The Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller: Warrior Monks of the Crusades

When people think of the Crusades, two military orders usually stand out: the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller. Both emerged in the 12th-century Holy Land, both combined religious vows with military service, and both left a legacy that stretched far beyond the Crusades themselves. Yet their stories, while intertwined, are distinct.

The Rise of the Templars In the Crusades

The Knights Templar were founded around 1119, shortly after the First Crusade captured Jerusalem in 1099. Their original mission was not conquest but protection. A French knight, Hugues de Payens, and a small band of companions pledged themselves to guard Christian pilgrims on the perilous roads to Jerusalem.

King Baldwin II of Jerusalem gave them quarters in part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, thought at the time to stand on the site of Solomon’s Temple. From this they took their name: Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, soon shortened to “Templars”.

In 1129, the order won papal approval at the Council of Troyes. With the support of St Bernard of Clairvaux, they expanded quickly. Members took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, but unlike monks, they were also professional soldiers. Their white mantles, marked with a red cross, became an unmistakable emblem of Christian militancy.

The Hospitallers: From Carers to Soldiers

The Knights Hospitaller—formally the Order of St John of Jerusalem—were older than the Templars. In the 1070s, merchants from Amalfi established a hospital in Jerusalem to tend to sick and poor pilgrims. After the First Crusade, this hospital grew into a fully-fledged religious order devoted to hospitality and medical care.

Under their first master, Blessed Gerard Thom, the Hospitallers focused on charity. But as the Crusader States came under increasing attack, they too took up arms. By the mid-12th century, the order was maintaining fortresses and fielding knights in battle, while still upholding its reputation for care. Their black mantles with a white cross set them apart from the Templars.

Similarities and Rivalries

The two orders shared several features:

• International reach: Recruits came from across Christendom.

• Direct papal authority: They answered to the pope, not local rulers.

• Military strength: Both were regarded as elite fighting forces.

• Wealth and estates: Donations of land and money made them highly influential.

  
  

Yet there were differences. The Templars leaned heavily into finance, developing sophisticated systems for managing money across Europe. The Hospitallers, meanwhile, held firmly to their dual role: care for the sick and defence of Christian territories.

Rivalry often flared between them, especially in the 12th and 13th centuries, when they disagreed over strategy in the Holy Land. On occasion, their quarrels even broke into violence.

The Fall of the Templars

The end of the Templars came not on the battlefield but through politics. After the fall of Acre in 1291—the last Crusader stronghold in the Levant—the order regrouped on Cyprus. With no foothold left in the Holy Land, their purpose was questioned.

In France, King Philip IV was deeply indebted to them. On Friday, 13 October 1307, he ordered the arrest of every Templar in the kingdom. They were accused of heresy, blasphemy, and corruption—charges almost certainly fabricated. Under torture, many gave false confessions.

By 1312, Pope Clement V, under pressure from Philip, dissolved the order. Its lands were handed to the Hospitallers, though much was seized by the crown. The abrupt fall of the Templars gave rise to centuries of myth, from hidden treasure to secret survival.

The Hospitallers’ Endurance

The Hospitallers, in contrast, endured. After Acre’s fall, they relocated—first to Cyprus, then to Rhodes (1310), and later to Malta (1530), granted to them by Emperor Charles V. From Malta they became a naval power, famously withstanding the Ottoman siege of 1565.

Though they lost Malta to Napoleon in 1798, the Hospitallers never vanished. Today, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta still exists as a humanitarian body with diplomatic status, continuing its centuries-old mission of caring for the sick and vulnerable.

Legacy

The Templars and Hospitallers embodied the contradictions of the Crusades: men bound by religious vows who also fought as soldiers. The Templars became a byword for mystery and martyrdom, while the Hospitallers proved remarkably adaptable, reshaping themselves as circumstances changed.

Their castles remain across the Levant and Mediterranean, stark reminders of when warrior monks helped shape the destiny of kingdoms. Their legends—whether of holy relics, early banking, or duty to the poor—still capture the imagination today.