A variety of knightly classifications evolved to accommodate lesser knights and those who gave up their vows to marry, yet remained affiliated with the order. As time went on this requirement grew more strict, from proving nobility of both parents to that of all grandparents for four generations. The order also included chaplains and doctors who did not take up arms.Īlthough nobility was not required to join the monastic order, it was required to be a Hospitaller Knight. Hospitaller Knights were still monks, and continued to follow their vows of personal celibacy. These men of the new order took the monastic vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience and they added a fourth vow, which bound them to protect pilgrims and fight the armies of Islam in the Middle East. The members of the Knights were both monks and soldiers. The escort soon grew into a substantial force. However the order was soon extended into providing an armed escort to pilgrims. The group initially cared for the pilgrims who had reached Jerusalem following a long and arduous journey. An elite and powerful fighting order of well trained knights wearing heavy mail or plate armour and armed with a lance, they were feared on many battlefields of the Middle Ages. They were recognizable by their black or red surcoat with a white cross. John, also known as the Knights Hospitaller, were established following the First Crusade to protect and treat Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land.
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