life of dedication to an ideal. This is what the flower of Europe aristocracy
pledged to the Grandmasters of the Order from early in the twelfth century
down to the present day.
In mediaeval times, travel in the remote Middle East was hazardous. The
dangers for Christians travelling in areas where they met with hostility
as they went in the wake of Crusaders exacerbated the discomforts, the
threat of disease and death.
Thanks to the Order, the sick and infirm could count on succour and cures
for their ills when they went on the pilgrimages. In the hospitals of
the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, later to be known as the Knight
of Malta,
If they took up the sword as they did many times including the Great Siege of Malta in 1565, it was only to protect Cristian folk and their institution against the Moslem invader. The tradition of the Knight hospitallers followed them from Jerusalem to Acre, Cyprus and Rhodes and thence to Malta where they set up their headquarters ruling over the islanders for more than two hundred years.
