The Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus

Abstract

The Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus is an account of the history of an Order that was originally set up in Jerusalem with the brief of furnishing succour to the sufferers of leprosy. Increasing Muslim aggression required these hospitaller monks to become also “monks of war”; and were to play a crucial role in the defence of the Holy Land and the Crusades. The Order retained its existence even after the Christian World was expelled from the Holy Land. Its fortunes have seesawed throughout the centuries, but the members of the Order have managed to maintain an existence to the present day. This book briefly reviews the history of this lesser known Crusader Order from its initiation to the present times. It further charts the development of the Order in the Maltese Islands. This work serves to put in to perspective the traditional raison d’etre which the present-day Order has and thus facilitate the appreciation of the Order’s activities in the modern world.