Who are the Hospitaller Knights?
Answered from the commentary of Church History
The Hospitaller Knights were a military-religious order founded during the wars between Christians and Mahometans. Their stated duties were to protect and assist poor, sick, and wounded pilgrims, and to defend Jerusalem and the Holy Land. After the Christians lost the Holy Land, they spread across several countries; Charles V later granted them Malta, and they became known as the Knights of Malta.
Verses: Luke 10:34, Matthew 25:35, Matthew 25:36
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The Knights Templars and Hospitallers
We may just notice, before leaving the subject, that during these wars of the Christians with the Mahometans, three celebrated military-religious orders were founded — Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem, Knights of the Hospital and Teutonic Knights. The principal duties of these knights, according to their founders, were to afford protection and assistance to the poor, the sick, and the wounded among the pilgrims, and to provide in every way for the defence of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. They soon became extremely popular. Many of the nobility of Europe accepted the cross and professed the vow of the knights of Palestine. Superstition enriched them, and, we need scarcely add, it also corrupted them; and their wealth excited the cupidity of others. After the Christians lost possession of the Holy Land, these knights were dispersed throughout several countries. The order of the Templars was dissolved by the Council of Vienne in the fourteenth century, and that of the Teutons in the seventeenth, by the German authorities. The Hospitallers obtained from Charles V. the possession of the island of Malta, and are now known as the Knights of Malta.*
Verses
- Luke 10:34and came up [to him] and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine; and having put him on his own beast, took him to [the] inn and took care of him.
- Matthew 25:35–3635for I hungered, and ye gave me to eat; I thirsted, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; 36naked, and ye clothed me; I was ill, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came to me.