Adaptations in hospitaller historiography : an overview

Abstract

Like all trends of human thought and production, historiography is subject to adaptations. Historical writing is performed by human beings living in a particular society, at a certain point in time. Therefore it is obvious that the historian, like any other writer, is influenced by the society of which he forms part, by the environment in which he lives and by the events of his times. He is also influenced by the output of similar historians living in his same country and elsewhere. In other words, historiography is also subject to the trends of the times, and to what the readers expect, since history books, like all books, are intended to sell, and make a profit for the publisher. In this paper, the role of official histories of the Order of the Hospital, commissioned by the Order itself, shall be examined in order to establish if one can trace an adaptation in the concept of history writing of the Order. In this particular case, 'histories' of the Order had to suit the taste of the Order who paid for this travail in order to boost its legitimacy in the eyes of the world.