Monastic order. Monastic Orders of the Middle Ages. Spiritual and knightly orders and the era of the crusades The most famous medieval monastic non-knightly order

The history of the spiritual and knightly order

Spiritual and knightly order - military-monastic organizations of feudal lords, created in the 12-13 centuries under the leadership of the Catholic Church in order to protect, strengthen and expand the possessions seized during the crusades, as well as for new territories. The spiritual and chivalric orders include the Orders of St. John, the Knights Templar, the Teutonic Order, the Order of Alcantara, the Order of Calatrava.

Spiritual and chivalric orders arose during the time of the first crusades. In the XI century, the Catholic Church was the organizer of the crusades, the purpose of which she announced the liberation from the Muslims of Palestine and the Holy Sepulcher, which, according to legend, was in the city of Jerusalem. The true purpose of the campaigns was to capture new lands. city and jerusalem

In addition to the land, the opportunity opened up to thoroughly plunder the richest cities of the East. In the armies of the crusaders after the capture of Jerusalem, special spiritual and knightly organizations were created on the basis of various brotherhoods: they were called spiritual and knightly orders. The initial task of the orders of chivalry is to protect Christian pilgrims and protect Christian possessions from attacks by followers of Islam. The ideologist of the crusades, Bernard of Clairvaux, who lived in the 12th century, tried to justify their existence in a work specially dedicated to knightly orders.

Spiritual and knightly orders Support for the crusader movement Armed defense of the Holy Land from the attack of "infidels" Order of the Hospitallers 1113 "Order of the horsemen of the hospital of St. John" Order of the Knights Templar 1118-1119 "The Secret Society of Christ and the Temple of Solomon" Mary of the Teutonic

Hospitaller Order Knights Templar Teutonic Order

Entering the order, the knight took the usual vow of monasticism: poverty, chastity, obedience. The knight had to: fulfill the duty of hospitality and tirelessly wage war against the infidels. Members of the orders could be both knights and commoners, who constituted a separate group. And some military monastic orders even allowed women into their ranks. Members of the knightly order implicitly obeyed the head of the order - the grand master, or grand master. Spiritual knightly orders were similar in almost everything to monastic orders, but they had a certain charter approved by the Pope and special distinctive clothes.

Spiritual and knightly orders that arose in the Holy Land participated in hostilities in other territories of the Christian world. So, for example, the Knights Hospitallers and the Templars were the first to enter the war in Spain. The Iberian Peninsula attracted the attention of knightly orders as a source of income. The influence of the Knights Hospitallers and the Templars led to the fact that, already in the 12th century, several military monastic orders of their own arose in Spain. The Spanish chivalric orders were patronized by the Christian rulers of Spain.

Spiritual-knightly (or, as they are sometimes called, military-monastic) orders appeared immediately after the start of the Crusades. Their appearance is as unusual and mysterious as the Crusades themselves. If we take into account the huge role that they played in the struggle for the Holy Land, as well as their subsequent fate, both glorious and equally tragic, then we can say with confidence that we are now touching on one of the most interesting and mysterious pages in the history of chivalry.

If in the Middle Ages chivalry was indeed perceived as a path to Salvation, then, probably, in no other chivalric institution this idea was expressed as clearly as in this one. A knight who made three monastic vows became a member of the spiritual and chivalric order: non-possession, obedience and chastity. Entering the order, the knights often made rich contributions to it. They were forbidden to have wives, and they also had to obey strict military discipline. All this together really turned the life of the members of the order brotherhood into a real, severe feat.

However, in addition to the spiritual and knightly orders in the history of chivalry, there were other formations of the order type. In general, knightly orders can be divided into three categories:

Ÿ spiritual and knightly orders, which operated for the most part during the Crusades (the most important of them are the Order of the Knights Templar, the Order of St. John the Hospitallers, the Teutonic Order, etc.);

Ÿ honorary knightly orders, which were of a completely secular nature and were intended to reward personal merits, and not any special activity (Order of the Garter, Order of the Golden Fleece, etc.);

Ÿ fictional and legendary orders of chivalry known only in literature (for example, the order of King Arthur, known as the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Round Table).

The history of honorary secular orders is an important part of chivalric culture. Their heyday falls on the XIV-XV centuries, when the process of general secularization began to gain momentum in Europe. If the spiritual and knightly orders were subordinate to the Pope, then the honorary orders were usually headed by a king or duke and served as an instrument for strengthening their personal power as opposed to the power of the pope. Secular orders are a very interesting topic, directly related to the history of chivalry, but its consideration is already beyond the scope of the Apologia.

A little bit from the history of spiritual knightly orders

After the first Crusade, when the crusaders managed to recapture Antioch and Jerusalem, there was a need for constant protection of the new Latin states formed in the East from the Arabs and Turks. To this goal - the defense of the Holy Land - two orders of chivalry devoted themselves: the Order of the Knights Templar and the Order of the Hospitallers. Below is a brief history of these two orders, as well as the history of the Teutonic Order - as the third most powerful and famous knightly order, the history of which affects, in particular, the history of Ancient Russia.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE THREE MOST KNOWN SPIRITUAL AND KNIGHT ORDERS

Order of the Knights Templar. It was founded in 1119 to protect pilgrims traveling in Palestine, but a few years later the order begins military operations in Palestine against Muslims. The headquarters of the order is located in Jerusalem, near the former Temple of Solomon. Hence the name of the order - the Templars, or Templars ( le temple, fr. - temple). In 1129 the order was recognized at a church council in Troyes. Pope Honorius II approves the charter of the order. The active military activity of the order begins both in Palestine and in other theaters of military operations, for example, in Spain (since 1143). The Order receives help from various European countries, has numerous branches in Europe, owns land, and conducts financial transactions. In 1307, by order of the French king Philip IV the Handsome, all the Knights Templar were arrested in France in one night. After the trial of the Templars in 1312, the order was liquidated by decree of Pope Clement V. In 1314, the last Grand Master of the Order, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake in Paris.

Order of St. John's Hospitallers. The Brotherhood of John was founded even before the First Crusade at the hospital of St. John the Merciful in Jerusalem (hence the name of the order). The purpose of the brotherhood was to help the poor and sick pilgrims. It has a wide network of shelters and hospitals both in the East and in Europe. After the First Crusade, it also assumes the functions of the military defense of the Latin states from the "infidels". The headquarters is located in Jerusalem. After the loss of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Crusaders from Palestine, the Hospitallers establish their headquarters on Fr. Rhodes (since 1311). In 1522 the Turks besiege and capture about. Rhodes. Hospitallers leave Fr. Rhodes. In 1530 the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V, provides the Hospitallers with Fr. Malta near Sicily. The Order receives a new name - the Order of Malta. The Hospitallers are building a powerful fleet and are actively involved in naval operations against the Turks in the Mediterranean. In 1792 in France, during the revolution, the property of the order was confiscated. In 1798, French troops led by Napoleon Bonaparte captured Malta and expelled the Hospitallers from there. The Order of Malta was taken under patronage by Paul I, who established the Maltese Cross, the highest award of the Russian Empire. After the death of Paul I in 1801, the order was deprived of patronage in Russia, and from 1834 it acquired a permanent residence in Rome. Currently, members of the order are engaged in providing medical and other assistance to the sick and wounded.

Warband. He grew up from a brotherhood at a German hospital. The founding date of the order is considered to be 1199. In 1225, the Teutonic Order was invited to Prussia, where its headquarters were transferred. From 1229, the order begins the conquest of Prussia, and since then this task has become the main one in its activities. Reception of knights is carried out mainly only from German lands. In 1237, the Teutonic Order united with the Order of the Sword, after which the conquest of Livonia also began. In 1242, the order was defeated on Lake Peipsi by Alexander Nevsky. In 1245, the order receives permission to conduct a "continuous" Crusade in Prussia. In 1309, the order moved its headquarters to Prussia, in the city of Marienburg. In 1410, the troops of the Teutonic Order are defeated in the Battle of Grunwald by the combined forces of Poles, Lithuanians, Czechs and Russians. In 1466, at the conclusion of the Peace of Torun, the Teutonic Order recognizes itself as a vassal of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1525, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Albrecht of Brandenburg converted to Lutheranism, and the secular state of Prussia was formed on the territories of the Order.

In addition to the orders listed above, which are best known to the modern reader, other, less well-known military monastic orders also arose in Europe. Here is one example. Few people know that in addition to the Order of the Sword, founded in 1202 in Livonia with the support of Bishop Albert, at the same time there was also the Order of Dobrinsky, founded in 1228 in Prussia on the initiative of Bishop Christian of Prussia and the Polish Prince Konrad of Mazovia. Subsequently, in the 1230s. The Dobrinsky Order, like the Order of the Sword, became part of the Teutonic Order. And there are many such examples. In Spain alone in the 12th century. six military monastic orders were established - the Order of Calatrava (1158), the Order of Santiago (1170), the Order of Montegaudio (c. 1173), the Order of Avish and Alcantara (c. 1176) and the Order of San Jorge de Alfama (c. 1200 ). Who knows about them or heard anything among my readers?

However, among all this multitude of orders, only two orders had international status - the Order of the Knights Templar and the Order of the Hospitallers. The rest were purely national orders - for example, the Teutonic Order was purely German. That is why the history of these two orders is especially interesting. Although the history of spiritual knightly orders, of course, is not limited to them - this is a whole and very extensive page in the history of the Middle Ages.

Why and how did spiritual knightly orders arise?

The emergence of spiritual knightly orders is considered one of the mysteries of medieval history. Here is what the British historian Alan Forey writes about this:

The sources that have come down to us do not explain the reasons for the transformation of monastic and charitable organizations into military monastic orders. Obviously the example was provided by the Templars, but it is unclear why it was followed. In some cases, the actions of specific individuals can be traced: for example, the militarization of the society of St. Thomas of Acre can be attributed to the initiative of the Bishop of Winchester, Peter de Roche, who came to the East at a time when the monastery of the black clergy was in a state of decline. But there could be other reasons as well. In particular, among the members of these organizations (except for St. Thomas of Acre) there certainly were people capable of holding weapons in their hands, and it is quite possible that they were approached for military assistance due to the constant lack of military strength among the settlers in the Holy Land.

However, this mystery is of the same nature as the entire Crusader movement as a whole. If you understand the idea and the very spirit of the Crusades, as well as the whole chivalry as a whole, then the emergence of spiritual knightly orders becomes a completely understandable and explainable phenomenon. The orders became the highest embodiment of the idea of knightly piety - the combination of religiosity and Christian piety with military prowess and the desire for worldly glory. For the bulk of chivalry, participation in the Crusades was a relatively rare occurrence. For members of the spiritual knightly orders, this participation was a constant and continuous action, which constituted the whole essence and meaning of their activities.

It must be said that the idea of a spiritual knightly order did not immediately receive recognition. She had her opponents, who usually opposed the idea of the Crusades themselves in general. And in the order itself, not everyone was sure of the legitimacy, that is, the legitimacy of the activities of the order. The sharpness of the controversy can be judged from the book of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who set out his arguments for the defense of the spiritual and knightly orders in the essay "De laude novae militae". Despite all the objections and doubts, the order quickly gained support in church circles, which was reflected in the church cathedral in Troyes, where the order received a legitimate status. Pope Honorius II personally approved the charter of the order, after which this charter became a model for all other Western European orders.

Spiritual and knightly orders were the vanguard and the most reliable support of the Crusader movement. It should be noted that in general the knightly army was not very disciplined. There were frequent cases of disobedience, violations of military discipline - including on the battlefield. For members of the order, this was an unacceptable phenomenon. Alan Faurey continues elsewhere:

Despite the fact that there were relatively few monk-knights, for their courage they were respected even by opponents (especially in the East). The brothers were a force more disciplined and organized than many secular military units. The Templars followed strict rules of conduct in the military camp and on the march, and, of course, the brothers of all orders were bound by a vow of obedience, the violation of which threatened severe punishment. The punishment for desertion in battle was exclusion from the orders, and in the Knights Templar, for an attack without the permission of the guilty, they were removed from the life of the order for a certain period. Of course, the threat of punishment could not exclude all cases of disobedience, but many researchers of the crusading movement share the point of view of the Grand Master of the Knights Templar Jacques Bernard de Molay (), who believed that the Templars, thanks to the vow of obedience, are superior to other troops. Some scholars see the advantage of knightly orders in the East also in the fact that, being constantly there, they had more experience in local warfare, in contrast to the crusaders who arrived from the West.

In the East, the Templars and Hospitallers, of course, were respected for their courage, but at the same time they were fiercely hated. If the Arabs managed to capture the crusaders, they were ready to release them in exchange for a ransom or other captive Arabs. But if they fell into the hands of the Templars or the Hospitallers, they were all mercilessly given the death penalty.

Destruction of the Knights Templar

Of the two most important orders in Europe, the Order of Hospitallers has the longest history. The Order of the Hospitallers was liquidated at the initiative of the French King Philip IV the Handsome and with the blessing of Pope Clement V at the beginning of the 13th century. Here is what Alan Forey writes about this story:

In October 1307 (then the headquarters of the order was in Cyprus), the Templars in France were unexpectedly arrested by order of King Philip IV. They were accused of forcing candidates during entrance ceremonies to renounce Christ, spit on the cross, and behave indecently; in addition, they were accused of sodomy and idolatry. Pope Clement V protested at first against Philip's actions, but after the master of the Templars Jacques de Molay and other Templars recognized the validity of the most serious accusations, he ordered all Western European rulers to arrest members of the order and confiscate their property. And only in the Kingdom of Aragon, the executors of the papal order encountered difficulties: the local Templars took refuge in their castles and resisted (several castles managed to hold out for more than a year).

At the beginning of 1308, the investigation into the affairs of the order was suspended due to friction between the pope and King Philip, but by 1311 the Inquisition entered the matter. As a result, in France and in some areas of Italy, the majority of the Templars recognized the charges as just, the Parisian parliament recognized their guilt as proven, and the knights accused of heresy, along with their Grand Master Jacques de Molay, were condemned to death and burned at the stake. However, in Cyprus, in the Kingdom of Aragon, Castile and Portugal, no confessions could be wrested from the Templars, and in England only three Templars confessed to what they were accused of. The fate of the order was finally decided at the Council of Vienne, convened at the end of 1311. The Templars who arrived at the cathedral, who wanted to speak in defense of their order, were not given a word, despite the fact that many prelates wanted to listen to them. On March 22, 1312, two days after King Philip's arrival at the cathedral, Clement announced the abolition of the order.

The trial of the Templars and the grave accusations leveled against them took a heavy toll on the Crusader movement. After that, the Crusades had already clearly begun to decline, although even before this, the former burning to liberate the Holy Land from Muslims in Europe was no longer observed. The trial of the Templars was important because they were the first monk-knights in history. All other spiritual and knightly orders were equal to the charter of the Knights Templar. In view of this, this order could be called Order No. 1. The liquidation of the Knights Templar to a large extent shook faith in the very idea of the Crusades and the mission that united Christian Europe carried out in the East. The weakening of this belief has become one of the reasons for the intensification of the processes of secularization in the West.

What happened? Did the Templars really apostatize from Christ and thus, in the eyes of the entire Christian world, became criminals and traitors to the cause they led? Alan Foree continues:

From the very time of the trial of the Templars, disputes did not stop about how justified the charges against them were and why Philip IV decided to destroy the order. It is hard to believe that the Templars were really guilty of all the crimes they were accused of. Indeed, even in France, where the Templars were seized quite unexpectedly, no material evidence was found - neither idols, nor texts of secret charters. Moreover, the confessions of the accused do not inspire confidence - they are inconsistent, unconvincing, none of the knights even tried to explain or justify the actions they were accused of. It seems that the Templars confessed to what they were not guilty of, that is, they slandered themselves. Some of them later renounced their words and repentance, but this did not help anyone, and they were still burned as having fallen into heresy a second time. If the order really fell into heresy, and even long before the arrest of its members, it would hardly have gone unnoticed. It should also be borne in mind that the accusations leveled against the Templars were not original - earlier supporters of various heresies and Muslims were accused of the same. In addition, confessions were extorted from the Templars under severe torture, which was perfectly mastered by the medieval Inquisition.

Well, maybe so. In any case, researchers in most cases are inclined to think that the Knights Templar was defeated completely in vain. They explain the actions of Philip IV simply by his desire to take possession of the property and financial resources of the order. In addition, the order was directly subordinate to the Pope of Rome, and such a powerful paramilitary papal organization on its territory was clearly undesirable to the French king. However, not everything was so simple. The same Alan Fori notes that accusing the order of heresy was not the best and most convenient for the French king by solving these problems. After all, the judgment of the order would in this case belong to the pope. Most likely, Philip IV really believed the rumors about the order, and therefore decided on such a radical step as the arrest of all the Knights Templar in one night.

Speaking about the Templars, one should not forget that many of them came from the aristocratic families of Provence and Languedoc - the southern regions of France. And this was the reason for their great sympathy for the Cathars, who settled in Languedoc and Toulouse county. When the French king Philip II Augustus launched the First Albigensian War with the blessing of Pope Innocent III, the Knights Templar officially took a neutral position in this conflict. In response to the calls of Innocent III to join the French forces, the Templars declared that they did not consider this invasion of the County of Toulouse a "real" Crusade and therefore did not intend to participate in it. Unofficially, the commanderies of the order, located in Languedoc, gave refuge to the Cathars and even protected them from the crusaders. Moreover, in 1213, the Templars took part in the battle of Mura with weapons in their hands, speaking on the side of the Cathars.

The Cathars saw the Templars as their protectors and the only way to save themselves. It is not surprising, therefore, that they en masse began to join the ranks of the order. Moreover, the well-born Cathars began to occupy leadership positions in the southern French order communities and even be part of the highest board of the order. It is precisely here that we must look, apparently, for the reasons for the difficult-to-explain rite of renunciation of Christ, when the newly initiated had to spit on the cross. This was connected with the teachings of the Cathars, who, denying the Divine essence of Christ and recognizing him as only a divinely inspired prophet, considered the cross not an object for worship, but simply an instrument of execution. They also denied the worship of icons, considering it idolatry.

Apparently, by the beginning of the 13th century, heresy had already taken very deep roots in the order. And the French king saw in the Templars the same opponents with whom his ancestor, Philip II Augustus, fought. Moreover, the Templars possessed incomparably greater power than the Count of Toulouse - huge financial resources were concentrated in their hands. The order was actively engaged in financial and banking operations throughout Europe and parts of the East. Under these conditions, the Templars could already pose a pan-European threat, against which the French king spoke out. However, apparently not all Templars were involved in the heresy. Mostly French knights, led by their master Jacques de Male, confessed to apostasy from Christ. The Templars in other countries - in Cyprus, in the Aragonese kingdom, Castile, Portugal and even in England (with the exception of the three Templars) - did not want to admit to anything like that. Therefore, the order could still be saved somehow. But the Inquisition did not begin to understand the details - the order was liquidated, and Jacques de Molay was burned in 1314 at the stake.

Further history of spiritual and knightly orders

Despite the liquidation of the Knights Templar, other spiritual and knightly orders continue their active military activities. At the very time when the trial of the Templars was going on in France, the Hospitallers, ousted from Palestine, moved their headquarters to Fr. Rhodes (1311). From that time begins a two hundred year period of their active hostilities in defense of the island. With the loss of Rhodes (1522), the headquarters of the order was transferred to about. Malta, after which the order receives the name of Malta. All this time, until the 18th century, the Order of the Hospitallers continued to be a powerful and very active military organization. Moreover, it is the main military outpost in the struggle of Christian states with the Ottoman Empire. Experienced, battle-hardened warriors serve in the ranks of the Hospitallers. The order has a powerful military fleet, which conducts active military operations against the Turks throughout the Mediterranean.

This vitality of the order cannot but surprise the historian. While the Teutonic Order and the Spanish spiritual and knightly orders were undergoing radical transformations in the 16th century, the Hospitallers not only formally retain their charter, but in fact continue the traditions of the Crusader movement. I do not have the opportunity to describe the entire history of the Order of Malta, although it is very interesting and multifaceted. I will only touch on the story that connects the Order of Malta with the history of Russia and the name of Emperor Paul I. Here is how the British historian Anthony Latrell describes the last years of the active activity of the Order of Malta in the Mediterranean:

The Age of Enlightenment and the advent of Freemasonry also influenced the Order of Malta. These new trends increased the dissatisfaction of the knights with the old regime. The masters increasingly quarreled with bishops, papal inquisitors and representatives of the Maltese population and clergy. The well-managed estates and forests of the three French provinces supplied half of the foreign income of the order, which provided the French with the first places in the administration. As the military functions of the order were reduced to zero, and revenues dwindled, the order tried to take desperate measures - alliances with the Americans, Russians or British, the foundation of an Ethiopian company, the creation of a Polish priory, the purchase of estates in Canada, the acquisition of Corsica; in 1651, the order bought three islands in the Caribbean, but already in 1665 had to sell them.

In 1775, an uprising broke out in Malta under the leadership of the local Maltese clergy, which was supported by the rural population, reduced to poverty by bad government. Grand Master Rogan () made every effort to raise the faded military spirit in the order, improve administration and court, and increase income. In 1776, he convened for the last time the highest legislative institution of the order - the General Chapter, which in 1779 issued a code of laws of the Order of Malta. But Rogan's efforts were in vain. In 1792, the National Assembly of France confiscated the French property of the order, and on June 12, 1798, Malta surrendered to Napoleon without a fight. Of the three hundred and thirty brothers then on the island, two hundred were French, and many of them were ready to resist, but the Spaniards refused to fight, there was no firm military leadership, and the master was afraid to take any drastic measures, fearing popular unrest.

After the surrender of the island, the knights accused Master Ferdinand von Hompesch of treason and removed him from his post. On December 16 of the same year, the Russian Emperor Pavel was elected Grand Master, and the residence of the order (convention) was moved to St. Petersburg, after which they began to equip the fleet in Kronstadt to return Malta. However, after the death of Paul, Alexander I refused the title of Grand Master, and then completely abolished the order on Russian soil. Gradually, the order began to lose its lands in other countries, and in 1834 the chapter of the order was transferred to Rome. Since then, the fate of the Order of Malta has been closely linked with the history of the papacy.

With the loss of In fact, the history of the Crusader movement ends with the Hospitallers of Malta. The Crusades are fading away along with the Old Regime - the European system of royal government - to destroy which the French Revolution was aimed at. It is symbolic that it is not just anyone who expels the Hospitallers from Malta, but Napoleon Bonaparte, the future French emperor, who ruled relying not on the nobility and clergy, but on completely new national structures created during the French Revolution (bureaucracy, bourgeoisie, military, etc.).

Anthony Latrell, in the above passage, briefly mentions Freemasonry in connection with the history of the Order of Malta. This allows us to move on to the next chapter, where the next question will be asked: what is Freemasonry and how is it related to chivalry? And another, private question: were the Knights of Malta specifically freemasons, and was Paul I himself a freemason?

History of the Crusades. - M.: KRON-PRESS, 1998. - S. 219-220

History of the Crusades. - M.: KRON-PRESS, 1998. - S. 230-231

History of the Crusades. - M.: KRON-PRESS, 1998. - S. 249

Albigensian Cathars - participants in the heretical movement in southern France in the 12th-13th centuries. The Cathars were suspected of teaching about dualism (the world is an arena for the struggle of two equal principles - good and evil, the god of light and the god of darkness), the rejection of the dogmas of the Holy Trinity, the Resurrection of Christ, the Sacraments of Communion and marriage. This doctrine was a variant of the heresy of Manichaeism, which entered France from the East. One of the centers of the Cathars in France was the city of Albi, where the name of the sect comes from. By the beginning of the 13th century, heresy had captured almost the entire south of France - from simple artisans and peasants to the highest aristocracy. For example, Count Raymond IV of Toulouse openly patronized heretics. The Cathar heresy was completely eradicated in France during the Albigensian Wars ().

History of the Crusades. - M.: KRON-PRESS, 1998. - S. 404-406

Spiritual-knightly or, as they are sometimes called, military-monastic orders appeared immediately after the start of the Crusades. Their appearance is as unusual and mysterious as the Crusades themselves. If we take into account the huge role that they played in the struggle for the Holy Land, as well as their subsequent how glorious, just as tragic fate, then we can say with confidence that we are now touching on one of the most interesting and mysterious topics in the history of medieval Europe. .

However, in addition to the spiritual and knightly orders in the history of chivalry, there were other formations of the order type. In general, knightly orders can be divided into three categories:

1. spiritual and knightly orders, which operated for the most part during the Crusades, the most important of them are the Order of the Knights Templar, the Order of the Hospitallers of St. John, the Teutonic Order, etc .;

2. honorary knightly orders, which were of a completely secular nature and had the goal of rewarding personal merits, and not any special activity, the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Golden Fleece and others;

3. fictitious and legendary orders of chivalry known only in literature, for example, the order of King Arthur, known as the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Round Table.

After the first Crusade, when the crusaders succeeded in recapturing Antioch and Jerusalem, the need arose for the constant protection of the new Latin states formed in the East from the Arabs and Turks. To this goal - the defense of the Holy Land - two orders of chivalry devoted themselves: the Order of the Knights Templar and the Order of the Hospitallers. Below is a brief history of these two orders, as well as the history of the Teutonic Order - as the third most powerful and famous knightly order, the history of which affects, in particular, the history of Ancient Russia.

Order of the Knights Templar. It was founded in 1119 to protect pilgrims traveling in Palestine, but a few years later the order begins military operations in Palestine against Muslims. The headquarters of the order is located in Jerusalem, near the former Temple of Solomon. Hence the name of the order - the Templars, or Templars. (le temple, fr. - temple). In 1129 the order was recognized at a church council in Troyes. Pope Honorius II approves the charter of the order. The active military activity of the order begins, both in Palestine and in other theaters of military operations, for example, in Spain since 1143. The order receives help from various European countries, has numerous branches in Europe, owns lands, and conducts financial transactions. In 1307, by order of the French king Philip IV the Handsome, all the Knights Templar were arrested in France in one night. After the trial of the Templars in 1312, the order was liquidated by decree of Pope Clement V. In 1314, the last Grand Master of the Order, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake in Paris.

Order of the St. John the Hospitallers. The Brotherhood of John was founded even before the First Crusade at the hospital of St. John the Merciful in Jerusalem, hence the name of the order. The purpose of the brotherhood was to help the poor and sick pilgrims. It has a wide network of shelters and hospitals, both in the East and in Europe. After the First Crusade, it also assumes the functions of the military defense of the Latin states from the "infidels". The headquarters is located in Jerusalem. After the loss of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Crusaders from Palestine, the Hospitallers establish their headquarters on Fr. Rhodes from 1311

In 1522 the Turks besiege and capture about. Rhodes. Hospitallers leave Fr. Rhodes. In 1530 the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V, grants Fr. Malta near Sicily. The order receives a new name - the Order of Malta. The Hospitallers are building a powerful fleet and are actively involved in naval operations against the Turks in the Mediterranean.

In 1792 in France, during the revolution, the property of the order was confiscated. In 1798, French troops led by Napoleon Bonaparte captured Malta and expelled the Hospitallers from there. The Order of Malta is taken under patronage by Paul I, who establishes the Maltese Cross - the highest award of the Russian Empire. After the death of Paul I in 1801, the order was deprived of patronage in Russia, and from 1834 it acquired a permanent residence in Rome. Currently, members of the order are engaged in providing medical and other assistance to the sick and wounded.

Warband. He grew up from a brotherhood at a German hospital. The founding date of the order is considered to be 1199. In 1225, the Teutonic Order was invited to Prussia, where its headquarters were transferred. From 1229, the order begins the conquest of Prussia, and since then this task has become the main one in its activities.

Reception of knights is carried out mainly only from German lands. In 1237, the Teutonic Order united with the Order of the Sword, after which the conquest of Livonia also began. In 1242, the order was defeated on Lake Peipsi by Alexander Nevsky. In 1245, the order receives permission to conduct a "continuous" Crusade in Prussia. In 1309, the order moved its headquarters to Prussia in the city of Marienburg. In 1410, the troops of the Teutonic Order are defeated in the Battle of Grunwald by the combined forces of Poles, Lithuanians, Czechs and Russians. In 1466, at the conclusion of the Peace of Torun, the Teutonic Order recognizes itself as a vassal of the Kingdom of Poland.

Thus, in the XI - XIII centuries. the Catholic Church acted as the organizer of the crusades, the purpose of which she announced the liberation from the Muslims of Palestine and the "Holy Sepulcher", which, according to legend, was in Jerusalem. The true purpose of the campaigns was to seize land and plunder the eastern countries, the wealth of which was then much talked about in Europe.

As a result of military campaigns in the armies of the crusaders, with the blessing of the Pope, special monastic-knightly organizations were created - spiritual-knightly orders. Entering the order, the knight remained a warrior, but took the usual vow of monasticism: he could not have a family. From that time on, he implicitly obeyed the head of the order - the grandmaster, or grand master. The orders were directly subordinate to the pope, and not to the rulers on whose lands their possessions were located.

Having seized vast territories in the East, the orders launched wide-ranging activities in the "holy land". The knights enslaved the peasants, both local and those who came with them from Europe. Robbing cities and villages, engaging in usury, exploiting the local population, the orders accumulated huge wealth. The looted gold was used to buy large estates in Europe. Gradually, the orders turned into the richest corporations. Soon the order of the Knights Templar became the richest order.

Going on a crusade, large feudal lords and knights often mortgaged their lands and other property in the European offices of the order. Fearing robbery on the way, they took only a receipt in order to receive money upon arrival in Jerusalem. So the Templars became not only usurers, but also the organizers of banking. And it brought them enormous wealth: after all, many crusaders died on the way, not having time to reach Jerusalem ...

Aspects of the detailed history of the creation of spiritual knightly orders and their role in the history of medieval Europe will be covered in more detail and considered in the second chapter of our graduation project.

Augustine Order. Appeared in the second half of the 13th century and received the privileges of a mendicant order. The order united several hermit communities in Italy (Ioannbonites, Tuscan Eremites, Britinians, etc.) into one congregation. The charter of the order was not strict. In the 14th century, with an even greater weakening of the original strictness of the charter, the order was transformed into numerous new congregations, one of them was the Saxon one to which Staupitz and Luther belonged.

Franciscan order. The founder was the son of a merchant - Francis of Assisi. Francis, having taken a vow of perfect beggary, became in 1208 an itinerant preacher of repentance, apostolic poverty, asceticism and love of neighbor. Soon several disciples gathered around him, with whom he formed Order of the Lesser Brothers or minorites. Pope Innocent 3, to whom Francis appeared, although he did not approve the order, allowed him and his brothers to engage in preaching and missionary work. In 1223, the order was solemnly approved by the bull of Pope Honorius 3, and the minorites were given the right to preach and confess everywhere. In 1212 Clara of Assisi founded the order clarissinian, to which in 1224 Francis gave a charter. After the death of Francis in 1226, the order spread throughout all the countries of Western Europe and numbered thousands of monks.

Order of the Dominican. The order was founded at about the same time as Francis, a priest and canon Dominican Republic. At the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th centuries. many heretics appeared in the Roman Church, who found shelter in southern France and caused great unrest. Dominic, traveling through southern France, got acquainted with its heretical population, decided to establish an order specially designed for this purpose to convert heretics. Having received permission in 1215 from Pope Innocent, and from Pope Honorius, the charter - the order declared itself. The main occupation of the order, according to this charter, was to be the conversion of heretics. But Honorius, also for the affirmation of the Catholic faith, granted the order the right to engage in preaching and confession everywhere. From preaching, the Order of Dominic was originally called the Order brothers - preachers, later, in honor of the founder, he began to be called Dominican. In 1220, Dominic made a change in the charter of his order, adding, following the example of the Franciscans, begging to the main vows of the brethren. In principle, the Dominican order was very similar to the order of Francis. The difference lies in the fact that he, expedient to his task - to convert heretics and affirm the catalytic faith, took over the educational direction and acted as an order engaged in an in-depth study of theology among the upper classes. The Dominicans founded their own educational institutions. At the same time, the Franciscans were rivals and, in many dogmatic matters, opponents of the Dominicans. After the death of Dominic in 1221, his order spread throughout Western Europe.

The Franciscan and Dominican monastic orders were, like no other, of particular importance in the Roman Church, having the status of a beggar, except for the Jesuit order that subsequently appeared. The reason lies in the special, different from other orders, the nature and direction of their activities. The monks of other Western orders, in accordance with their vows, had to lead a life away from society and only care about their own salvation, they were not allowed to participate in church affairs. On the contrary, even pastoral activities, through which they could influence society, were forbidden by the popes. The Franciscan and Dominican orders were intended by their founders to promote the interests of the church among society, and the popes not only prevented this, but also made it easier for them to fulfill their assigned mission, giving the members of both orders an extensive right to widespread pastoral activity. The Franciscans and Dominicans constituted a specific hierarchy directly at the disposal of the papacy. Based on this state of affairs in the church, mendicant monks take an active part in all spheres of spiritual activity. They are preachers, confessors, learned theologians and philosophers, university professors and agents of the popes. The Franciscans were the confessors of the sovereigns of the 13th-16th centuries, enjoyed great influence in secular affairs, until they were supplanted by the Jesuits. Together with the Dominicans, the Franciscans served as the Inquisition, founded in the 13th century. It should be noted, however, that in the early days the Dominicans and Franciscans, when they observed the vow of poverty in all strictness, were representatives of a pious life. And all this taken together strengthened their importance in the Church. But the influence of a close connection with the papacy and serving its interests left its mark on the activities of the beggarly orders and, as a result, they more and more deviated from their original purpose - the salvation of human souls. They directed all their interests and activities to the distribution and approval of papal power. The main vow of both orders - apostolic poverty was forgotten, and strict discipline was replaced by licentiousness.

In addition to the monastic orders in the Western European Church in the Middle Ages, orders appeared partly monastic partly secular - spiritual knightly orders. Their appearance expressed the general trend of Western medieval life, when the Church, defending its interests, attracted to its service all classes of society, including the chivalry. The crusades served as a natural reason for the emergence of spiritual and knightly orders, in the conditions of the political situation of the current era. The most notable contribution to the history of the Middle Ages in general, and in particular to the history of the Crusades, was left by three orders - the Hospitallers, the Templars and the Teutons. The Knights Templar ceased to exist in the first half of the 14th century, the rest still exist today, but do not play a significant military and political role. The orders degenerated into charitable public organizations.

One of the first orders of this kind was the Order of the Johnites or Hospitallers. In 1048, long before the Crusades, the civilians of the city of Amalfi founded Host of Saint John the Baptist- a Christian organization or a hospital for the shelter of the poor and sick pilgrims, a brotherhood was also arranged at the hospital. Ioannity - Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta Sovereign Military Hospice Order of St. John. In 1099, when a Christian kingdom was founded by the crusaders in Jerusalem during the first crusade, the members of this brotherhood adopted a monastic charter and the organization turned into a religious-military order. Initially, the main duty of the brothers of John was hospitality and care for the sick. Later, these duties were joined by the obligation to protect the pilgrims with weapons and concern for the protection of the Holy Land. The last duties soon became the main ones, and the Johnites devoted themselves exclusively to the fight against the infidels. A spiritual and knightly order was formed. Pope Innocent II approved it. The Johnites were divided into three classes: knights, priests and service brothers. The order was led by the Grandmaster. The formation of the order with the aim of fighting the infidels was met with sympathy in Europe, and as a result, large donations began to be made in favor of the Johnites. Solomon moved to Cyprus, and from there they migrated to Western Europe and lived on their rich estates, especially in France. The center of concentration was Paris. later, the French king Philip 4 the Handsome, fearing the intention of the knights against the state and wanting to take away their huge wealth, began to raise terrible accusations against the order. Philip the Handsome over time confiscated the order's property and directed the Inquisition against the brotherhood. Members of the order were accused of a terrible heresy - in renunciation of Jesus Christ. Pope Clement 5, who at that time lived in Avignon and was completely dependent on Philip, was forced to contribute to the destruction of the order. In 1312, the order of the Templars was declared heretical by a papal bull and destroyed.

The modern official name is the Sovereign Military, Hospice Order of St. John, Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta. The official residence is in Rome (Italy).
It got its name from the hospital and the church of St. John the Baptist, where the monastic order created in 1113 was located, which eventually turned into a military-spiritual organization. According to their fighting qualities and military prowess, the Joanites were rightfully considered the best warriors in Europe. After the Crusaders were expelled from Palestine, the Hospitallers crossed over to Cyprus, where they built a fleet and in 1309 captured the island of Rhodes. In 1522, after a six-month siege of Rhodes by the Turks, the fleet of knights moved to the island of Malta, where the order ruled until 1798. At the present time, the order is engaged in charitable and charitable activities.

The official name is the Order of the Knights of the Solomon Temple, also the Order of the Knights of Christ. It arose in 1119 in Jerusalem from the knights who previously served at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Along with the Hospitallers, he was engaged in the protection of pilgrims and the protection of Christian possessions in Palestine. He was also engaged in trade, usury and banking operations, due to which he accumulated huge wealth. After the expulsion from Palestine, the order switched almost completely to financial activities. In 1307, by order of Pope Clement V and the French King Philip IV, arrests of members of the order on charges of heresy and confiscation of property began. After the execution of several members, including the Grand Master, in 1312 the order was dissolved by papal bull.

The official name is Fratrum Theutonicorum ecclesiae S. Mariae Hiersolymitanae. Founded in 1190 on the basis of a hospital founded by German pilgrims in Acre. In 1196 it was reorganized into a spiritual knightly order headed by a master. The goals are the protection of the German knights, the treatment of the sick, the fight against the enemies of the Catholic Church. At the beginning of the XIII century, he moved his activities to Prussia and the Baltic states, where he took part in the crusades against the Slavs and the Baltic states. On the conquered lands, the state of the Teutonic Knights, Livonia, was actually formed. The decline of the order began after the defeat in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. Currently, the order is engaged in charity and treatment of the sick. The headquarters is located in Vienna.

The spiritually knightly order of Calatrava (Calatrava la Vieja) was founded in Spain in 1158 by the monk Raymond de Fetero. Pope Alexander III in 1164 approved the charter of the order. The knightly order got its name from the fortress of Calatrava conquered from the Arabs. The distinctive sign of the members of the order was white and black clothes with a red cross. The order took an active part in the reconquest of the lands occupied by the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula (Reconquista). Ceased to exist in 1873.

The official name is the Grand Military Order of the Sword of St. James of Compostela. Founded in Spain around 1160. Named after the patron saint of Spain. He took part in the crusades and wars with Muslims. It operates to this day as a civil order of chivalry under the auspices of the King of Spain.

The spiritually chivalric order of Alcantara was founded in 1156 in Spain. Initially, it was a military-religious brotherhood of knights, called San Julian de Pereiro. In 1217, the Knights of the Order of Calatrava, with the permission of the king, transferred the city of Alcantara and all the possessions of the Order of Calatrava in León to the Order of San Julian de Pereiro. After that, the order of San Julian de Pereiro was renamed the knightly order of Alcantara. The Order took part in the Reconquista. In the 1830s the order was nationalized and ceased to exist.

The official name is the Order of Saint Bennet of Avish. The order was created in 1147 to protect the city of Évora, which had recently been recaptured from the Moors. In 1223
the residence of the order was transferred to the city of Avis, donated by the king of Portugal and fortified by the knights. The order participated in the Portuguese part of the Reconquista and the colonization of the coast of Africa. Disbanded in 1910, but in 1917 restored as a purely civilian, headed by the President of Portugal.

The Order of the Sword is a German Catholic spiritual and knightly order, officially called the "Brothers of Christ's Host". It was founded in 1202 on the initiative of Canon Albert of Bremen, who became the first Bishop of Riga. The goal was to capture the Eastern Baltic, carried out crusades against the Baltic peoples, while a third of the occupied lands were assigned to the order. After a number of defeats from the Russian princes and Lithuania, the remnants of the order in 1237 joined the Teutonic Order.

Spiritually - a knightly order, the successor of the Templars in Portugal. Established in 1318 by the Portuguese king Dinis to continue the struggle begun by the Templars against the Muslims. Pope John XXII allowed all the possessions of the Portuguese Templars to be transferred to the order, including the castle of Tomar, which in 1347 became the residence of the Grand Master. Hence the second name of the order - Tomarsky. The Tomar knights, like their Avis brothers, took an active part in the overseas voyages of Portuguese navigators. Vasco da Gama and other wandering knights of Tomar sailed with the emblem of the order. Like the Order of Avis, it was dissolved in 1910, but in 1917 it was restored as a purely civil order, headed by the President of Portugal.

The official name is the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem. Founded by the crusaders in Palestine in 1098 on the basis of a hospital for lepers, which existed under the jurisdiction of the Greek Patriarchate. The order accepted into its ranks knights who fell ill with leprosy. The symbol of the order was a green cross on a white cloak. After the capture of Jerusalem by Salah ad-Din in October 1187, the order participated in hostilities, in particular during the Third Crusade. In the battle of Forbia on October 17, 1244, the order lost all of its personnel (both healthy and leper knights, along with the master). After the expulsion of the crusaders from Palestine, the order settled in France, where it continued its hospital activities. The modern Order of Saint Lazarus has branches in 24 countries around the world and continues its charitable activities.