Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Chiyaley,
of Hungary , who led the Crusade , A . n . 1217 , was , at his own special desire , received into the Order as a brother ; on which occasion , he gave in perpetuity to the fraternity an annuity of seven hundred marks of silver . His testimony to the merits and virtues of the Knights of St . John is the most honourable to be found in their annals : — " Lodging in their house , I have seen them feed daily an innumerable multitude of the poor : while the sick were laid in ^ ood
beds and treated with great care , the dying assisted with an exemplary piety , <* and the dead decently buried . In a word , this noble militia are employed sometimes like Mary ^ in contemplation , and sometimes like Martha , in action , —and thus consecrate their days to deeds of mercy , and to the maintenance of a constant warfare against the infidels , Amalekites , and the enemies of the Cross . ' '
In 1227 , in consequence of the great losses the Hospitallers had sustained in an action with the Sultan of Aleppo , the Grand Master ordered large succours from Europe ; and among them went from their house in Clerkenwell 300 Knights , headed by Theodric , the prior . This house , which was the principal establishment of the
Order m England , was dedicated in 1185 . It was burnt by "W at Tyler ' s mob , but was afterwards rebuilt in a style of great grandeur . Camden says that , in the sixteenth century , "it was the size of a palace ; had a beautiful church , with a tower of such a height as to be a singular ornament to the city . " Of this magnificent establishment the entrance gateway alone remains .
In the fatal battle near Gaza , A . n . 1224 , the superiors of all the three Orders were slain ; the survivors of the fight being only thirty - three Templars , sixteen Hospitallers , and three Teutonic Knights . And at the attack of Massoura , in Egypt , the indiscretion of the Count of Artois caused a dreadful slaughter of the Knights—only ten of the members of the three Orders engaged surviving .
Although the superior of the Order had always been dignified by the title of Grand Master , it was only in the time of Hugh de Kevel , 1259 , that the Pope ( Alexander IV . ) formally conferred this title on the chief of the Order . At this period many changes were made in the statutes of the Order ; among others , was one by which it was
ordained , that after defraying the expenses for the subsistence of each preceptory , the residue was to be remitted to the supreme house and treasury of the Order ; by another law the Knights were forbidden to make wills or bequests without the express consent of the Grand Master ; another statute declared that nuns who had previously worn the habit of another institution were inadmissible to
the convent of the Hospital of St . John . ( To be continued . )
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Chiyaley,
of Hungary , who led the Crusade , A . n . 1217 , was , at his own special desire , received into the Order as a brother ; on which occasion , he gave in perpetuity to the fraternity an annuity of seven hundred marks of silver . His testimony to the merits and virtues of the Knights of St . John is the most honourable to be found in their annals : — " Lodging in their house , I have seen them feed daily an innumerable multitude of the poor : while the sick were laid in ^ ood
beds and treated with great care , the dying assisted with an exemplary piety , <* and the dead decently buried . In a word , this noble militia are employed sometimes like Mary ^ in contemplation , and sometimes like Martha , in action , —and thus consecrate their days to deeds of mercy , and to the maintenance of a constant warfare against the infidels , Amalekites , and the enemies of the Cross . ' '
In 1227 , in consequence of the great losses the Hospitallers had sustained in an action with the Sultan of Aleppo , the Grand Master ordered large succours from Europe ; and among them went from their house in Clerkenwell 300 Knights , headed by Theodric , the prior . This house , which was the principal establishment of the
Order m England , was dedicated in 1185 . It was burnt by "W at Tyler ' s mob , but was afterwards rebuilt in a style of great grandeur . Camden says that , in the sixteenth century , "it was the size of a palace ; had a beautiful church , with a tower of such a height as to be a singular ornament to the city . " Of this magnificent establishment the entrance gateway alone remains .
In the fatal battle near Gaza , A . n . 1224 , the superiors of all the three Orders were slain ; the survivors of the fight being only thirty - three Templars , sixteen Hospitallers , and three Teutonic Knights . And at the attack of Massoura , in Egypt , the indiscretion of the Count of Artois caused a dreadful slaughter of the Knights—only ten of the members of the three Orders engaged surviving .
Although the superior of the Order had always been dignified by the title of Grand Master , it was only in the time of Hugh de Kevel , 1259 , that the Pope ( Alexander IV . ) formally conferred this title on the chief of the Order . At this period many changes were made in the statutes of the Order ; among others , was one by which it was
ordained , that after defraying the expenses for the subsistence of each preceptory , the residue was to be remitted to the supreme house and treasury of the Order ; by another law the Knights were forbidden to make wills or bequests without the express consent of the Grand Master ; another statute declared that nuns who had previously worn the habit of another institution were inadmissible to
the convent of the Hospital of St . John . ( To be continued . )