468 Outlines of Euj'opean History Section 8o. The Religious Orders of the Hospitalers and Templars A noteworthy outcome of the crusading movement was the foundation of several curious orders, of which the Hospi- talers and the Templars were the most important. These orders combined the two dominant inter- ests of the time, those of the monk and of the soldier. They permitted a man to be both at once ; the knight might wear a monkish cowl over his coat of armor. The Hospitalers grew out of a monastic association that was formed before the First Crusade for the succor of the poor and sick among the pilgrims. Later the society admitted noble knights to its membership and became a mili- tary order, at the same time con- tinuing its care for the sick. This charitable association, like the earlier monasteries, received gen- erous gifts of land in western Europe and built and controlled many fortified monasteries in the Holy Land itself. After the evacu- ation of Syria in the thirteenth century, the Hospitalers moved their headquarters to the Island of Rhodes, and later to Malta. The order still exists, and it is considered a distinction to this day to have the privilege of wearing its emblem, the cross of Malta. Before the Hospitalers were transformed into a military order, a little group of French knights banded together in 1 1 19 U,.,- Fig. 172. Costume of the Hospitalers The Hospitaler here repre- sented bears the peculiar Maltese cross on his bosom. His crucifix indicates his reli- gious character, but his sword and the armor which he wears beneath his long gown enabled him to fight as well as pray, and to succor the wounded
