The Knights Hospitaller of the English Langue 1460-1565

Author:   Gregory O'Malley
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
ISBN:  

9780199253791


Pages:   445
Publication Date:   22 September 2005
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Our Price $469.00 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

The Knights Hospitaller of the English Langue 1460-1565


Add your own review!

Overview

The Knights of St John of Jerusalem, also known as the Hospitallers, were a military religious order, subject to monastic vows and discipline but devoted to the active defence of the Holy Land. After evacuating the Holy Land at the beginning of the fourteenth century, they occupied Rhodes, which they held into the sixteenth century, when their headquarters moved to Malta. Branches of the order existed throughout Europe, and it is the English branch in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that is examined here. Among the major subjects researched by O'Malley are the recruitment of members of the Hospital and their family ties; the operation of the order's career structure; the administration of its estates; its provision of spiritual and charitable services; and the publicity and logistical support it provided for the holy war carried on by its headquarters against the Ottoman Turks. It is argued that the English Hospitallers in particular took their military and financial duties to the order very seriously, making a major contribution to the Hospital's operations in the Mediterranean as a result. They were able to do so because they were wealthy, had close family and other ties with gentle and mercantile society, and above all because their activities had royal support. Where this was lacking or ineffective, as in Ireland, the Hospital might become the plaything of local interests eager to exploit its estates, and its wider functions might be neglected. Consequently the heart of the book lies in an extended discussion of the relationship between senior Hospitaller officers and the governing authorities of Britain and Ireland. It is concluded that rulers were generally supportive of the order's activities, but within strict limits, particularly in matters concerning appointments, the size of payments to the east, and the movement and foreign allegiances of senior brethren. When these limits were breached, or at times of political or religious sensitivity such as the 1460s and 1530s, the Hospital's personnel and estates would suffer. In addition, more general areas of historical debate are illuminated such as those concerning the relationship between late medieval societies and the religious orders; 'British' attitudes to Christendom and holy war, and the rights of rulers over their subjects. This is the first such book to be based on archival records in both Britain and Malta, and will make a major contribution to understanding the order's European network, its place in the ordering of Latin Christendom, and in particular its role in late medieval British and Irish society.

Full Product Details

Author:   Gregory O'Malley
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 16.40cm , Height: 3.00cm , Length: 24.20cm
Weight:   0.810kg
ISBN:  

9780199253791


ISBN 10:   019925379
Pages:   445
Publication Date:   22 September 2005
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Reviews

...a masterly examination of a little-understood military community in the late-medieval British Isles ... David Grummitt, The Ricardian ...this book is the fundamental study on all aspects of the history of the Hospitallers in the British Isles in the later middle ages...[and] is an important study that contributes much to our understanding of late-medieval history. Jurgen Sarnowsky, Institute of Historical Research ...this book is undoubtedly a welcome addition, both to the study of the Hospitallers and the military orders in general Simon Phillips, Southern History Society, Vol. 28 O'Malley's research...is exceptionally thorough and his analysis is painstaking and judicious. Norman Housley, Journal of Ecclesiastical History


Author Information

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

ls

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List