The Knights Hospitaller

Hmmm.. I have been looking all over MII forums for a really good Hospitaller mod, but I cannot find anything TRULY comprehensive. On "Pro Deo et Rege", one may recruit "Dismounted Hospitaller Knights" and "Hospitaller Knights" (on a charger), but no "Hospitaller Crossbowmen" or "Hospitaller Spearmen", as in "The Crusades" campaign. Are these units simply not historically accurate? I doubt that the Order had specific "crossbowmen" and "spearmen" units. Also, did the Order ONLY fight on horseback when in the battlefield, or did they use foot soldiers outside of defending walls?

These are very important to me, for I love the Hospitaller "Sergeants"/Spearmen, Crossbowmen, mounts, and swordsmen... but I want to be completely historically accurate in my game. Any suggestions or information?

No mod yet has made a hospitaller faction but Stainless Steel has made a templar faction.

You know the story guys of how when Phillip burned at the stake he cursed the false pope and the King and they both died before the year was out? I think that proves that the Templars were in favor with God. I like your idea Thomas. Our own web page wouldn't be bad at all.

! That is excellent, Templar Hospitaller.

I agree with what you say... defense of the innocent is, after all, a major Christian tenet, and God would surely approve of active defense of those who could do nothing to help themselves! However, around 1300 many people began to believe that God had lost favor with the Templar, allowing them to be pushed back by the cursed Mamluks in the 1260's and 1270's. By the time Acre was lost, I think many people had their suspicions confirmed: God had abandoned the Templar, who were so hated (for their land and money) and yet so beloved for their fighting prowess.

Perhaps the Templar and their divine protector had the last laugh, because on that terrible day in 1314 when the Grand Master and all his marshalls were burned, Philip the Ugly stormed their Chapter Bank in Paris and found nothing. Also, their merchant fleet on the French shores disappeared, so obviously many of God's Own managed to escape to safety... or, at least we can hope! Such treacherous and hateful behavior should never be allowed to get away free as Philip thought he would.

I like to think the true templars exist to this day.
The game assassin's creed seems to think so.

i agree TC, i also agree that AC seems to romanticize the idea that modern Templar exist today. But in the new AC they travel to renaissance Italy, where might the Templar fit in there? I am sorry im not a history buff on the templars, but i am learning hoards from this and the hospitaller thread. Thanks chaps.

Well it takes place in the renaissance so this is after the inquisition of the templars, a lot of templars got away (about every non high ranking templar) from the King so maybe it will use something from there? Hard to say, but I will buy the game as soon as it comes out.

Quote"I know that there are already many, many Geocities and Yahoo! pages dedicated to the Hospitallers, but I'd love our own unique page. I am speaking of a "directory" for all newcomers, historical researchers, and people interested in the Order; one with hundreds of books, articles, novels, movies, and documentaries involving Hospitallers! If you like this idea, I can make a freewebs page or something of the sort, and give it a nice background with our Colors, as well as an explanation and various books/links pages.

It would be a good way to recruit for our Order, and drum up interest for the true "Soverign Military Hospitaller Order". Maybe we could even convince some people to volunteer for the modern St. John Order . Does this seem like a good idea?"

T.Hospitaller,This is a great idea!

Well, since Templar Hospitaller, and now jml322 seem to like the idea, I will get started working on a small web page for recruitment, expositions of banners, heraldry, ranks, and general history! I will try to make it as professional as possible, though I warn you that I have very little internet experience.

yea same here TC, ive seen the latest art and reviews and it looks fantastic, hopefully the story will have a bit more oomph this time around.

Good Luck Thomas Hospitaller, I also support your idea.

Thanks TUK. I am currently trying to think of and find the best, most simple and free websites to create a basic skeleton to advertise our mission and the "real" Hospitallers in Rome.

Maybe you could add the Templars into the website too,I would be happy to provide info on them for you.

hospitallers made first hospices :O i had to do some homework on hospies and found that

Here is an excerpt from the book Angels in Iron.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

25 May, St. Elmo malta,

Turkish cannon greeted the dawn with such enthusiasm their voices reached Sicily. Birgu and Senglea had little hope St. Elmo would survive the day.
Those at St. Elmo concurred.
The Knights kept low but Turkish shot found them. Cannonballs ricocheted throughout the fort, seeking out defenders and blasting them to bits. Blood was the order of the day and the screams of dying men lifted over Sciberras, a tortured chorus.
Crumbling St. Elmo smoked beneath the scorching sun.

DiCorso lay a dying Knight on the ground. The man had been struck on the forehead by a flying stone.
"DiCorso?" the delirious Frenchman groaned.
"I am here."
"DiCorso?"
Michele took his hand. "Yes, brother?"
"The crucifix about my neck--see it is returned to my family...ours since the Great Crusade."
DiCorso nodded. "If at all possible, I shall return it myself."
The Knight smiled faintly, apparently relieved.
"So speaks the saint."
DiCorso stayed until the Knight died, then transferred the gold chain to his own neck.
"Take him away," he told a soldier then gathered his weapons and returned to the crumbling wall.

Rambaldi had not slept for two days and he felt pleasantly feverish. Knights lay dead all around him.
"Come now, slaves!" he shouted over the wall. "Shall I teach you to aim better?"
The snipers had missed him so many times he felt invulnerable. An arquebus shot zipped by his head.
"Not good enough!" he cried, aimed at a distant figure and pulled the trigger.
A red splash erupted from the Turk's forehead and he fell from sight. Rambaldi laughed and squatted behind the parapet, telling a young Spanish soldier:
"He should have stayed home!"
"My-my lord?" the soldier stammered.
Rambaldi reloaded without looking.
"Stay low, boy," he advised.
At that moment a cannonball crashed through the chapel roof; men streamed from the building. Rambaldi stared at the spectacle, mulling a past misdeed. He was surprised to hear himself whispering a Psalm. Finishing, he crossed himself.
"You'd think God would spare a church," the Spaniard said.
Rambaldi gave a dry chuckle.
"When he didn't spare his own son?"
"It doesn't seem right."
Rambaldi looked into the soldier's wide eyes. "Don't fret, boy. He won't spare us, either."
The Knight stood and fired.

Miniwally: isn't that amazing? Almost all hospital and hospice traditions in Europe can be traced back to the Hospitallers. Christian Charity in action.

T.C.: Wow, that's pretty good writing! I like his descriptive words, so it most definitely must be placed in my library. Thank you!

ALL: I have a very bare skeleton of a website ready. It will be very comprehensive over time, hopefully with pictures, links, recommendations for historical fiction, and research books and articles. It is a start!

http://thehospitallerorder.webs.com/

This is the very beginning of our home base, as it were. We can always move to a better website if we expand with members and information, but I think I've found a good starting point.

That is ridiculous Thomas! Two thumbs way way up.

utterly brilliant.

Wow, thats a dedicated hospitaller right there.