Knights Hospitaller

[SteveBurt]

The last of my 1st Crusade stuff. Already had Normans, painted all the Saracens, just needed a few military order fellows. Wasn't sure about their all black look but they came out OK. The Templars are much more colourful but that's not till the 3rd Crusade and everyone looks quite different by then!

[Cubs]

I do like them and I have a soft spot for Hospitallers. Yet I hate to be the bearer of bad news - Hospitallers as fighting men didn't appear until well after the First Crusade, although you could probably swing them inbetween First and Second Crusades as the various spats ebbed and flowed between the new Crusader states and the various Islamic forces. The Hospitallers were around in the first Crusade, but only as a non-fighting organisation to help pilgrims. The fighting arm grew after the fall of Jerusalem to protect pilgrims.

[SteveBurt]

Yes, I know they are post First Crusade as a fighting order, but there were surely many skirmishes in the Holy Land after the Crusade finished. These chaps are for Saga, so I can justify them as fighting small skirmishes rather than pitched battles.

[Cubs]

Yes, I know they are post First Crusade as a fighting order, but there were surely many skirmishes in the Holy Land after the Crusade finished. These chaps are for Saga, so I can justify them as fighting small skirmishes rather than pitched battles.

I agree and there must surely have been any number of small skirmishes in the years following the First Crusade.

[Tas]

Exactly - I’m sure that a bunch of brothers took up arms before it became “official” and then formed the cadre of the expanding militant arm of the Order.  Plus your figs look great so that’s what’s important!

[mweaver]

They look good!

-Michael

[janner]

Hospitallers were probably providing armed pilgrim escorts reasonably quickly after gaining autonomy in 1113. However, they only became fully militarised under the leadership of their second master, Raymond du Puy - probably around 1125.

For completeness, the Templars were active from c.1120 - albeit initially in small numbers.

I would steer away, however, from the idea of groups of brethren taking up arms on their own initiative in hierarchical, monastic orders. The consequences of engaging in violence on one’s soul was a problematic matter in the High Middle Ages, and not something entered into lightly by professed religious. Protecting pilgrims, i.e. one’s Christian brothers, was an acceptable option, but spilling blood would still have required ritual cleansing. Doing so without the support of their leadership risked lengthy and demanding penance and probable expulsion from the order.