The chapel in the Hospitaller castle of Marqab is a simple, almost stark structure with no carved decoration. (Author’s photograph)
Wearing colourful, expensive clothes and the use of decorated military equipment and horse-harness was very much part of the knightly way of life, hut when a man entered one of the Military Orders all this changed. The Rule of the Hospitallers was emphatic on such matters, but it proved difficult to ensure that dress, harness or equipment regulations were always followed. Hospitaller statutes or the rulings by the Chapters constantly prohibited various forms of decorated equipment, and eventually the regulations themselves were relaxed. Some statutes shed an interesting light on how individual brethren behaved: in 1262 one forbade the wearing of espaliers d’armes (mail or padded shoulder defences) or chausses (mail leg protections) at prayers. Another dated 4 August 1278 insisting that no armour be worn within the precincts of the Hospitaller convent during the elections of a new Master hints at previous attempts at intimidation by armed men.
No Hospitaller brother-in-arms was allowed more than the regulation amount of military equipment unless given special permission. This may simply have reflected the limited amount of kit available and shortages could have accounted for the Hospitallers’ recycling of arms, armour, horse-harness and even clothing, all of which reverted to the Order on a brother’s death. Since the Master, Grand Commander, Marshal, Hospitaller, Infor-marian, Drapier, Treasurer and Con-ventual Prior all had claims on such material there could be confusion so the issue was carefully regulated.
Mid-13th century Hospitaller usances (customs) show that the materiel was divided into distinct sections. Horses and related equipment went to the Marshal, as did arms and armour, bedding went to the Drapier as did most clothing and unused cloth. Table and kitchen items, books, liturgical and other miscellaneous objects held by capitular bailiffs and those of the master’s companions went to the Master. Those of other brethren-at-arms went to the Marshal, but those of regular bailiffs and all brethren-in-office went to the Grand Commander. Any money probably went to the treasury.
A very damaged section of a 13th century wall-painting from a chapel in Beirut, showing a 'donor figure' adoring the Virgin and Child. (Formerly in the National Museum, Beirut, present whereabouts unknown; E. Cruikshank-Dodd photograph)
A - The so-called Cloister in the massive Hospitaller castle of Krak des Chevaliers runs along one side of the main courtyard. Behind it is the Chapter House or council chamber. (Author’s photograph)
B - One of the carved capitals in the Cloister at Krak des Chevaliers. (Author’s photograph)
According to a statute of 1288, armour was also handed back when a brother left the Middle East. It was available to other brothers-in-arms who might want to make an exchange for what they already had. Crossbows were a special case, since these had to be placed in the treasury. Later usances were more detailed, specifying that Turkish carpets, saddles, javelins, bardings (horse coverings), gonfanons (flags), pennoncelles (small pennons), chargers (war horses), hacks (riding horses), mules, Turkish weapons, axes, all forms of armour and harness for animals, arcs de bodoc (pellet bows), table knives, crossbows, all forms of armour (for men), swords, lances, coreaus de fetur (leather cuirasses), playines (plate armour), mail hauberks, gipelles (quilted soft armours), soubre seignals (perhaps surcoats), chapels de fer (brimmed helmets) and bascinets (close fitting helmets) of dead brothers went to the Marshal.
Uniform
The habit or costume of the Hospitallers was a genuine uniform, but was more suited to the life of a monk. The standard black cappae were relatively tight fitting monastic robes which brothers-in-arms had to wear over their armour. It was clearly not suited to the violent movement of close combat, yet it was not until 1248 that Pope Innocent IV allowed the brothers-in-arms to ‘wear wide surcoats, bearing upon the breast the sign of the Cross’, although only in ‘dangerous areas’. Crosses were sewn on the breasts of the capes and mantles, but could apparendy be removed when travelling in non-Christian countries. In the late 13th and early 14th centuries the brothers’ mantle folded entirely around the body and opened in front where it could be closed by buttons of the same cloth. On the front was a cross, 7-10 cm wide in the characteristic eight-pointed Hospitaller form first seen in the early 13th century. The conventual shoes worn on most occasions are not really understood, but were presumably simple.
Two Latin priests, monks or perhaps members of a Military Order, on a wall-painting of the Dormition of the Virgin made around 1248 in the Lebanese village of Ma’ad. (In situ Church of St Sharbel, Ma’ad, Lebanon; E. Cruikshank-Dodd photo)
Coloured cloth, velvet and the skins of wild animals were strictly prohibited, yet the normal clothing issue seemed lavish by the standards of the time. It consisted of three shirts, three pairs breeches, one cotta or tunic, one monastic habit, one garnache (coat and hood), two mantles or cloaks one of which was lined with fur, one pair linen hose and one of wool, three bed-sheets and a sack in which to keep them. The reforms of 1295 mentioned a yearly issue of two suits consisting of a tunic and undertunic, hooded coat, and mantle one of which was lined with fur. These included the livery or heavier ceremonial robes and the thinner ‘robes of pittance’ used in summer. Hargans (long coats) and cotes hardies (short coats) were originally forbidden, but long coats were acceptable by 1300 when they had to bear the cross of the order. Short coats with points (laces to which the hose and other garments could be attached) were, however, still unacceptable. A further decree of 1305 stated that the mantle, robes, rondel (probably a type of scarf) and long coat must all be black.
On his head a brother wore a white coif which at first had to be of double thickness, and later became ‘simple’. Except during certain church services, the coif was covered by a large skull cap which had to touch the wearer’s ears on both sides. In the 1280s a usance repeated that a brother might not remove his biretta or hat even if he was feeling hot, unless there was a good reason. A brother could also wear a brimmed hat, white turban or (millet (item covering the ears) in the fierce Middle Eastern sun. In 1262 another statute stated that on a military expedition no brother could wear a turban which was anything other than white, which was embroidered or which dangled down to his waist.
A head from a shattered late 13th century English effigy shows a ventail laced to the left side of the head, a narrow lace to secure the mail coif and a broader band which probably supported a helmet. (In situ church, Farnborough, Warwickshire, England; author’s photograph)
In the first Hospitaller Rule, brothers were not allowed planeaus (sandals) or galoches (large overshoes as worn in the Islamic world) but only wore soliers or ordinary shoes. From the late 12th century a Hospitaller brother was permitted boots during the night, and a complex set of regulations developed which allowed him to keep his boots on at other times. A reaction may have set in at Acre in 1270 when a statute stated that all estiveaus or boots, perhaps of the soft Middle Eastern variety, were prohibited except when a man was armed. Yet the problem of footwear continued, and in late 13th century Cyprus, pointed boots and fashionable chauses avantpies (hose incorporating pointed toes) were prohibited. The cost of such clothing was clearly very high, and from the mid-13th century many brothers were issued a set amount of money to buy their own clothes. Each brother was also given what could be called pocket-money, but the vain were said to have wasted this on more fashionable clothes and even jewellery.
In 1259 Pope Alexander IV granted a distinctive costume to the brother-knights of the Hospitallers, there previously having been no difference between the dress of knights and sergeants: ‘The knights who are brethren in your Order shall wear black mantles in order that they may be distinguished from the other brethren of the said Order [who presumably wore dark brown]. In war, however, and in battle they shall wear jupons and other military surcoats which shall be of a red colour, having sewn upon them a white cross exactly as upon your standard.’ The new rule was revoked after nineteen years, perhaps having had a bad effect on morale within the Order, and all brethren-in-arms soon wore a scarlet surcoat in battle.
Arms
The guamement or arms and armour used by Hospitaller brothers-in-arms was the same as that of other knights and sergeants, except for its lack of decoration. During the 12th century it usually consisted of a shield, surcoat, sword, sometimes a coutel or dagger, a mail hauberk, afeutreure which may have been an early form of soft-armour worn beneath the hauberk, quilted cuisses for the thighs, sometimes mail chauses, a helmet, and a long cavalry lance or shorter infantry spear. The mace was, however, still regarded as an Islamic weapon or one used by non-noble infantry. The quilted aketon, gambais and gambeson were worn beneath, or sometimes over, other armour in the 13th century, but in the Middle East knights, including members of the Military Orders, sometimes wore quilted armour without the heavier mail hauberk, particularly in summer, when scouting or harassing the enemy as light cavalry.
There is little evidence of iron equipment being made in the Crusader States, and almost all the arms and armour used by the Hospitallers was imported from Europe. Although it was very expensive there were big variations in cost between different items. In late 12th to mid-13th century Genoa, for example, a mail hauberk was approximately five times as expensive as a separate mail coif, while a cuirass and a panceria (light mail armour) were less than half that of a hauberk. Comparable information from Venice indicates that a helmet cost 30 denarii, a sword from 45 to 50 denarii, a knife or dagger 20 denarii, and even a crossbow arrow cost 1 denarius. In 1262 it cost 2,000 silver deniers cle Tours to fully equip a Hospitaller knight; in 1303 it cost 1,500 to equip a sergeant. The little information which does refer to arms manufacture in the Crusader States indicates that shields were made in Jerusalem and crossbows in Acre. A chronic shortage of military equipment is also indicated by the Hospitallers’ overriding concern that weaponry move only from Europe to the Crusader States. Brothers going back to Europe were issued with the barest minimum, whereas senior officials coming from Europe normally brought what was described as a ‘passage of armour’. Ordinary brethren were expected to bring full military kit and in 1293 the Master Jean de Villiers ruled that brothers returning from the West must also bring three ‘beasts’ - horses and pack animals.
Unfortunately most French effigies were destroyed in the Revolution, but one 13th century example came from Ouville I’Abbaye. A: the neck of the effigy shows an unlined mail coif, a hauberk and what is probably the neck of an aketon or gambeson. (Musee des Antiquites, Rouen, France; author’s photograph) B: the damaged wrists of this effigy show the quilted cuffs of the same aketon or gambeson. (Musee des Antiquites, Rouen, France; author’s photograph)
As far as weapons were concerned, the cavalry lance remained the most important. It was normally about 3 metres long with a shaft, often of spruce. An object called a hantier appears in some early 13th century sources, and this may have been a support for the butt of the lance while it was being carried vertically. The sword was the most prestigious weapon, but was of secondary importance in a cavalry charge, Most surviving examples weigh from 1-1.5 kg. Daggers were widely used in the Islamic world, but in 12th century Europe seem to have been despised by the knightly elite. It may therefore be significant that some of the earliest references to a misericorde or coutel dagger in medieval Western literature are associated with the crusades or Military Orders. Maces were also considered ‘Saracenic’ until the 13th century, while axes, guisarmes d’acier (long-hafted axe) and faussars affiles (long bladed infantry weapon) were all used by Christian infantry.
The First Crusade in the earliest surviving manuscript from the Crusader States. It shows an early form of flat-topped great helm. (Histoire Universelle, Vatican Library, M.S.Pal.Lat. 1963, f, 31v, Rome)
Hospitaller statutes stated that brothers-in-arms should tie their armour in a bundle and place it behind their saddle while on campaign, but should always wear helmets and leg armour in hostile territory. Less is known about the armour itself, although the Hospitallers placed great emphasis on the possession of ‘suitable’ equipment. Some of it is likely to have reflected oriental or Islamic influence, particularly the use of hardened leather defences in the 13th and 14th centuries, and, of course, in a fabric covered form of mail hauberk, known in the late 12th century Crusader States as the auberc jaserant. This was merely the Arab-Islamic khazaghand.
Other less common forms of body armour included leather armour called coirasses in the Iberian pensinsula and cuiries in France - the coat-of-plates which first appeared in the second half of the 13th century; the panceriam which sometimes had only one integral mitten. The manicle de fer or integral mail mitten at the end of the long sleeves of a mail hauberk first appeared in the late 12th century. Additional protections for the legs developed earlier than those for the arms. An early 13th century section of the Old French Crusade Cycle mentions genellieres ‘hanging like window coverings’, which may have been an early form of knee defence.
Helmets were kept in place by laces or chin-straps, which fastened over the ventail or mail flap protecting the throat and chin. The increasing threat from crossbows and from composite bows in the Middle East led to greater protection for a warrior’s face. At first this took the form of a broader nasal but gradually rigid visors were attached to helmets of various shapes. A section of the Old French Crusade Cycle, called Le Chevalier au Cigne, dating from the late 12th or early 13th century provides an early description of such a helmet which included a maistre or bowl, candelabres which may have been a strengthening frame or rim, a fenestral which seems to have been the visor itself, a traditional nasal to which the visor might have been attached, a mentonal or chin-strap, and uelliere or eye-slits. Pictorial evidence shows that the next form of separate, small and hemispherical cervelliere helmet was sometimes worn beneath a mail coif but as it increased in size with extensions to protect the sides and back of the head, it was worn over a coif. The coif itself was occasionally described as fort et turcoise which possibly meant having its own quilted lining. By the late 12th century the term clavain appeared, but it is unclear whether this was regarded as the neck part of the coif or was, more likely, the reinforced neck part of a hauberk which might otherwise lack an integral coif.
European and thus also Hospitaller shields were almost invariably of wood and were usually covered in leather, but their size, shape and thickness changed considerably from the 12th to 13th centuries. One of few specialised forms was the very large talevas used by men on foot which might better be called a mantlet since it could be rested on the ground.
An English effigy dating from the late 13th century shows a mail coif worn over a flat-topped arming cap which would have supported a great helm. (In situ church Abbey Dore, Herefordshire, England; author’s photograph)
A: Detail of the knee of an effigy showing a narrow buckled lace beneath the knee which stopped the mail chausses from flapping about. B: Detail of the foot of an effigy showing that the mail did not go beneath the foot where there is a leather sole. (In situ church, Tickenham, Somerset, England; author’s photographs)
The horse harness used by Hospitallers was undecorated, but the basic elements were the same as those of ordinary knights. In the late 12th century the preparation of a war-horse for battle involved putting on and checking the caignle, sorcaingles and poitral which were the three main straps securing the saddle. War saddles themselves had arcons or extensions of the raised cantle or rear of the saddle which went around the lower part of the rider’s hips. Under the saddle saddle-cloths rather than all-enveloping caparisons or bards. Another term for these may have been senbues. The seat or cushion of the saddle may have been called a panel. A legal decision reached by the Hospitaller headquarters in 1303 made a clear distinction between ‘Turkish saddles’, ordinary riding saddles and war-saddles. The regulation also stated that war-saddles must not be used by warriors of Syrian origin because they were turcopoles rather than knights. Horse-armour had been widely used in the Islamic world since the 8th century, but did not appear in Western Europe until the late 12th century, and then clearly as a result of Islamic influence. Such protections remained very expensive, even for the Military Orders, and it seems that armoured horses remained very rare within the Crusader States.