Hospitallers: The History of the Orders of st John

The Hospitallers were a religious order, founded in Jerusalem in 1099, devoted to nursing and to fighting the Infidel. With their fellow knights, the Templars, they played a heroic part in the defence of the Holy Land, manning great castles while at the same time providing exemplary nursing care for the poor. After the fall of the Holy Land, the knights retreated first to Cyprus and then to Rhodes, which was massively fortified to defy the Turks. Finally expelled from Rhodes in 1523, they were given Malta by Charles V, where they survived the Great Siege of 1565, an epic of heroism that enthralled Europe. Driven from Malta by Napoleon in 1804, they have survived into modern times as a unique charitable order, still running a hospital in Jerusalem and providing first-aid for millions. Hospitallers is an illustrated history of this remarkable order.

‘Like true Israelites and warriors most versed in holy battle, on fire with the flame of true love, you carry out in your deeds the words of the Gospel.’