The militarisation of the Hospitallers was followed by a period when several of its masters were of Anglo-Norman origin. The first was Gilbert d’Assailly who was elected in 1162 and had previously been the Commander at Tyre. Under his mastership the militarisation of the Hospitallers gathered pace. The last of the Anglo-Norman masters was a confidant of the crusading King Richard I, Gamier de Naples, who died 1192. The Hospitallers’ first headquarters had been in Jerusalem but following Saladin’s liberation of the holy city in 1187 and the Third Crusade’s subsequent recapture of the Palestinian coast, they moved to Acre. The Order’s main military effort was, however, concentrated further north where it acquired a quasi-independent and strategically located territory around the great cashes of Krak des Chevaliers and Marqab.
Some Hospitallers managed to spend almost their entire careers in the Middle East, but there was also some form of troop rotation in which individual members of the Order did one tour of duty in the Holy Land. Only a small proportion of the Hospitaller personnel were actually stationed in the region. Many more, including brothers-in-arms, remained in Europe. This strategic reserve was so widely spread that Western convents outside Spain contained, at most, a handful of properly equipped fighting men. Hospitallers in the west were largely non-military sergeants who controlled the Order’s increasingly large estates and wealth. This was also true of Hospitaller convents in Central and Eastern Europe, and it was only after the devastating Mongol invasions of Hungary in the 13th century that more than a handful of brother-knights were stationed in this frontier kingdom of Latin Christendom. Hospitaller organisation in the Iberian peninsula mirrored that in the Middle East, and Hospitaller possessions were mostly concentrated on the flanks of the frontier with the Islamic south.
The Hospitaller castle of Belvoir overlooks the River Jordan. Its concentric design reflects the fact that it was a monastic enclosure as well as a castle. (Author’s photograph)
The interiors of some of the main Hospitaller castles were decorated with wall paintings. This picture of a baptism came from the chapel in Krak des Chevaliers. (Historical Museum, Tartus, Syria)
Ranks and hierarchy
Ranks within the Order of the Hospitallers reflected status and function, with brother-knights and brother-sergeants having essentially the same military equipment, although that of the sergeants tended to be more limited. In the earliest days there had not even been a clear division between brothers-at-arms and non-military brothers-at-service, but by the 13th century the brethren formed four main groups: the knights or brother-knights-at-arms, the brother-sergeants-at-arms, the non-military brothers-in-office and the smaller number of chaplains or priests. The most important division was, in fact, between the ordained priests and the ordinary brethren. However, class divisions between brother-knights and brother-sergeants hardened during the 13th century, while those of illegitimate birth were only allowed limited authority by the late 13th century. From 1262 only a brother-knight could become Master and by 1320, brother-knights even took precedence over priests.
The most important official in the Order of the Hospitallers was, of course, the Master who was elected by committee, served for the rest of his life, and had his own household and servants. The Grand Commander was the master’s administrative second-in-command, responsible for supplies, domestic administration, the Order’s Middle Eastern properties and the Central Convent in Palestine when the Master was absent. By 1303 the vital arbalestry (crossbow-store) was one of his bailiwicks (areas of responsibility).
The Marshal was the most senior military official in the Order, responsible for discipline in the Central Convent where he was regarded as the men’s leader; the Grand Commander was seen as the Master’s representative. Following a military restructuring of the Order in 1206, all brothers-in-arms were placed under his authority. He continued to distribute military equipment and horses, being in charge of the forge and saddlery, as well as issuing rations and clothing to those sent on missions away from the Convent. On campaign the Marshal commanded Hospitaller forces under the immediate authority of the Master or his lieutenant, and led the field army if the Master was absent. In fact all military officers in the Middle East were under the Marshal to some extent, the only exceptions being the capitular (senior) bailli and the Master’s own companions. Lesser military officers such as the master esquire, gonfanier (standard-bearer) and commander of the knights were under the marshal, as were almost all castellans after 1303, along with the Turcopolier in time of war and the admiral if the marshal himself was with the fleet.
As the second most senior conventual bailli after the Grand Commander, the Marshal reported directly to the General Chapter (governing committee) of the Order. The marshal’s standard-bearer was in fact the Gonfanier of the Order as a whole. Since 1206 he had been permitted four horses, two squires, two pack animals and one driver. A regulation of 1268 specified that the Marshal was allowed a turcoman, hack or riding horse in addition to his destrier or warhorse, though this had to be made available if a brother-in-arms needed it in battle.
This panel from a wooden doorway came from a church in Lebanon and might date from the late 13th or perhaps early 14th century Crusader period. (Formerly Pharaon Collection, Beirut, present whereabouts unknown)
As the Hospitallers’ senior military figure, the Marshal was widely consulted for his expertise on Middle Eastern affairs. Nevertheless, his power was offset by the fact that those holding this office changed so often. Military equipment donated to the Order went to the Marshal’s office unless it had been specifically given to the castles of Krak des Chevaliers or Marqab. Furthermore, the Marshal could requisition such items from local commanders. The marshalsy itself had two main departments: the arsenal where at least one brother-in-arms looked after all military equipment except crossbows, and the stables which faced a perpetual shortage of horses and a chronic wastage of animals shipped from Europe.
The Constable was a senior military officer, though his responsibilities were organisational and he remained subordinate to the marshal until 1169. The position of Master Esquire of the Central Convent dated from the military reorganisation of 1206. Responsible for squires and grooms and for supervising work concerning the horses and stables, he was the immediate superior of the crie, aerie or aria who actually ran the stables, issuing mounts and possibly harnesses to brothers-in-arms. The role of Master Esquire was given to one of the most senior or experienced brother-sergeants, but he should not be confused with another master esquire who led the Master’s own squires and was later called the Grand Esquire.
The position of Gonfanonier, or standard bearer, of the Order seems to have been offered as a reward for skill or courage in battle. He was put beneath the Marshal following the reorganisation of 1206, and from 1270 had to be a brother-knight of legitimate birth. The Gonfanonier could also lead raids if the Master, his lieutenant or the Marshal were not available. The Commander of Knights actually led the knights if the Marshal or his lieutenant were not present, but this was a relatively junior position. Other subordinate officials included the Commander of the Vault who was in charge of stores, the Sub-Marshal and the Turcopolier who later commanded the turcopoles, and by 1248 was probably a brother-sergeant. In 1303 the office of Turcopolier was raised to the rank of a conventual bailli although its holder was still subordinate to the Marshal.
The Hospitaller complex in Acre in Palestine as excavated by archaeologists in the 1960s (after Z. Goldmann).
The Castellans or commanders of the Order’s most important castles were also under the Marshal’s authority. Some of the smaller castles did not have castellans, and some may not have been permanently garrisoned. The castellans of major Middle Eastern castles achieved the status of capitular baillis and in 1304, after all the Syrian castles had fallen to the Mamluks, no brother could become a castellan unless he had served in the Order for at least five years. The Admiral was one of the last military officials to be created, in around 1300. He was in command of all galleys and armed ships smaller than a galley, as well as of men-at-arms and sailors aboard such vessels.
The front and back of the 12th-century Great Seal of the Hospitaller Convent. On the back, a sick man lies on a bed beneath a lamp symbolising both the medical functions of the Order.
A huge, widely spread and wealthy organisation like the Hospitallers naturally needed a large number of skilled civilian or non-military officials. They included the drapier who was in charge of clothing allocations from the parmentarie which seems to have been a tailoring department as well as a clothing store, where the drapier was assisted by a brother of the parmentarie. The latter’s duties included sealing up the goods of deceased brothers. The Treasurer controlled the Treasury, while the Hospitaller was responsible for the sick, and the Conventual Prior was the Order’s most senior ecclesiastical official. Other specialist officials such as the Master Crossbowman and Master Sergeant were not brothers of the Order.
Hospitaller records make the question of numbers of men - brothers and non-brothers - slightly clearer than is normal with medieval armies. Around 1169, for example, the Hospitaller Master Gilbert d’Assailly promised to supply 500 knights and 500 turcopoles for the forthcoming invasion of Egypt, but not all of them would have been brethren. Nor were the estimated 2,000 men whom the Hospitallers were said to have at the siege of Dumyat during the Fifth Crusade. In fact it seems that the Hospitallers normally only had around 300 brethren-at-arms in the Middle East at any one time, plus non-brethren sergeants, turcopoles, support personnel, etc. At the battle of La Forbie the Hospitallers lost 325 brothers-in-arms and around 200 turcopoles with only 26 Hospitallers escaping. This must have virtually wiped out the brothers-at-arms then stationed in the Middle East, but just over 20 years later the Master, Hugh Revel implied that there were once some 300 brothers in Syria. But by 1301, following the fall of Acre, the Hospitallers based at Limassol in Cyprus numbered a mere 70 brother-knights and 10 brother-sergeants. Although there were more Hospitallers elsewhere, they tended to be spread over a very wide area, even in frontier regions such as the Iberian peninsula and Hungary.
The numbers of Hospitaller brothers stationed in any particular garrison did not, of course, represent its whole military strength, with the numbers of mercenaries and other personnel normally far greater.
The Hospitallers recruited many brothers and sergeants from German-speaking lands and their arms and armour are reflected in simple provincial art as well as in great German cathedrals. (In situ tympanum of Church of St Michael, Altenstadt, Germany; author’s photograph)
In 1212 the garrisons of the great castles of Krak des Chevaliers and Marqab housed 2,000 and 1,000 troops respectively, but according to a letter to the Pope in 1255 the Hospitallers only planned to have 60 cavalry in Krak. When the Hospitaller-held town of Arsuf fell to the Mamluks in 1265, 1,000 men were killed or captured, but only 80 of them were Hospitaller brethren. Nevertheless, wherever they were stationed Hospitaller brothers-in-arms formed an elite.
The territory held by the Hospitallers in the Crusader States was not particularly extensive, but it tended to be compact, well defended and fertile. The Order used their estates and other economic assets to support their defence of the Holy Land, not only by growing food, but by raising money through the export of olive oil and cane sugar. Here a Hospitaller castellan or bailli normally dealt with the peasantry through their ra ’is or headman who might be in charge of several casalia, or villages. In addition to agricultural land and castles, the Hospitallers acquired decaying or defunct religious foundations, including a venerable monastery on Mount Tabor in Galilee. They also acquired urban properties such as residential houses, bakeries, mills, inns and markets, all of which had to be administered by, or on behalf of, the Hospitallers. Like other major landowners in the Crusader States, the Hospitallers owned many Muslim slaves, some captured in war, some given as the Order’s share of booty, others purchased on the open market.
Communications between the Middle East and Western Europe by sea were the life-blood of the Crusader States once the overland route had been severed in the mid-12th century. But with their wide-ranging network of subordinate houses, efficient personnel and already considerable wealth, the Hospitallers were able to send men and money to the Middle East with relative ease. For example, their priories or provinces in Central and Eastern Europe were linked to the Middle East via the River Danube, the Balkans and the Byzantine capital of Constantinople where there was even a Hospitaller domus (house) and a prior in the 1180s. With the decline of Byzantine authority in the Balkans this route became too dangerous and was replaced by overland routes to Venice and thence by sea to Syria. Men, materiel and money from priories further west seem to have been channelled through Marseilles. Even so the increasing cost of warfare, and particularly the maintenance of heavily armoured cavalry, meant that the Hospitallers became seriously short of money in the late 13th century. The Order’s headquarters in the Middle East often complained that it was not receiving sufficient funds from the western priories, although they normally sent a third or more of their income east.
The massive Hospitaller castle of Marqab still dominates the port-city of Banyas. Its western ramparts now look down on a strategic oil refinery. (Author’s photograph)
The growing military and economic power of the Hospitallers was one reason why the Church favoured strengthening the Order in the 12th century, and in 1154 the Pope permitted them to have their own priests who were under the same discipline as brother-knights. Those in the Middle East were under the Conventual Prior at the Order’s headquarters, while those in Europe were subject to the regional priors.