![]() ![]() Its ranks held those who were already knights or those of noble birth who received knighthood after entry into the Order. The Order was chivalric in that it became a monastic Order of Knighthood in the early 12th century. Despite its subsequent military role, it remained primarily a Hospitaller Order, operating a worldwide network of hospitals and Lazar Houses, and sending aid to wherever there was sickness and suffering, maintaining or supporting leper hospitals and Lazarettos. The majority of historians, however, agree that such claims of continuity from remote antiquity was in effect an apocryphal pretension so that the Knights of Saint Lazarus pass as the oldest of all the Orders, especially since they became, in a very short time, expert Hospitallers and carers of the ill, lepers and needy. It is thus due to this geographical location that they became known as the Order of Saint Lazarus. Due to this very contagious work, these monks were given quarters outside the walls of Jerusalem and their 'hospice' was established near to the Gate of Saint Lazarus, or, as it was referred to, the postern of Saint Lazarus. Other authors state that the source of the name of the Order stems from the fact that the Order was started by a group of Armenian monks who worked under the Rule of Saint Basil, and that their work was primarily to look after lepers. The Order, according to some historians, was first established during the time of Saint Basil, with the founding of its first hospital in the city of Ptolemais (Acre). The Order was Hospitaller in that its origins allegedly stem from a leper hospice founded in Jerusalem in the 4th or 5th century. Members were expected to live their lives in the spirit of ecumenical Christian charity. After the Crusading period, the Order's religious character was maintained by means of its Chaplains and Ecclesiastics, its Spiritual Grand Prior, its rules, services and traditions. ![]() The monastic character was in no way lessened when it commenced its military role. With regards to the religious aspect, the Order was originally an order of monks taking the triple vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. With the ending of the Order's naval activities in 1668, the military role was continued by means of its naval academy, and the ownership of a military school in Paris, which it held until the French Revolution in 1791. The military role was partly revived in the early 17th century when the Order maintained a squadron of ten frigates based at St Malo, manned by the knights, novices and chaplains. Until 1291, its military activities were centred in the Holy Land helping to hold it for Christianity, while after the loss of l’ Outremer, they were involved in the protection of the various pilgrim routes, particularly of that to Santiago de Compostela. It was military in that it played a military role from 1120 to about the beginning of the 16th century. The Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem was a medieval military, religious and Hospitaller Order of Chivalry, and bore no resemblance to modern-day historical or charitable organizations, all using the name Saint Lazarus. ![]()
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