A Pilgrimage of Faith, War, and Charity. The Order of the Hospital from Jerusalem to Malta
By Victor Mallia-Milanes
Religion, Ritual and Mythology Aspects of Identity Formation in Europe, edited by Joaquim Carvalho (Pisa University Press, 2006)
Introduction: The Hospitaller Order of St John, whose origins are traced back to the years before the First Crusade, began as a purely charitable institution in Jerusalem and, through the crusading movement and other related factors, gradually evolved into an exempt religious-military order of the Latin Church. Its two functions – to care for the sick and the poor and to fight for the Christian faith – were retained throughout its protracted pilgrimage from Jerusalem, through Acre, Cyprus, and Rhodes, to Malta. The French Revolution of 1789 and the Order’s consequent eviction from the central Mediterranean island determined the need to rethink its constitution and to revert to its original charitable raison d’être. Its performance during this long pilgrimage constituted both a strong element of historical continuity and a powerful force of long-term change.
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- Medicine and Society in the Medieval Hospital
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Tags: Crusades, Medicine, Monasticism
