The everyday life of the Hospitallers was governed by their Rule which was basically that of a monastic order. Outside their conventual life, however, Hospitallers had more dealings with the secular world than most monks. They not only campaigned against the enemies of the Crusader States, but also supervised the casalia (farms) and other economic assets which were the Order’s powerbase. This involved them in complex business transactions, banking, trade, long-distance communications and a substantial bureaucracy.
Although medical science in Western Europe was more backward than in the Islamic world, the Europeans were not as primitive as once thought. This textbook for surgeons was based upon lecture notes from the medical school of Salerno. Above, left: using forceps to flatten the barbs of an arrow before removing it.
Above, right: stitching a wound caused by an edged weapon. (Guido of Arezzo’s Chirurgia)
The idea that the Hospitallers lived in castles is also misleading. In the shrinking Crusader States, few lived on rural farms and more were based in flourishing coastal cities which had largely retained the Islamic or Middle Eastern character they acquired before the arrival of the First Crusade. French would have been the most common language amongst the Crusader elite, though Italian was widespread amongst the merchant middle class; Greek, Armenian and Arabic were spoken by the indigenous Christian population.
In Jerusalem the Hospitallers’ conventual buildings and infirmary or hospital were south of the Holy Sepulchre. The main church had previously been Greek Orthodox and the conventual buildings clustered around it, while the huge hospital and hospices for poor pilgrims were further south. The Hospitallers also had a large house in Acre to which a hospital was added by 1172. Following the loss of jerusalem in 1187 and the transfer of the Order’s headquarters to Acre, these were greatly enlarged. They stood in the centre of the city, but later the brothers’ convent was moved to the suburb of Montmusart where it was generally known as the auberge. It included communal dormitories and individual cells. The hospice for poor pilgrims was given a tall fortified tower. It stood near the city wall, separated from the fortified Palace of the Master by a road. The palace was a mixture of administrative offices and conventual buildings, though the Order probably used part of their fortified headquarters as a prison for disorderly brothers. A great deal of the Hospitaller complex in Acre survives to this day, including what was probably the refectory with three chimneys and a kitchen next door. The original structure probably also included the hospice or inn for pilgrims and newly arrived brothers, plus a church and the domus in firmorum, a hospital in the modern sense.
Hospitallers’ infirmaries were remarkable institutions, that in Jerusalem being a large and beautiful building, over 75 metres long, 40 metres wide, with tall arches. It could also accommodate up to 1,000 patients. In fact the Hospitaller hospital in Jerusalem was so widely respected that, when he liberated Jerusalem, Saladin allowed the Order a full year to bring its work to an orderly close and transfer those patients who were too sick to be moved immediately.
A wall painting of saints from the chapel in the Hospitaller castle of Marqab dating from the late 12th or early 13th centuries. (Historical Museum, Tartus, Syria)
An isolated tower called the Burg al-Sabi stands within a few hundred yards of the Mediterranean coast south of the huge Hospitaller castle of Marqab. Here Hospitaller guards levied tolls on passing merchants. (Author’s photograph)
The Hospitaller domus infirmorum in Acre was also called the Palais des Malades. Its remains still stand and consist of six parallel halls opening onto a sunlit courtyard. The basic structure was, in fact, the northern part of a large Islamic khan or merchant’s ‘motel’ dating from the lOth-llth century to which the Hospitallers added further floors. Another Hospitaller hospital existed at Mont Pelerin where excavations uncovered two adjacent churches with a shared passage within the wall. No building could be identified as the domus infirmorum so this may have been upstairs, over the twin chapels and reached by the passage and stairs.
The conventual life of the Hospitallers was governed by a Rule compiled by the second Master, Raymond de Puy, and was based upon poverty, chastity, obedience, eating and sleeping communally. A daily routine revolved around the monastic horarium or ‘hours’, all brothers attending religious services. Many brothers were illiterate and so were expected merely to listen and say paternosters (the Lord’s Prayer in Latin) for each section of the religious day. Brothers away on business or at war were similarly expected to say a certain number of paternosters. Each brother also had to attend Holy Communion at least three times a year at Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. Prayers for the sick were recited every evening by Hospitaller brother-chaplains or priests from outside the Order.
The brethren went to bed after the service of Compline and rose for the service of Matins. They had to be silent in the dormitories, were forbidden to sleep naked despite the Middle Eastern heat, nor could they share beds in cold winters, while a candle was always burning in the dormitory. By the 1170s these rules were changed for senior men who soon acquired their own private rooms or cells.
Eating was supposedly communal, though some men again obtained the right to eat alone in their cells. Most monks were prohibited from eating the meat of four-footed animals and at first this applied to the Hospitallers, but the rule was gradually relaxed, particularly when brothers were on campaign and needed to keep up their strength. There was a similar increase in the allowance of ‘pittances’ of extra food and drink under certain circumstances. The fasts which the Hospitallers observed were less than those endured by ordinary monks, and most were in winter rather than the summer campaigning season. In fact there was concern to stop over-enthusiastic brothers fasting too much as this could undermine military effectiveness. Even the rule against talking while eating was more lenient on campaign. Nor was it always obeyed, as there were complaints about rowdy brothers beating servants who brought the food, or pelting them with pieces of bread.
LEFT the so-called Crypt of St John was the refectory of the Hospitallers’ Central Convent in Acre. (Israel Press Information Office photograph) RIGHT a carved fleurs-de-lys in this refectory might reflect the fact that Louis VII of France offered to pay for the building while he was in Acre. (Z. Goldman photograph)
In the eyes of their contemporaries, the Hospitallers ate quite well. They were summoned to the refectory by a bell twice a day, each meal usually having two sittings - the second was for those on duty during the first. In 1206 the first meal was before the religious service of Nones, the second after Vespers and no wine was drunk after Compline. The staple diet consisted of cooked meats, fish, eggs, bread and wine - and this had to be good enough to be ‘stomached’. In periods of abstinence they gave up meat. In Lent they drank no milk and there were no eggs or cheese on Fridays. Such rules were relaxed at sea and additional pittances, especially of wine, became more common during the 13th century. After a meal the brethren rose and went to say grace in the church.
In Western Europe their work largely revolved around farming, charitable or medical duties, but in the Middle East military training probably took tip much of the brothers’ remaining time and was mostly carried out in the afternoon, probably because of the heat. Later evidence suggests that only three days a week were dedicated to military exercises such as gymnastics, wrestling, assorted drill, exercises in arms and crossbow shooting. Other evidence about military training is negative and indicated what a brother-in-arms was not permitted to do, namely hunting, hawking and taking part in tournaments. A further statute banned the carrying or drawing of the arcus de bondec, or pellet-bow, in town. Nor were men allowed to gallop their horses unless ordered to do so by their bailli.
The maintenance of discipline was central to the Order’s existence. However, accusations that a brother had broken the Rule could only be made before a chapter or council meeting. If a brother complained publicly before privately telling another of his error, or if he denounced a brother outside the chapter, he himself could be subject to the same punishment as the ‘slandered’ man. The result was a complicated and often prolonged system of internal justice. Once an individual decided to make a complaint the legal system became very formal and the resulting esgart consisted of three parts: a formal plaint, the hearing of evidence, and the decision by chapter. A fourth stage could be an appeal to higher authority. Witnesses were interrogated in the presence of both parties, and resulting punishments were similar to those of other religious orders. The most lenient was to be denied cooked food or wine which could be imposed by a community without recourse to a full chapter. In Syria it was imposed for misdemeanours such as misbehaving at meals, laziness or being disorderly in the auberge. Next came a series of penances. More serious were the septaine or seven days ‘loss of habit’ and quarantaine, 40 days ‘loss of habit’, while the most serious penalty was expulsion from the Order.
The production and export of sugar was a major source of income in the Crusader States. This structure near where the Wadi Rajab joins the Jordan valley is believed to have been part of a medieval sugar crushing mill. (Carl Andrews photograph)
ABOVE The massive Hospitaller castle of Krak des Chevaliers looming over a vital pass linking the Mediterranean to the Syrian interior. (Author’s photograph)
The most important of the Hospitallers’ non-military duties were tending the sick and injured. A large section of the Order’s Old French Rule was entitled: ‘Concerning food for the sick and doctors and the organisation of the palace of the sick in Jerusalem.’ Here the organisation of the infirmorum was different from that in the more complex hospitals of the Islamic and Byzantine worlds. Wards in the Palace of the Sick were not divided into specialised sections, for example. However, the Old French Rule specified in detail how the hospital’s income should be used, including the purchase of almonds for the sick at Easter and at the Feast of the Holy Cross. The Rule similarly explained the admissions procedure, how each new patient was allocated to a specific sergeant, and how a newcomer’s possessions were placed in safe keeping, along with the daily routine of staff and patients.
Surgeons were regarded as practici, practical men set slightly apart from the higher status physicians, the theorici who dealt with diet, herbal medicines and the analysis of a patient’s urine. Surgeons also operated first-aid stations near a scene of battle. The wounded were then brought back to Jerusalem, on the brother-knights’ horses if nothing else was available. In the hospital they were treated by physicians, surgeons and blood-letters. For example, after the battle of Montgisard in 1177, 750 wounded men were taken to the hospital which already contained 900 sick people.
OPPOSITE The battle of Gaza in 1239 was a major blow to the Crusader States and sent shock waves across Western Europe. Here, the shields of three leaders are shown upside down along with the similarly upturned banners of the Hospitallers (left) and Templars (right). (Historia Anglorum, British Library, Ms. Roy. 14.CVII, f.130v, London, England)
The doctors were not themselves members of the Hospitaller Order. In 1182 the hospital in Jerusalem required four doctors capable of examining urine, diagnosing diseases and prescribing medicines. Jerusalem had become a renowned medical centre, with physicians coming from Europe and the Middle East to work there. Many disapproved of employing non-Christian doctors or of using advanced Middle Eastern medical knowledge and there was clear rivalry between physicians of different faiths. But whatever their background, physicians and surgeons who wanted to practise in the Crusader States had to pass a verbal examination.
Less is known about those who served as nurses. According to the Old French Rule there were 12 sergeants to each ward, their duties being to make the beds, keep them clean and to help the sick or injured to the toilet. Two brothers were similarly on duty each night. Sisters of the Hospitaller Order may have helped tend the sick in the early days, although this is unlikely, and in later years Hospitaller sisters led an enclosed, contemplative life. The women who did work in the hospital were probably paid servants of the Order. Female patients were clearly treated in Hospitaller hospitals and were mentioned in the very early Anglo-Norman version of the Rule, where it was specified that new-born babies should sleep in cots separate from their mothers.
When the brothers fell sick they were excused ordinary duties and fasts, but not punishment. The master could give permission for aged or infirm brethren-in-arms to hand in their military equipment, while those who became lepers had to live separately with fellow sufferers, although they were still fed and clothed by the Order. A brother also had to get permission before being bled for medical reasons as this caused temporary weakness. The most sick were moved to a conventual infirmary which was separate from the conventual buildings, but close to the church. A man’s bed and weaponry would be taken to the infirmary where he confessed his sins, stated whether he was a debtor or creditor, or had possessions of his own. An inventory' of his goods was made, he was given the sacraments and handed over any keys of office to his prior. Once in the infirmary a patient was forbidden to play chess, read romances or eat prohibited food. Nevertheless a special refectory was attached to the infirmary, serving a wider choice of food and a better wine.
Complex regulations governed what happened when a brother of the Order died. In the late 12th century' the body was laid out before burial and the flag of the Order was draped over the bier which, surrounded by candles, was watched over while priests chanted psalms. After 1278 brothers were buried in their mantles and all brothers had to attend the service unless ordered elsewhere. Each year the anniversary of a brother’s death was commemorated in his convent’s calendar. The Rule also stated that 30 masses should be said for each dead brother, while priests read from the Psalter as lay brothers said 150 paternosters. In the Central Convent in Jerusalem five priests similarly read the Psalter every evening for the souls of the Order’s benefactors. On the first Sunday in Lent a solemn requiem mass was also conducted for the souls of deceased Masters and brethren.