Knightly orders- organizations of aristocrats (knights) in Western Europe, created during the XIV-XV centuries.

After the failures of the Crusades, the Crusaders military orders began to be idealized and romanticized, and as a result, in the late Middle Ages, the idea appeared chivalry. They had different goals - the fight against pagans, robbers, enemies of this or that king or lord. These orders, differing from each other not only in tasks, but also in numbers, arose, existed for some time, united or were subordinated to another order on feudal principles and were dissolved without reaching even a shadow of the power and influence of such orders as the Templars (templars), Teutons and Hospitallers. However, it was from them that the custom of wearing special insignia, made of gold and silver, trimmed with precious stones and pearls, originated. These insignia were destined to outlive the orders of chivalry that established them, and eventually they themselves began to be called orders.

When a new member joined the order, the so-called. Rite of passage.

• Monastic orders - in Catholicism, communities of monastics united by a common spirituality and charter.
• - orders that appeared during the period Crusades. The most famous are and.
• Secular knightly orders are orders of European countries that arose in the late Middle Ages.
• Order State (German) Ordenstaat) - in a number of political doctrines of the 20th century, primarily totalitarian, the provision of a state controlled by an organization - the Order. A historical example of such a state is the State of the Teutonic Order.

Initially, the orders appeared in the Middle Ages and were forms of formation of groups of the nobility and clergy. One of the functions of the order is the colorographic identification of members to determine friend or foe in the system, by wearing the same clothes, signs, etc. Enshrined in the name, the order refers to both the organization and the sign identifying its members - the order. Later, membership in certain orders of those especially close to the monarch began to be considered as a reward, since becoming a member of the order required a certain origin and the commission of heroic and noble deeds, and membership in such an order was accompanied by significant privileges; their outward manifestation was a sign of membership - the order. At the same time, it should be noted that knightly and spiritual orders were the source of various kinds of opposition movements, in connection with which secret orders arose, i.e. Organizations whose members did not advertise their membership. As absolutism strengthened in Western Europe, most of the once powerful orders were destroyed.

The phenomenon of spiritual knightly orders or military-monastic unions itself is closely related to the Crusades. The first such organizations include the crusaders of the first campaign of 1096. Then, at the behest of Pope Urban II, the feudal lords and common people went to help Eastern Christians in Anatolia and to liberate the Holy Land and Jerusalem from Muslims. The Crusaders took three main monastic vows: chastity, poverty and humility. All participants in the campaign painted a red cross on their clothes as a symbol of involvement in the sacred mission. These campaigns became an excellent chance for the younger children of feudal lords to improve their financial situation. Thanks to the granted lands, as well as profitable trade deals, knightly orders began to arise, whose members, as monks, were under the authority of the vows given to them, but, at the same time, were professional warriors.

The following will list the 10 largest spiritual knightly orders. You may know about some of them, but you will hear about some for the first time. Some of them did not survive the Middle Ages, and some still exist today in the form of secular organizations.

Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem. The Order of Saint Lazarus was perhaps the first spiritual knightly order founded by the Crusaders. However, if its primacy can still be challenged, then its uniqueness is beyond any doubt. The fact is that this order, which appeared in Palestine in 1098, was located at a hospital for patients with leprosy, and its knights were recruited from among those feudal lords who were struck by this terrible disease. Perhaps a quick death from the crooked blade of an infidel seemed more merciful to them than slow decomposition as a result of illness. Thus, three hundred warrior monks were able to put to flight the elite guard of Salah ad-Din during the Battle of Montgisard in 1177. In 1191, the Lazarite knights took part in the capture of Acre; in 1227, they went on a crusade on the side of the German emperor together with the Teutons, where they also distinguished themselves for their courage and fortitude. However, in 1291, during the defense of Akkon, almost the entire personnel of the order, including the master, was destroyed. After the expulsion of the crusaders from Palestine, the surviving members of the order relocated to France. There they revived the organization, but from then on they were mainly concerned with hospital affairs. The Order of Saint Lazarus still exists today. Of course, this is no longer an order of leper knights, but a secular charitable organization, but they continue to fulfill their original mission of helping all those in need.

Interesting fact: Many people have probably heard aboutKing of Jerusalem Baldwin IV, the leper king who ruled the country for 11 years and fought with Salah ad-Din. This character has become the hero of many books and several films, but few people know that knights from the Order of St. Lazarus were appointed as his personal bodyguards. They suffered from the same illness as the king himself, and therefore could freely be near him.

Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta Sovereign Military Hospitable Order of St. John. This order is better known to the general public as the Order of the Hospitallers or the Order of the Maltese Cross. This organization became a military-monastic organization in 1099, after the crusaders took Jerusalem. The Knights of St. John took upon themselves the responsibility of protecting pilgrims, as well as protecting holy places from attacks by infidels. This organization has become famous throughout Europe as an order whose ranks include only the most valiant and professional fighters. After the crusaders had to leave Palestine, the order settled in Cyprus, where it created its own fleet, with the help of which it captured the island of Rhodes in 1309. However, in 1522, the Turks, who decided to return theirs, forced the Johannites to leave their home. For more than seven years, this order wandered around Europe in search of a new home, until the King of Spain and Sicily, Charles V, gave them Malta, Gozo and the port of Tripoli in North Africa as a permanent fief. For this service, he demanded that the knights pay him a symbolic tribute in the form of one Maltese falcon once a year, on All Saints' Day. 35 years after finding a new home, the Hospitallers had to fight again for it with the Ottoman Empire, which persistently did not want to see warrior monks near its borders. For these purposes, Suleiman I sent 40,000 soldiers to Malta, but 700 knights and 8,000 soldiers of the order were able to defend Malta and rule there until 1798. The order still exists today. Its members are engaged in charity work and providing humanitarian assistance to those in need.

Interesting fact: In 1798, the Hospitaller fortress in Malta was captured by Napoleon during his Egyptian campaign, and this was done without firing a single shot. Napoleon asked the master of the order for permission to enter Valletta Bay to replenish supplies, but, having received it, ordered the knights to surrender Malta. The Supreme Master of the order, Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bohleim, was forced to obey - the reason was the Johannite charter, which strictly forbade knights from shedding Christian blood.

Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon. Probably only the lazy don’t know about the knights of this order - an incredible number of books have been written about the Templars and the same number of films have been shot as about their connections with the Freemasons and the Illuminati. In fact, the history of the Templars is much more prosaic. Created in 1119 by a small group of knights led by Hugh de Payns in the Holy Land, this organization quickly became the richest and most influential order. In the period from the 12th to the 13th centuries, the Templars acquired extensive possessions in Palestine, Syria and European states. The papal throne cherished and nurtured the Templars, providing this order with all sorts of benefits and privileges. The Templars, in turn, honestly did their job of protecting pilgrims and the states created by the crusaders. After the expulsion of the “warriors of Christ” from Palestine, the Knights of the Temple of Solomon had to move to Europe and engage in financial activities there, which they coped with no worse than a war - by the end of the 13th century, monarchs and major figures of the Catholic Church were in their debts. Unfortunately, this category of people did not like to repay debts, so it was easier for debtors to organize a conspiracy and accuse the Templars of heresy. The knights of the order, together with Master Jacques de Mollier, were tortured and then executed. The pocket pope of the French king Philip IV, Clement V, abolished the order, all its property was plundered by monarchs, church ministers and private individuals. Some of the surviving Templars were able to hide in regions that were not covered by the papal bull. Modern conspiracy theorists believe that the surviving knights revived the order in the form of a secret society to rule the world, but the evidence base for such statements is rather dubious.

“Non Nobis Domine Non Nobis Sed Nomini Tuo Da Gloriam” - “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory”
(http://claudiomartinotti.blogspot.ru)

Interesting fact: According to one of King Philip's contemporariesIV, a certain prisoner from the former members of the order told the French monarch about the sacrilege of the Templars. He allegedly said that the templars practice spiritualism and idolatry - so, as a rite of passage, neophytes must spit on the cross, publicly renounce the tenets of Christianity and indulge in a mass orgy. Whether this is true or not is now quite difficult to establish, however, according to the same source, the prisoner who told this story received freedom and a generous reward.

Order of Saint Bennett of Aviz. Since its inception, Portugal has always needed professional warriors, whose loyalty, as well as their lifelong duty to fight the infidels, would be supported by certain vows. Thanks to this, immediately after the formation of Portugal as a kingdom (1128), the Templars were warmly received on its territory. However, the templars, although they were bound by certain oaths, still had foreign origin, therefore in 1146, after the Spanish crusaders knocked out the Moors from the city of Évora, the spiritual knightly order of St. Bennett of Aviz was created to protect it. The Order took an active part in the Portuguese part of the Reconquista, and after its completion in 1385, the Grand Master of the Order, John I, became King of Portugal. Now it cost him nothing to organize the successful colonization of the African coast under the auspices of a new “crusade.” The growth of the Portuguese Empire gradually turned the Avis knights into large landowners and colonialists, and with the advent of the Renaissance the order became completely secularized. Pope Alexander VI soon completely freed the knights of the order from their vow of celibacy. It was then decided that the Grand Master of the Abyssinians should be the monarch of Portugal. In this form the order existed until 1910, when it was dissolved. In 1917, the order was restored again, but as a civil organization.

Interesting fact: Despite the fact that until 1551 the Grand Master of the Order could not be the ruler of Portugal, he has had a connection with the royal family from the very foundation. The fact is that the first Grand Master of the order was Pedro Afonso, who, in turn, was the illegitimate son of King Afonso of PortugalI. At the same time, Pedro would not be able to encroach on the throne, since he was bound by the Benedictine Rule. The result is a rather favorable combination of power and controllability.

Order of Alcantara. This spiritual knightly order rightly bears the title of the oldest in Spain. In 1156, to protect the fortress of San Julian de Peral from the Moors, a military partnership arose among the crusaders, which on December 29, 1177, Pope Alexander III elevated to the status of a spiritual knightly order based on the charter of Benedict of Nursia. After some time, the order also received benefits from the Spanish crown, and then completely came under the personal leadership of the Pope. This order experienced several periods of decline, however, in comparison with the Templars, their fate can only be envied. So, by 1808, the Alcantara owned 37 counties and 53 cities, but in the 19th century the order's lands were nationalized, and the order itself was abolished. In 1875 it was restored as a secular organization.

Interesting fact: although the Order of Alcantara arose in 1156, it did not immediately begin to be called that. After its elevation to the status of a spiritual-military organization (1177), it bore the name of the Order of San Julian de Peral in honor of the fortress that the crusaders swore to defend. When in 1218 the knights of the order took possession of the city of Alcantara, they began to call themselves the knights of the Order of Alcantara.

Order of Calatrava. It is named after the fortress that the Castilian king Alfonso VII conquered from the Moors in 1147. Since Alfonso could not afford to maintain a permanent garrison in the fortress, and the surrounding lands were under constant threat of attack, the task of defense was entrusted to the Templars. They were soon forced to flee, frightened by the Moorish onslaught, and here Abbot Raymond from the Cistercian monastery and the monk-knight Diego Velazquez came to the aid of the Castilian king. Under the patronage of King Alfonso, they established a new spiritual knightly order. The Knights of Calatrava successfully gained a foothold in the fortress and began to plan to expand the borders of their possessions at the expense of the lands of the Moors. This became the first stumbling block for the order, since most of the Cistercian monks were against the militarization of the organization, so after the death of Abbot Raymond, many of them left the Calatrava order. The first campaigns were victorious and brought glory to the knights of this order, but later strife between the Castilian and Leonese branches of the dynasty of the late King Alfonso led to the weakening of the order. The Moors, in turn, were strengthened by African Muslims and drove the monk-knights out of their fortress. The loss of the monastery led to numerous infighting within the order itself, but by the 13th century, the Knights of Calatrava regained strength and became the most powerful military organization in Spain. The newfound success in the 14th century led to internal discord, frequent changes of priors, and sometimes to dual power. By the end of this century, the Order of Calatrava had lost any fighting power and became a nominal holder of revenue lands, which the king distributed among close officials. In 1838 the order was finally abolished.

Interesting fact: The Order might not have existed at all if it had not been for the institution of “lay brothers” that appeared at that time. In essence, these were monastic peasants who were allowed to carry weapons in case of war. It was these peasants who at first constituted the main striking force of the order. By the way, the knights themselves, in addition to other monastic vows, took an oath to sleep in armor and not take off the white Cistercian mantle.

Grand Military Order of the Sword of St. James Kompostelsky. It is believed that this order arose around 1160 in two kingdoms at once, in Leon and Castile. In 1230, after the unification of the two kingdoms, the headquarters of the order were located in Cuenca. The Knights of the Order of Santiago participated in the Crusades and the Reconquista, but for the most part they were engaged in quartering and escorting pilgrims along the Route of St. James. The order quickly grew and became rich. In his heyday, he owned more lands than the Alcantara and Calatrava orders combined. Unlike other Spanish orders, Santiago survived not only the 19th century, but also the 1931 revolution and the Franco regime. Now it is a civil order of chivalry, whose chief commander since 2008 is King Philip VI of Spain.

Interesting fact: Since the Order of Santiago quite often participated in sea voyages, it was constantly in need of oarsmen. Thus arose a custom that lasted untilXVIII century, according to which each candidate for entry into the order, in addition to confirming his noble origin, had to work for six months as a galley rower. Let's be honest: like the pedigree test, where the father's title was often enough, work as a rower could also be replaced by a hefty entry fee.

St. Mary's German Sister-Sister House in Jerusalem. In Russian historiography, this order is better known as the Teutonic Order (from the Latin teutonicus - “German”). There are at least two versions of the origin of this order, so disliked in Russia. According to the first version, the order was founded by one of the leaders of the German knights, Duke Frederick of Swabia, after the capture of Acre in 1190. The local hospital building was chosen as the headquarters. According to another version, this German order arose thanks to the same duke, but during the siege of Acre, and the knights were located not in the hospital, but in a field hospital. However, be that as it may, it is reliably known that on March 5, 1198, a ceremony was held in the temple of Acre to reorganize the military brotherhood into a spiritual knightly order. The main tasks of the order were also approved there: helping German knights, treating the sick and fighting the enemies of the Catholic Church. Since the 13th century, this order was engaged in crusades against pagans in Prussia and the Baltic states. On the captured lands they formed a kind of state of Livonia (hence, by the way, another name for them - Livonian knights). The Teutonic Order was dissolved in 1809 during the Napoleonic Wars, and all the lands of the knights were distributed to Napoleon's allies. The order was restored only in 1834, but at that time it had neither military nor political ambitions and was engaged exclusively in charity. With the Nazis coming to power, activities had to be almost completely curtailed or moved underground. Since 1947, the Teutonic Order began its activities again. Modern Teutons are engaged in treating the sick and doing charity work. Their main headquarters is in Vienna, with branches in many countries in Eastern Europe.

Interesting fact: The acute hostility of Russians towards the knights of the Teutonic Order is associated with the Great Patriotic War. At that time, Soviet agitators used the image of a German knight as a metaphor for Nazi Germany. In the historiography of the Soviet period, this image was consolidated by the statement that on the territory of East Prussia, the German knights massacred the entire ethnic group of Prussians, although it is now reliably known that this was a kind of political order so that the residents of the Kaliningrad region did not feel like invaders, but believed that The indigenous population of this region had been slaughtered by the Germans several centuries earlier.

Brotherhood of the Army of Christ. These knights are better known as the Order of the Brotherhood of the Sword or the Order of the Sword. It was founded by the Bishop of Riga Theodoric of Turaida in 1202 to conduct missionary activities in Livonia. Having received approval from the Pope, the order launched successful activities in the fight against the pagans, and by the 30s of the 13th century, the Swordsmen already owned the lands of three large Baltic peoples (Semigallians, Selei and Curonians). After the Livonians decided to go to war with Lithuania, their streak of success ended. A series of major defeats and the death in battle of Master Volguin von Namburg in the battle with the Lithuanians at Saul led the order into decline. The remnants of the Order of the Sword became part of the Teutonic Order in 1237. The lands remaining after the order began to be called the Livonian Landmastership of the Teutonic Order, and this peculiar branch is most often referred to in historiography as the Livonian Order. The order was liquidated in 1561 after defeat in the Livonian War.

Interesting fact: Thanks to Soviet military propaganda, there is a misconception that the Teutonic Order took part in the Battle of the Ice, although in fact it was the Livonian knights. Formally, they were subordinate to the head of the German order, but, nevertheless, were considered a separate organization.

Royal Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is called the Order of Christ for short. It was founded in 1318 and became a kind of “reboot” of the Templar Order. Portugal was in dire need of professional warriors, and the persecution of the Templars was a huge blow for it. King Dinis, who did not want to stop the reconquista, organized a new order from the remaining knights, which soon received a papal bull and lands that had previously belonged to the Templars. Due to the location of their main headquarters in Tomar Castle, these knights also became known as Tomar knights. The Order of Christ, like other Spanish spiritual knightly orders, took an active part in overseas campaigns and travels. After the death of King Manuel in 1521, his successor João III made the post of Grand Master of the Order of Christ a hereditary position among the kings of Portugal. This caused discord between Portugal and the papal throne, since such an act minimized the influence of the clergy on the activities of the order. In the 19th century, the lands of the order were nationalized. After the fall of the Portuguese monarchy in 1910, the order was abolished, but in 1917 it was restored as a civil organization.

Interesting fact: One of the most famous Tomar knights-errant is the navigator and discoverer Vasco da Gama. His expedition, which made the first trip from Europe to India, did so under sails bearing the symbol of the Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

1

The modern official name is the Sovereign Military, Hospitable Order of St. John, Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta. The official residence is in Rome (Italy).
It got its name from the hospital and church of St. John the Baptist, where the monastic order created in 1113 was located, which over time turned into a military-spiritual organization. In terms of their fighting qualities and military prowess, the Ioanites were rightfully considered the best warriors in Europe. After the Crusaders were expelled from Palestine, the Hospitallers crossed to Cyprus, where they built a fleet and captured the island of Rhodes in 1309. 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 merciful activities.

2

The official name is the Order of the Knights of Solomon's Temple, also the Order of the Knights of Christ. It arose in 1119 in Jerusalem from knights who had 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, due to which he accumulated enormous wealth. After the expulsion from Palestine, the order almost completely switched 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, the order was dissolved by papal bull in 1312.

3

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. Goals: protecting German knights, treating the sick, fighting the enemies of the Catholic Church. At the beginning of the 13th century, he transferred his activities to Prussia and the Baltic states, where he took part in the crusades against the Slavs and Balts. In fact, the state of the Teutonic Knights, Livonia, was formed on the conquered lands. 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.

4

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

5

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 knighthood under the patronage of the King of Spain.

6

The spiritual knightly order of Alcantara was founded in 1156 in Spain. Initially it was a military-religious brotherhood of knights, bearing the name 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 Leon to the Order of San Julian de Pereiro. After which 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.

7

The official name is the Order of St. Bennett of Avish. The order was created in 1147 to protect the city of Evora, which had recently been recaptured from the Moors. In 1223
The residence of the order was moved to the city of Avis, donated by the King of Portugal and fortified by the knights. The Order took part in the Portuguese part of the Reconquista and the colonization of the African coast. Dissolved in 1910, but in 1917 restored as a purely civilian body, headed by the President of Portugal.

8

The Order of the Swordsmen is a German Catholic spiritual-knightly order, officially called the "Brothers of Christ's Host". It was created in 1202 on the initiative of the Bremen canon Albert, 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 captured lands were assigned to the order. After a series of defeats from the Russian princes and Lithuania, the remnants of the order joined the Teutonic Order in 1237.

9

Spiritually - a knightly order, the successor of the Templars in Portugal. Established in 1318 by the Portuguese king Dinis to continue the fight against Muslims begun by the Templars. 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 travels of Portuguese sailors. Vasco da Gama and other Tomar knights-errant sailed under sails with the emblem of the order. Like the Order of Aviz, it was dissolved in 1910, but in 1917 it was restored as a purely civilian one, headed by the President of Portugal.

10

The official name is the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. 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 Saladin's capture of Jerusalem in October 1187, the order saw action, particularly during the Third Crusade. In the Battle of Forbia on October 17, 1244, the order lost all 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.

Mysterious medieval monks living far from the world - who are they? What inspired them? Desire for justice or thirst for power? One thing is clear - these were people of such passions, such faith and such delusions that they really worked miracles and more than once turned the course of history.

BURNING MYSTICISM

The order, which gave rise to many heresies, but was itself recognized as true believers, forever changed the attitude of believers to HOW to believe.

Order of the Followers of Saint Francis, who, a thousand years after Christ, tried to revive the canons of evangelical life. Barefoot monks in brown robes preached the renunciation of worldly wealth for spiritual treasures. And, most importantly, they reminded the world of the Savior’s half-forgotten commandment: “Love one another.” Now it seems incredible, but during the first centuries of their history, Christians almost forgot about this side of the teaching. All attention was aimed at avoiding sins and at the inevitable punishment if you still succumb to temptation. Francis of Assisi, the “Apostle of Love,” as his contemporaries and descendants called him, rediscovered Christ and the idea of ​​serving him in a new way for himself and his disciples.

The Franciscans, the only ones in the entire Catholic Church, were not afraid to talk about the sacred with humor (they preserved this tradition for centuries: Francois Rabelais, the author of the funniest and most scandalous novel of the 17th century, “Gargantua and Pantagruel,” was a Franciscan). And this was a real feat, if we remember that in the 12th-13th centuries church councils were convened to determine whether laughter was sinful. There were too many who believed that only fear could be an adequate response to the divine. It took extraordinary courage to defend one's position before the highest pillars of the Church, as Francis did when he came to an audience with Pope Innocent III after spending the night in a stable (where the pope himself sent him, wanting to laugh at the love of the wanderer from Assisi for all living things ).

Francis' second revolutionary idea was to declare the entire world the Temple of God. He believed that you can pray not only in a church; a grove and the shore of a lake, a meadow and a mountain can become a chapel. And although in this he relied on the words of Christ himself, to many Christians this idea seemed heretical.

The third, and most important thing that Francis taught people is the art of mystical meditation. While it was customary everywhere to rely on quotes from the holy fathers, Francis argued: the main goal is to get closer to God, to merge with him mentally and sensually, since God is incomprehensible.

Francis himself was so inspired by his faith that he discovered the gift of healing the sick and suffering. At the end of his life, after a series of meditations, stigmata opened in him - five wounds, as if from nails, in the very places where Jesus was nailed to the cross.

The Order of Mystics and Jokers, as the Franciscans were called in the Middle Ages, gave the world many wonderful people. Although Francis himself was distrustful of “book wisdom,” not all of his followers rejected science. The inventor of gunpowder, Bartholomew Schwartz, the naturalists Roger Bacon and William of Ockham, and even the great Francesco Petrarch also belonged to the order. No matter how different they are, in each, if you look closely, you can see the features of their Great Teacher.

DOGS OF THE LORD

Without a doubt, the members of this organization, if there had been a different history of Christ, would have mercilessly protected it from believers.

The Franciscans always teetered on the edge of heresy. The most important miracle of their history was that they were recognized by the official church and even elevated Francis of Assisi to the rank of saint. And yet the church kept a wary eye on the mendicant brothers; she needed something more “serious.” A few years after Francis, the same Pope Innocent III gives permission to the scion of a noble Spanish family, Domingo Guzman, to organize a new mendicant order - preachers, who would be more correctly called “fanatics.” If the Franciscans rejected all authority, then Dominicans They made authority their idol, sometimes not recognizing the simple biblical truths behind it.

Blindly devoted to faith and truth, as they understood it, the Dominicans called themselves the watchdogs of the faith, playing on the name of their founder (Dominicus, consonant with the Latin Domini Canes - “Dogs of the Lord”). They were merciless to any manifestations of “frivolity” and otherness. It is no coincidence that from under his white cassocks came the Florentine Girolamo Savanarola, Dante’s persecutor, who knew how to hypnotize the crowd so much, to evoke in them such an impulse to repentance that, under the influence of his sermons, the inhabitants of the city - the capital and pearl of the Italian Renaissance - burned unique books and works of art. When the Church decided to punish the French king Henry III, who was distinguished by his unconventional orientation and almost atheistic attitude towards religion, it was the Dominican monk Jacques Clement, who, during a ball, dressed in the dress of the White Lady, who, according to Louvre beliefs, foreshadowed death, stabbed the “wicked” monarch with a dagger.

The darkest son of the order was the famous 15th-century Grand Inquisitor Thomas Torquemada. It was because of him that the word “inquisition,” which simply means “interrogation by questioning,” acquired a sinister connotation.

The same fanaticism led the Dominican Giordano Bruno to burn at the stake rather than renounce his own beliefs. In a word, the Dominicans were too ardent for Europe. When the Age of Discovery began in the 16th century, Dominican monks went to the New World, Asia and Africa to preach the Word of God. In the conditions in which the discoverers lived, only devout faith helped them achieve their goals. Curiosities also happened during the travels of the “dogs of the Lord.” The Spaniard Bartolomeo Las Casas became the first defender of Indian rights in the New World and is considered the first Spanish humanist. True, his biographers usually omit the fact that it was Las Casas who proposed using African blacks as labor instead of Indians (who, in his learned opinion, absolutely did not have a soul).

SOLDIERS OF CHRIST

They lived in the East and fought with the “pagans” to spread the Christian faith. Without wanting it themselves, they took more from their enemies than they gave them...

The Catholic Church has always experimented with form. Even before the arrival of Francis and Dominic, this tendency caused the appearance of strange formations - spiritual knightly orders.

The time around the year 1000 in Europe was troubled. We were waiting for the end of the world; the belief in the approaching apocalypse was so strong that in some years they did not even draw up religious service calendars for the year. In such a ferment of minds, the idea of ​​a redemptive Crusade to the Holy Land was born - to recapture the Holy Sepulcher. There were seven or eight of them in total. But the most brilliant was the Third Crusade. It was led by Richard the Lionheart of England, Louis the French Saint and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Many knights went to the Middle East with the kings. And many of them remained in Palestine, founding their own states. The idea of ​​combining knighthood and the monastic lifestyle spread among them. The warriors-defenders of the Holy Sepulcher had to lead a righteous life, taking three monastic vows: chastity, obedience, poverty.

The first of these orders was brotherhood of saint john - Hospitallers(so named because members of the order cared for those wounded in battle). A year later, in 1192, arose Order of the Knights Templar, and after some time a new brotherhood was formed - German Knights (better known as the Teutonic Order).

There were a variety of legends about the knight monks. It was believed that they were all warlocks, that in the East they penetrated the secret of Kabbalah and became the spiritual heirs of the Copts and Chaldeans. Whether witchcraft was involved here is unknown, but the spiritual knightly orders very quickly gained power and wealth, forcing both the Pope and European kings to fear themselves.

The first blow was struck against the Templars. The French king Philip IV accused the knights-monks of witchcraft and in 1310 burned the leadership of the order and most of the ordinary brothers at the stake. The wealth of the Templars, captured in the East and increased in Europe, passed to the French crown.

The legend that part of the Templars escaped and founded a new esoteric and powerful society is still alive.

Two other orders - the Hospitallers and the German - escaped by fleeing Europe to the borders of Christian civilization, where they returned to the “fight against the infidels.” The Hospitallers settled in Rhodes, then Malta, founded their own state and controlled the military and trade routes of the Mediterranean, fighting a new enemy - the Ottoman Empire. Gradually, membership in the order became a distinctive sign, something like Freemasonry. The last Maltese Grand Master was the Russian Emperor Paul I.

GOAL AND MEANS

Their cunning has become a household word. The last great stronghold of the Catholic Church - Jesuit order.

Centuries have passed. The Reformation roared over Europe, accusing the Catholic Church of caring for earthly wealth and glory, ignorance, and unwillingness to enlighten the flock. The first argument was supported by many secular rulers, sensing a real opportunity to enrich themselves. But the Church itself fought not so much for property as for the souls of believers. At first the advantage was on the side of the Protestants. Unlike Catholics, who recognized only Latin, which was incomprehensible to the majority of the population, the reformers conducted services in national languages, making the liturgy understandable to ordinary believers. The Catholics could oppose the old weapon - the Dominicans. But time demanded something new. This “new” was the Society of Jesus - the famous Jesuit order. Its founder was a small hidalgo from the Basque country, Ignatius Loyola. Like other founders of the orders, until the age of 30 he led a social life at the court of the Spanish king. At the age of 30 he was seriously injured and transformed. Loyola became a pilgrim, studied at the best universities in Europe, and sincerely considered himself the chosen one - “captured by Christ,” as he said. In 1534 he founded a society whose purpose was to strengthen Catholic values. It is he who is credited with the words “the end justifies the means.” So that the Jesuits could act as effectively as possible, they were allowed to lead a secular lifestyle, hide their affiliation with the order, lie, even renounce the Catholic faith, if this contributed to the achievement of a higher goal. The most severe hierarchy reigned in the order - the youngest was obliged to unquestioningly obey the elder, who for this “took upon himself” all the sins of the subordinate. The general of the order reported directly to the Pope and was answerable only to him.

The Jesuits sought to turn the brain of each member of the order into an ideal machine that did not know failures, with the help of the book “Spiritual Exercises” written by the founder of the order. If the Dominican Jacques Clement, like an ordinary religious fanatic, killed the French king Henry III, then the Jesuits performed tasks on a different level. For example, they were able to secretly convert the English monarch Charles II to Catholicism and use him to their advantage for many years. The sophistication of Jesuit logic and the perfected ability to manipulate others have not yet been surpassed by any intelligence service in the world.

Read about it:
Moras Druon. "Damned Kings"
Umberto Eco. "The Name of the Rose", "Miyatnak Fuko"
Hirmuth Bockminn. "German Order"
Henrach Böhmer. "Jesuats"

Knighting or accolade (from fr. accolade- hug) - a ceremony formerly used for admission to the order of knighthood. After accepting knighthood in the proper sense, the grand master of the order or the one who performed the initiation solemnly embraced the recipient, laying his hands on his neck (lat. ad collum). Later the word came to be used to refer to the entire act of knighthood or acceptance into the order of knighthood. Accolade was one of the forms of military initiation.

Ceremony

Knighting marked the transition to maturity and independence and made the young man a member of the military-aristocratic corporation of knights. The ceremony consisted of several stages.

The day before, the damoiseau had to bathe in the bath, then he put on a white shirt, a scarlet surcoat, a brown chausse, golden spurs, and one of the oldest knights (or his father) girded him with a sword. In French " girdle with a sword” and meant to make a knight. The girding of weapons is the main part of the ceremony. Then the initiate struck the young man with his palm on the back of the head (neck, cheek) with a brief instruction: “ Be brave" The slap on the head was called " culé" This was the only slap on the head (slap in the face) in the knight’s life that the knight could receive without returning it. The initiation ritual ended with a demonstration of the new knight’s dexterity: jumping on a horse, he had to pierce a set target with a spear, the so-called “ stuffed animal».

At first the initiation ceremony was secular in nature. Then the church included it in a religious framework and turned it into a religious ceremony. Thus the custom was established " night wakefulness": on the eve of initiation, in the evening, the young man had to go to church and spend the whole night in the temple at the altar. He had to watch and pray. At dawn the night vigil ended and the church filled with people. The young man had to stand the mass, confess, take communion, then lay his weapon on the altar and kneel before the priest, who blessed his sword and then, with prayer, handed it over. By blessing weapons, the church instilled the idea that a knight should be a Christian warrior and protector of the church. Then the secular part took place: girding with a sword, “slapping the head”, “stuffed animal”, sometimes the priest not only blessed the sword, but also girded it, that is, he performed the main element of the dedication.

Most often, knighting was timed to coincide with religious holidays or took place on the eve of a major battle; he was preceded by a long period of training: the future knight as damoiseau was trained by an experienced knight or father.

The knighthood ceremony could take many forms, such as tapping the flat of the sword on the candidate's shoulder or hugging the neck. In the first case, the “chosen one” kneels on a soft pillow in front of the monarch during the ceremony. The sword lies with the flat side of the blade on the right shoulder, then it is moved above the head of the initiate and placed on the left shoulder. After this, the knight rises from his knees to receive the insignia of his new status from the king or queen.

Medieval knightly or spiritual chivalric Order - it is one of the best historical examples of a worthy organization serving a high purpose. And a knight of such an Order is an excellent example of the formation of a worthy, strong, noble person in all respects. It is not without reason that many leading modern corporations, studying the principles of organizing orders and training reliable professional personnel, study the history and internal organization of spiritual knightly orders and take from them all the best as a model: training of knights (personnel, senior managers), rules, codes and statutory documents .

Of course, the Orders were different and so were the knights, including the reputation of some spiritual knightly orders, which most people are familiar with from a high school history course or from Internet materials, and where is the truth and where is the lie no one will tell us. Now we are only interested in the best examples from which to learn, the most outstanding orders of chivalry and the most worthy knights with their exploits.

But there are facts, results, feats and great deeds of the Spiritual Chivalric Orders that cannot be ignored or trampled upon, including the fact that only thanks to the orders and their valiant knights, Europe in the middle was not conquered by Muslims, Turks, etc.

But the question is: how did spiritual knightly orders arise? We are talking about Christian Catholic orders. Who was the initiator of the creation of such powerful, and often often omnipotent organizations that raised people like knights?

Knightly Orders - history of origin. On the ideological foundations of spiritual knightly orders

Chivalry and spiritual knightly orders - arose as a result of church reform carried out by Pope Gregory VII (1020 - 1085). During this period, chivalry acquired a new identity and a new ideological basis. According to the reformer pope, the military art of the knights, professional soldiers who until that moment had served mainly kings and feudal lords, had to be put at the service of the “Right” cause: defense of Christian Europe, conquest of the Holy Land, defense of the Faith and pilgrims from the violence of the “infidels”. The knights of the spiritual-knightly orders were very different from their predecessors, the secular knights. If the latter sought personal glory, wealth or the favor of the king in battles and warriors, then the former served the Lord, following strict rules and devoted their lives to selfless service to their Order, completely abandoning personal desires.

Of course, it is a controversial question whether such sacrifices are necessary, but the fact remains that these were some of the most advanced and powerful people and powerful organizations, which, according to dozens of important criteria, cannot be closely compared to a modern person, or even any decent politician.

Main 10 Medieval Orders of Knighthood

1. Hospitallers (Ioanites) or Knights of Malta. Order of Malta

Sovereign Military, Hospitable Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta. The official residence is in Rome (Italy).
It got its name from the hospital and church of St. John the Baptist, where the monastic order created in 1113 was located, which over time turned into a military spiritual Order. In terms of their fighting qualities and military prowess, the Ioanites were rightfully considered the best warriors in Europe. After the Crusaders were expelled from Palestine, the Hospitallers crossed to Cyprus, where they built a fleet and captured Fr. 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 merciful activities.

2. Templars (templars). Order of the Knights Templar

The official name is the Order of the Knights of Solomon's Temple, also the Order of the Knights of Christ. It arose in 1119 in Jerusalem from knights who had 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, due to which he accumulated enormous wealth. After the expulsion from Palestine, the order almost completely switched 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 members of the order, including the Grand Master, in 1312 the order was dissolved by a papal bull.

3. Teutonic Knights. Warband

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. Goals: protecting German knights, treating the sick, fighting the enemies of the Catholic Church. At the beginning of the 13th century, he transferred his activities to Prussia and the Baltic states, where he took part in the crusades against the Slavs and Balts. In fact, the state of the Teutonic Knights, Livonia, was formed on the conquered lands. 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.

4. Order of Calatrava

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

5. Order of Santiago

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 knighthood under the patronage of the King of Spain.

6. Order of Alcantara

The spiritual knightly order of Alcantara was founded in 1156 in Spain. Initially it was a military-religious brotherhood of knights, bearing the name 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 Leon to the Order of San Julian de Pereiro. After which 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.

7. Order of Avis

The official name is the Order of St. Bennett of Avish. The order was created in 1147 to protect the city of Evora, which had recently been recaptured from the Moors. In 1223
The residence of the order was moved to the city of Avis, donated by the King of Portugal and fortified by the knights. The Order took part in the Portuguese part of the Reconquista and the colonization of the African coast. Dissolved in 1910, but in 1917 restored as a purely civilian body, headed by the President of Portugal.

8. Order of the Swordsmen

The Order of the Swordsmen is a German Catholic spiritual-knightly order, officially called the "Brothers of Christ's Host." It was created in 1202 on the initiative of the Bremen canon Albert, who became the first bishop of Riga. The goal was to capture the Eastern Baltic states, carried out crusades against the Baltic peoples, with a third of those captured lands were assigned to the order.After a series of defeats from the Russian princes and Lithuania, the remnants of the order joined the Teutonic Order in 1237.

9. Order of Christ

Spiritually - a knightly order, the successor of the Templars in Portugal. Established in 1318 by the Portuguese king Dinis to continue the fight against Muslims begun by the Templars. 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 travels of Portuguese sailors. Vasco da Gama and other Tomar knights-errant sailed under sails with the emblem of the order. Like the Order of Aviz, it was dissolved in 1910, but in 1917 it was restored as a purely civilian one, headed by the President of Portugal.

10. Order of Saint Lazarus

The official name is the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. 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 Saladin's capture of Jerusalem in October 1187, the order saw action, particularly during the Third Crusade. In the Battle of Forbia on October 17, 1244, the order lost all 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.