2. Development of the Military Orders during the Twelfth Century

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About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about the development of the military orders in the twelfth century, focusing in particular on: (i) the existence of two military orders by the 1130s: the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller; (ii) the foundation of the Knights Hospitaller in the mid-11th century, its original function, and the development of a military role in the 1130s; (iii) the level of support the military orders received from Western Europe; (iv) the importance of Hugues de Payens' tour of Europe in 1127 in garnering support for the Knights Templar, the kind of people that made donations to the order, and the kind of donations that were made; (v) the vast landholdings of the Knights Templar by 1300, and the means by which these landholdings generated money for the order; (vi) the support of the papacy of the military orders, and the benefits conferred on them as a result (e.g. exemption from certain kinds of taxation); (vii) the patronage of certain key individuals, e.g. Alfonso I of Aragon; and (viii) the size and scale of the Knights Templar by the 1140s.

Course

In this course, Dr Nicholas Morton (Nottingham Trent University) thinks about the military orders in the Crusader States between 1119-87, focusing in particular on the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller. We begin in the first module by thinking about the origins of the military orders: where did the idea come from? After that, we consider the growth and development of the military orders in the 12th century, before turning in the third module to their internal structure and organisation: how did they operate? how were they led? Finally, in the fourth module, we think about the role of the military orders in the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, focusing in particular on events in the run-up to the disastrous Battle of Hattin in July 1187.

Lecturer

Dr Nicholas Morton is a specialist in the history of crusading and the Medieval Mediterranean between the tenth and thirteenth centuries. More recently he has begun to focus specifically upon the theme of inter-faith relations between Christianity and Islam in this region. He has published extensively on topics connected to this subject area, writing a range of monographs and scholarly articles. He is also an editor for the Ashgate series Rulers of the Latin East.

Currently Dr Morton is completing a monograph exploring the First Crusaders' attitudes and behaviour towards the various non-Christian peoples they encountered during their campaign. This will be a highly revisionist work addressing many key scholarly and public orthodoxies surrounding the nature of Christian/Islamic interaction during the crusade.