Piers Paul Read on how the Knights Hospitaller adjusted to the post-Crusades era
The Knights Hospitaller in Great Britain
By Michael Hodges, St Omer’s Press, 156pp, £20
After the conquest of Jerusalem by the First Crusade, two military orders were formed to protect the pilgrims – the Templars and the Knights of St John who, having run a hospital in Jerusalem prior to the crusade, became known as the Hospitallers. Disciplined by their oath of obedience, and unafraid of death, the two orders became an indispensable force in further crusades, and the defence of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
