forgotten crusading ordes

**matmohair1** · August 10, 2011, 02:01 PM

introducing... "the 3 other forgotten crusading orders of chivalry"

so what do you all think ?,
feel free to share thoughts, ideas & anything that might prove useful or inspirational !

Order of St. Thomas - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_Saint_Thomas

Order of Saint Lazarus - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Saint_Lazarus

Order of Mountjoy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Mountjoy

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Aragorn1963** · August 11, 2011, 09:55 PM

About lepracy. Did many people suffer from it and how did people become infected? Even kings suffered from it, so it can't have been bad living conditions.

**Ichon** · August 12, 2011, 12:03 AM

Originally Posted by Aragorn1963

About lepracy. Did many people suffer from it and how did people become infected? Even kings suffered from it, so it can't have been bad living conditions.

It is still not completely clear all the vectors but it is essentially a bacteria which requires liquid contact of some sort- tears, saliva, etc... however there have been many reports of someone catching the disease with no known contact with carriers so it must exist in nature but as far as I am aware scientists haven't found exactly where. Also there is a good chance the bacteria might have been more virulent in the past. Many human diseases are too successful, killing off the majority of hosts too quickly when there isn't another carrier like a domestic animal means the surviving humans are nearly immune or the disease which survives is less lethal. The plague probably underwent this type of change as did later strains of yellow fever.

The most questionable theory is that leprosy was a sort of catch all- IE anyone with a disfiguring disease was considered a leper. Primarily syphilis might have been spreading as well as some skin cancers and other disfiguring diseases. Syphilis is a prime suspect because according to monastic records that most frequent suffers of leprosy were sailors and people in occupations where brothels might be commonly frequented. The funny thing is that many Knights of the Templar and other Orders caught leprosy while in the Levant... for a brief period it was something like 5% per year.

**Dago Red** · August 15, 2011, 01:32 AM

I'm familiar with that illustration of the various knights from different Orders standing together. Some of the smaller Orders I've never heard of in particular, but it's well known there were many, many small orders that arose. They are very interesting! I'd like to see some Teutonic knights with beards!

As for the gameplay of BC, I think the KoJ has enough knightly Orders -- both secular and religious represented already, but of course 1 more would be neat. I don't know any other mod with so many different Orders represented. That picture of the model of the united order knight (I assume) on top is fantastic looking. One thing that would be an incredible route to take for gameplay would be offered the possibility to unite the Orders in 1305 as the text says was proposed. Unfortunately BC3 will end in 1300!