1 00:00:00,091 --> 00:00:01,912 (rousing music) 2 00:00:01,912 --> 00:00:05,070 - [Narrator] In the Holy Land, a new kingdom 3 00:00:05,070 --> 00:00:06,843 built by crusaders, 4 00:00:09,180 --> 00:00:11,673 devout servants of the Holy State, 5 00:00:13,710 --> 00:00:16,953 a life of prayer lived by a solemn rule, 6 00:00:19,275 --> 00:00:22,483 the white cross, the black and the red. 7 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:28,893 New orders, of the cross, and also the sword. 8 00:00:30,300 --> 00:00:33,027 - They might've been called the Hospitallers, 9 00:00:33,027 --> 00:00:37,104 but these were warriors, these were warriors of God. 10 00:00:37,104 --> 00:00:38,820 (horse neighing) 11 00:00:38,820 --> 00:00:40,800 - [Narrator] Feared by the enemies, 12 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,173 guardians of the poor and the sick. 13 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:46,440 - They cared for people who needed to be cared for, 14 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:48,503 and they were there when people needed them. 15 00:00:49,710 --> 00:00:53,193 - [Narrator] Dark times ahead for all the military orders. 16 00:00:54,210 --> 00:00:56,702 - They'd been fighting for God and yet, they had lost. 17 00:00:56,702 --> 00:00:58,950 So is that 'cause we're sinners? 18 00:00:58,950 --> 00:01:01,953 - [Narrator] New frontiers for the soldiers of Christ. 19 00:01:03,146 --> 00:01:03,979 - It could've been a disaster for the Hospitaller, 20 00:01:05,670 --> 00:01:08,163 but they turned it into a triumph. 21 00:01:09,153 --> 00:01:10,440 - [Narrator] From the Middle East 22 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:12,690 to the Aegean and beyond, 23 00:01:12,690 --> 00:01:15,673 the Order of the Knights Hospitaller. 24 00:01:17,428 --> 00:01:20,095 (rousing music) 25 00:01:24,270 --> 00:01:26,400 The Order of the Knights Hospitaller 26 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,250 was renowned throughout the Middle Ages. 27 00:01:29,250 --> 00:01:33,150 Their plain robes and surcoats, black and later red, 28 00:01:33,150 --> 00:01:36,060 marked them out as devoutly religious, 29 00:01:36,060 --> 00:01:39,000 dedicated to carrying out God's work, 30 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:40,770 with the sword if need be. 31 00:01:40,770 --> 00:01:43,440 - The Order of the Hospitallers is clearly 32 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,680 one of the best known, most identifiable 33 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:49,168 of the military orders. 34 00:01:49,168 --> 00:01:51,570 - [Narrator] They were respected by some contemporaries, 35 00:01:51,570 --> 00:01:53,550 and by historians since 36 00:01:53,550 --> 00:01:57,060 due to their reputation for caring and healing. 37 00:01:57,060 --> 00:02:01,350 But at the same time, this led them to being overshadowed, 38 00:02:01,350 --> 00:02:03,660 at least in the popular imagination. 39 00:02:03,660 --> 00:02:06,570 Their rival order, the Knights Templar 40 00:02:06,570 --> 00:02:08,520 are often seen as the more famous 41 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,250 and dashing medieval Christian warriors. 42 00:02:11,250 --> 00:02:14,460 - It's always the Templars who are mentioned first, 43 00:02:14,460 --> 00:02:18,693 and the Hospitallers never had such a pronounced image. 44 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:20,790 They've come down through history 45 00:02:20,790 --> 00:02:22,860 as the hospital order who cared for people, 46 00:02:22,860 --> 00:02:26,190 which for some reason, is never seen as being as exciting 47 00:02:26,190 --> 00:02:27,690 as the people that ride out 48 00:02:27,690 --> 00:02:29,250 and do the death and glory charges. 49 00:02:29,250 --> 00:02:31,470 In fact, the Hospitaller did death and glory charges 50 00:02:31,470 --> 00:02:32,579 as well. 51 00:02:32,579 --> 00:02:33,420 - [Narrator] In fact, 52 00:02:33,420 --> 00:02:36,270 the Hospitaller fought alongside the Templars 53 00:02:36,270 --> 00:02:39,814 in the Holy Land of the 12th and 13th centuries. 54 00:02:39,814 --> 00:02:42,300 - The Hospitallers did have a slightly more pacific image. 55 00:02:42,300 --> 00:02:45,360 Although they did fight in most of the battles as well, 56 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:46,920 and with a similar number of troops, 57 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:48,810 they could be very aggressive. 58 00:02:48,810 --> 00:02:51,660 But because they had a whole medical wing to them as well, 59 00:02:51,660 --> 00:02:54,090 that did provide a rather different image for them 60 00:02:54,090 --> 00:02:55,240 in Western Christendom. 61 00:02:56,970 --> 00:02:59,130 - [Narrator] The Hospitallers were among the longest lived 62 00:02:59,130 --> 00:03:03,240 of all the military orders, even the Templars. 63 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:04,740 - The Knights Hospitaller were by far 64 00:03:04,740 --> 00:03:07,710 the older of the two institutions compared to the Templars. 65 00:03:07,710 --> 00:03:10,260 They'd been around in Jerusalem 66 00:03:10,260 --> 00:03:11,913 even before the first crusades. 67 00:03:14,190 --> 00:03:17,130 - [Narrator] The Templars were the first militarized order, 68 00:03:17,130 --> 00:03:19,680 formed probably in the 1120s, 69 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:24,540 following the First Crusade's capture of Jerusalem in 1099. 70 00:03:24,540 --> 00:03:27,870 But the order of the Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem 71 00:03:27,870 --> 00:03:31,560 had already been formed for some decades, perhaps longer, 72 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,692 although it wasn't yet a fighting order. 73 00:03:34,890 --> 00:03:38,760 - There already was a hospital in Jerusalem 74 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:40,890 run for Christian pilgrims 75 00:03:40,890 --> 00:03:43,800 by Christians from Western Europe. 76 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:45,690 - They were founded in the 1060, 77 00:03:45,690 --> 00:03:48,090 or possibly the early 1070s 78 00:03:48,090 --> 00:03:49,890 by a group of Amalfi merchants 79 00:03:49,890 --> 00:03:52,410 who wanted somewhere to stay in Jerusalem 80 00:03:52,410 --> 00:03:55,890 and wanted somewhere where poor pilgrims 81 00:03:55,890 --> 00:03:58,050 and travelers could stay. 82 00:03:58,050 --> 00:03:59,520 - [Narrator] They were granted a site 83 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:02,040 near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, 84 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,950 the most important place for Christian pilgrims, 85 00:04:04,950 --> 00:04:07,293 who were often exhausted after long journeys. 86 00:04:08,220 --> 00:04:12,780 The Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem became well-respected, 87 00:04:12,780 --> 00:04:14,310 and the members of the order 88 00:04:14,310 --> 00:04:16,382 became known as the Hospitallers. 89 00:04:19,023 --> 00:04:20,579 Over the next decades, 90 00:04:20,579 --> 00:04:23,670 the hospital grew in size and reputation, 91 00:04:23,670 --> 00:04:27,180 opening its doors to men and women of all faiths, 92 00:04:27,180 --> 00:04:28,950 not just Christian. 93 00:04:28,950 --> 00:04:31,740 - The first 50-odd years plus of their existence, 94 00:04:31,740 --> 00:04:35,250 they were solely medical, providing healthcare, 95 00:04:35,250 --> 00:04:39,120 support, accommodation, and medical attention if necessary 96 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:41,550 for pilgrims visiting Jerusalem. 97 00:04:41,550 --> 00:04:44,096 - [Narrator] The catalyst that transformed the Hospitallers 98 00:04:44,096 --> 00:04:46,200 was the First Crusade. 99 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:50,070 After the capture of Jerusalem, the new crusader states 100 00:04:50,070 --> 00:04:53,070 needed pilgrims and traders from the west. 101 00:04:53,070 --> 00:04:56,010 The first military order, the Knights Templar, 102 00:04:56,010 --> 00:04:59,700 began protecting the Holy Land's roads and frontiers, 103 00:04:59,700 --> 00:05:01,650 but they were few in number. 104 00:05:01,650 --> 00:05:03,480 - Some of the Hospitallers, 105 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,720 the members of the hospital staff 106 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:08,730 who were from the knightly class, 107 00:05:08,730 --> 00:05:11,760 or at least would've had some degree of military training 108 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:14,640 because of their own family backgrounds, 109 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:18,510 decided that they could also protect pilgrims. 110 00:05:18,510 --> 00:05:19,710 So that was the beginning 111 00:05:19,710 --> 00:05:22,473 of what you would call their militarization. 112 00:05:23,490 --> 00:05:25,200 - [Narrator] Templars and Hospitallers 113 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:27,990 patrolled the borders of the Christian Holy Land. 114 00:05:27,990 --> 00:05:31,050 Like the Templars, the Hospitallers rapidly developed 115 00:05:31,050 --> 00:05:33,720 into a highly respected military force, 116 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:35,790 with the emphasis on cavalry, 117 00:05:35,790 --> 00:05:38,130 the most important battlefield element 118 00:05:38,130 --> 00:05:40,593 being the armored knight on horseback. 119 00:05:41,430 --> 00:05:43,710 Full scale battles were few. 120 00:05:43,710 --> 00:05:48,030 It was frontier work, often far from the major towns. 121 00:05:48,030 --> 00:05:52,020 Vitally important to both sides were outposts. 122 00:05:52,020 --> 00:05:55,590 The military orders operated many castles in the Holy Land, 123 00:05:55,590 --> 00:05:59,700 including some of the most important border strongholds. 124 00:05:59,700 --> 00:06:02,520 - The Hospitallers were either given or built 125 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,640 10s of castles on the frontiers of Kingdom of Jerusalem, 126 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:08,010 Principality of Antioch and elsewhere, 127 00:06:08,010 --> 00:06:10,530 and these castles performed a crucial function 128 00:06:10,530 --> 00:06:12,030 because the Hospitallers could afford 129 00:06:12,030 --> 00:06:14,880 to maintain them, to garrison them 130 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:16,680 and provide them with all that they needed. 131 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:18,960 - The Hospitallers' castles were wonders of the world. 132 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:21,813 They reflected the latest in castle building technology, 133 00:06:22,830 --> 00:06:25,920 so that they became places that they could take 134 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:28,590 visiting pilgrims to to show them 135 00:06:28,590 --> 00:06:30,360 the wonderful things that they were doing 136 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,450 in the Lord's name in the kingdom of Jerusalem, 137 00:06:33,450 --> 00:06:36,600 and thereby they got more donations from the west 138 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,690 because of these magnificent fortresses. 139 00:06:39,690 --> 00:06:41,220 - Several of the most famous 140 00:06:41,220 --> 00:06:44,490 and impressive surviving castles and fortresses 141 00:06:44,490 --> 00:06:47,909 in the Holy Land, and Lebanon and part of Syria 142 00:06:47,909 --> 00:06:51,420 are or were Hospitaller castles. 143 00:06:51,420 --> 00:06:53,280 - [Narrator] Historian David Nicole 144 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:55,710 is no stranger to the Middle East. 145 00:06:55,710 --> 00:06:57,780 He's journeyed extensively here 146 00:06:57,780 --> 00:07:00,213 during his research into the crusader period. 147 00:07:01,050 --> 00:07:03,750 Of the surviving crusader-era castles, 148 00:07:03,750 --> 00:07:07,500 few are as spectacular as the one he's traveling to 149 00:07:07,500 --> 00:07:09,480 in northeastern Israel. 150 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:11,820 - One of the best known is of course Belvoir, 151 00:07:11,820 --> 00:07:16,110 overlooking the Jordan Valley on the edge of an escarpment, 152 00:07:16,110 --> 00:07:17,220 right on a frontier, 153 00:07:17,220 --> 00:07:20,970 on a physical, identifiable, visible frontier, 154 00:07:20,970 --> 00:07:22,440 and on the top of a cliff. 155 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:23,990 I mean, this is dramatic stuff. 156 00:07:24,990 --> 00:07:27,570 - [Narrator] Belvoir, beautiful view, 157 00:07:27,570 --> 00:07:30,363 is the most preserved crusader castle in Israel. 158 00:07:31,710 --> 00:07:35,220 It's Arabic name meant Star of the Wind. 159 00:07:35,220 --> 00:07:36,900 The castle stands on a promontory 160 00:07:36,900 --> 00:07:39,123 500 meters above sea level. 161 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:42,570 - It's overlooking the Jordan Valley, 162 00:07:42,570 --> 00:07:45,450 then Jordan, existing Jordan on the other side, 163 00:07:45,450 --> 00:07:48,600 and Saladin's castle of Ajloun facing this, 164 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,270 two castles strategically opposed to each other 165 00:07:51,270 --> 00:07:53,250 in visual contact with each other. 166 00:07:53,250 --> 00:07:56,220 This was defensively vital. 167 00:07:56,220 --> 00:07:58,020 Its location is strategic. 168 00:07:58,020 --> 00:07:59,909 And as a political statement, 169 00:07:59,909 --> 00:08:03,000 a statement of power and wealth by the Hospitaller's order, 170 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:04,500 it's second to none. 171 00:08:04,500 --> 00:08:06,270 - [Narrator] The upper levels of the castle 172 00:08:06,270 --> 00:08:09,030 will be robbed away over centuries, 173 00:08:09,030 --> 00:08:11,010 but what remains is still massive, 174 00:08:11,010 --> 00:08:14,430 a testament to the Hospitallers rapid growth 175 00:08:14,430 --> 00:08:16,893 in a few decades after they became military. 176 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:20,337 - Belvoir is extraordinarily important to the Hospitallers, 177 00:08:20,337 --> 00:08:21,690 and we can tell it's important 178 00:08:21,690 --> 00:08:24,540 by the amount of effort and money that was put into it. 179 00:08:24,540 --> 00:08:26,850 I mean, the thing was only here, 180 00:08:26,850 --> 00:08:29,790 according to the historical record, for 21 years. 181 00:08:29,790 --> 00:08:31,713 All this in 21 years, 182 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,010 - [Narrator] The Hospitallers began building the castle 183 00:08:35,010 --> 00:08:36,423 in 1168. 184 00:08:37,470 --> 00:08:39,929 - The Castle of Belvoir was built at a time 185 00:08:39,929 --> 00:08:41,039 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem 186 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:42,630 was coming under increasing attack, 187 00:08:42,630 --> 00:08:44,430 and people were looking increasingly 188 00:08:44,430 --> 00:08:46,380 to fortifying the frontier, 189 00:08:46,380 --> 00:08:48,480 where previously it hadn't been quite so necessary 190 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:51,330 because they've been on the offensive by and large. 191 00:08:51,330 --> 00:08:54,030 So Belvoir was crucial. 192 00:08:54,030 --> 00:08:56,700 - [Narrator] At this time in the later 12th century, 193 00:08:56,700 --> 00:08:59,580 Muslim leader Salah al-Din sought to recover 194 00:08:59,580 --> 00:09:02,493 the loss of Jerusalem and Palestine to the Christians. 195 00:09:04,350 --> 00:09:07,530 The job of the Hospitallers and other military orders 196 00:09:07,530 --> 00:09:10,620 was to delay his advance as long as possible. 197 00:09:10,620 --> 00:09:12,210 - One of the major invasion routes 198 00:09:12,210 --> 00:09:13,043 into the kingdom of Jerusalem 199 00:09:13,043 --> 00:09:15,870 was to go south of Lake Tiberius, 200 00:09:15,870 --> 00:09:18,210 and Belvoir, situated on a ridge 201 00:09:18,210 --> 00:09:20,340 high above that particular crossing, 202 00:09:20,340 --> 00:09:22,053 was very strategically located. 203 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,190 - In 1187, the inevitable came, 204 00:09:26,190 --> 00:09:29,913 and Salah al-Din's forces laid siege to Belvoir, 205 00:09:30,780 --> 00:09:33,180 but they found the castle extremely strong 206 00:09:33,180 --> 00:09:34,623 and resilient to attack. 207 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:37,260 In the First Crusade, 208 00:09:37,260 --> 00:09:40,140 the Francs had stormed Jerusalem's ancient walls 209 00:09:40,140 --> 00:09:42,330 after just a few days, 210 00:09:42,330 --> 00:09:45,780 but the Hospitallers stronghold here was newly built, 211 00:09:45,780 --> 00:09:48,303 and its defenses were state-of-the-art. 212 00:09:49,230 --> 00:09:51,774 Already atop the steep cliff, 213 00:09:51,774 --> 00:09:54,300 it was surrounded on three sides by a moat 214 00:09:54,300 --> 00:09:57,123 20 meters wide and 12 meters deep. 215 00:09:58,380 --> 00:10:01,020 Within was a rectangular castle 216 00:10:01,020 --> 00:10:03,660 with a tower at each corner and midpoint, 217 00:10:03,660 --> 00:10:05,133 and a fortified gateway. 218 00:10:06,510 --> 00:10:09,510 Inside the first wall was another, 219 00:10:09,510 --> 00:10:13,203 and then yet another with its own defensive corner towers. 220 00:10:14,220 --> 00:10:16,860 It's thought to be one of the earliest examples 221 00:10:16,860 --> 00:10:18,750 of a concentric castle, 222 00:10:18,750 --> 00:10:20,550 a design that became widespread 223 00:10:20,550 --> 00:10:23,580 in the later 12th and 13th centuries, 224 00:10:23,580 --> 00:10:27,120 both in the Holy Land and back in Western Europe. 225 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:28,950 It wasn't just the castle's strength 226 00:10:28,950 --> 00:10:32,280 that made it a statement here on the frontier. 227 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:35,430 The kind of building stone the Hospitallers used 228 00:10:35,430 --> 00:10:38,133 may also have been chosen for its color. 229 00:10:39,570 --> 00:10:43,290 - You can read a certain amount into the use of dark gray, 230 00:10:43,290 --> 00:10:46,710 effectively black volcanic basalt rock, 231 00:10:46,710 --> 00:10:47,820 which is most of this, 232 00:10:47,820 --> 00:10:49,800 certainly the lower parts of the castle, 233 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:54,510 and the white stone, the more finely dressed stone above. 234 00:10:54,510 --> 00:10:57,210 Black and white, colors of the Hospitallers. 235 00:10:57,210 --> 00:10:59,490 Now, whether this was in actual fact 236 00:10:59,490 --> 00:11:03,930 a statement of identity or not is impossible to say. 237 00:11:03,930 --> 00:11:05,760 It may have been just that they were using 238 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:07,650 these two available rocks, 239 00:11:07,650 --> 00:11:09,900 but doesn't alter the fact that you end up with 240 00:11:09,900 --> 00:11:12,300 a very striking, very visual, 241 00:11:12,300 --> 00:11:15,210 very powerful black and white castle. 242 00:11:15,210 --> 00:11:18,930 - [Narrator] The Muslim army couldn't take Belvoir by storm, 243 00:11:18,930 --> 00:11:21,963 so all they could do was surround it and wait. 244 00:11:22,830 --> 00:11:25,110 - Belvoir held Saladin up for months. 245 00:11:25,110 --> 00:11:28,620 They did not fall to siege easily. 246 00:11:28,620 --> 00:11:30,660 So the boasts that the Hospitallers made about them 247 00:11:30,660 --> 00:11:31,863 were well justified. 248 00:11:32,940 --> 00:11:34,980 - [Narrator] In the end, Belvoir held out 249 00:11:34,980 --> 00:11:37,620 for an extraordinary 18 months. 250 00:11:37,620 --> 00:11:40,740 But in 1187, Salah al-Din defeated 251 00:11:40,740 --> 00:11:43,243 the crusader field army at Hattin, 252 00:11:43,243 --> 00:11:45,690 and across the crusader kingdom, 253 00:11:45,690 --> 00:11:49,350 the Muslim tide was in the end unstoppable. 254 00:11:49,350 --> 00:11:51,570 - While in actual fact, this place only fell 255 00:11:51,570 --> 00:11:53,370 after the battle of Hattin, 256 00:11:53,370 --> 00:11:56,400 which in turn led to the fall of Jerusalem, 257 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,470 the fall of practically everything. 258 00:11:58,470 --> 00:12:02,820 So this place, on the eastern frontier effectively, 259 00:12:02,820 --> 00:12:05,790 of the kingdom was left high and dry. 260 00:12:05,790 --> 00:12:07,110 It had to surrender. 261 00:12:07,110 --> 00:12:10,020 There was no point in it just going onto the bitter end. 262 00:12:10,020 --> 00:12:12,540 It would've ended up with just more deaths. 263 00:12:12,540 --> 00:12:13,770 - [Narrator] Within months, 264 00:12:13,770 --> 00:12:17,043 most of the Christian held castles fell to the Muslims. 265 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,810 When the Christians returned just two years later, 266 00:12:21,810 --> 00:12:23,640 they needed a port. 267 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:27,810 Acre, in the Holy Land's north had fallen to Salah al-Din 268 00:12:27,810 --> 00:12:30,690 along with almost everywhere else. 269 00:12:30,690 --> 00:12:33,300 The Third Crusade, led by among others 270 00:12:33,300 --> 00:12:35,310 Richard The Lionheart of England, 271 00:12:35,310 --> 00:12:38,490 recaptured the city in 1189. 272 00:12:38,490 --> 00:12:41,250 Jerusalem itself was never retaken, 273 00:12:41,250 --> 00:12:45,000 so Acre became the crusaders' new capital. 274 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,370 Much of the city as it appears today 275 00:12:47,370 --> 00:12:49,680 was rebuilt by the Ottoman Empire 276 00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:52,740 in the 16th and 17th centuries. 277 00:12:52,740 --> 00:12:55,413 But some parts remain from Crusader times. 278 00:12:56,490 --> 00:12:59,610 For a 100 years, Acre was the crusader kingdom's 279 00:12:59,610 --> 00:13:01,710 link to Western Europe. 280 00:13:01,710 --> 00:13:03,780 Most of its troops and supplies, 281 00:13:03,780 --> 00:13:06,903 not to mention pilgrims, entered the Holy Land here. 282 00:13:08,910 --> 00:13:12,960 For the military orders too, it was an important base. 283 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:15,903 Each of the main orders had a headquarters here. 284 00:13:16,860 --> 00:13:20,613 But Acre's value wasn't just as a military staging post. 285 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:24,603 Its sheltered harbor was ideal for merchant shipping. 286 00:13:26,250 --> 00:13:29,730 The orders each had their own trading interest, 287 00:13:29,730 --> 00:13:31,560 and they as much as the kingdom 288 00:13:31,560 --> 00:13:33,180 needed the revenue from this 289 00:13:33,180 --> 00:13:35,373 to keep alive their Holy War effort. 290 00:13:37,170 --> 00:13:40,170 In the 1990s, a discovery was made 291 00:13:40,170 --> 00:13:42,390 which offered a tantalizing insight 292 00:13:42,390 --> 00:13:44,343 into the military orders in Acre. 293 00:13:45,330 --> 00:13:48,480 Beneath the streets of the old crusader town, 294 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,570 developers found a large network of tunnels, 295 00:13:51,570 --> 00:13:53,043 their purpose unknown. 296 00:13:54,030 --> 00:13:57,573 They took time to explore, and even longer to unearth. 297 00:13:58,410 --> 00:14:00,963 The stonework was Crusader period. 298 00:14:02,100 --> 00:14:05,370 It wasn't until the layout of the tunnels was established 299 00:14:05,370 --> 00:14:08,133 that a clue was revealed as to who built them. 300 00:14:09,060 --> 00:14:12,120 - These are the famous Templar tunnels 301 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:14,820 running under a large part of the old city, 302 00:14:14,820 --> 00:14:19,820 from the harbor to where the Templars had their headquarters 303 00:14:22,950 --> 00:14:24,213 up the other end. 304 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:26,970 - [Narrator] Of all the military orders, 305 00:14:26,970 --> 00:14:30,573 the Templars attract more myths and rumors than any other. 306 00:14:31,530 --> 00:14:34,050 Stories emerged that the tunnels had been used 307 00:14:34,050 --> 00:14:38,040 for clandestine purposes or secret rituals. 308 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:40,860 Professional historians' theories about the tunnels 309 00:14:40,860 --> 00:14:43,140 might not be so sensational, 310 00:14:43,140 --> 00:14:45,450 but they're no less fascinating. 311 00:14:45,450 --> 00:14:47,370 - It seems much more likely to me 312 00:14:47,370 --> 00:14:49,740 that they were a very convenient way 313 00:14:49,740 --> 00:14:52,030 of bringing goods between the harbor 314 00:14:53,100 --> 00:14:55,980 to the main Templar center, 315 00:14:55,980 --> 00:14:58,890 and taking goods, indeed, people, 316 00:14:58,890 --> 00:15:01,980 animals, whatever you wanted to move very conveniently. 317 00:15:01,980 --> 00:15:03,660 It's a private road. 318 00:15:03,660 --> 00:15:05,820 But the fact that they were able to do this 319 00:15:05,820 --> 00:15:09,840 shows how wealthy and powerful they were. 320 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:13,110 - [Narrator] The tunnels extend for more than 300 meters, 321 00:15:13,110 --> 00:15:14,280 and they would've been wide enough 322 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:19,280 for supplies in large wagons, personnel, or even cavalry. 323 00:15:19,350 --> 00:15:22,410 In the last chaotic days of Crusader rule, 324 00:15:22,410 --> 00:15:24,810 the tunnels might've offered a refuge, 325 00:15:24,810 --> 00:15:27,180 or even an escape route. 326 00:15:27,180 --> 00:15:29,730 - I think there's every good reason to believe the stories 327 00:15:29,730 --> 00:15:34,730 that they were used at the last siege of Acre in 1291. 328 00:15:34,890 --> 00:15:38,490 A few people escaped down to the harbor through here. 329 00:15:38,490 --> 00:15:41,850 Because of course, above our heads in the old city, 330 00:15:41,850 --> 00:15:43,800 once the Mamlukes had broken in 331 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,710 and the city was going to fall, it would've been mayhem. 332 00:15:46,710 --> 00:15:48,990 Everybody trying to get down to the harbor 333 00:15:48,990 --> 00:15:53,220 to get aboard a ship to escape as best they could. 334 00:15:53,220 --> 00:15:55,380 People who had access to these tunnels 335 00:15:55,380 --> 00:15:57,180 were in a very, very lucky position. 336 00:15:57,180 --> 00:15:58,770 They could get down to the harbor. 337 00:15:58,770 --> 00:16:00,090 They probably had ships down there 338 00:16:00,090 --> 00:16:02,460 belonging to the Templars waiting for them. 339 00:16:02,460 --> 00:16:06,250 So this is a mark of prestige, these tunnels 340 00:16:09,540 --> 00:16:11,370 - [Narrator] When the Mamlukes besieged the city, 341 00:16:11,370 --> 00:16:13,620 the Hospitallers, as well as the Templars 342 00:16:13,620 --> 00:16:17,490 and other military orders were integral to its defense. 343 00:16:17,490 --> 00:16:21,150 They each had towers or points of the walls to defend. 344 00:16:21,150 --> 00:16:23,850 One by one, they were defeated. 345 00:16:23,850 --> 00:16:27,240 The Crusader city was mostly destroyed. 346 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:29,970 The Templars castle was the last to fall, 347 00:16:29,970 --> 00:16:31,293 and it was obliterated. 348 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:36,153 Most of the others too were gone, but one remained. 349 00:16:37,050 --> 00:16:40,290 Near the harbor, and like the Templar tunnel, 350 00:16:40,290 --> 00:16:43,920 much of it was buried under tons of earth and ruble. 351 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:46,623 The sea had flooded and silted much of it. 352 00:16:48,033 --> 00:16:50,880 In the 1990s, Israeli archeologists 353 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:53,160 dug their way through this infill 354 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:54,843 to explore what lab beneath. 355 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:57,933 What they found astonished them. 356 00:16:58,950 --> 00:17:02,490 Incredibly, it was the castle of the Hospitallers, 357 00:17:02,490 --> 00:17:04,292 preserved almost intact. 358 00:17:05,310 --> 00:17:08,460 No one suspected so much of the medieval building 359 00:17:08,460 --> 00:17:09,483 still survived. 360 00:17:11,190 --> 00:17:13,770 Much of the complex was buried and built over 361 00:17:13,770 --> 00:17:15,303 after the Crusader period. 362 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:18,420 Archeologists were faced with the challenge 363 00:17:18,420 --> 00:17:21,242 of removing the rubble and earth room by room. 364 00:17:22,530 --> 00:17:24,930 It's a task that British archeologist 365 00:17:24,930 --> 00:17:27,390 Tim Sutherland can appreciate. 366 00:17:27,390 --> 00:17:30,150 - In recent years when this castle was reconstructed 367 00:17:30,150 --> 00:17:32,700 and made safe again basically, 368 00:17:32,700 --> 00:17:35,310 they emptied out all the rooms of all the rubble 369 00:17:35,310 --> 00:17:38,100 that have accumulated over well, centuries. 370 00:17:38,100 --> 00:17:42,630 And there was also sort of blocks and dust and dirt. 371 00:17:42,630 --> 00:17:45,570 They systematically cleaned out every room 372 00:17:45,570 --> 00:17:47,760 until we have what we see today. 373 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:50,010 Some of it is still in its original condition, 374 00:17:50,010 --> 00:17:51,690 and it's never been cleaned. 375 00:17:51,690 --> 00:17:54,450 So there are huge parts of this building 376 00:17:54,450 --> 00:17:57,450 that've got huge amounts of archeological rubble inside. 377 00:17:57,450 --> 00:17:59,610 It's pure archeology right in front of our eyes. 378 00:17:59,610 --> 00:18:02,070 You can see all the archeological layers 379 00:18:02,070 --> 00:18:04,770 as they've been deposited inside this big void. 380 00:18:04,770 --> 00:18:08,010 And you see the very broad brown band there 381 00:18:08,010 --> 00:18:09,660 with some big rocks in it, 382 00:18:09,660 --> 00:18:11,430 but also, you can see some finer layers 383 00:18:11,430 --> 00:18:13,350 tipped in completely the opposite direction. 384 00:18:13,350 --> 00:18:14,730 And what's happening, people are bringing in 385 00:18:14,730 --> 00:18:17,100 barrow loads of rubbish from elsewhere, 386 00:18:17,100 --> 00:18:19,320 and it just builds up and builds up over the centuries 387 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:21,540 until we've got this fantastic archeological 388 00:18:21,540 --> 00:18:22,990 display right in front of us. 389 00:18:24,180 --> 00:18:26,700 - [Narrator] The painstaking work enables us now 390 00:18:26,700 --> 00:18:28,890 to see the Hospitaller stronghold 391 00:18:28,890 --> 00:18:32,370 as it may have appeared at the height of the crusades. 392 00:18:32,370 --> 00:18:34,620 For a century, this was the Hospitallers' 393 00:18:34,620 --> 00:18:36,153 main base in the Holy Land. 394 00:18:37,230 --> 00:18:40,950 The enormous building conveys the power and wealth, 395 00:18:40,950 --> 00:18:43,290 not just of the crusader state, 396 00:18:43,290 --> 00:18:46,950 but the independent military order that built it. 397 00:18:46,950 --> 00:18:50,070 - We're now moving into the Hospitaller quarter. 398 00:18:50,070 --> 00:18:53,760 This is the part of the bustling medieval 399 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:58,170 city and port of Acre, which belongs to the Hospitallers. 400 00:18:58,170 --> 00:18:59,580 There are other parts of the town 401 00:18:59,580 --> 00:19:03,810 that belonged to the Italians or to the Templars. 402 00:19:03,810 --> 00:19:06,270 So each had their own area. 403 00:19:06,270 --> 00:19:08,070 - [Narrator] Medieval Acre must have been 404 00:19:08,070 --> 00:19:12,060 a cosmopolitan place where East met West. 405 00:19:12,060 --> 00:19:14,430 - And it's not just the Hospitallers here. 406 00:19:14,430 --> 00:19:18,480 You've got to remember that there's markets here, 407 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:20,010 there's buying and selling, 408 00:19:20,010 --> 00:19:21,840 there's men, women, children, 409 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,200 soldiers, merchants, animals, pack animals, 410 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,780 full of noise, full of life, full of smells, 411 00:19:27,780 --> 00:19:30,990 some of them very nice exotic spices from the orient, 412 00:19:30,990 --> 00:19:33,270 along with the silks and other valuable things 413 00:19:33,270 --> 00:19:34,890 that they're bringing from the east. 414 00:19:34,890 --> 00:19:36,360 - [Narrator] In all, the complex 415 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:40,320 is around 4,500 square meters. 416 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:42,180 The central open courtyard 417 00:19:42,180 --> 00:19:45,630 lay under three to four meters of rubble fill. 418 00:19:45,630 --> 00:19:49,110 There were many rooms and even large halls. 419 00:19:49,110 --> 00:19:52,110 - This wonderful space here, this hall, 420 00:19:52,110 --> 00:19:54,270 it's been identified as the refectory. 421 00:19:54,270 --> 00:19:57,210 That's where the Knights Hospitaller 422 00:19:57,210 --> 00:19:58,680 would've had their communal meals. 423 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:00,360 And of course, the communal life 424 00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:04,203 is absolutely central to their ethos, 425 00:20:05,220 --> 00:20:07,140 the building of a team, to be quite honest, 426 00:20:07,140 --> 00:20:10,320 because they developed this very strong sense 427 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:13,020 of brotherhood and identity, 428 00:20:13,020 --> 00:20:16,650 and the refectory and the communal meals 429 00:20:16,650 --> 00:20:18,870 would've contributed to that. 430 00:20:18,870 --> 00:20:20,880 You can imagine this place 431 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:22,920 would never have been entirely quiet. 432 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:27,180 There's always people coming and going, as there are today. 433 00:20:27,180 --> 00:20:28,410 - [Narrator] This was the focus 434 00:20:28,410 --> 00:20:30,660 for all the Hospitallers' fundraising efforts 435 00:20:30,660 --> 00:20:32,550 back in Western Europe, 436 00:20:32,550 --> 00:20:35,580 and the site of their new medical facility, 437 00:20:35,580 --> 00:20:39,030 remembering the original hospital in Jerusalem. 438 00:20:39,030 --> 00:20:41,670 Again, it was not just for Christians, 439 00:20:41,670 --> 00:20:44,673 but for all the poor sick of whatever religion. 440 00:20:45,630 --> 00:20:47,490 - In here, they would have their hospital, 441 00:20:47,490 --> 00:20:51,540 which is quite a structure by this time. 442 00:20:51,540 --> 00:20:54,150 The sounds from the city outside, 443 00:20:54,150 --> 00:20:57,420 perhaps chanting and prayers from the chapel, 444 00:20:57,420 --> 00:20:58,950 church bells and all the rest of it. 445 00:20:58,950 --> 00:21:01,383 This is never going to be a silent place. 446 00:21:02,490 --> 00:21:07,490 And in its strange religious way, very clearly military. 447 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:11,073 These were serious guys. 448 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:15,420 - [Narrator] In the medieval world, 449 00:21:15,420 --> 00:21:17,160 especially in the Middle East, 450 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:21,240 one of the most feared aspects of life was disease. 451 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:25,080 With so many people living together, including the sick, 452 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:26,700 the Hospitallers understood 453 00:21:26,700 --> 00:21:29,370 that hygiene had to be considered. 454 00:21:29,370 --> 00:21:32,460 You don't normally consider something so everyday 455 00:21:32,460 --> 00:21:35,190 when you look at a medieval castle in the Crusades. 456 00:21:35,190 --> 00:21:38,340 But here in Acre, the hospital latrine 457 00:21:38,340 --> 00:21:40,383 is nothing short of epic. 458 00:21:41,730 --> 00:21:43,290 - It's quite a spectacular building, really. 459 00:21:43,290 --> 00:21:45,870 'Cause not only are we in a huge vaulted hall, 460 00:21:45,870 --> 00:21:49,650 but we're in a multiple latrine building basically. 461 00:21:49,650 --> 00:21:54,120 So about 40 people could have used this at any one time. 462 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:55,743 And we're talking about a big place out there 463 00:21:55,743 --> 00:21:57,750 that would've been full of hundreds of people. 464 00:21:57,750 --> 00:21:59,006 So there would've been a lot of people 465 00:21:59,006 --> 00:22:00,570 who needed to got the toilet. 466 00:22:00,570 --> 00:22:03,840 - [Narrator] Microbiology was still centuries ahead, 467 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:08,340 but people knew enough to realize that human waste, if left 468 00:22:08,340 --> 00:22:10,110 could become a problem. 469 00:22:10,110 --> 00:22:11,820 The design of the huge latrine 470 00:22:11,820 --> 00:22:14,610 was ingenious in dealing with this. 471 00:22:14,610 --> 00:22:17,070 - So engineering wise, it's quite an interesting structure, 472 00:22:17,070 --> 00:22:19,170 because the whole room slopes. 473 00:22:19,170 --> 00:22:21,270 So everything slopes down towards us here, 474 00:22:21,270 --> 00:22:24,720 and below the seats, on basically open pipes 475 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:25,980 down into the room below. 476 00:22:25,980 --> 00:22:27,300 So everybody would be sitting here, 477 00:22:27,300 --> 00:22:29,580 and the below us there's a massive vaulted room, 478 00:22:29,580 --> 00:22:31,740 and all this human waste would've gone 479 00:22:31,740 --> 00:22:34,380 straight down into this massive reservoir, 480 00:22:34,380 --> 00:22:36,480 and in there, would've been everything 481 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:38,310 that went through these holes. 482 00:22:38,310 --> 00:22:40,020 Now, not only is there human waste, 483 00:22:40,020 --> 00:22:42,270 but it's everything that gets dropped down there, 484 00:22:42,270 --> 00:22:43,590 just like today in the equivalent 485 00:22:43,590 --> 00:22:45,420 of mobile phones or whatever, 486 00:22:45,420 --> 00:22:47,640 everything would've dropped into this hole, 487 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:49,860 and you're certainly not going to go and get it back, 488 00:22:49,860 --> 00:22:53,520 because it's a massive room full of human waste. 489 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:55,290 So if it went down there, you'd leave it there 490 00:22:55,290 --> 00:22:57,870 until the people went to clear it all out 491 00:22:57,870 --> 00:23:00,780 and put it on the field, or whatever they did with it. 492 00:23:00,780 --> 00:23:02,580 - [Narrator] But beyond personal artifacts 493 00:23:02,580 --> 00:23:05,670 that might have been lost, archeologists realized 494 00:23:05,670 --> 00:23:08,310 that there was a unique possibility here. 495 00:23:08,310 --> 00:23:10,740 The material inside the buried latrine 496 00:23:10,740 --> 00:23:13,170 had not been moved for centuries. 497 00:23:13,170 --> 00:23:16,290 The thought of excavating through layers of human waste 498 00:23:16,290 --> 00:23:17,760 isn't for everyone, 499 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:21,270 but the results were to provide incredible insight 500 00:23:21,270 --> 00:23:24,480 into the lives of the medieval people who lived here. 501 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,520 Pierce Mitchell is a practicing medical doctor, 502 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:33,510 but he's also a leading expert in paleo pathology. 503 00:23:33,510 --> 00:23:35,700 He doesn't only study the material 504 00:23:35,700 --> 00:23:39,780 that archeologists recover, the artifacts and bones, 505 00:23:39,780 --> 00:23:42,150 but the evidence of microorganisms, 506 00:23:42,150 --> 00:23:44,553 the bacteria preserved within them. 507 00:23:46,500 --> 00:23:49,110 When Piers heard of the excavations at Acre, 508 00:23:49,110 --> 00:23:50,970 he lent his expertise. 509 00:23:50,970 --> 00:23:54,240 It was rare to find a medieval latrine of this size 510 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:56,190 that had been so well preserved 511 00:23:56,190 --> 00:23:58,620 along with the material beneath it. 512 00:23:58,620 --> 00:24:02,490 - So we studied the soil that collected in the cictern 513 00:24:02,490 --> 00:24:05,583 underneath the latrines there, 514 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,600 and the first thing we did was to look for 515 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,990 the evidence of infectious diseases. 516 00:24:12,990 --> 00:24:15,690 - [Narrator] Piers and his team were looking for evidence 517 00:24:15,690 --> 00:24:18,510 of intestinal parasitic worms. 518 00:24:18,510 --> 00:24:21,360 These lived in some of the food the crusaders ate 519 00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:24,843 and digested, before coming to rest down in the latrine. 520 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:27,330 One of the reasons parasites 521 00:24:27,330 --> 00:24:30,300 are so good at spreading between humans 522 00:24:30,300 --> 00:24:33,123 is the survivability of their eggs. 523 00:24:33,990 --> 00:24:36,480 - They have these tough walls around the eggs 524 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:38,310 that allows them to be preserved 525 00:24:38,310 --> 00:24:40,740 for hundreds and often thousands of years. 526 00:24:40,740 --> 00:24:43,290 So they die after a year or two in the soil 527 00:24:43,290 --> 00:24:44,670 and become non-viable, 528 00:24:44,670 --> 00:24:47,100 but we can look at them down the microscope 529 00:24:47,100 --> 00:24:48,960 and identify the species of worms 530 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,420 that were present in the people using the toilets, 531 00:24:51,420 --> 00:24:53,850 because most species have different shaped eggs 532 00:24:53,850 --> 00:24:55,620 and different sized eggs. 533 00:24:55,620 --> 00:24:58,290 - [Narrator] What Piers found opened up a fascinating 534 00:24:58,290 --> 00:25:00,390 but thought provoking window 535 00:25:00,390 --> 00:25:03,420 into the everyday life of the medieval people here. 536 00:25:03,420 --> 00:25:07,530 - We saw many eggs from roundworm and whipworm. 537 00:25:07,530 --> 00:25:10,560 These are parasitic worms that live in your intestines 538 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:14,760 that are spread by feces contaminating your food or water. 539 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:17,070 So generally, if you're not washing your hands 540 00:25:17,070 --> 00:25:21,210 and if you're not cooking your food properly and so on, 541 00:25:21,210 --> 00:25:24,120 you can get reinfected with roundworm and whipworm. 542 00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:26,250 We also found the eggs of fish tape worm, 543 00:25:26,250 --> 00:25:28,410 which is a parasite that's much more common 544 00:25:28,410 --> 00:25:29,580 in northern Europe. 545 00:25:29,580 --> 00:25:32,550 So it may well represent northern Europeans 546 00:25:32,550 --> 00:25:34,110 who came to the Holy Land 547 00:25:34,110 --> 00:25:37,170 and then used the latrines in Acre. 548 00:25:37,170 --> 00:25:38,880 - [Narrator] Fish would've been a major part 549 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:40,410 of the diet of many people 550 00:25:40,410 --> 00:25:42,483 here along the Holy Land's coastline. 551 00:25:43,410 --> 00:25:45,570 - Fish tapeworm is contracted 552 00:25:45,570 --> 00:25:48,870 by eating raw or undercooked fish. 553 00:25:48,870 --> 00:25:50,490 And in Northern Europe in the medieval period, 554 00:25:50,490 --> 00:25:52,860 it was common to have raw fish or smoked fish, 555 00:25:52,860 --> 00:25:54,537 pickled fish, salted fish and so on, 556 00:25:54,537 --> 00:25:56,910 and not necessarily cook it. 557 00:25:56,910 --> 00:25:59,040 And this would lead to a very long tapeworm, 558 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:00,030 over 20 feet long. 559 00:26:00,030 --> 00:26:03,180 It would spiral around the insides of your intestines, 560 00:26:03,180 --> 00:26:07,020 and then they would release eggs into the feces. 561 00:26:07,020 --> 00:26:09,570 And then if you went to the toilet 562 00:26:09,570 --> 00:26:11,880 by a lake where there were fresh water fish, 563 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:14,220 then you can then restart the lifecycle 564 00:26:14,220 --> 00:26:16,650 so that someone who then eats fish from that lake 565 00:26:16,650 --> 00:26:18,063 can get infected themselves. 566 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,290 - [Narrator] Parasites like these, along with dysentery, 567 00:26:22,290 --> 00:26:24,570 must have been a part of day-to-day life 568 00:26:24,570 --> 00:26:27,513 for most people in Acre, crusaders or otherwise. 569 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:32,340 All the military orders had to be able 570 00:26:32,340 --> 00:26:34,560 to care for their battle wounded. 571 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:37,140 Despite their name, the Hospitaller were probably 572 00:26:37,140 --> 00:26:39,540 no more skilled at this than the Templars, 573 00:26:39,540 --> 00:26:41,133 Teutonic Knights or others. 574 00:26:42,060 --> 00:26:44,910 Like the Templars, the Hospitallers operated 575 00:26:44,910 --> 00:26:49,260 houses or convents in countries across Western Europe, 576 00:26:49,260 --> 00:26:52,230 although somehow, their presence may have been regarded 577 00:26:52,230 --> 00:26:54,423 as more benign than their fellow order. 578 00:26:55,710 --> 00:26:58,440 - There were Hospitallers everywhere in Western Europe 579 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:00,300 in the 13th century. 580 00:27:00,300 --> 00:27:03,270 The St. Alban's monk, Matthew Paris, 581 00:27:03,270 --> 00:27:06,060 who wrote about everything in Europe in the 13th century, 582 00:27:06,060 --> 00:27:09,360 said that they had far more manners than the Templars did. 583 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:10,860 - [Narrator] People were not always sure 584 00:27:10,860 --> 00:27:13,920 whose best interest the Templars served, 585 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:15,783 their own, it was suspected. 586 00:27:16,980 --> 00:27:20,730 By the early 14th century and their dissolution, 587 00:27:20,730 --> 00:27:23,943 all the Templars' vast estates and castles were forfeit. 588 00:27:24,810 --> 00:27:28,110 It was decreed by the Pope that their properties and lands 589 00:27:28,110 --> 00:27:30,030 across Europe and beyond 590 00:27:30,030 --> 00:27:32,392 should be given to the Hospitallers. 591 00:27:32,392 --> 00:27:35,670 But this wasn't always straightforward in some countries, 592 00:27:35,670 --> 00:27:37,710 including England. 593 00:27:37,710 --> 00:27:40,230 - The handover from the Templars to the Hospitallers 594 00:27:40,230 --> 00:27:41,553 was not tidy. 595 00:27:42,420 --> 00:27:44,040 The King of England, it would appear, 596 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:46,260 had wanted to keep those lands. 597 00:27:46,260 --> 00:27:47,610 - [Narrator] King Edward II 598 00:27:47,610 --> 00:27:49,800 resisted for as long as he could, 599 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:53,700 but even a king couldn't defy a papal decree. 600 00:27:53,700 --> 00:27:54,720 - When the king had discovered 601 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:56,850 he was going to have to give the Hospitallers something, 602 00:27:56,850 --> 00:27:58,890 he had instructed his keepers, 603 00:27:58,890 --> 00:28:00,810 the sheriffs or their appointees, 604 00:28:00,810 --> 00:28:03,870 to clear everything out from the Templars lands that moved, 605 00:28:03,870 --> 00:28:05,130 and a few things that didn't. 606 00:28:05,130 --> 00:28:07,410 So all the cattle went, the sheep, 607 00:28:07,410 --> 00:28:10,110 all the stock, all the grain. 608 00:28:10,110 --> 00:28:12,810 Everything growing in the fields, take it. 609 00:28:12,810 --> 00:28:14,910 Anything that's useful, just move it. 610 00:28:14,910 --> 00:28:16,860 So the Hospitallers walked into shells, 611 00:28:18,060 --> 00:28:19,343 buildings that have been allowed to fall down 612 00:28:19,343 --> 00:28:21,840 or that things have been removed from. 613 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:24,570 - [Narrator] Nevertheless, one former Templar property 614 00:28:24,570 --> 00:28:27,120 the Hospitallers did eventually receive 615 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:30,543 was the huge estate in southern England at Crescent. 616 00:28:31,620 --> 00:28:34,230 By the 1380s, the order was holding 617 00:28:34,230 --> 00:28:36,213 its general chapter meetings here, 618 00:28:37,108 --> 00:28:41,100 and the enormous storage barns were collecting cash crops 619 00:28:41,100 --> 00:28:43,890 for the order's own economic interests, 620 00:28:43,890 --> 00:28:45,333 not the King of England's. 621 00:28:46,500 --> 00:28:48,000 In England today, 622 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,150 few other Hospitaller buildings now survive, 623 00:28:51,150 --> 00:28:53,373 at least as they appeared in medieval times. 624 00:28:55,020 --> 00:28:56,460 In central England, 625 00:28:56,460 --> 00:28:59,973 in the small village of Barrow Upon Trent, there is one. 626 00:29:01,230 --> 00:29:05,310 It may once have been known as St. Helen's or St Luke's, 627 00:29:05,310 --> 00:29:09,960 but from the mid 11000, it's been St. Wilfred's. 628 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:14,040 - The church is built on a promontory in the Trent Valley, 629 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:16,710 and at the time of its building, 630 00:29:16,710 --> 00:29:19,410 it would've been the most important building in the area. 631 00:29:19,410 --> 00:29:21,570 It would've been seen from miles around. 632 00:29:21,570 --> 00:29:24,180 You could imagine that you were back in medieval times 633 00:29:24,180 --> 00:29:25,650 looking out from the church door. 634 00:29:25,650 --> 00:29:27,390 And we have a gargoyle. 635 00:29:27,390 --> 00:29:30,210 Very eroded, very faded. 636 00:29:30,210 --> 00:29:33,390 But I always imagine he must have seen so many things 637 00:29:33,390 --> 00:29:36,360 since he was put up there in the early medieval times. 638 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:38,860 It would've been so interesting to hear his story. 639 00:29:39,810 --> 00:29:41,640 - [Narrator] On any historic site, 640 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:45,390 archeologists have to try and understand stratigraphy, 641 00:29:45,390 --> 00:29:48,150 layers of evidence of human activity 642 00:29:48,150 --> 00:29:50,673 beneath or above the surface. 643 00:29:51,900 --> 00:29:54,450 - As an archeologist, people normally consider 644 00:29:54,450 --> 00:29:56,400 what we do is just all under the ground. 645 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:58,890 But the nice thing about an old historic building 646 00:29:58,890 --> 00:30:01,290 is that it's actually above the ground, 647 00:30:01,290 --> 00:30:02,970 and it's the same sort of stratigraphy. 648 00:30:02,970 --> 00:30:05,760 Obviously the later things are usually on the top, 649 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:09,270 but a building incorporates so many different aspects 650 00:30:09,270 --> 00:30:11,460 in terms of the walls and the structure and the roof, 651 00:30:11,460 --> 00:30:12,460 and even the floors. 652 00:30:15,630 --> 00:30:19,230 - The church was built, we think, in Anglo-Saxon times, 653 00:30:19,230 --> 00:30:21,750 and we know it was given to the Knights Hospitallers, 654 00:30:21,750 --> 00:30:26,750 and it's been left as purely a little rural country church 655 00:30:27,180 --> 00:30:28,203 since that time. 656 00:30:29,220 --> 00:30:31,170 - [Narrator] St. Wilfred's has some clues 657 00:30:31,170 --> 00:30:33,210 about its medieval past. 658 00:30:33,210 --> 00:30:35,973 Tim has come to see some of these for himself. 659 00:30:37,230 --> 00:30:38,550 - I think the first thing you think of 660 00:30:38,550 --> 00:30:41,460 when you walk into a historic building like this is, 661 00:30:41,460 --> 00:30:43,980 you literally, you open the door, you get the creaking noise 662 00:30:43,980 --> 00:30:45,473 and then it all opens up in front of you, 663 00:30:45,473 --> 00:30:47,910 and you never know quite what you're gonna get 664 00:30:47,910 --> 00:30:51,030 because every single church is different. 665 00:30:51,030 --> 00:30:52,140 - [Narrator] At one time, 666 00:30:52,140 --> 00:30:55,500 this would've been the heart of the medieval village. 667 00:30:55,500 --> 00:30:58,200 - It was originally the main building in the village. 668 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:00,240 It was built as a stronghold, 669 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:02,100 as a place for people to have markets. 670 00:31:02,100 --> 00:31:03,900 It was where they would have some sanctuary 671 00:31:03,900 --> 00:31:07,140 if there were any enemies around. 672 00:31:07,140 --> 00:31:10,320 - [Narrator] It seems an echo of those turbulent times 673 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:12,270 may still remain. 674 00:31:12,270 --> 00:31:13,740 - One of the things I noticed 675 00:31:13,740 --> 00:31:15,780 as soon as I'm walking through the porch is, 676 00:31:15,780 --> 00:31:17,550 and it's quite common, 677 00:31:17,550 --> 00:31:21,450 there are lots of little grooves carved in the walls. 678 00:31:21,450 --> 00:31:23,010 - [Narrator] They're similar to markings found 679 00:31:23,010 --> 00:31:25,380 on some other churches in Britain. 680 00:31:25,380 --> 00:31:28,050 No one really knows what they are, 681 00:31:28,050 --> 00:31:30,660 but there's a theory that might explain them. 682 00:31:30,660 --> 00:31:32,130 - When you consider that the Hospitallers 683 00:31:32,130 --> 00:31:33,450 were a military order, 684 00:31:33,450 --> 00:31:35,430 we would assume that there would've been 685 00:31:35,430 --> 00:31:39,720 always some sort of military presence around the area, 686 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:40,890 just by who they were. 687 00:31:40,890 --> 00:31:43,440 It does look like somebody's been sharpening 688 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:45,783 blades and weapons. 689 00:31:46,650 --> 00:31:48,600 And sometimes you wonder whether this is 690 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:50,850 to impart religious protection 691 00:31:50,850 --> 00:31:53,520 onto the implement they're about to use. 692 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:55,350 So are they about to go to war, 693 00:31:55,350 --> 00:31:57,420 and they bring their knife or their blade 694 00:31:57,420 --> 00:32:00,000 or their weapon, sword to the church, 695 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:02,130 and then just hone it down a little bit 696 00:32:02,130 --> 00:32:04,650 just before they head off somewhere, 697 00:32:04,650 --> 00:32:06,450 and psychologically, 698 00:32:06,450 --> 00:32:09,600 that may be a little bit more protection for them. 699 00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:12,750 - [Narrator] The Victorians added a pulpit and pews, 700 00:32:12,750 --> 00:32:15,090 but some of the features and carvings 701 00:32:15,090 --> 00:32:18,300 are as they would've been in Hospitaller times. 702 00:32:18,300 --> 00:32:20,610 - The church itself is full of little treasures 703 00:32:20,610 --> 00:32:22,800 that we found over the years. 704 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:25,140 I think the biggest one is probably our effigy, 705 00:32:25,140 --> 00:32:28,723 which is an early, very early 13000, 1340s 706 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:33,150 alabaster effigy of a priest. 707 00:32:33,150 --> 00:32:35,430 It may be a man called John de Belton 708 00:32:35,430 --> 00:32:37,950 who came down from Craik in Durham 709 00:32:37,950 --> 00:32:41,370 to help the hospitalists to develop the church. 710 00:32:41,370 --> 00:32:42,900 We have lots of grave slabs 711 00:32:42,900 --> 00:32:46,650 with the Knights Hospitaller grave markings on them. 712 00:32:46,650 --> 00:32:49,680 - [Narrator] Ann Heathcote and the friends of St. Wilfred's 713 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:53,400 plan to return the church to its original open plan, 714 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:56,400 removing some of the Victorian features. 715 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:58,230 So it will soon, once more become 716 00:32:58,230 --> 00:33:01,440 the central meeting place and heart of the village, 717 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:03,900 just as it was in Hospitaller times. 718 00:33:03,900 --> 00:33:06,660 - What we want to do is to reclaim it 719 00:33:06,660 --> 00:33:09,690 as our community building for the whole of the village, 720 00:33:09,690 --> 00:33:11,760 and for the whole of this area, 721 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:13,863 and anyone else who wants to use it. 722 00:33:14,700 --> 00:33:17,730 - [Narrator] But one intriguing feature will be preserved, 723 00:33:17,730 --> 00:33:21,630 a small hand-drawn image of a medieval warrior 724 00:33:21,630 --> 00:33:24,693 and the shield of the Knights Hospitaller. 725 00:33:24,693 --> 00:33:27,993 Some people have suggested it's Victorian graffiti. 726 00:33:29,190 --> 00:33:32,070 - The drawing which is near to the effigy 727 00:33:32,070 --> 00:33:37,070 appears to show an early medieval knight in armor. 728 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:42,720 I am told it's original, but it is intriguing. 729 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:44,880 - This is one of the real gems of the church, 730 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:49,140 and it would be nice to think that this is original. 731 00:33:49,140 --> 00:33:52,170 It does look like a 14th century knight. 732 00:33:52,170 --> 00:33:55,350 It's got the correct helmet, it's got the right spear, 733 00:33:55,350 --> 00:33:56,850 it's got the right outfit, 734 00:33:56,850 --> 00:33:58,830 and also, it's got what appears to be 735 00:33:58,830 --> 00:34:00,240 a Hospitaller cross on the shield. 736 00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:02,640 So this is just one of the other conundrums 737 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:04,110 that's typical of this church. 738 00:34:04,110 --> 00:34:06,000 There's so many questions you can ask. 739 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:07,170 And I love these things. 740 00:34:07,170 --> 00:34:08,400 I think they're fantastic. 741 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:10,380 And somebody's had to go at copying them. 742 00:34:10,380 --> 00:34:12,150 Obviously, these are in pencil 743 00:34:12,150 --> 00:34:13,320 and they're nowhere near as good, 744 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:15,210 even though they're relatively modern. 745 00:34:15,210 --> 00:34:18,929 So this is the interesting aspect of it. 746 00:34:18,929 --> 00:34:20,760 Is this original, 747 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,040 is it showing a knight's contemporary 748 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:26,610 with this part of the church, this phase of the church, 749 00:34:26,610 --> 00:34:29,973 and in which case, who was it and what's it represent? 750 00:34:31,110 --> 00:34:32,699 - [Narrator] Of all the medical ailments 751 00:34:32,699 --> 00:34:35,850 the Hospitallers had to deal with in communities, 752 00:34:35,850 --> 00:34:39,000 one carried more dread than almost any other. 753 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:42,090 - Leprosy is certainly a disease which is feared, 754 00:34:42,090 --> 00:34:45,239 and it's a disease which cannot be cured. 755 00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:46,380 And to that extent, 756 00:34:46,380 --> 00:34:49,920 it is one that inspires terror in many people. 757 00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:52,560 - [Narrator] Leprosy was among the worst healthcare problems 758 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:56,460 in the Holy Land and Europe throughout the crusader period. 759 00:34:56,460 --> 00:34:59,340 And yet, in an age rife with disease, 760 00:34:59,340 --> 00:35:01,800 it was not even the deadliest. 761 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:03,030 - There were many other diseases 762 00:35:03,030 --> 00:35:05,280 that were much more likely to kill you. 763 00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:08,400 So it'll be much worse to have tuberculosis 764 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:09,352 than to have leprosy, 765 00:35:09,352 --> 00:35:12,210 and they are very similar bacterial organisms. 766 00:35:12,210 --> 00:35:14,100 Leprosy doesn't normally kill you, 767 00:35:14,100 --> 00:35:17,190 whereas tuberculosis is very good at doing that. 768 00:35:17,190 --> 00:35:19,500 - It was more how leprosy seemed to attack 769 00:35:19,500 --> 00:35:24,150 the things that made us human, outwardly at least. 770 00:35:24,150 --> 00:35:26,430 - Because leprosy affects your face 771 00:35:26,430 --> 00:35:28,560 in a significant proportion of people, 772 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:30,630 and it can make you go blind, 773 00:35:30,630 --> 00:35:34,410 it can cause ulcers and cause numbness 774 00:35:34,410 --> 00:35:39,180 in the hands and the feet, leading to difficulty mobilizing, 775 00:35:39,180 --> 00:35:42,150 all these things mean that it was a very chronic 776 00:35:42,150 --> 00:35:45,270 and socially debilitating disease. 777 00:35:45,270 --> 00:35:47,700 - [Narrator] The social consequences of leprosy 778 00:35:47,700 --> 00:35:50,850 are still prevalent in society today. 779 00:35:50,850 --> 00:35:53,670 It's now known as Hansen's disease, 780 00:35:53,670 --> 00:35:57,810 and it's treated relatively simply with antibiotics. 781 00:35:57,810 --> 00:36:01,500 But in medieval times, it was barely understood. 782 00:36:01,500 --> 00:36:03,390 - So by the time you get to the late 783 00:36:03,390 --> 00:36:07,650 13th and 14th centuries, people have a pretty good idea 784 00:36:07,650 --> 00:36:11,370 of what we today would call Hansen's disease. 785 00:36:11,370 --> 00:36:14,583 Whereas in the past, before that time, 786 00:36:15,510 --> 00:36:17,400 it might have been very, very hard 787 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:20,160 actually to distinguish someone, say with leprosy 788 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:23,370 from a really bad case of say, psoriasis, 789 00:36:23,370 --> 00:36:26,130 skin cancer, or other problems. 790 00:36:26,130 --> 00:36:29,190 - [Narrator] In a society before microbiology, 791 00:36:29,190 --> 00:36:32,310 people sought other explanations for the disease. 792 00:36:32,310 --> 00:36:35,670 - There are different views in medieval Europe, 793 00:36:35,670 --> 00:36:38,430 expressed at different times and in different places, 794 00:36:38,430 --> 00:36:40,140 about leprosy. 795 00:36:40,140 --> 00:36:43,110 But some religious views about leprosy 796 00:36:43,110 --> 00:36:47,880 explained the punishment of the facial disfiguration 797 00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:51,510 as a gift from God, as a way of atoning for your sins 798 00:36:51,510 --> 00:36:53,040 while you were still alive 799 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:55,860 so that you could then go straight to heaven when you died, 800 00:36:55,860 --> 00:36:58,980 instead of having to atone for your sins after death 801 00:36:58,980 --> 00:37:00,930 with a concept of purgatory, 802 00:37:00,930 --> 00:37:03,183 which was developing in the medieval period. 803 00:37:04,110 --> 00:37:07,500 - [Narrator] The Bible told the story of the humble Lazarus 804 00:37:07,500 --> 00:37:09,720 who suffered terribly in life, 805 00:37:09,720 --> 00:37:12,960 but who was then rewarded instantly in heaven, 806 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:17,400 whereas his tormentor, Dives, was condemned to purgatory. 807 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:20,340 The parallel between Lazarus and Christ 808 00:37:20,340 --> 00:37:23,040 was clear to the medieval church. 809 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:26,580 - Medieval society places enormous emphasis 810 00:37:26,580 --> 00:37:31,530 on caring for the leper, because the leper is like Christ, 811 00:37:31,530 --> 00:37:35,460 the leper is a member of the body of Christ. 812 00:37:35,460 --> 00:37:37,623 And if you don't care for that individual, 813 00:37:38,610 --> 00:37:41,520 as Dives failed to care for Lazarus, 814 00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:44,610 then you yourself are going to be condemned 815 00:37:44,610 --> 00:37:47,790 to a long period in purgatory, or even hell. 816 00:37:47,790 --> 00:37:52,790 So caring for the leper has a spiritual dimension, 817 00:37:52,950 --> 00:37:55,230 and people found leper hospitals 818 00:37:55,230 --> 00:37:57,903 with this concept at the back of their mind. 819 00:37:59,100 --> 00:38:01,350 - [Narrator] There'd been a hospital or leprosarium 820 00:38:01,350 --> 00:38:04,650 outside Jerusalem since the 11th century, 821 00:38:04,650 --> 00:38:08,370 and in the 12th, the Order of St. Lazarus was set up 822 00:38:08,370 --> 00:38:11,610 dedicated to the care of people with leprosy. 823 00:38:11,610 --> 00:38:14,190 Many of its brothers, but not all, 824 00:38:14,190 --> 00:38:17,280 were often sufferers of the disease themselves. 825 00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:20,130 And like the Hospitallers and Templars, 826 00:38:20,130 --> 00:38:22,590 the Knights of Lazarus took their place 827 00:38:22,590 --> 00:38:25,080 on the battlefields of the Holy Land. 828 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:28,590 - Because of the very nature of their condition, 829 00:38:28,590 --> 00:38:30,090 they were pretty fearless people, 830 00:38:30,090 --> 00:38:32,220 and in several battles, they all got wiped out. 831 00:38:32,220 --> 00:38:35,190 Because they thought, what could possibly be better 832 00:38:35,190 --> 00:38:37,380 than fighting a Holy War? 833 00:38:37,380 --> 00:38:39,450 I don't have to think about my own life. 834 00:38:39,450 --> 00:38:41,460 I can fight until they kill me. 835 00:38:41,460 --> 00:38:45,930 And so, there was a time when there were very few people 836 00:38:45,930 --> 00:38:48,540 in the Order of St. Lazarus left who had leprosy. 837 00:38:48,540 --> 00:38:50,880 So people from Europe who didn't have leprosy 838 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:53,070 started joining the Order of St. Lazarus 839 00:38:53,070 --> 00:38:56,970 as a sign of tremendous piety. 840 00:38:56,970 --> 00:39:01,920 So it was regarded as even more spiritually intense. 841 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:04,890 - [Narrator] The late 13th century was a fateful time 842 00:39:04,890 --> 00:39:06,513 for all the military orders. 843 00:39:07,718 --> 00:39:11,370 In 1291, the Mamluk armies took Acre, 844 00:39:11,370 --> 00:39:14,223 and the Holy Land fell back under Muslim control. 845 00:39:15,300 --> 00:39:18,030 Never again did Christian crusaders return 846 00:39:18,030 --> 00:39:19,863 to try to recapture Jerusalem, 847 00:39:20,790 --> 00:39:23,310 nor did any of the military orders. 848 00:39:23,310 --> 00:39:25,530 - 1291 was a disaster for the military orders 849 00:39:25,530 --> 00:39:28,440 because that was their vocation and they lost it, 850 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:30,660 and also the shock that they'd been fighting for God 851 00:39:30,660 --> 00:39:31,760 and yet they had lost. 852 00:39:33,090 --> 00:39:34,680 So is that because we're sinners? 853 00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:36,990 It's because the West didn't support us? 854 00:39:36,990 --> 00:39:39,240 - [Narrator] The Hospitallers and the other military orders 855 00:39:39,240 --> 00:39:42,450 were forced to consider how to adapt and decide 856 00:39:42,450 --> 00:39:46,200 where next to wage their Holy War in Christ's name. 857 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:48,540 Some, like the Teutonic Knights, 858 00:39:48,540 --> 00:39:51,690 took an entirely different direction northwards 859 00:39:51,690 --> 00:39:55,560 to battle against the pagans of Prussia and Lithuania. 860 00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:58,020 The Hospitallers though realized they needed 861 00:39:58,020 --> 00:39:59,910 security and independence 862 00:39:59,910 --> 00:40:02,820 from a host kingdom which Mike turned the tables on them, 863 00:40:02,820 --> 00:40:05,010 just as the Templars had been undone 864 00:40:05,010 --> 00:40:07,383 by the French monarchy decades before. 865 00:40:08,820 --> 00:40:11,370 A large island in the Aegean Sea 866 00:40:11,370 --> 00:40:13,620 was to provide that independence. 867 00:40:13,620 --> 00:40:16,863 In 1310, the Hospitallers captured Rhodes. 868 00:40:17,940 --> 00:40:20,640 To do this, they fought other Christians 869 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:23,340 of the Eastern Byzantine Church, 870 00:40:23,340 --> 00:40:26,610 but they justified their actions as being necessary 871 00:40:26,610 --> 00:40:29,373 in order to continue their fight against the Muslims. 872 00:40:30,390 --> 00:40:34,353 The order was to call Rhodes home for more than 200 years. 873 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:38,880 In 1480, they successfully withstood attack 874 00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:43,880 by an enormous Ottoman army of 160 ships and 70,000 men. 875 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:48,900 - Not only did they manage to defeat the attackers, 876 00:40:48,900 --> 00:40:50,520 they also managed to turn it 877 00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:53,130 into a fantastic propaganda victory, 878 00:40:53,130 --> 00:40:55,563 back in the rest of that in Christendom. 879 00:40:56,410 --> 00:40:57,720 - [Narrator] The Hospitallers circulated 880 00:40:57,720 --> 00:40:59,670 their own account of the siege, 881 00:40:59,670 --> 00:41:03,150 helped by new technology, printing. 882 00:41:03,150 --> 00:41:06,093 The victory helped to justify their ongoing role, 883 00:41:07,020 --> 00:41:10,410 and of course, keep the donations coming in. 884 00:41:10,410 --> 00:41:13,110 - Western Europe must have lapped up this account 885 00:41:13,110 --> 00:41:15,420 of what real knights could do, 886 00:41:15,420 --> 00:41:19,890 determined soldiers of God fighting against enormous odds 887 00:41:19,890 --> 00:41:21,603 and saving the city. 888 00:41:22,620 --> 00:41:23,943 This is perfect chivalry. 889 00:41:24,990 --> 00:41:26,580 - [Narrator] For a time at least, 890 00:41:26,580 --> 00:41:30,270 the specter of the loss of the Holy Land was laid. 891 00:41:30,270 --> 00:41:31,530 - It shows God's fighting force. 892 00:41:31,530 --> 00:41:33,270 Because of course, in 1291, 893 00:41:33,270 --> 00:41:35,190 it seemed that God wasn't fighting for them 894 00:41:35,190 --> 00:41:36,750 because they'd been defeated. 895 00:41:36,750 --> 00:41:38,850 Now they're saying God is fighting for us again. 896 00:41:38,850 --> 00:41:40,020 We are obviously doing the right thing. 897 00:41:40,020 --> 00:41:42,477 God is on our side this time. 898 00:41:42,477 --> 00:41:44,550 This time we're going to win. 899 00:41:44,550 --> 00:41:46,410 - [Narrator] The Order could bask in their victory 900 00:41:46,410 --> 00:41:48,330 for a few decades. 901 00:41:48,330 --> 00:41:52,200 But when the Ottoman armies came again in 1522, 902 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:55,000 the Order of St. John was not so blessed 903 00:41:55,920 --> 00:41:58,740 and it found itself homeless once more. 904 00:41:58,740 --> 00:42:01,710 Some organizations which exist today 905 00:42:01,710 --> 00:42:05,940 claim to have lineage back to the orders of the Crusades. 906 00:42:05,940 --> 00:42:07,560 - Some of the medical orders 907 00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:09,240 that were set up during the Crusades, 908 00:42:09,240 --> 00:42:10,440 such as the orders of St. John 909 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:11,940 and the Order of St. Lazarus 910 00:42:11,940 --> 00:42:14,520 have still kept on their medical role. 911 00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:16,830 There has been an eye hospital in Jerusalem 912 00:42:16,830 --> 00:42:19,083 run by the order of St. John for many years. 913 00:42:20,100 --> 00:42:24,690 The order of St. Lazarus has morphed and evolved over time, 914 00:42:24,690 --> 00:42:27,180 but they're still involved with the concept 915 00:42:27,180 --> 00:42:29,460 of caring for people with leprosy today. 916 00:42:29,460 --> 00:42:32,610 And so, you can see how some of these orders, 917 00:42:32,610 --> 00:42:34,470 for over eight centuries, 918 00:42:34,470 --> 00:42:37,410 have now continued the concept of medical care 919 00:42:37,410 --> 00:42:39,360 which they were originally set up to do 920 00:42:41,490 --> 00:42:43,110 - [Narrator] The most well-known descendants 921 00:42:43,110 --> 00:42:45,270 of the Hospitallers to this day 922 00:42:45,270 --> 00:42:48,903 maintains a vital healthcare role in Britain and Europe. 923 00:42:51,600 --> 00:42:55,830 - The St. John's Ambulance Brigade is rooted in, 924 00:42:55,830 --> 00:42:59,070 it is a descendant of the Hospitallers, 925 00:42:59,070 --> 00:43:00,840 the medieval Hospitallers. 926 00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:04,320 And in fact, as the modern 927 00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:07,590 St. John's Ambulance Brigade developed, 928 00:43:07,590 --> 00:43:10,170 I think it was quite a conscious decision 929 00:43:10,170 --> 00:43:15,170 to emphasize that the heraldry, the imagery 930 00:43:15,390 --> 00:43:18,930 which harked back to the medieval origins, 931 00:43:18,930 --> 00:43:21,900 it gives them one heck of a heritage. 932 00:43:21,900 --> 00:43:24,630 - The Hospitallers cared for the poor sick, 933 00:43:24,630 --> 00:43:26,940 they cared for people who needed to be cared for. 934 00:43:26,940 --> 00:43:27,807 They were there when they were needed, 935 00:43:27,807 --> 00:43:29,850 and they're still there when they're needed. 936 00:43:29,850 --> 00:43:33,600 So they do continue the tradition of the medieval order. 937 00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:36,350 (tranquil music) 938 00:43:42,298 --> 00:43:44,965 (rousing music)