The Knights Hospitallers, volume 1

The History of the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, volume 1: earliest times to 1291

by René-Aubert Vertot

Volume 1 gives a lively account of the history of the Order from its earliest beginnings to the terrible loss of the city of Acre in 1291.

A brief summary of contents:

  • the life of Mahomet and the effect he and his successors had on pilgrimages to the Holy Land
  • how the crusades began
  • the development of the two orders of Hospitallers and Templars and their subsequent rivalry
  • the schism in the Papacy
  • the rise of Saladine
  • battles for mastery of Constantinople and Jerusalem
  • hospitaller foundations in Asia and Europe
  • calumnies against the knights of St John and the templars
  • knights and templars battle each other
  • the organisation of the knights
  • saracens capture and raze the fortresses of Margat and Tripoli
  • Acre's many nations and interests fighting one another
  • Acre invested by the the sultan's army
  • Acre and other cities brutalized and razed
  • the knights abandon the Holy Land

The full five-volume index is included, with live links to entries for volume one. A glossary of obsolete words completes this Kindle edition.


The History of the Knights Hospitallers, vol. 1: Amazon US / Amazon UK