The Knights of St. Lazarus
The
most famous of the “fighting orders” or militant orders were of course
the Knights Templar, and the Knights Hospitaller (Knights of St. John),
two orders founded in the Holy Land and, for their age, truly
international in character. Although not powerful and largely forgotten,
there was a third military order also founded in the Holy Land, the
Order of St. Lazarus.
The
Order of St. Lazarus evolved from a leper hospital that had existed in
Jerusalem prior to the First Crusade. After the Christian Kingdom of
Jerusalem was established, it became part of the Hospitaller network of
hospitals, but by 1142 the Order of St. Lazarus broke away, and by 1147
it was known as the Leper Brothers of Jerusalem. The Leper Pool and the
foundations of the leper hospital run by the Knights of St. Lazarus have
been located just beyond the norther wall of Jerusalem.
Critical
to understanding the Knights of St. Lazarus is the fact that leprosy
was far more common in the East than in Western Europe and the influence
of Greek Orthodox ideology on the territories of the crusader states.
By the end of the 10th century, the Byzantine clergy had come to see
leprosy as a "holy disease" -- its victims were not seen as particularly
vile sinner but rather as men and women marked by God's favor. A number
of Greek Orthodox legends entailed Christ appearing as a leper. Caring
for lepers was therefore seen as an act of great charity that would gain
a person credit in heaven.
It
is probably not surprising, therefore, that the Order of St. Lazarus
grew rapidly in the mid-12th century, eventually having houses in
Tiberias, Ascalon, Acre, Caesarea, Beirut, and possibly other cities as
well. More surprising, however, is the fact that it began to have
military brethren.
It
appears that initially, the role of these armed monks was primarily the
defense of the leper hospitals. Some of these military men were
undoubtedly former Templars and Hospitallers who had contracted leprosy,
because we know that both the Templar and Hospitaller Rules required
members with leprosy to join the Order of St. Lazarus. However, secular
knights of the crusader kingdoms who contracted the desease were also
expected to join the Knights of St. Lazarus.
Knights
already afflicted with disease would have been facing a steady
deterioration of their fighting capabilities, however, and it appears
that just as some healthy monks and nuns devoted themselves to the care
of the sick in the habit of the Knights of St. Lazarus, some healthy
fighting men likewise chose to join the Knights of St. Lazarus rather
than the more powerful (and arrogant) military orders of the Templars
and Hospitallers. This supposition is supported by the fact that there
are recorded incidents of the Order of St. Lazarus taking part in
military operations – possibly at the Battle of Hattin, and certainly at
the Battle of Gaza in 1244, at Ramla in 1253, and during the defense of
Acre in 1291.
Meanwhile, in 1265 Pope
Clement IV issued a papal bull that commanded all the prelates of the
church to assist in transferring the care of all lepers -- male and
female -- to leprosariums run by the Knights of St. Lazarus. Pope
Clement had taken a strong interest in the care of lepers before he
became pope, and had written a set of regulations for leprosariums while
still Bishop of Le Puy that included such remarkable features as the
right of lepers to elect their own superiors from among their members.
As pope, however, he seems to have been most concerned with ensuring
that lepers remained segretrated from the rest of society by putting
them under the control of the Knights of St. Lazarus.
