Modest Beginnings in the Muristan
"Muristan research project ... deals with the early phase of the Order of St John , whose origins in Jerusalem date back to the time before 1099 and which, during the period of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1187) developed into one of the great military religious orders and became the Order of Hospitallers. The beginnings of the order can be traced to an area south of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre."
[D Heinzelmann & J Kruger, 2021, 'The beginnings of the Order of Saint John in Jerusalem, or : Muristan revisited', (Medievalista.Online, 30), is essentially an updating of C Schick, 1902, 'The Muristan, or the Site of the Hospital of St John at Jerusalem', (Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 34.1). It applies recent archaeological discoveries (up to 2020) on to Schick's original drafting work (1870 and 1900).]
Image 1: The background map of the Muristan and adjoining Church of the Holy Sepulchre was drawn by C Schick in 1869/1870 to mark the properties of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the Prussian Crown. This was a surface-level representation, simply plotting what was obvious to the human eye. The darker-coloured map superimposed over the top of it is what C Schick drew in 1900, a ground plan on a lower level, that he called "PLAN of Underground of the whole MURISTAN or Hospital of the Knights St John at JERUSALEM". Not all this was from his actual observations of in situ material. A fair bit of it was assumed.
The relation of the Hospital to the Holy Sepulchre Church was important to those contemporary witnesses who left historical records. The Church was believed to occupy the sites of (a) the crucifixion of Christ at Golgotha and (b) and His resurrection from the empty tomb. As such, it represented one of the most important places of medieval pilgrimage.
Seuulfus of Worcester was an English pilgrim who visited the Holy Land between 13 July 1102 and 7 May 1103, soon after Jerusalem's conquest by the First Crusade in 1099. In his Relatio de situ Ierusalem he writes ―
"Outside the door of of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre towards the south is the Church of Sancta Maria, which is called the Latin Church because there the service is always offered to the Lord in Latin ... to this church is attached another church of Sancta Maria, which is called Parva, where some nuns frequent who serve her and her son most devoutly. And near to it is the hospital where is the celebrated monastery dedicated to the honour of St John the Baptist."
A later account by German pilgrim John of Wurtemburg is contained in Descriptio terrae sanctae. Around 1165 he wrote ―
"Over against the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ... is a beautiful church built in the honour of John the Baptist, next to which is a hospital where in various rooms is collected together an enormous multitude of sick people, both men and women, who are tended and restored to health daily at a very great expense. When I was there I learned that the whole number of these sick people amounted to two thousand, of whom sometimes in the course of one day and one night more than fifty are carried out dead, while many other fresh ones keep continually arriving."
It seems possible that Schick conflated these two accounts and imagined one large hospital from the beginning. Subsequent archaeology suggests that at the start of a sixty year period the establishment was much more humble, and that the actual hospital grew in often untidy increments; as a complex of freestanding buildings or at different levels, according to available funds and emerging needs.
Heinzelmann and Kruger make the following general comments as 'revisitors' to the Muristan:
"On the basis of observations on building techniques and architectural forms, it can be concluded that the entire building complex did not develop in one building campaign, but successively and in different construction techniques ... it can be determined, for example, that the rebuilding of the Church of St John or the construction of the Church of Santa Marina Latina with the convent buildings adjoining to the south belonged to an earlier period within the crusader architecture, while the halls located in the southeast of the area, the Church of Santa Maria Maior, and the adjoining buildings to the north, represented a more recent development within the quarter."
Concerning the particular development of the St John Hospitallers, they find that, "Within the Muristan, according to the historical sources, there were two different and very specific units; namely the headquarters of the order and the hospice or hospital area. The Order's headquarters ... took over an increasing number of central functions ... individual court officials are named very early in the documents ... Senechal (since 1141), Constable (since 1126), Marshall (since 1165), Butler (since 1141), Chamberlain or Treasurer (since 1135), and Chancellor (since 1126) ... It is possible that the expansion of the convent took place roughly parallel to the increase of court offices i.e. in the middle of the 12th century ... A similar process can be observed in the field of the hospital, which developed from a pilgrim's hospice at the beginning of the 12th century to a modern [sic] hospital for medical care ... at the latest around 1170/80 ... The original hospital wing ... is supposed to have been located in the west ... it is possible that the wards were extended over time and the hospital function extended to various buildings ... This northwestern building, shown in the plan as a continuous hall ['a building of piers and vaults in several aisles'], was divided into several smaller compartments, at least in the northern part."
Image 4: Composite (clockwise) of crusader architecture in Hospitaller precinct of Muristan: large arches on David Street; vaults and pillars in 'knights' hall'; and cross-section by Schick (1900) from St John's Church.
Further detail is supplied on the associated buildings to the south, east and southwest:
"In the east of Muristan, within another spacious hall, there is a large two aisled cistern in addition to former oven installations. Here probably were located a kitchen and service rooms. Different heights of floors and vaults indicate that the building was not a uniformly continuous spatial unit. [There were] latrines in the northeast corner of this wing ...[and] another large latrine and basin complex to the west of it that probably belonged to bath houses."
"In the southern part of the area, along David Street, an extended three aisled hall has been preserved, which opened in big arches toward the street. Even though the arches and the rooms behind them were later ... modified for us as shops, the whole basic architecture with piers made of large sized stone blocks and accurately built groin vaults are almost completely preserved from the time of the crusaders ... the open and flexible form of the street-side facade more likely indicates that this was the site of warehouses, stables, and utility rooms ... Due to the proximity of St John's Church, to which there may have been direct access, we assume the dormitories of the brothers of the Order [to have been] on the upper floor of the south wing."
"To the southwest is St John's Church ... the original building ... an irregular triconch structure ... had been in use as [a church] from the time before the arrival of the crusaders [in 1099] ... very shortly after, the building was renovated and an upper floor was added ... Both floors were only accessed separately; there was no internal communication ... At that time, an entrance from the northeast was newly built, down from the area inside the Hospitaller buildings ... [that] provided direct access for the Knights of St John."
Image 5: Cross-section of St John the Baptist Church, showing ancient lower level with barrel vaulting and crusader upper level with raised dome.
THE MILITARISATION OF A CHARITABLE ORDER
"Just prior to the Siege of Jerusalem of 1099, much of the Christian population had been expelled from Jerusalem by the Fatimids to prevent collusion with the Western besiegers. Gerard remained behind with some fellow serving brothers to tend the sick in the hospital. Shortly thereafter, the Hospital was detached from St Mary's and acquired a measure of autonomy under its 'institutor' Gerard. It began receiving privileges and donations in its own name from at least 1100 onward. Gerard acquired territory and revenues for the organisation throughout the kingdom and beyond."
[ Quote from <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Knights_Hospitaller_in_the_Levant>
The following narrative is taken in part from this source, a comprehensive and extensively researched Wikipedia entry, supplemented by <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Hospitaller> and <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_postulatio_voluntatis> and D Pringle, 117, Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: An Archaeological Gazetteer, Cambridge, and MW Baldwin, 1969, 'The Decline and Fall of Jerusalem, 1174-1189', in Setton, A History of the Crusades, Vol 1.]
Pre-History of a Humble Hospice:
"The medieval Italian chronicler Amatus of Montecassin recorded the establishment of hospitals in Jerusalem and Antioch by the initiative of a rich and pious Amalfitan named Mauro of Pantaleone ... An anonymous Amalfitan chronicler reported that archbishop Giovanni of Amalfi (1070-1082) went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was welcomed by Amalfitans who had founded ... two hospices ... for the treatment of sick pilgrims, one each for men and women ... The Hospital of St John was therefore believed to have been founded shortly before 1070 in Jerusalem, as a dependency of the Benedictine house of the Church of Saint Mary of the Latins. The founding Amalfitan merchants dedicated this hospice to St John the Baptist. The hospital in the Muristan district of Jerusalem was to provide care for sick, poor or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land ... The hospice was staffed mainly by Amalfitans, who took the usual monastic vows and were under the direction of a Master, who in turn was under the Order of Saint Benedict established in Palestine. The facility had no apparent endowments, relying instead on the merchants and Benedictines of Amalfi."
The Authorising Papal Bull:
"In the immediate times after the First Crusade, the Hospitallers were not an established Order, military or otherwise. The independence of the Hospital was ensured on 19 June 1112, when Pope Paschal III took St Mary of the Latins under the protection of the Holy See. This is the date of the birth of the new institution representing the hospital, and the papal privilege granted by the pope on 13 February 1113 with his well-known bull Pie postulatio voluntatis ...
Paschal, bishop ... to his venerable son Gerard, founder and Master of the Hospital at Jerusalem, and to his lawful successors for evermore ...
... with regard to the Hospital which thou hast founded in the city of Jerusalem, in proximity to the Church of the Blessed John the Baptist ...
We, therefore, much pleased with the pious earnestness of your hospitality ... do ordain and establish ... that the House of God, your Hospital, shall now be placed, and shall forever remain, under the protection of the apostolic See, and under that of the Blessed Peter. All things whatsoever, therefore, which have been collected for the benefit of the said Hospital, for the support and maintenance of pilgrims, or for relieving the necessities of the poor, and whatsoever goods may be offered ... or shall be granted to thee ... shall be retained by you and undiminished ... all opposition on the part of the bishops and their clergy notwithstanding.
We ordain, furthermore, that at your death no man shall be appointed in your place, as chief and master ... but him only who shall, by the inspiration of God, have been duly elected by the professed brethren of the Institution ...
Furthermore, all the dignities or possessions which your Hospital at present holds ... as also those which hereafter by God's bounty it may obtain, we confirm them to you and your successors, who shall devout themselves with pious zeal to the cares of hospitality ...
There can be no doubt about the meaning of this empowering document. The pope was "much pleased with the pious earnestness of your hospitality". The papal protection of the Hospital's assets and revenues was conditional upon them being used "for the benefit of the said Hospital, for the support and maintenance of pilgrims, or for relieving the necessities of the poor". And this protection was to last as long as "you and your successors ... shall devote themselves with pious zeal to the cares of hospitality".
A Gradual Blurring of the Boundaries:
"It was under the magisterium of Raymond du Puy, [Master of the Order from 1122/3-1160], that the Knights Hospitaller took on a more military character. An act of 17 January 1126 contains the first reference to a Constable of the Hospitallers, an individual named Durand, who had military responsibilities but who may have been hired by the hospital; rather than a member of the order itself ... Following the example of the Templars [founded in 1120 as a military order], Raymond developed protections for pilgrims by providing them with security in their travels to the Holy Places. As this transition progressed, he hired knights and men-at-arms as mercenaries and participated, through intermediaries, in the defence of the kingdom."
Some at least of the move towards 'martial responsibilities' was prompted by the nature of bequests left to the Hospital by other crusader-Europeans ('Franks') in the Outremer or Levant regions. In 1127, Pons of Tripoli gave the castle of Coliath ('little fortress') to the Hospitallers ― the first of the Order's castles ― which was to remain in their possession until seized by the Abbuyids in 1201. In truth Coliath, or 'the little fortress', was not much more than a defensible hilltop near the coastline of northern Lebanon. A 'castrum', or square enclosure with flanking towers, it was generally used as a redoubt for troops in the field in times of war, a base for extracting 'economic rents' in times of peace, or a place of refuge from occasional raiders. But whatever its current operational status, Coliath was undeniably a place that you put soldiers in.
"The first mention of their assuming a more militant role is related to the Crusader castle built at Bethgibelin, erected by Fulk of Jerusalem in 1135 as part of a string of fortifications to protect the kingdom. It commanded the road from Ascalon [ Ashkelon] to Hebron, and Fulk donated the castle to the Order in 1136 for its operation and maintenance ... From 1137 onwards, the Order appeared in the wars that the troops of the Kingdom of Jerusalem waged against their many enemies which regularly attacked from all sides. Ascalon, because of its position on the seashore on the way to Egypt, was a permanent danger to the Christians, and the enemy made numerous excursions into the southern part of the kingdom. On the advice of Fulk, the Franks decided to fortify the position of Akkar [Gibelacar], which belonged to the Hospitallers and was located east of Ascalon. The work, directed with speed by Latin patriarch William of Malines, was entrusted to the Hospitallers, who were thus placed in a vanguard position in the defense from the Egyptians."
The Emergence of a Mighty Military Order:
Pilgrim John of Wurtzburg (Descriptio terrae sanctae, 1165), admired the Order for its Hospital capacity, caring for "two thousand sick", but he was also impressed by its martial reputation: In addition to all these moneys expended upon the sick and upon other poor people, this same house also maintains in its various castles many persons trained to all kinds of military exercises for the defence of the land of the Christians against the invasion of the Saracens.
In similar fashion, the monk Theodertich (Libellus de Lucis Sanctis, 12th century), praised the Hospital with "beds numbered more than one thousand", but he was in awe of the Hospitallers (and Templars) because they ... have conquered almost all the cities and villages which once belonged to Judea ... for they have troops stationed throughout the entire country and castles well fortified against the infidels.
By 1142 the Order had already come into possession of their principal stronghold, the massive and near-impregnable Krak des Chevaliers, which they held until 1271. However it was under magisterium of Gilbert of Assaily (Grand Master from 1162 to 1170), that the Order became truly militarised.
A clear indication of the leadership change was made in 1168 when the Order purchased the site of Belvoir Castle from French nobleman Velos. They began constructing a formidable fortress in the same year. On a hill on the edge of Issachar Plateau, located south of the Sea of Galilee, and standing 500 metres above the Jordan River Valley floor, this vantage point commanded the route from Gilead into the kingdom of Jerusalem. While Gilbert was Grand Master the Order gained about 13 castles, of which Belvoir was the most important. Whoever occupied this position provided a major obstacle to the Muslim goal of invading the Crusader kingdom from the east.
Belvoir, also called Coquet by the Franks, was not a simple castle. Excavations (1963-1968) revealed it as an early example of the concentric castle plan, a complexity belied by its rectangular symmetry, with features widely used in later crusader castles. The outer defense is 100 X 110 metres with projecting rectangular towers on the four corners and on each side, some with posterns leading into a rock-cut outer ditch (20 metres wide by 12 metres deep). These surrounded an inner ward 50 X 50 metres and a projecting gate-tower on the west that contained a bent entrance with split machicolations. The outer projecting barbican on the east had wing doors, split machicolation, and enfilading arrow-slits. Vaults on the inner side of both walls provided storage and shelter during bombardments. The inner ward contained kitchen and stables on the ground floor and a chapel on the first floor over the gate. The internal water cisterns were vaulted. Each tower had postern gates.
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Belvoir was a serious investment in state-of-the-art medieval architecture. This castle withstood threats by large Muslim forces in 1180 and 1182. Its ultimate fall on 5 January 1189 only occurred after a prolonged siege, without hope of reinforcement, lasting one and a half years.
In 1177 Gilbert's successor, Jobert of Syria, died. The next Grand Master was Roger de Moulins, another militant Knight. "At that time, the Hospitallers formed one of the strongest military organisations of the kingdom, diverging from the original mission of the Order. Among Roger's first actions was to urge Baldwin IV of Jerusalem to continue to vigorously prosecute the war against Saladin."
This must have been a step too far. Between 1178 and 1180, Pope Alexander III called the Order back to the rule operating in the time of Raymond du Puy, "issuing a bull that forbade them to take up arms unless they were attacked and urged them not to abandon the care of those sick and in poverty." He even convinced Roger (and the Templar Grand Master Odode St Amand) to negotiate a truce with Saladin. However, within a couple of years or so Roger and the Templar leader were touring the courts of Europe, talking up the need for a new, Third Crusade.
The old Lie ― dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
"On 2 July 1187, Saladin laid siege to Tiberius, capturing the city ... On 4 July, an army led by Raymond III of Tripoli was surprised at the Battle of Hattin. From the beginning, the Templars and Hospitallers could not withstand the attack ... Reinforcements were slow in coming and the defeat became a rout, with only a few escaping ... The next day, Saladin put to death all the Hospitallers and Templars ...
The Muslim victory at Hattin opened the road to Jerusalem, with Saladin arriving there on 17 September, beginning the Siege of Jerusalem three days later. The city was defended by a few knights and a small garrison of Hospitallers and Templars ... They capitulated on 2 October 1187 and the Christians were allowed to evacuate the city in exchange for a ransom. The evacuation took place in three groups, the first under the orders of the Templar, the second under those of the Hospitallers, and the last under the orders of the Latin patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem.
In screaming irony to the events of the first Siege of Jerusalem in 1099, when "Gerard remained behind with some fellow serving brothers to tend the sick in the hospital", in the second Siege of Jerusalem in 1187, "Ten friars of the Order were allowed to remain in Jerusalem to care for the wounded and sick".
"By the beginning of 1188, the Franks had lost the Judea, Samaria and Galilee ... Krak des Chevaliers ... surrendered for lack of supplies at the end of September 1188 ... The Hospitallers held out until 3 January 1189 at Belvoir castle ..."
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