Knights Manual (dust Jacket) September 2018

The Order of Saint John is one of the great treasures of Christendom and is one of the world’s oldest, continuing knightly institutions. The development and expansion of the Order has influenced the course of world history and bridged the disparate cultures of the Christian East and West. The Order began in the eleventh century as a local charitable institution, a hospital, in Jerusalem. Founded by a group of pious men, led by Brother Gerard the Blessed, it rapidly gained world fame for its spiritual and temporal care of pilgrims traveling to and in the Holy Land. In time, the Order also protected them. This is the reason it developed its military arm, which soon transformed this devout group into a great military-religious brotherhood.