecanese

The Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights established order states, respectively, on Rhodes and in Prussia. Having some similarities to the papal patrimonies in Italy and on the east bank of the Rhône, and to the Jesuit missionary settlements in South America, order states were theocracies governed by an elite class of celibate soldier-religious, who originated from outside the boundaries and isolated themselves from the indigenous populations. Established on Christian frontiers, their policies towards their non-Christian neighbors, while theoretically defensive, were highly aggressive in practice and were exemplified by the Reysen of the Teutonic Knights, the caravans of the Rhodian and Maltese fleets, and the Hospitallers’ use of licensed privateering, the corso. Rhodes played an important part in eastern Mediterranean politics in the later Middle Ages, having close relations with the western settlements in Greece and the Greek islands, including the principality of Achaea and the duchy of Athens. Little interest was shown in this topic until the 1950s, in spite of the wealth of material surviving in the order’s archives on Malta. There have been major advances in research in the last few decades, made especially by Luttrell (Luttrell 1978, Luttrell 1982, Luttrell 1992, Luttrell 1999, Luttrell 2007), Sarnowsky 2001 and Vatin 1994, but much still needs to be done.

Luttrell, Anthony. The Hospitallers in Cyprus, Rhodes, Greece and the West, 1291–1440: Collected Studies. London: Variorum, 1978.
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Contains articles on the servitudo marina, relations with Venice, and contemporary criticism of the order.
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Luttrell, Anthony. Latin Greece, the Hospitallers and the Crusades, 1291–1400. London: Variorum, 1982.
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Contains articles on interventions in Cilician Armenia and slavery.
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Luttrell, Anthony. The Hospitallers of Rhodes and Their Mediterranean World. Aldershot, UK: Variorum, 1992.
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Contains articles on warfare against the Turks, the defense of Rhodes, and the order’s military and naval organization.
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Luttrell, Anthony. The Hospitaller State on Rhodes and its Western Provinces, 1306–1462. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 1999.
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Contains articles on the building of Bodrum and on Rhodes as a military base.
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Luttrell, Anthony. Studies on the Hospitallers after 1306: Rhodes and the West. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2007.
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Contains articles on the nature of military orders, the island of Cos, and English contributions to the building of the castle of Bodrum.
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Sarnowsky, Jürgen. Macht und Herrschaft im Johanniterorden des 15. Jahrhunderts: Verfassung und Verwaltung der Johanniter auf Rhodos, 1421–1522. Münster, Germany: Lit, 2001.
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The best and most comprehensive study of the order state in the 15th century.
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Vatin, Nicolas. L’Ordre de Saint-Jean-de-Jérusalem, l’Empire Ottoman et la Méditerranée orientale entre les deux sièges de Rhodes, 1480–1522. Paris: Peeters, 1994.
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A brilliant analysis of the order’s place in the eastern Mediterranean and relations and warfare with the Turks in the forty years before the fall of Rhodes.
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Fortifications

The order began to refortify Rhodes as soon as it arrived, and by 1522 the walls, improved to take account of gun fire, were regarded as invulnerable. They have attracted attention, especially by Gabriel and Luttrell (see Gabriel 1921–1923 and Luttrell 2003), as has the order’s castle of Bodrum on the Turkish mainland, studied in Luttrell 1986, but the many fortifications throughout Rhodes and the other islands, in particular Cos, are only beginning to be researched.

Gabriel, Albert. La cité de Rhodes, 1310–1522. 2 vols. Paris: Boccard, 1921–1923.
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The classic study of the buildings in the Hospitaller city. The first volume deals with religious and civil architecture, and the second with the fortifications.
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Luttrell, Anthony T. “The Later History of the Maussolleion and its Utilization in the Hospitaller Castle at Bodrum.” In The Maussolleion at Halikarnassos. Vol. 2, The Written Sources and Their Archaeological Background. Edited by Kristian Jeppeson and Anthony T. Luttrell, 115–214. Aarhus, Denmark: Jutland Archaeological Society, 1986.
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Describes the process by which the castle was constructed by the Hospitallers out of robbed materials from the Maussolleion.
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Luttrell, Anthony. The Town of Rhodes, 1306–1356. Rhodes, Greece: City of Rhodes Office for the Medieval Town, 2003.
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A text-based study that revises Gabriel 1921–1923 in some respects.
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Naval Warfare

After the loss of Palestine and Syria the order began to build up a navy. In the centuries that followed this was the most distinctive feature of its contribution to crusading, although the treatment in Rossi 1926 badly needs updating. The order policed the shipping lanes and tried to limit the activities of the Turkish coastal emirates of Asia Minor and later the Ottoman state. Its galleys contributed to the naval leagues that struggled for mastery with the Turks. Its fleet, rowed by free Greek islanders, was comparatively small, being at the most seven or eight galleys, although three was the more usual number. The galleys were supplemented from the late 15th century by a carrack and later by a galleon. There was also an effective system of privateering, the introduction of which is described by Luttrell 1995.

Luttrell, Anthony. “The Earliest Documents on the Hospitaller Corso at Rhodes, 1413 and 1416.” Mediterranean Historical Review 10 (1995): 177–188.
DOI: 10.1080/09518969508569691Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
On the origins of privateering, which was a feature of marine warfare conducted from Rhodes and later from Malta. Reprinted in Luttrell 1999 (cited under Rhodes and the Dodecanese).
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Rossi, Ettore. Storia della marina dell’Ordine di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme di Rodi e di Malta. Rome: Società Editrice d’Arte Illustrata, 1926.
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Hard to find and very dated, but the only book dealing with the navy of Rhodes.
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Rhodes and the West

The order state was dependent on the Hospitaller provinces in the West for men and materials. Most of the many studies of its provincial administration and estate management pay little attention to Rhodes. Two good 21st-century books, Bonneaud 2004 and O’Malley 2005, are exceptions.

Bonneaud, Pierre. Le prieuré de Catalogne, le couvent de Rhodes et la couronne d’Aragon, 1415–1447. Millau, France: Conservatoire Larzac Templier et Hospitalier, 2004.
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On the support given by the Hospitaller estates in Catalonia.
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O’Malley, Gregory. The Knights Hospitaller of the English Langue, 1460–1565. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199253791.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Discusses the role of the English Knights Hospitaller on Rhodes.
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The Baltic Region

The Teutonic Order was invited into Prussia in 1225, and in 1226 its grand master was granted the status of an imperial prince, a topic considered by Kluger 1987. In 1234 Gregory IX took Prussia into the proprietorship of St. Peter, returning it to the knights as a papal fief. The strategy employed by the order was based on the building of castles, described by Ekdahl 2002 and Torbus 1998, alongside which the settlements of German burghers were founded, while Dominican friars under its control Christianized the countryside around, but a series of revolts meant that large-scale colonization could only begin at the end of the 13th century. In September 1309 the grand master took up residence at the castle of Marienburg in western Prussia. The Teutonic Knights extended their authority over their semisovereign state, while attracting to their little wars as many crusaders as they could. Throughout the 14th century a stream of knights from all over Europe came to fight with them in campaigns, known as Reysen, which took the form of raids through the wilderness into Lithuania. These are treated in Ehlers 2007 and Paravicini 1989–1995. But the popularity of this form of warfare depended on the existence of a frontier with an infidel enemy. Its raison d’être vanished in 1386 with the conversion of Lithuania to Christianity and its union with Poland. At Tannenberg (Grunwald) on 15 July 1410, considered in Ekdahl 1982, the Teutonic Order’s forces were destroyed by a Polish and Lithuanian army. Although it survived until 1525 in Prussia and until 1562 in Livonia, the last time non-German crusaders came to Prussia seems to have been for the Reysa of 1413. Of all theaters of war in which the military orders featured this has had the most authoritative treatment, outstandingly in Benninghoven 1970, Ekdahl 1998, and Heckmann 2006.

Benninghoven, Friedrich. “Zur Technik spätmittelalterlicher Feldzüge im Ostbaltikum.” Zeitschrift für Ostforschung 19 (1970): 631–651.
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On the strategic significance of the Reysen.
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Ehlers, Axel. Die Ablasspraxis des Deutschen Ordens im Mittelalter. Marburg, Germany: Elwert, 2007.
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An important study of the innovative use of indulgences by the Teutonic Order, involving a consideration of crusading warfare on the Baltic frontier.
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Ekdahl, Sven. Die Schlacht bei Tannenberg 1410: Quellenkritische Untersuchungen. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1982.
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An exhaustive study of the sources for the battle.
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Ekdahl, Sven. “Horses and Crossbows: Two Important Warfare Advantages of the Teutonic Order in Prussia.” In The Military Orders. Vol. 2, Welfare and Warfare. Edited by Helen Nicholson, 119–151. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 1998.
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On aspects of the innovatory approach of the order to warfare.
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Ekdahl, Sven. “The Strategic Organization of the Commanderies of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and Livonia.” In La Commanderie: Institution des ordres militaires dans l’Occident médiéval. Edited by Anthony Luttrell and Léon Pressouyre, 219–242. Paris: Comité des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques, 2002.
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On the relationship between the commanderies of the Teutonic Order and its castles.
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Heckmann, Dieter. “Kriegstechnische Innovationen in den mittelalterlichen Deutschordenslanden Preussen und Livland.” Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift 65.1 (2006): 113–129.
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A discussion of the order’s innovatory approach to castle building, horse breeding, armor, and tactics.
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Kluger, Helmuth. Hochmeister Hermann von Salza und Kaiser Friedrich II: Ein Beitrag zur Frühgeschichte des Deutschen Ordens. Marburg, West Germany: N. G. Elwert Verlag, 1987.
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A much-praised account of the order’s arrival and early engagement in the region.
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Paravicini, Werner. Die Preussenreisen des Europäischen Adels. 2 vols. Sigmaringen, Germany: Thorbecke, 1989–1995.
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Although not completed, this study of the part played by European nobles in the Reysen is by far the best and most detailed analysis of the form these expeditions took.
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Torbus, Tomasz. Die Konventsburgen im Deutschordensland Preußen. Munich: Oldenbourg, 1998.
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The best description of the order’s conventual castles in Prussia.
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The Iberian Peninsula

The establishment of the Iberian military orders should be seen in the context of a reverse in the Christian reconquest of Spain, because their foundation followed the arrival of the Almohads and their assumption of power in Muslim Iberia, which put the Christians on the defensive. The orders were used to defend the invasion routes leading from Almohad territory, but they also undertook military campaigns, ransomed prisoners, and actively settled the frontier regions under their control with Christian peasants. They played a full part in the 13th-century Reconquest, and their settlement policies are reminiscent of those of the Teutonic Knights. Ayala Martínez 2000 looks at a specific case, and Josserand 2004 considers the activities of the orders in one of the Spanish kingdoms. The military role of the Portuguese orders became of less importance after the middle of the 13th century, but the part they played in the management of the kingdom and empire meant that they were still, if indirectly, engaged in military affairs. For one of their castles, see Fernandes 2004. Elsewhere in the Iberian Peninsula, the orders played a full part until the fall of Granada and beyond. By then, of course, all the Iberian orders, endowed with vast estates, had become instruments of the monarchies. In the resurgence of interest in the history of these orders, comparatively little attention has been paid to warfare, but good introductions to the topic are to be found in Ayala Martínez 2003, Forey 1994, Josserand 2002, and Rodríguez-Picavea 2008.

Ayala Martínez, Carlos de. “Las órdenes militares en la conquista de Sevilla.” In Sevilla 1248: Congreso Internacional Conmemorativo del 750 Aniversario de la Conquista de la Ciudad de Sevilla por Fernando III, Rey de Castilla y León; Sevilla, Real Alcázar, 23–27 de noviembre de 1998. Edited by Manuel González Jiménez, 167–189. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Ramón Areces, 2000.
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An important study of the contribution of the military orders to the campaign of Ferdinand III of Castile.
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Ayala Martínez, Carlos de. Las órdenes militares hispánicas en la Edad Media (siglos XII‑XV). Madrid: Marcial Pons, 2003.
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Chapters 18–25 (pp. 405–601) consider the order’s military activities in detail.
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Fernandes, Isabel Cristina Ferreira. O castelo de Palmela, do Islâmico ao Cristão. Lisbon, Portugal: Edições Colibri, 2004.
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The best treatment of the castle of Palmela.
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Forey, Alan J. “The Military Orders and the Spanish Reconquest in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries.” In Military Orders and Crusades. By Alan J., Forey. Aldershot, UK: Variorum, 1994.
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On the part the military orders played in the Reconquest. Originally published in Traditio 40 (1984): 197–234.
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Josserand, Philippe. “Un corps d’armée spécialisé au service de la Reconquête: Les Ordres Militaires dans le royaume de Castille (1252–1369).” Bulletin de la Société Archéologique et Historique de Nantes et de Loire-Atlantique 137 (2002): 193–214.
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A survey of the contribution of the military orders to the Castilian Reconquest.
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Josserand, Philippe. Eglise et pouvoir dans la Péninsule Ibérique: Les ordres militaires dans le royaume de Castille, 1252–1369. Madrid: Casa de Velázquez, 2004.
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An important monograph on the military orders in Castile. Chapter 4 (pp. 233–97) focuses on warfare.
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Rodríguez-Picavea, Enrique. Los monjes guerreros en los reinos hispánicos: Las órdenes militares en la Península Ibérica durante la Edad Media. Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros, 2008.
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Chapters 5–8 (pp. 123–249) give warfare detailed treatment.
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Malta

Within a year of their evacuation of Rhodes, the Knights Hospitaller were negotiating for a new base. On 23 March 1530 the emperor Charles V leased the islands of Malta and Gozo and the city of Tripoli in North Africa to the Hospitallers, putting them in the front line of the defense of his North African holdings in just the way his predecessors the kings of Castile had used the orders in the Iberian Peninsula. The strategic importance of the Maltese archipelago, controlling the passage between the eastern and western Mediterranean basins at the point where the sea narrows, was to become apparent in the next few years. Like Rhodes, the Hospitaller occupation of Malta, for which the source material is magnificent, needs more research. Blondy 2002 and Mallia-Milanes 1993 are introductions, but for more focused studies, see Brogini 2006 and Buttigieg 2011.

Blondy, Alain. L’Ordre de Malte au XVIIIe siècle: Des dernières splendeurs à la ruine. Paris: Bouchène, 2002.
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A good survey of the activities of the order on Malta in the 18th century
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Brogini, Anne. Malte, frontière de chrétienté, 1530–1670. Rome: Ecole Française de Rome, 2006.
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An important study of Malta as a frontier post with a full treatment of the order’s military and naval roles.
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Buttigieg, Emanuel. Nobility, Faith and Masculinity: The Hospitaller Knights of Malta, c. 1580–c. 1700. London: Continuum, 2011.
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Considers the culture and mores of the knights of St. John on Malta in the 17th century.
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Mallia-Milanes, Victor, ed. Hospitaller Malta, 1530–1798: Studies on Early Modern Malta and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Msida, Malta: Mireva, 1993.
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This wide-ranging volume seeks to understand the order and its island base within a wider framework.
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Fortifications

After 1565 the Hospitallers massively fortified the new city of Valletta, and they continued to improve the defenses around the Grand Harbor in the 17th and 18th centuries. In fact, although there was a large Turkish raid in 1614, no serious invasion came before 1798. Hughes 1967 is a general introduction to Maltese architecture. Hoppen 1979 approaches the subject of fortifications from a documentary perspective. Spiteri 2008 reveals how the defenses were built.

Hoppen, Alison. The Fortification of Malta by the Order of St. John, 1530–1798. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1979.
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A scholarly account of the construction history of the order’s fortifications in the Maltese archipelago.
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Hughes, J. Quentin. The Building of Malta during the Period of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, 1530–1795. London: Alec Tiranti, 1967.
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A study of the buildings on Malta. Chapter 1 (pp. 7–40) considers the fortifications.
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Spiteri, Stephen C. The Art of Fortress Building in Hospitaller Malta, 1530–1798: A Study of Building Methods, Materials, and Techniques. San Gwann, Malta: Book Distributors, 2008.
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A detailed and up-to-date study of Hospitaller fortifications in Malta.
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Warfare by Land and Sea

The order gained prestige through its heroic and successful defense of Malta in 1565—described in Brogini 2011 and Spiteri 2005—against an enormous and well-equipped Turkish army, sent to clear Constantinople’s line of communication with North Africa. The Hospitallers played a part in nearly all the Christian naval leagues and major campaigns against the Turks, but their role became increasingly that of marine policemen. Their fleet has received attention in Fontenay 1990, Muscat and Cuschieri 2002, and Wismayer 1997. After 1705 they gradually replaced their fleet of seven or eight war galleys with a squadron of four or five ships of the line, mounting fifty or sixty guns each. Although the maintenance of this force was a very great expense, the Hospitallers kept up an aggressive onslaught on Muslim shipping, and the naval training they gave their knights was much admired. As on Rhodes, their naval actions were supplemented by the corso, which is considered by Bono 1993 and Greene 2010.

Bono, Salvatore. “Naval Exploits and Privateering.” In Hospitaller Malta, 1539–1798: Studies on Early Modern Malta and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Edited by Victor Mallia-Milanes, 351–398. Msida, Malta: Mireva, 1993.
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On the use by the Hospitallers of the corso.
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Brogini, Anne. 1565. Malte dans la tourmente: Le grand siège de l’île par les Turcs. Saint-Denis, France: Bouchène, 2011.
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The best book on the siege of 1565, written by a historian who knows the archival material well.
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Fontenay, Michel. “De Rhodes à Malte: L’évolution de la flotte des Hospitaliers au XVIe siècle.” In Navi e navigazione nei secoli XV e XVI: Atti del V Convegno internazionale di studi colombiani, Genova, 26–18, ottobre 1987. Vol. 1. Edited by Graziella Galliano and Ausilia Roccatagliata, 109–133. Genoa, Italy: Civico Istituto Colombiano, 1990.
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On the reconstruction of the fleet after the fall of Rhodes, drawing attention to the way strategic considerations led to the phasing out of great ships and a concentration on war galleys.
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Greene, Molly. Catholic Pirates and Greek Merchants: A Maritime History of the Mediterranean. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010.
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An interesting contribution to the history of the Maltese corso.
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Muscat, Joseph, and Andrew Cuschieri. Naval Activities of the Knights of St. John, 1530–1798. Santa Venera, Malta: Midsea, 2002.
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Written by two experts on maritime affairs, this contains a detailed discussion of naval warfare and the type and fitting out of warships.
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Spiteri, Stephen C. The Great Siege: Knights vs. Turks, MDLXV—Anatomy of a Hospitaller Victory. Tarxien, Malta: Johannes Gutenberg, 2005.
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A detailed study illustrated with diagrams, images, and maps.
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Wismayer, Joseph M. The Fleet of the Order of St. John, 1530–1798. Valletta, Malta: Midsea, 1997.
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A detailed account of the order’s navy, based on the archival material on Malta.
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