The Knights Hospitaller: A Captivating Guide to a Medieval and Early Modern Catholic Military Order and Their Impact on the Crusades, the Great Siege of ... the Middle Ages
War, virtue, corruption, adventure—the history of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller has it all.
The Hospitallers started out as caretakers of the Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem, but they soon emerged from their hospices and adopted a new military role that shaped the history of medieval Europe forever. This book seeks to explore the curious rise of the Hospitallers from their humble origins to one of the most powerful institutions in medieval Europe.
Throughout their existence, the Hospitallers have managed to develop a renowned military tradition. At first, they just defended the traveling pilgrims to the Holy Land and provided them care in their hospices, but later on, thanks to their prowess and professionalism, the Hospitallers became a respected and feared military order that fought for Christendom.
After countless challenges, formidable foes, and internal and external threats, the Knights Hospitaller managed to survive against all odds and still exists today. They have adapted their role to modern times but never lost their true identity and mission.
Here’s a glimpse of what you will find in this in-depth history of the rise of the Knights HospitallerThe development of Hospitaller institutions, bureaucratic structures, and rolesHospitaller involvement in the events of the Levant during the CrusadesA deep dive into the military activities of the order, including the famous battles of La Forbie, Arsuf, Cresson, Ascalon, Rhodes, and many moreA look at the greatest grand masters of the order and how they shaped the order’s historyThe transformation of the order into the Knights of Malta and their clashes with the Ottoman Empire, including the great siege of Malta, which is largely considered to be one of the most famous sieges of the RenaissanceAnd much, much more! Scroll up and click the “add to cart” button to begin learning about this famous military order!
I'm sure virtually every book, reference and resource about the Knights Templar somehow finds a way to mention The Knights Hospitaller. And yet while the Templars seem to be a household name in many places, how many people have heard, heard of, of if so, really know The Knights Hospitaller, let alone what they're supposed to be famous for? I'd guess a small minority of people, at best.
As someone who has spent decades studying the Templars (let alone the Crusades and events surrounding them), I've run across them often and do know a decent bit about them. And yet not enough. Until I read this book, I didn't know they were hundreds of years older than the Templars. I barely knew the difference between the two, didn't know what became of them and at what point, etc. If you're familiar with the Captivating History series (I have a ton of their books), you'll probably agree they publish great books, well written, moderately comprehensive, reader-friendly, etc. That said, they tend to be introductions to major topics, aren't designed to go into too much depth or analysis, appear to be written for readers at the secondary educational level (in the US), and are thus limited if you want more. Not post-grad research. I of course know that but before finding resources that may be beyond post-grad, I wanted to seek out an intro just like this and in fact looked up Captivating History to see if they had such a book and I struck gold. This gave me a nice intro, filled in some gaps and spaces in my knowledge and prepared me for more.
So, five stars well earned and a hearty recommendation for those interested in The Knights Hospitaller.
The book is well written and easy to read. There is a lot of detail, but the book does not get bogged down in them. The only real issue I had was that it seemed like the book jumped around in time during the chapters about the Crusades. (The timeline stabilized once the Christians were driven out of the Holy Land and the Hospitallers moved to Rhodes.)
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I would assume that 99 per cent of the people do not know the origin of the word hospital or hospice or that these words are associated with knights of an era long past. This book will enlighten you on the origin of the word, "hospital" and how different orders of knights contributed to the culture of western civilization.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. It was good to learn about the Knights Hospitaller which I didn't know about and the different crusades.