Knighthood - military order

Japanese: 騎士修道会 - きししゅうどうかい（英語表記）military order

Commonly known as the Religious Order or Knighthood. A general term for the religious and military organizations that were established in large numbers in Western Christian countries during the Crusades.

In the 11th and 12th centuries, the innovative spirit of monasticism grew, while the social role of mounted warriors increased, leading to the combination of the secular and religious worlds, and a new type of person called the monastic knight was born. Members were recruited from the rank of knight or higher, obeyed the precepts of the monastic rules, and had a general chairman, who corresponded to the status of a king or prince, and an administrative structure similar to the hierarchical system of feudal society, including district superiors, lords of the order, and abbots. At its peak in the late 12th century, the order owned tens of thousands of castles and estates throughout Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, and its total membership reached hundreds of thousands.

Representative examples are the three great knightly orders of John (officially recognized in 1113), Templar (officially recognized in 1118), and German (officially recognized in 1198). All of them were founded by devout itinerant knights and monks who sought to protect Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and were approved by the Pope to establish regular monastic orders. St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, a Cistercian order known as the "spirit of the 12th century," praised the order's philosophy in his "Tribute to the New Order of Knights," saying, "It is an entirely new system born of warriors who not only fight the enemy with the power of their bodies, but also fight a double battle against evil spirits with the power of their minds." The success of the First Crusade (1096-99) created a frenzy of expansion into the East in Western Europe, and the knightly orders became the main fighting force of the Crusades and a permanent Christian defense force in the region.

[Rinsuke Hashiguchi]

Knights of St. John

It originated as an aid station for pilgrims from Amalfi merchants in Italy at the end of the 11th century, and Blessed Gerard, a monk from southern France, developed it into a hospital in Jerusalem, and with the approval of Pope Paschal II, made it into a monastic order. Since the Second Crusade (1147-49), the order has achieved many military feats while competing with the Knights Templar. At the end of the Crusade, the order occupied the island of Rhodes and moved its base there (1307-1522), where it was renamed the Knights of Rhodes and fought against the Ottoman Turkish army until modern times, and then retreated to Malta in 1530, where it became the Knights of Malta and continued to exist until 1798.

[Rinsuke Hashiguchi]

Knights Templar

Founded by the French knight Hugh of Champagne, the crusaders were based at the site of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, built fortresses throughout the Middle East, and played an active role as the main force of the Crusaders until their defeat in 1291 when they retreated to Cyprus after the fall of Acre. They also had vast assets in Western Europe, operated a financial business, and managed the finances of the French royal family. After 1307, they were persecuted by King Philip IV of France, and were abolished in 1312 on suspicion of heresy.

[Rinsuke Hashiguchi]

Teutonic Knights

Also known as the Teutonic Knights, the order originated from a pilgrimage hospital in Lübeck and other places, and after participating in the Crusades in the Middle East, in 1226 it switched its main role to evangelizing and developing the East Prussian region, and managed large German colonies there until it was attacked by the Slavs in the 15th century.

In addition, there were knightly orders such as those of Alcántara (1156), Calatrava (1158), and Avis (1162), which provided military and religious support to the progress of the Reconquista in Iberia.

[Rinsuke Hashiguchi]

[Reference] | Crusades

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

通称宗教騎士団または騎士団。十字軍時代に西欧キリスト教諸国で多数創設された宗教的、軍事的社団の総称。

　11、12世紀に修道制の革新的気運が高まり、他方、騎馬戦士の社会的役割が増大し、聖俗両界の指導的身分の結合を招き、修道騎士という新しいタイプの人間像が生まれた。会員は騎士以上の階層から採用され、修道会則の戒律に服し、王公身分に対応する総会長を上長として、封建社会の階層制に準ずる管区長、騎士団領主、修道院長などの管理組織をなし、12世紀末の最盛期には西欧各国から東欧、中近東諸地域にわたって数万か所の城館、所領を擁し、全会員は数十万人に達した。

　代表的なものにヨハネ（1113公認）、テンプル（1118公認）、ドイツ（1198公認）のいわゆる三大騎士修道会があり、いずれもキリスト教徒の聖地巡礼の保護を目的とし、信仰心の厚い遍歴騎士や修道士が創立者となり、同志を募って贖罪(しょくざい)的奉仕生活を奨励し、教皇の認可を受けて正規の修道会を創始したものである。「12世紀の精神」とよばれるシトー会クレルボー修道院長聖ベルナルドゥスは、『新しい騎士団への賛辞』の文中で、「肉体の力によって敵と戦うのみならず、精神の力によって悪(あ)しき魂と二重の戦いをする戦士たちが生んだまったく新しい制度である」とその理念を称賛している。第1回十字軍遠征（1096～99）の成功によって西欧社会に東方進出熱が流行し、騎士修道会は十字軍の主戦力を構成して現地に常駐するキリスト教徒防衛軍となった。

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ヨハネ騎士修道会

11世紀末イタリアのアマルフィ商人の巡礼団救護所を起源とし、南フランスの修道士福者ジェラールがこれをエルサレムの病院に発展させ、教皇パスカリス2世の認可を得て修道会とした。第2回十字軍（1147～49）以来、テンプル騎士修道会とその功を競いながら多くの戦績をあげた。十字軍末期にはロードス島を占領して本拠を移し（1307～1522）、ロードス騎士修道会と改称して近代までオスマン・トルコ軍と戦い、さらに1530年以来マルタ島に退き、マルタ騎士修道会となって1798年まで存続した。

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テンプル騎士修道会

フランスのシャンパーニュ騎士ユーグを創立者とし、エルサレムのソロモン神殿跡を本拠に、中近東各地に城塞(じょうさい)を築き、1291年アッカ陥落によってキプロス島に退く敗戦時まで、十字軍の主力として活躍した。西欧諸国にも莫大(ばくだい)な財産を有し、金融業を営み、フランス王家の財政を委託管理していた。1307年以後フランス王フィリップ4世の弾圧を被り、異端の嫌疑を受けて12年廃絶された。

［橋口倫介］