“Knights of Jerusalem: The Crusading Order of Hospitallers, 1100-1565”, by David Nicolle

 

224 pages, Osprey Publishing, ISBN-13: 978-1846030802

To some they were the Chosen Knights of Christ, while to others, they were simply pirates bearing crosses, but the Knights Hospitaller – or the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem – was in fact a Christian organization that began as an Amalfitan hospital founded in Jerusalem in 1018 to provide care for poor, sick or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land, and in Knights of Jerusalem: The Crusading Order of Hospitallers, 1100-1565, David Nicolle details the history of this misunderstood organization (it should be noted that this is basically a reprint of Osprey’s twin warrior titles on the Knights Hospitaller, unfortunately lacking in the color plates.).

After the Western Christian conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade, it became a religious/military order under its own charter, and was charged with the care and defense of the Holy Land. The Hospitallers thence evolved into one of the great military forces of the Crusades, fighting the Islamic enemy alongside their brothers and rivals, the Templers. After the fall of the Holy Land, the Order moved to Rhodes and pursued a naval crusade, regarded by the Ottomans and Venetians as simple high-seas pirates. Eventually they wound up on Malta, where they remained for more than 250 years, surviving the famous great siege of 1565, until finally ousted by Napoleon in 1798. When the Knights ceased to be associated with any one place, it gave rise to successors in existence until the present including the Sovereign Order of Malta.

Knights of Jerusalem details the origins, equipment, battle tactics and daily life of these Knights, from their origins as an order of charitable, hospital-running monks in Jerusalem to their days as a band of seaborne crusaders harassing the Ottoman Empire throughout the Mediterranean. It is not without its issues, however: there are far too many “it suggests” or “it indicates” and “or perhaps it shows” that it is hard to get the author to give definitive answers. Maybe he is an overly-cautious researcher, but in the end it leaves a rather empty feeling. The book is also kinda boring, with no personalities shining through, which is a damn shame, as this sovereign order of badasses attracted quite the cast of characters. But perhaps one shouldn’t expect all of that from an Osprey book, seeing as their works really focus on the military-side of their subjects. So for that, if for no other reason, Knights of Jerusalem is just fine.