The Knights Hospitaller - Softcover

Nicholson, Helen J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1843830388 ISBN 13: 9781843830382

Publisher: Boydell Press, 2006

Synopsis

This short study of the history of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta, also known as the Knights Hospitaller, is intended as an introduction to the Order for academics working in other fields, as well as the interested general reader. Beginning with a consideration of the origins of the Order as a hospice for pilgrims in Jerusalem in the eleventh century, it traces the Hospitaller's development into a military order during the first part of the twelfth century, and its military activities on the frontiers of Christendom in the eastern Mediterranean, Spain and eastern Europe during the middle ages and into early modern period: its role in crusades and in wars against non-Christians on land and at sea, as well as its role in building and maintaining fortresses. It also considers the Order's activities away from the frontiers of Christendom: its economic activities and its relations with patrons and rulers throughout Europe, as well as its hospitaller work and its religious life. The focus of the study is on the medieval period down to the loss of Rhodes in 1522, but the final chapters of the book consider the Order's history on Malta from the sixteenth to the end of the eighteenth century, and from the loss of Malta in 1798 to the present day. HELEN NICHOLSON is Senior Lecturer in History, Cardiff University.

About this title

About the Author:

Helen Nicholson is Senior Lecturer in History, Cardiff University.

Review:

Can be recommended not only to scholars but also to the general public. All those interested in the history of the crusades must be grateful to have so succinct, so reliable and so readable a summary. CRUSADESNicholson, one of the UK's leading historians of the medieval military orders, succeeds in setting out (the) main features in an authoritative and accessible manner. She has a flair for clear and uncluttered explanations enlivened with telling detail and quotation. And her account is comprehensive... An attractive volume. HISTORY

About this edition

• Publisher: Boydell Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1843830388
• ISBN 13: 9781843830382
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208