(1060–1100), "advocate of the Holy Sepulchre" (), leader of the
First Crusade and first ruler of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Fresco by
Giacomo Jaquerio in
Saluzzo, northern
Italy (circa 1420). The history of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem runs common and parallel to that of the religious
Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre. Following the papal suppression of the Order of the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre by Pope Innocent VIII in 1489 (Cum solerti meditatione), the religious order was formally incorporated into the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. This measure, however, did not mean that the male branch of the order disappeared immediately or uniformly. In several parts of Europe, particularly within the Holy Roman Empire and in Poland, communities of male canons regular of the Holy Sepulchre continued to exist for a considerable period, often under the protection of secular rulers. For example, the monastery at Denkendorf remained active into the 16th century, while in the Low Countries the Klooster Hoogcruts continued in operation until its suppression during the French Revolutionary period. Of particular importance was the monastic complex at Miechów, which developed into the principal centre of the order in Central Europe and effectively served as its headquarters after the decline in importance of Perugia. The last Superior General of the order died there in 1830, underscoring the continued institutional existence of the male branch into the 19th century. According to some sources, the male branch survived until the death of Piotr Pękalski in 1874. The female branch was more robust and continued to exist until today in the UK and the Netherlands.
Background Pilgrimages to the
Holy Land were a common, if hazardous, practice from shortly after the
crucifixion of Jesus to throughout the
Middle Ages. Numerous detailed commentaries have survived as evidence of this early Christian devotion. During the era of the
Islamic expansion, Emperor
Charlemagne (–814) sent two embassies to the
caliph of Baghdad, asking
Frankish protectorate over the Holy Land. An epic recounts his legendary adventures in the
Mediterranean and pilgrimage to Jerusalem. By virtue of its defining characteristic of
subinfeudation, in
feudalism it was common practice for knights commanders to confer knighthoods upon their finest
soldiers, who in turn had the right to confer knighthood on others upon attaining command. Tradition maintains, that long before the
Crusades, a form of
knighthood was bestowed upon worthy men at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In any case, during the 11th century, prior to the Crusades, the "" were established to protect Christians and Christian premises in
the Occident.
Persecution of Christians in the Holy Land intensified and relations with Christian rulers were further strained when Caliph
Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the
destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 1009.
Crusades arriving in the
Holy Land. The crusades coincided with a renewed concern in
Europe for the holy places, with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as one of the most important places. According to an undocumented tradition, Girolamo Gabrielli of the Italian
Gabrielli family, who was the leader of 1000 knights from
Gubbio,
Umbria, during the
First Crusade, was the first crusader to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre after Jerusalem was seized in 1099.
Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099–1291) s
Tomier and Palaizi, who exclusively advocated defence of the Holy Sepulchre, consequently—in contrast to
Lanfranc Cigala—criticising the
Albigensian Crusades as distractions, even to the point of resulting in marks of
heresy. After the
capture of Jerusalem at the end of the
First Crusade in 1099, the
Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre were established to take care of the church. The men in charge of securing its defence and its community of canons were called ''''''. Together, the canons and the milites formed part of the structure of which evolved into the modern Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Baldwin I, the first
king of Jerusalem, laid the foundations of the kingdom and established its main institutions on the French pattern as a centralised feudal state. He also drew up the first constitution of the order in 1103, modelled on the chapter of canons that he founded in
Antwerp prior to his departure, under which the
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem (who had supplanted the Greek Orthodox
patriarch) appointed knights in Jerusalem at the direct service of the crown, similar to the organisation of
third orders. Adopting the
rule of Saint Augustine, with recognition in 1113 by
Papal Bull of
Pope Paschal II, with the attached, it is considered among the oldest of the chivalric orders. Indications suggest that
Hugues de Payens (c. 1070–1136) was among the Milites Sancti Sepulcri during his second time in Jerusalem in 1114–16, before being appointed "Magister Militum Templi", establishing the
Knights Templar. Between –,
Gerard (), the
Prior of the Holy Sepulchre, along with
Patriarch Warmund of Jerusalem, wrote a significant letter to
Diego Gelmírez,
Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela citing crop failures and being threatened by their enemies; they requested food, money, and military aid in order to maintain the
Kingdom of Jerusalem. Gerard consequently participated among others in the
Council of Nablus, 16 January 1120. In it, Canons 20–21 deal with clerics. Canon 20 says a cleric should not be held guilty if he takes up arms in self-defence, but he cannot take up arms for any other reason nor can he act like a knight. This was an important concern for the crusader states; clerics were generally forbidden from participating in warfare in European law, but the crusaders needed all the manpower they could find and, only one year before,
Antioch had been defended by the
Latin patriarch of Antioch following the
Battle of Ager Sanguinis, one of the calamities referred to in the introduction to the canons. Canon 21 says that a
monk or
canon regular who
apostatizes should either return to his order or go into exile. In 1121,
Pope Callixtus II issued a bull formally erecting the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre with specific responsibilities to defend the
Church Universal, protect the City of Jerusalem, guard the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre and pilgrims, and fight in the defence of Christianity. In total, as a result of these military needs, five major
chivalric communities were established in the Kingdom of Jerusalem between the late 11th century and the early 12th century: the
Knights Hospitaller (Order of Saint John) (circa 1099), the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre (circa 1099), the Knights Templar (circa 1118), the
Knights of Saint Lazarus (1123), and the Knights of the Hospital of Saint Mary of Jerusalem (
Teutonic Knights) (1190). Today, • the Order of Knights Templar no longer exists (other than its successor in Portugal – the
Order of Christ), • the
Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus is recognised as the successor to the medieval Order of Saint Lazarus, • the successor to the
Teutonic Order is a purely religious order of the Catholic Church, • but both the
Order of Malta and the Order of the Holy Sepulchre continue as chivalric orders recognised by the
Holy See. The , establishing in 1123 an alliance of the Kingdom of Jerusalem with the
Republic of Venice, was later signed by Patriarch Warmund and Prior Gerard of the
Holy Sepulchre, along with Archbishop
Ehremar of
Caesarea, Bishop Bernard of
Nazareth, Bishop
Aschetinus of
Bethlehem, Bishop Roger of
Bishop of Lydda, Guildin the
Abbot of St. Mary of
Josaphat, Prior Aicard of the
Templum Domini, Prior Arnold of
Mount Zion, William Buris, and Chancellor Pagan. Aside from William and Pagan, no secular authorities witnessed the treaty, perhaps indicating that the allied Venetians considered Jerusalem a papal
fief. Meanwhile, beyond the Holy Land, in
Spain, during the
Reconquista,
military orders built their own monasteries which also served as fortresses of defence, though otherwise the houses followed monastic premises. A typical example of this type of monastery is the
Calatrava la Nueva, headquarters of the
Order of Calatrava, founded by the
Abbot of Fitero, Raymond, at the behest of King
Sancho III of Castile, to protect the area restored to the
Islamic rulers. Other orders such as the
Order of Santiago,
Knight Templars and the Holy Sepulchre devoted much of their efforts to protect and care for pilgrims on the
Camino de Santiago. Furthermore, at the
Siege of Bayonne in October 1131, three years before his death, King
Alfonso I of Aragon, having no children, bequeathed his kingdom to three autonomous religious orders based in the Holy Land and politically largely independent – the
Knights Templars, the
Knights Hospitallers and the Knights of the
Holy Sepulchre – whose influences might have been expected to cancel one another out. The will has greatly puzzled historians, who have read it as a bizarre gesture of extreme piety uncharacteristic of Alfonso that effectively undid his life's work.
Elena Lourie (1975) suggested instead that it was Alfonso's attempt to neutralize the papacy's interest in a disputed succession – Aragon had been a fief of the Papacy since 1068 – and to fend off his stepson,
Alfonso VII of Castile, for the Papacy would be bound to press the terms of such a pious testament. On 15 July 1149 in the Holy Land, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem was
consecrated after reconstruction. inside the church, said to enclose the tomb of
Jesus Christ. Crusade
vows meant that even if a person wasn't able to make the journey to Holy Sepulchre himself, sometimes his
cloak was taken there, as was the case with King
Henry the Young of
England (1155–1183).
Robert the Bruce and
James Douglas, Lord of Douglas even asked to have their
hearts taken to the Holy Sepulchre after death. Besides
pilgrimages and the creation of
knights, even
coronations took place at the Holy Sepulchre. Shortly before his death in 1185,
Baldwin IV ordered a formal crown-wearing by his nephew,
Baldwin V, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The official arrival of the Franciscan
Friars Minor in
Syria dates from the
papal bull addressed by
Pope Gregory IX to the clergy of the Holy Land in 1230, charging them to welcome the Friars Minor, and to allow them to preach to the faithful and hold
oratories and
cemeteries of their own. In the ten years' truce of 1229 concluded between King
Frederick of Sicily and the
Sultan Al-Kamil, the Franciscans were permitted to enter Jerusalem, but they were also the first victims of the violent invasion of the
Khwarezmians in 1244.
Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land (1291–1489) friars during the
procession on the
Calvary in the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre (2006). The ultimate fall of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem to the Muslims in 1291 did not suspend pilgrimages to the tomb of Christ or the custom of receiving knighthood there, and when the
Custody of the Holy Land was entrusted to the
Franciscan Order they continued this pious custom and gave the order its first
grand master after the death of the last king of Jerusalem. The friars quickly resumed possession of their convent of Mount Zion at Jerusalem. The Turks tolerated the veneration paid to the tomb of Christ and derived revenue from the taxes levied upon pilgrims. In 1342, in his bull ,
Pope Clement VI officially committed the care of the Holy Land to the Franciscans; only the restoration of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem by
Pius IX in 1847 superseded the Franciscans. With the emergence of the
code of conduct of
chivalry during the
Middle Ages, conferring of knighthoods was pursued also at the Holy Sepulchre. From the period 1291 to 1847, the
Franciscan Custodian of Mount Sion was the only authority representing the
Holy See in the Holy Land. Documented from 1335, the Franciscan Custody enrolled applicants as Knights of the Holy Sepulchre in ceremonies frequently mentioned in the itineraries of pilgrims. Those pilgrims deemed worthy received the honour in a solemn ceremony of ancient chivalry. However, in the ceremonial of reception at the time, the role of the clergy was limited to the , the dubbing with the sword being reserved to a professional knight, since the carrying of the sword was incompatible with the sacerdotal character, and reserved to previous knights. {{Verse translation |lang=la (1492). The
Duke chose a
palm as his personal symbol in commemoration of his
pilgrimage to
Jerusalem in 1468 when he became a knight of the Holy Sepulchre. In 1346, King
Valdemar IV of Denmark went on a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem and was made a knight of the Holy Sepulchre. This increased the prestige of Valdemar, who had difficulty in effectively ruling over his kingdom.
Saint Bridget of Sweden, one of the future
patron saints of Europe, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1371–1373 along with her sons. The oldest, Karl, died prior in
Naples, but
Birger Ulfsson became a knight of the Holy Sepulchre, followed by
Hugo von Montfort (1395) and more to come. Duke
Albert IV of Austria was made a knight in 1400, followed by his brother
Ernest (1414) and by the
Kalmar ruler
Eric of Pomerania (1420s) and later by
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III (1436), accompanied by
Georg von Ehingen and numerous other knighted nobles; later were Count
Otto II of Mosbach-Neumarkt (1460), Landgrave
William III of Thuringia (1461) and
Heinrich Reuß von Plauen (1461) who was also grand master of the
Teutonic Order. The significance of the pilgrimages is indicated by various commemorations of the knights. The
Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Görlitz in
Saxony was built by
Georg Emmerich, who was knighted in 1465. Of the medieval Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, notably, Emmerich, although a
mayor and a wealthy merchant, was neither a monarch nor a nobleman.
Eberhard I of Württemberg, knighted together with
Christoph I of Baden in 1468, chose a
palm as his personal symbol, including in the
crest (heraldry) of his
coat of arms. Others built church buildings in their hometowns, such as the chapel in
Pratteln,
Switzerland, by
Hans Bernhard von Eptingen (knighted 1460), and
Jeruzalemkerk in
Bruges, Belgium, built by
Anselm Adornes (knighted 1470). The latter still stands to this day, modelled on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and today adorned with the heraldry of the order. Some property of the Knights in Italy was transferred to the newly established
Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem in 1459, but the merger proved a failure. The Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem was suppressed almost as soon as it was founded and those orders whose goods the pope had transmitted to it were re-established. The
accolades continued: Counts
Enno I and
Edzard I of East Frisia (1489), followed by Elector
Frederick III of Saxony (1493) who was also recipient of the papal honour of the
Golden Rose, together with
Christoph the Strong of Bavaria, then
Frederick II of Legnica (1507), and others.
Franciscan Grand Magistry From 1480 to 1495,
John of Prussia, a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, acted as
Steward for the
Convent and regularly discharged the act of
accolade. It was a frequent occurrence that a foreign Knight present among the crowds of pilgrims would assist at this ceremony. However, without other assistance, it was the Superior who had to act instead of a Knight, although such a course was deemed irregular. Around this time, the Superior of the Convent assumed the title of
Grand Master of the Knights, a title acknowledged by various pontifical diplomas. When the
Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre were suppressed in 1489,
Pope Innocent VIII attempted to merge the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre into the
Knights Hospitaller, but this was not successful. The Franciscan province of the Holy Land continued to exist, with
Acre as its seat. In the territory of the
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, reinstituted in 1847, the Franciscans still have 24 convents, and 15 parishes.
Papal Grand Magistry (1496–1847) restored the Order of Holy Sepulchre to independent status in 1496, and reserved its title of
Grand Master for himself and his successors. In 1496,
Pope Alexander VI restored the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre to independent status, organised as an Order. He decreed that the Knights would no longer be governed by the Custody of the Holy Land, but that the senior post of the Order would henceforth be raised to the rank of
Grand Master, reserving this title for himself and his successors. The
prerogative of dubbing Knights of the Holy Sepulchre was repeatedly confirmed by the Holy See; by
Pope Leo X on 4 May 1515, by
Pope Clement VII in 1527 and by
Pope Pius IV on 1 August 1561. The privileges of the order, recorded by its guardian in 1553 and approved by successive popes, included powers to: Nonetheless, the dubbing and the privileges enjoyed continued confirmation, by
Pope Alexander VII on 3 August 1665, by
Pope Benedict XIII on 3 March 1727, and by Pope
Benedict XIV (1675–1758) who approved all but the last of the privileges of the order, and also stated that it should enjoy precedence over all orders except the
Order of the Golden Fleece and the Pontifical Orders. Knights of the Holy Sepulchre dubbed during this era include
Hieronymus von Dorne (circa 1634) and
François-René de Chateaubriand (1806).
Restoration of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (1847) Pius IX re-established the
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in 1847, and re-organized the Order of the Holy Sepulchre as the , whereby the grand master of the order was to be the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and the order ceased to be a pontifical order for a period. Initially, the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta opposed the decision and claimed rights to its legacy, probably based on the papal decision of 1489. However, in 1868 it was named (Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem). Pope
Pius X assumed the title of grand master for the papacy again in 1907, but in 1928 this was again relinquished by Pope
Pius XI in favour of the patriarch of Jerusalem, and for a time the order again ceased to be a papal order. In 1932, Pius XI approved a new constitution and permitted investiture in the places of origin and not only in Jerusalem.
Protection of the Holy See (from 1945) In 1945, Pope
Pius XII placed the order again under the sovereignty, patronage and protection of the Holy See, and in 1949 he approved a new constitution for the order, which included that the grand master be a
cardinal of the
Roman Curia, and that the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem be the Grand Prior of the order. In 1962 the Constitution of the Order was again reformed and the order was recognized as a juridical person in canon law. The current Constitution of the Order was approved by Pope
Paul VI in 1977, and it maintains those arrangements. The order's status was further enhanced by
Pope John Paul II in 1996, when, in addition to its canonical legal personality, it was given civil legal personality in Vatican City State, where it is headquartered. An amendment to the Constitution of the Order was approved by Pope John Paul II simultaneously with the concession of Vatican legal personality for the order. ==Organisation==