The Knights Hospitaller- Catholics to Admire

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The order of Saint John of Jerusalem, otherwise known as the Knights Hospitaller Made remarkable medical achievements in the kingdom of Jerusalem.

The brother knights of the hospitaller order Were to dress modestly, were to give their horses to injured man of battle.

The Knights Operated hospitals in Palestine to help cure people with infectious diseases of the time. Such hospitals could at Max hold up to 2000 patients…They used mobile medical services that acted as modern day ambulances would, stretchers would be used.

Having the equivalent of modern day diplomas …Well educated knights who would act as physicians would tend to the sick. There was also The equal of modern day food banks and orphanages set up to help feed the needy and house homeless children in The crusader states.

 
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“A fresco in the Chapel of the contemporary Grand Magistry in the Via Condotti in Rome depicts Blessed Gérard (Beato Gherardo) chained with a loaf of bread in the left hand. This reminds us of the legend which tells us, Blessed Gérard would have thrown loaves of bread over the walls of Jerusalem to the hungry crusaders during the siege of six weeks preceding the conquest. He would have been caught and brought before the Ottoman defenders to be charged for supporting the enemy. When evidence was to be produced the loaves of bread in his coat had miraculously changed into stones and Blessed Gérard was acquitted.”

According to Catholic tradition blessed Gerard was a European Who presided in Islamic Jerusalem over a hospital in the late 11th century. He took on strangers Christian and non-Christian Alike to help heal them.

And when the Crusaders laid siege to Jerusalem in 1099 the tradition goes that blessed Gerard Would throw loaves of bread over the walls of Jerusalem to his Catholic brothers fighting for the liberation of the holy land. When the Muslims found out about this they captured Gerard and brought him before the Muslim lord, By miracle the loaves of bread had turned to stone to make it appear that Gerard was assisting the Muslims By attacking the Christians with stone as opposed to giving them bread. When Jerusalem was liberated the Crusaders championed and celebrated blessed Gerard
 
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Blessed Gerard, his legends his real life alike would be spoken about to crowds for the rest of the middle ages as a pious man, a man who built hospitals. A man who helped those in need. A point To be taken from this is that through the 12th to 16th century Catholics would praise the name of Blessed Gerard as a man who helped the poor, a man who helped the sick, that is to say to help the sick, to help the disabled was the proper Christian way.

http://blessed-gerard.org/
 
As Hume points out in detail…the job of the Knights Hospitaller was to in part provide medical relief to Muslims and Christians alike, it mattered not ones religion or color…the Knights duty was to care for the sick. This humanity has influenced medical organizations such as the Red Cross to this day and others to help those in need regardless of their background. The Knights Hospitaller was a wide ranging organization having medical and military chapters. They were considered a pioneer force in terms of military medical officers…having the ability to both tend to and protect the wounded during battle.

The Hospitallers were expected to provide medical relief to even their very opponents in battle…this quite remarkable and clearly goes to show it would be wrong to blanket label the Church or middle ages as a time of backward morals or medical/scientific stagnation. Jews, Muslims, Christians in the crusader states were all tended to medically by the Knights Hospitallers. For the Knights this was the Catholic faith of the middle ages, to be brave in battle but also charitable toward non Christians.

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The charitable work of the Blessed Gerard, his orders kindness toward Christian and non Christian alike is noted by Hume. The great Christian Lords Frederick Barbarossa and Richard The Lionheart respected the Knights Hospitaller for their charitable works. In The Kingdom of Jerusalem one hospital is shown by John of Wurzburg as a hospital that could hold upwards of two thousand patients(normally geared for 1000 but in emergencies could take more) and spanned 150 meters. Pope Paschal II in 1113 set the precedent, that the Knight Hospitaller were exempt from paying tithes on their possessions in the Holy land as well as Europe.

Conditions in hospitals in the crusader states were far ahead of their time. As late as the 18th century many hospitals worldwide would cramp patients into beds and rooms creating unsafe conditions. But in the crusader states as shown by the 12th century Rabbi Benjamin who visited Palestine between 1160 and 1173 , at the Hospital of Soloman the sickly “were provided everything they wanted in both life and death.”

In Jerusalem during the 12th century, a traveler by name of Theodorich visited the hospital of St John The Baptist. He remarked " how abundantly it is supplied with rooms and other material for the use of poor and sick people" the beds numbered more then 1000".
 
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Very interesting, thanks for informing us. This is very historic. One hears so many things, the Battles of back then and so on.
 
obligatory “crusades were a very bad idea” aside

I’ve always had a fondness for the best of that era. Some parts more then others but the early crusades really did something incredible. I’m just sad it was lost in versions 3.5-8 were for lack a better term just a good way to increase traffic in the afterlife/unseen lands.
 
One of the stories of the Crusade that stand out is Saladins secret visit to the crusader states @ The Hospital at Acre. The story was told throughout the middle ages in song and verse as reported by Hume. Saladin came disguised as a sick and poor Muslim begger, he was immediately admitted to the Crusader hospital as was custom of that noble land to not deny one based on religion or color.

This is yet another characteristic of the middle ages, tolerance, acceptance, noble values of the Knights toward Jews and Muslims not just fellow members of the cross. Saladin would go on to test the morals of the Crusaders, he had asked for something remarkable…Saladin conveyed he would need the heart(other stories suggested the foot) of the horse of very Master of the Knights Hospitaller to heal him…amazingly the Knights hospitallers agreed as such an action while it would cost the life of the steed Moriel it would save the life of a simple Muslim begger. The Knights tried to offer Saladin a more medically approved treatment but Saladin insisted on the steeds heart. Upon learning of the Knights eventually agreement to give the noble steeds heart Saladin was amazed and revealed the truth to the Master of the Knights, he did not need the heart of a steed and so Moriel was saved. Saladin was also taken back by the organization, tolerance, chivalry and medical achievements of the Crusader hospitals in Palestine.

But this was not all… Saladin had revealed himself to the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller…the master could have killed or jailed Saladin. But as a guest Saladin expected humble treatment and that he was given. Saladin left the hospital unharmed and returned to his Muslim forces. Saladin came away from this episode having a profound respect for the Knights Hospitallers. Saladin ordered that a thousand besants of gold be paid to the Hospitaller order in times of peace and war. This goes to show the tolerance of the Crusader states toward non Christians, such tolerance influenced the very ideas of the fair law systems we see in many countries today.
 
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I think it’s very impressive to see the Knights Hospitaller providing the world with bravery and Christian love for almost 1000 years. To this day the Order with its members in traditional black Hospitaller uniform assist sick and poor people around the world.
 
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