1 00:00:00,011 --> 00:00:01,832 (rousing music) 2 00:00:01,832 --> 00:00:04,990 - [Narrator] In the Holy Land, a new kingdom 3 00:00:04,990 --> 00:00:06,763 built by crusaders, 4 00:00:09,100 --> 00:00:11,593 devout servants of the Holy State, 5 00:00:13,630 --> 00:00:16,873 a life of prayer lived by a solemn rule, 6 00:00:19,195 --> 00:00:22,403 the white cross, the black and the red. 7 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,813 New orders, of the cross, and also the sword. 8 00:00:30,220 --> 00:00:32,947 - They might've been called the Hospitallers, 9 00:00:32,947 --> 00:00:37,024 but these were warriors, these were warriors of God. 10 00:00:37,024 --> 00:00:38,740 (horse neighing) 11 00:00:38,740 --> 00:00:40,720 - [Narrator] Feared by the enemies, 12 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:43,093 guardians of the poor and the sick. 13 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:46,360 - They cared for people who needed to be cared for, 14 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:48,423 and they were there when people needed them. 15 00:00:49,630 --> 00:00:53,113 - [Narrator] Dark times ahead for all the military orders. 16 00:00:54,130 --> 00:00:56,622 - They'd been fighting for God and yet, they had lost. 17 00:00:56,622 --> 00:00:58,870 So is that 'cause we're sinners? 18 00:00:58,870 --> 00:01:01,873 - [Narrator] New frontiers for the soldiers of Christ. 19 00:01:03,066 --> 00:01:03,899 - It could've been a disaster for the Hospitaller, 20 00:01:05,590 --> 00:01:08,083 but they turned it into a triumph. 21 00:01:09,073 --> 00:01:10,360 - [Narrator] From the Middle East 22 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:12,610 to the Aegean and beyond, 23 00:01:12,610 --> 00:01:15,593 the Order of the Knights Hospitaller. 24 00:01:17,348 --> 00:01:20,015 (rousing music) 25 00:01:24,190 --> 00:01:26,320 The Order of the Knights Hospitaller 26 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:29,170 was renowned throughout the Middle Ages. 27 00:01:29,170 --> 00:01:33,070 Their plain robes and surcoats, black and later red, 28 00:01:33,070 --> 00:01:35,980 marked them out as devoutly religious, 29 00:01:35,980 --> 00:01:38,920 dedicated to carrying out God's work, 30 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:40,690 with the sword if need be. 31 00:01:40,690 --> 00:01:43,360 - The Order of the Hospitallers is clearly 32 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,600 one of the best known, most identifiable 33 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:49,088 of the military orders. 34 00:01:49,088 --> 00:01:51,490 - [Narrator] They were respected by some contemporaries, 35 00:01:51,490 --> 00:01:53,470 and by historians since 36 00:01:53,470 --> 00:01:56,980 due to their reputation for caring and healing. 37 00:01:56,980 --> 00:02:01,270 But at the same time, this led them to being overshadowed, 38 00:02:01,270 --> 00:02:03,580 at least in the popular imagination. 39 00:02:03,580 --> 00:02:06,490 Their rival order, the Knights Templar 40 00:02:06,490 --> 00:02:08,440 are often seen as the more famous 41 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,170 and dashing medieval Christian warriors. 42 00:02:11,170 --> 00:02:14,380 - It's always the Templars who are mentioned first, 43 00:02:14,380 --> 00:02:18,613 and the Hospitallers never had such a pronounced image. 44 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:20,710 They've come down through history 45 00:02:20,710 --> 00:02:22,780 as the hospital order who cared for people, 46 00:02:22,780 --> 00:02:26,110 which for some reason, is never seen as being as exciting 47 00:02:26,110 --> 00:02:27,610 as the people that ride out 48 00:02:27,610 --> 00:02:29,170 and do the death and glory charges. 49 00:02:29,170 --> 00:02:31,390 In fact, the Hospitaller did death and glory charges 50 00:02:31,390 --> 00:02:32,499 as well. 51 00:02:32,499 --> 00:02:33,340 - [Narrator] In fact, 52 00:02:33,340 --> 00:02:36,190 the Hospitaller fought alongside the Templars 53 00:02:36,190 --> 00:02:39,734 in the Holy Land of the 12th and 13th centuries. 54 00:02:39,734 --> 00:02:42,220 - The Hospitallers did have a slightly more pacific image. 55 00:02:42,220 --> 00:02:45,280 Although they did fight in most of the battles as well, 56 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:46,840 and with a similar number of troops, 57 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:48,730 they could be very aggressive. 58 00:02:48,730 --> 00:02:51,580 But because they had a whole medical wing to them as well, 59 00:02:51,580 --> 00:02:54,010 that did provide a rather different image for them 60 00:02:54,010 --> 00:02:55,160 in Western Christendom. 61 00:02:56,890 --> 00:02:59,050 - [Narrator] The Hospitallers were among the longest lived 62 00:02:59,050 --> 00:03:03,160 of all the military orders, even the Templars. 63 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:04,660 - The Knights Hospitaller were by far 64 00:03:04,660 --> 00:03:07,630 the older of the two institutions compared to the Templars. 65 00:03:07,630 --> 00:03:10,180 They'd been around in Jerusalem 66 00:03:10,180 --> 00:03:11,833 even before the first crusades. 67 00:03:14,110 --> 00:03:17,050 - [Narrator] The Templars were the first militarized order, 68 00:03:17,050 --> 00:03:19,600 formed probably in the 1120s, 69 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:24,460 following the First Crusade's capture of Jerusalem in 1099. 70 00:03:24,460 --> 00:03:27,790 But the order of the Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem 71 00:03:27,790 --> 00:03:31,480 had already been formed for some decades, perhaps longer, 72 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:33,612 although it wasn't yet a fighting order. 73 00:03:34,810 --> 00:03:38,680 - There already was a hospital in Jerusalem 74 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:40,810 run for Christian pilgrims 75 00:03:40,810 --> 00:03:43,720 by Christians from Western Europe. 76 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:45,610 - They were founded in the 1060, 77 00:03:45,610 --> 00:03:48,010 or possibly the early 1070s 78 00:03:48,010 --> 00:03:49,810 by a group of Amalfi merchants 79 00:03:49,810 --> 00:03:52,330 who wanted somewhere to stay in Jerusalem 80 00:03:52,330 --> 00:03:55,810 and wanted somewhere where poor pilgrims 81 00:03:55,810 --> 00:03:57,970 and travelers could stay. 82 00:03:57,970 --> 00:03:59,440 - [Narrator] They were granted a site 83 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:01,960 near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, 84 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,870 the most important place for Christian pilgrims, 85 00:04:04,870 --> 00:04:07,213 who were often exhausted after long journeys. 86 00:04:08,140 --> 00:04:12,700 The Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem became well-respected, 87 00:04:12,700 --> 00:04:14,230 and the members of the order 88 00:04:14,230 --> 00:04:16,302 became known as the Hospitallers. 89 00:04:18,943 --> 00:04:20,499 Over the next decades, 90 00:04:20,499 --> 00:04:23,590 the hospital grew in size and reputation, 91 00:04:23,590 --> 00:04:27,100 opening its doors to men and women of all faiths, 92 00:04:27,100 --> 00:04:28,870 not just Christian. 93 00:04:28,870 --> 00:04:31,660 - The first 50-odd years plus of their existence, 94 00:04:31,660 --> 00:04:35,170 they were solely medical, providing healthcare, 95 00:04:35,170 --> 00:04:39,040 support, accommodation, and medical attention if necessary 96 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,470 for pilgrims visiting Jerusalem. 97 00:04:41,470 --> 00:04:44,016 - [Narrator] The catalyst that transformed the Hospitallers 98 00:04:44,016 --> 00:04:46,120 was the First Crusade. 99 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,990 After the capture of Jerusalem, the new crusader states 100 00:04:49,990 --> 00:04:52,990 needed pilgrims and traders from the west. 101 00:04:52,990 --> 00:04:55,930 The first military order, the Knights Templar, 102 00:04:55,930 --> 00:04:59,620 began protecting the Holy Land's roads and frontiers, 103 00:04:59,620 --> 00:05:01,570 but they were few in number. 104 00:05:01,570 --> 00:05:03,400 - Some of the Hospitallers, 105 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,640 the members of the hospital staff 106 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:08,650 who were from the knightly class, 107 00:05:08,650 --> 00:05:11,680 or at least would've had some degree of military training 108 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,560 because of their own family backgrounds, 109 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:18,430 decided that they could also protect pilgrims. 110 00:05:18,430 --> 00:05:19,630 So that was the beginning 111 00:05:19,630 --> 00:05:22,393 of what you would call their militarization. 112 00:05:23,410 --> 00:05:25,120 - [Narrator] Templars and Hospitallers 113 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:27,910 patrolled the borders of the Christian Holy Land. 114 00:05:27,910 --> 00:05:30,970 Like the Templars, the Hospitallers rapidly developed 115 00:05:30,970 --> 00:05:33,640 into a highly respected military force, 116 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:35,710 with the emphasis on cavalry, 117 00:05:35,710 --> 00:05:38,050 the most important battlefield element 118 00:05:38,050 --> 00:05:40,513 being the armored knight on horseback. 119 00:05:41,350 --> 00:05:43,630 Full scale battles were few. 120 00:05:43,630 --> 00:05:47,950 It was frontier work, often far from the major towns. 121 00:05:47,950 --> 00:05:51,940 Vitally important to both sides were outposts. 122 00:05:51,940 --> 00:05:55,510 The military orders operated many castles in the Holy Land, 123 00:05:55,510 --> 00:05:59,620 including some of the most important border strongholds. 124 00:05:59,620 --> 00:06:02,440 - The Hospitallers were either given or built 125 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:05,560 10s of castles on the frontiers of Kingdom of Jerusalem, 126 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:07,930 Principality of Antioch and elsewhere, 127 00:06:07,930 --> 00:06:10,450 and these castles performed a crucial function 128 00:06:10,450 --> 00:06:11,950 because the Hospitallers could afford 129 00:06:11,950 --> 00:06:14,800 to maintain them, to garrison them 130 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:16,600 and provide them with all that they needed. 131 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:18,880 - The Hospitallers' castles were wonders of the world. 132 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:21,733 They reflected the latest in castle building technology, 133 00:06:22,750 --> 00:06:25,840 so that they became places that they could take 134 00:06:25,840 --> 00:06:28,510 visiting pilgrims to to show them 135 00:06:28,510 --> 00:06:30,280 the wonderful things that they were doing 136 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:33,370 in the Lord's name in the kingdom of Jerusalem, 137 00:06:33,370 --> 00:06:36,520 and thereby they got more donations from the west 138 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:39,610 because of these magnificent fortresses. 139 00:06:39,610 --> 00:06:41,140 - Several of the most famous 140 00:06:41,140 --> 00:06:44,410 and impressive surviving castles and fortresses 141 00:06:44,410 --> 00:06:47,829 in the Holy Land, and Lebanon and part of Syria 142 00:06:47,829 --> 00:06:51,340 are or were Hospitaller castles. 143 00:06:51,340 --> 00:06:53,200 - [Narrator] Historian David Nicole 144 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:55,630 is no stranger to the Middle East. 145 00:06:55,630 --> 00:06:57,700 He's journeyed extensively here 146 00:06:57,700 --> 00:07:00,133 during his research into the crusader period. 147 00:07:00,970 --> 00:07:03,670 Of the surviving crusader-era castles, 148 00:07:03,670 --> 00:07:07,420 few are as spectacular as the one he's traveling to 149 00:07:07,420 --> 00:07:09,400 in northeastern Israel. 150 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:11,740 - One of the best known is of course Belvoir, 151 00:07:11,740 --> 00:07:16,030 overlooking the Jordan Valley on the edge of an escarpment, 152 00:07:16,030 --> 00:07:17,140 right on a frontier, 153 00:07:17,140 --> 00:07:20,890 on a physical, identifiable, visible frontier, 154 00:07:20,890 --> 00:07:22,360 and on the top of a cliff. 155 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:23,910 I mean, this is dramatic stuff. 156 00:07:24,910 --> 00:07:27,490 - [Narrator] Belvoir, beautiful view, 157 00:07:27,490 --> 00:07:30,283 is the most preserved crusader castle in Israel. 158 00:07:31,630 --> 00:07:35,140 It's Arabic name meant Star of the Wind. 159 00:07:35,140 --> 00:07:36,820 The castle stands on a promontory 160 00:07:36,820 --> 00:07:39,043 500 meters above sea level. 161 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:42,490 - It's overlooking the Jordan Valley, 162 00:07:42,490 --> 00:07:45,370 then Jordan, existing Jordan on the other side, 163 00:07:45,370 --> 00:07:48,520 and Saladin's castle of Ajloun facing this, 164 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,190 two castles strategically opposed to each other 165 00:07:51,190 --> 00:07:53,170 in visual contact with each other. 166 00:07:53,170 --> 00:07:56,140 This was defensively vital. 167 00:07:56,140 --> 00:07:57,940 Its location is strategic. 168 00:07:57,940 --> 00:07:59,829 And as a political statement, 169 00:07:59,829 --> 00:08:02,920 a statement of power and wealth by the Hospitaller's order, 170 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:04,420 it's second to none. 171 00:08:04,420 --> 00:08:06,190 - [Narrator] The upper levels of the castle 172 00:08:06,190 --> 00:08:08,950 will be robbed away over centuries, 173 00:08:08,950 --> 00:08:10,930 but what remains is still massive, 174 00:08:10,930 --> 00:08:14,350 a testament to the Hospitallers rapid growth 175 00:08:14,350 --> 00:08:16,813 in a few decades after they became military. 176 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,257 - Belvoir is extraordinarily important to the Hospitallers, 177 00:08:20,257 --> 00:08:21,610 and we can tell it's important 178 00:08:21,610 --> 00:08:24,460 by the amount of effort and money that was put into it. 179 00:08:24,460 --> 00:08:26,770 I mean, the thing was only here, 180 00:08:26,770 --> 00:08:29,710 according to the historical record, for 21 years. 181 00:08:29,710 --> 00:08:31,633 All this in 21 years, 182 00:08:32,560 --> 00:08:34,930 - [Narrator] The Hospitallers began building the castle 183 00:08:34,930 --> 00:08:36,343 in 1168. 184 00:08:37,390 --> 00:08:39,849 - The Castle of Belvoir was built at a time 185 00:08:39,849 --> 00:08:40,959 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem 186 00:08:40,959 --> 00:08:42,550 was coming under increasing attack, 187 00:08:42,550 --> 00:08:44,350 and people were looking increasingly 188 00:08:44,350 --> 00:08:46,300 to fortifying the frontier, 189 00:08:46,300 --> 00:08:48,400 where previously it hadn't been quite so necessary 190 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,250 because they've been on the offensive by and large. 191 00:08:51,250 --> 00:08:53,950 So Belvoir was crucial. 192 00:08:53,950 --> 00:08:56,620 - [Narrator] At this time in the later 12th century, 193 00:08:56,620 --> 00:08:59,500 Muslim leader Salah al-Din sought to recover 194 00:08:59,500 --> 00:09:02,413 the loss of Jerusalem and Palestine to the Christians. 195 00:09:04,270 --> 00:09:07,450 The job of the Hospitallers and other military orders 196 00:09:07,450 --> 00:09:10,540 was to delay his advance as long as possible. 197 00:09:10,540 --> 00:09:12,130 - One of the major invasion routes 198 00:09:12,130 --> 00:09:12,963 into the kingdom of Jerusalem 199 00:09:12,963 --> 00:09:15,790 was to go south of Lake Tiberius, 200 00:09:15,790 --> 00:09:18,130 and Belvoir, situated on a ridge 201 00:09:18,130 --> 00:09:20,260 high above that particular crossing, 202 00:09:20,260 --> 00:09:21,973 was very strategically located. 203 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:26,110 - In 1187, the inevitable came, 204 00:09:26,110 --> 00:09:29,833 and Salah al-Din's forces laid siege to Belvoir, 205 00:09:30,700 --> 00:09:33,100 but they found the castle extremely strong 206 00:09:33,100 --> 00:09:34,543 and resilient to attack. 207 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:37,180 In the First Crusade, 208 00:09:37,180 --> 00:09:40,060 the Francs had stormed Jerusalem's ancient walls 209 00:09:40,060 --> 00:09:42,250 after just a few days, 210 00:09:42,250 --> 00:09:45,700 but the Hospitallers stronghold here was newly built, 211 00:09:45,700 --> 00:09:48,223 and its defenses were state-of-the-art. 212 00:09:49,150 --> 00:09:51,694 Already atop the steep cliff, 213 00:09:51,694 --> 00:09:54,220 it was surrounded on three sides by a moat 214 00:09:54,220 --> 00:09:57,043 20 meters wide and 12 meters deep. 215 00:09:58,300 --> 00:10:00,940 Within was a rectangular castle 216 00:10:00,940 --> 00:10:03,580 with a tower at each corner and midpoint, 217 00:10:03,580 --> 00:10:05,053 and a fortified gateway. 218 00:10:06,430 --> 00:10:09,430 Inside the first wall was another, 219 00:10:09,430 --> 00:10:13,123 and then yet another with its own defensive corner towers. 220 00:10:14,140 --> 00:10:16,780 It's thought to be one of the earliest examples 221 00:10:16,780 --> 00:10:18,670 of a concentric castle, 222 00:10:18,670 --> 00:10:20,470 a design that became widespread 223 00:10:20,470 --> 00:10:23,500 in the later 12th and 13th centuries, 224 00:10:23,500 --> 00:10:27,040 both in the Holy Land and back in Western Europe. 225 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:28,870 It wasn't just the castle's strength 226 00:10:28,870 --> 00:10:32,200 that made it a statement here on the frontier. 227 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,350 The kind of building stone the Hospitallers used 228 00:10:35,350 --> 00:10:38,053 may also have been chosen for its color. 229 00:10:39,490 --> 00:10:43,210 - You can read a certain amount into the use of dark gray, 230 00:10:43,210 --> 00:10:46,630 effectively black volcanic basalt rock, 231 00:10:46,630 --> 00:10:47,740 which is most of this, 232 00:10:47,740 --> 00:10:49,720 certainly the lower parts of the castle, 233 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:54,430 and the white stone, the more finely dressed stone above. 234 00:10:54,430 --> 00:10:57,130 Black and white, colors of the Hospitallers. 235 00:10:57,130 --> 00:10:59,410 Now, whether this was in actual fact 236 00:10:59,410 --> 00:11:03,850 a statement of identity or not is impossible to say. 237 00:11:03,850 --> 00:11:05,680 It may have been just that they were using 238 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:07,570 these two available rocks, 239 00:11:07,570 --> 00:11:09,820 but doesn't alter the fact that you end up with 240 00:11:09,820 --> 00:11:12,220 a very striking, very visual, 241 00:11:12,220 --> 00:11:15,130 very powerful black and white castle. 242 00:11:15,130 --> 00:11:18,850 - [Narrator] The Muslim army couldn't take Belvoir by storm, 243 00:11:18,850 --> 00:11:21,883 so all they could do was surround it and wait. 244 00:11:22,750 --> 00:11:25,030 - Belvoir held Saladin up for months. 245 00:11:25,030 --> 00:11:28,540 They did not fall to siege easily. 246 00:11:28,540 --> 00:11:30,580 So the boasts that the Hospitallers made about them 247 00:11:30,580 --> 00:11:31,783 were well justified. 248 00:11:32,860 --> 00:11:34,900 - [Narrator] In the end, Belvoir held out 249 00:11:34,900 --> 00:11:37,540 for an extraordinary 18 months. 250 00:11:37,540 --> 00:11:40,660 But in 1187, Salah al-Din defeated 251 00:11:40,660 --> 00:11:43,163 the crusader field army at Hattin, 252 00:11:43,163 --> 00:11:45,610 and across the crusader kingdom, 253 00:11:45,610 --> 00:11:49,270 the Muslim tide was in the end unstoppable. 254 00:11:49,270 --> 00:11:51,490 - While in actual fact, this place only fell 255 00:11:51,490 --> 00:11:53,290 after the battle of Hattin, 256 00:11:53,290 --> 00:11:56,320 which in turn led to the fall of Jerusalem, 257 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:58,390 the fall of practically everything. 258 00:11:58,390 --> 00:12:02,740 So this place, on the eastern frontier effectively, 259 00:12:02,740 --> 00:12:05,710 of the kingdom was left high and dry. 260 00:12:05,710 --> 00:12:07,030 It had to surrender. 261 00:12:07,030 --> 00:12:09,940 There was no point in it just going onto the bitter end. 262 00:12:09,940 --> 00:12:12,460 It would've ended up with just more deaths. 263 00:12:12,460 --> 00:12:13,690 - [Narrator] Within months, 264 00:12:13,690 --> 00:12:16,963 most of the Christian held castles fell to the Muslims. 265 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:21,730 When the Christians returned just two years later, 266 00:12:21,730 --> 00:12:23,560 they needed a port. 267 00:12:23,560 --> 00:12:27,730 Acre, in the Holy Land's north had fallen to Salah al-Din 268 00:12:27,730 --> 00:12:30,610 along with almost everywhere else. 269 00:12:30,610 --> 00:12:33,220 The Third Crusade, led by among others 270 00:12:33,220 --> 00:12:35,230 Richard The Lionheart of England, 271 00:12:35,230 --> 00:12:38,410 recaptured the city in 1189. 272 00:12:38,410 --> 00:12:41,170 Jerusalem itself was never retaken, 273 00:12:41,170 --> 00:12:44,920 so Acre became the crusaders' new capital. 274 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:47,290 Much of the city as it appears today 275 00:12:47,290 --> 00:12:49,600 was rebuilt by the Ottoman Empire 276 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:52,660 in the 16th and 17th centuries. 277 00:12:52,660 --> 00:12:55,333 But some parts remain from Crusader times. 278 00:12:56,410 --> 00:12:59,530 For a 100 years, Acre was the crusader kingdom's 279 00:12:59,530 --> 00:13:01,630 link to Western Europe. 280 00:13:01,630 --> 00:13:03,700 Most of its troops and supplies, 281 00:13:03,700 --> 00:13:06,823 not to mention pilgrims, entered the Holy Land here. 282 00:13:08,830 --> 00:13:12,880 For the military orders too, it was an important base. 283 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:15,823 Each of the main orders had a headquarters here. 284 00:13:16,780 --> 00:13:20,533 But Acre's value wasn't just as a military staging post. 285 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:24,523 Its sheltered harbor was ideal for merchant shipping. 286 00:13:26,170 --> 00:13:29,650 The orders each had their own trading interest, 287 00:13:29,650 --> 00:13:31,480 and they as much as the kingdom 288 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:33,100 needed the revenue from this 289 00:13:33,100 --> 00:13:35,293 to keep alive their Holy War effort. 290 00:13:37,090 --> 00:13:40,090 In the 1990s, a discovery was made 291 00:13:40,090 --> 00:13:42,310 which offered a tantalizing insight 292 00:13:42,310 --> 00:13:44,263 into the military orders in Acre. 293 00:13:45,250 --> 00:13:48,400 Beneath the streets of the old crusader town, 294 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,490 developers found a large network of tunnels, 295 00:13:51,490 --> 00:13:52,963 their purpose unknown. 296 00:13:53,950 --> 00:13:57,493 They took time to explore, and even longer to unearth. 297 00:13:58,330 --> 00:14:00,883 The stonework was Crusader period. 298 00:14:02,020 --> 00:14:05,290 It wasn't until the layout of the tunnels was established 299 00:14:05,290 --> 00:14:08,053 that a clue was revealed as to who built them. 300 00:14:08,980 --> 00:14:12,040 - These are the famous Templar tunnels 301 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:14,740 running under a large part of the old city, 302 00:14:14,740 --> 00:14:19,740 from the harbor to where the Templars had their headquarters 303 00:14:22,870 --> 00:14:24,133 up the other end. 304 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:26,890 - [Narrator] Of all the military orders, 305 00:14:26,890 --> 00:14:30,493 the Templars attract more myths and rumors than any other. 306 00:14:31,450 --> 00:14:33,970 Stories emerged that the tunnels had been used 307 00:14:33,970 --> 00:14:37,960 for clandestine purposes or secret rituals. 308 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,780 Professional historians' theories about the tunnels 309 00:14:40,780 --> 00:14:43,060 might not be so sensational, 310 00:14:43,060 --> 00:14:45,370 but they're no less fascinating. 311 00:14:45,370 --> 00:14:47,290 - It seems much more likely to me 312 00:14:47,290 --> 00:14:49,660 that they were a very convenient way 313 00:14:49,660 --> 00:14:51,950 of bringing goods between the harbor 314 00:14:53,020 --> 00:14:55,900 to the main Templar center, 315 00:14:55,900 --> 00:14:58,810 and taking goods, indeed, people, 316 00:14:58,810 --> 00:15:01,900 animals, whatever you wanted to move very conveniently. 317 00:15:01,900 --> 00:15:03,580 It's a private road. 318 00:15:03,580 --> 00:15:05,740 But the fact that they were able to do this 319 00:15:05,740 --> 00:15:09,760 shows how wealthy and powerful they were. 320 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:13,030 - [Narrator] The tunnels extend for more than 300 meters, 321 00:15:13,030 --> 00:15:14,200 and they would've been wide enough 322 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:19,200 for supplies in large wagons, personnel, or even cavalry. 323 00:15:19,270 --> 00:15:22,330 In the last chaotic days of Crusader rule, 324 00:15:22,330 --> 00:15:24,730 the tunnels might've offered a refuge, 325 00:15:24,730 --> 00:15:27,100 or even an escape route. 326 00:15:27,100 --> 00:15:29,650 - I think there's every good reason to believe the stories 327 00:15:29,650 --> 00:15:34,650 that they were used at the last siege of Acre in 1291. 328 00:15:34,810 --> 00:15:38,410 A few people escaped down to the harbor through here. 329 00:15:38,410 --> 00:15:41,770 Because of course, above our heads in the old city, 330 00:15:41,770 --> 00:15:43,720 once the Mamlukes had broken in 331 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,630 and the city was going to fall, it would've been mayhem. 332 00:15:46,630 --> 00:15:48,910 Everybody trying to get down to the harbor 333 00:15:48,910 --> 00:15:53,140 to get aboard a ship to escape as best they could. 334 00:15:53,140 --> 00:15:55,300 People who had access to these tunnels 335 00:15:55,300 --> 00:15:57,100 were in a very, very lucky position. 336 00:15:57,100 --> 00:15:58,690 They could get down to the harbor. 337 00:15:58,690 --> 00:16:00,010 They probably had ships down there 338 00:16:00,010 --> 00:16:02,380 belonging to the Templars waiting for them. 339 00:16:02,380 --> 00:16:06,170 So this is a mark of prestige, these tunnels 340 00:16:09,460 --> 00:16:11,290 - [Narrator] When the Mamlukes besieged the city, 341 00:16:11,290 --> 00:16:13,540 the Hospitallers, as well as the Templars 342 00:16:13,540 --> 00:16:17,410 and other military orders were integral to its defense. 343 00:16:17,410 --> 00:16:21,070 They each had towers or points of the walls to defend. 344 00:16:21,070 --> 00:16:23,770 One by one, they were defeated. 345 00:16:23,770 --> 00:16:27,160 The Crusader city was mostly destroyed. 346 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:29,890 The Templars castle was the last to fall, 347 00:16:29,890 --> 00:16:31,213 and it was obliterated. 348 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:36,073 Most of the others too were gone, but one remained. 349 00:16:36,970 --> 00:16:40,210 Near the harbor, and like the Templar tunnel, 350 00:16:40,210 --> 00:16:43,840 much of it was buried under tons of earth and ruble. 351 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:46,543 The sea had flooded and silted much of it. 352 00:16:47,953 --> 00:16:50,800 In the 1990s, Israeli archeologists 353 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,080 dug their way through this infill 354 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:54,763 to explore what lab beneath. 355 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:57,853 What they found astonished them. 356 00:16:58,870 --> 00:17:02,410 Incredibly, it was the castle of the Hospitallers, 357 00:17:02,410 --> 00:17:04,212 preserved almost intact. 358 00:17:05,230 --> 00:17:08,380 No one suspected so much of the medieval building 359 00:17:08,380 --> 00:17:09,403 still survived. 360 00:17:11,110 --> 00:17:13,690 Much of the complex was buried and built over 361 00:17:13,690 --> 00:17:15,223 after the Crusader period. 362 00:17:16,360 --> 00:17:18,340 Archeologists were faced with the challenge 363 00:17:18,340 --> 00:17:21,162 of removing the rubble and earth room by room. 364 00:17:22,450 --> 00:17:24,850 It's a task that British archeologist 365 00:17:24,850 --> 00:17:27,310 Tim Sutherland can appreciate. 366 00:17:27,310 --> 00:17:30,070 - In recent years when this castle was reconstructed 367 00:17:30,070 --> 00:17:32,620 and made safe again basically, 368 00:17:32,620 --> 00:17:35,230 they emptied out all the rooms of all the rubble 369 00:17:35,230 --> 00:17:38,020 that have accumulated over well, centuries. 370 00:17:38,020 --> 00:17:42,550 And there was also sort of blocks and dust and dirt. 371 00:17:42,550 --> 00:17:45,490 They systematically cleaned out every room 372 00:17:45,490 --> 00:17:47,680 until we have what we see today. 373 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:49,930 Some of it is still in its original condition, 374 00:17:49,930 --> 00:17:51,610 and it's never been cleaned. 375 00:17:51,610 --> 00:17:54,370 So there are huge parts of this building 376 00:17:54,370 --> 00:17:57,370 that've got huge amounts of archeological rubble inside. 377 00:17:57,370 --> 00:17:59,530 It's pure archeology right in front of our eyes. 378 00:17:59,530 --> 00:18:01,990 You can see all the archeological layers 379 00:18:01,990 --> 00:18:04,690 as they've been deposited inside this big void. 380 00:18:04,690 --> 00:18:07,930 And you see the very broad brown band there 381 00:18:07,930 --> 00:18:09,580 with some big rocks in it, 382 00:18:09,580 --> 00:18:11,350 but also, you can see some finer layers 383 00:18:11,350 --> 00:18:13,270 tipped in completely the opposite direction. 384 00:18:13,270 --> 00:18:14,650 And what's happening, people are bringing in 385 00:18:14,650 --> 00:18:17,020 barrow loads of rubbish from elsewhere, 386 00:18:17,020 --> 00:18:19,240 and it just builds up and builds up over the centuries 387 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:21,460 until we've got this fantastic archeological 388 00:18:21,460 --> 00:18:22,910 display right in front of us. 389 00:18:24,100 --> 00:18:26,620 - [Narrator] The painstaking work enables us now 390 00:18:26,620 --> 00:18:28,810 to see the Hospitaller stronghold 391 00:18:28,810 --> 00:18:32,290 as it may have appeared at the height of the crusades. 392 00:18:32,290 --> 00:18:34,540 For a century, this was the Hospitallers' 393 00:18:34,540 --> 00:18:36,073 main base in the Holy Land. 394 00:18:37,150 --> 00:18:40,870 The enormous building conveys the power and wealth, 395 00:18:40,870 --> 00:18:43,210 not just of the crusader state, 396 00:18:43,210 --> 00:18:46,870 but the independent military order that built it. 397 00:18:46,870 --> 00:18:49,990 - We're now moving into the Hospitaller quarter. 398 00:18:49,990 --> 00:18:53,680 This is the part of the bustling medieval 399 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:58,090 city and port of Acre, which belongs to the Hospitallers. 400 00:18:58,090 --> 00:18:59,500 There are other parts of the town 401 00:18:59,500 --> 00:19:03,730 that belonged to the Italians or to the Templars. 402 00:19:03,730 --> 00:19:06,190 So each had their own area. 403 00:19:06,190 --> 00:19:07,990 - [Narrator] Medieval Acre must have been 404 00:19:07,990 --> 00:19:11,980 a cosmopolitan place where East met West. 405 00:19:11,980 --> 00:19:14,350 - And it's not just the Hospitallers here. 406 00:19:14,350 --> 00:19:18,400 You've got to remember that there's markets here, 407 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:19,930 there's buying and selling, 408 00:19:19,930 --> 00:19:21,760 there's men, women, children, 409 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:25,120 soldiers, merchants, animals, pack animals, 410 00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:27,700 full of noise, full of life, full of smells, 411 00:19:27,700 --> 00:19:30,910 some of them very nice exotic spices from the orient, 412 00:19:30,910 --> 00:19:33,190 along with the silks and other valuable things 413 00:19:33,190 --> 00:19:34,810 that they're bringing from the east. 414 00:19:34,810 --> 00:19:36,280 - [Narrator] In all, the complex 415 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:40,240 is around 4,500 square meters. 416 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:42,100 The central open courtyard 417 00:19:42,100 --> 00:19:45,550 lay under three to four meters of rubble fill. 418 00:19:45,550 --> 00:19:49,030 There were many rooms and even large halls. 419 00:19:49,030 --> 00:19:52,030 - This wonderful space here, this hall, 420 00:19:52,030 --> 00:19:54,190 it's been identified as the refectory. 421 00:19:54,190 --> 00:19:57,130 That's where the Knights Hospitaller 422 00:19:57,130 --> 00:19:58,600 would've had their communal meals. 423 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:00,280 And of course, the communal life 424 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:04,123 is absolutely central to their ethos, 425 00:20:05,140 --> 00:20:07,060 the building of a team, to be quite honest, 426 00:20:07,060 --> 00:20:10,240 because they developed this very strong sense 427 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:12,940 of brotherhood and identity, 428 00:20:12,940 --> 00:20:16,570 and the refectory and the communal meals 429 00:20:16,570 --> 00:20:18,790 would've contributed to that. 430 00:20:18,790 --> 00:20:20,800 You can imagine this place 431 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:22,840 would never have been entirely quiet. 432 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:27,100 There's always people coming and going, as there are today. 433 00:20:27,100 --> 00:20:28,330 - [Narrator] This was the focus 434 00:20:28,330 --> 00:20:30,580 for all the Hospitallers' fundraising efforts 435 00:20:30,580 --> 00:20:32,470 back in Western Europe, 436 00:20:32,470 --> 00:20:35,500 and the site of their new medical facility, 437 00:20:35,500 --> 00:20:38,950 remembering the original hospital in Jerusalem. 438 00:20:38,950 --> 00:20:41,590 Again, it was not just for Christians, 439 00:20:41,590 --> 00:20:44,593 but for all the poor sick of whatever religion. 440 00:20:45,550 --> 00:20:47,410 - In here, they would have their hospital, 441 00:20:47,410 --> 00:20:51,460 which is quite a structure by this time. 442 00:20:51,460 --> 00:20:54,070 The sounds from the city outside, 443 00:20:54,070 --> 00:20:57,340 perhaps chanting and prayers from the chapel, 444 00:20:57,340 --> 00:20:58,870 church bells and all the rest of it. 445 00:20:58,870 --> 00:21:01,303 This is never going to be a silent place. 446 00:21:02,410 --> 00:21:07,410 And in its strange religious way, very clearly military. 447 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:10,993 These were serious guys. 448 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:15,340 - [Narrator] In the medieval world, 449 00:21:15,340 --> 00:21:17,080 especially in the Middle East, 450 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:21,160 one of the most feared aspects of life was disease. 451 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:25,000 With so many people living together, including the sick, 452 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:26,620 the Hospitallers understood 453 00:21:26,620 --> 00:21:29,290 that hygiene had to be considered. 454 00:21:29,290 --> 00:21:32,380 You don't normally consider something so everyday 455 00:21:32,380 --> 00:21:35,110 when you look at a medieval castle in the Crusades. 456 00:21:35,110 --> 00:21:38,260 But here in Acre, the hospital latrine 457 00:21:38,260 --> 00:21:40,303 is nothing short of epic. 458 00:21:41,650 --> 00:21:43,210 - It's quite a spectacular building, really. 459 00:21:43,210 --> 00:21:45,790 'Cause not only are we in a huge vaulted hall, 460 00:21:45,790 --> 00:21:49,570 but we're in a multiple latrine building basically. 461 00:21:49,570 --> 00:21:54,040 So about 40 people could have used this at any one time. 462 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:55,663 And we're talking about a big place out there 463 00:21:55,663 --> 00:21:57,670 that would've been full of hundreds of people. 464 00:21:57,670 --> 00:21:58,926 So there would've been a lot of people 465 00:21:58,926 --> 00:22:00,490 who needed to got the toilet. 466 00:22:00,490 --> 00:22:03,760 - [Narrator] Microbiology was still centuries ahead, 467 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:08,260 but people knew enough to realize that human waste, if left 468 00:22:08,260 --> 00:22:10,030 could become a problem. 469 00:22:10,030 --> 00:22:11,740 The design of the huge latrine 470 00:22:11,740 --> 00:22:14,530 was ingenious in dealing with this. 471 00:22:14,530 --> 00:22:16,990 - So engineering wise, it's quite an interesting structure, 472 00:22:16,990 --> 00:22:19,090 because the whole room slopes. 473 00:22:19,090 --> 00:22:21,190 So everything slopes down towards us here, 474 00:22:21,190 --> 00:22:24,640 and below the seats, on basically open pipes 475 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:25,900 down into the room below. 476 00:22:25,900 --> 00:22:27,220 So everybody would be sitting here, 477 00:22:27,220 --> 00:22:29,500 and the below us there's a massive vaulted room, 478 00:22:29,500 --> 00:22:31,660 and all this human waste would've gone 479 00:22:31,660 --> 00:22:34,300 straight down into this massive reservoir, 480 00:22:34,300 --> 00:22:36,400 and in there, would've been everything 481 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:38,230 that went through these holes. 482 00:22:38,230 --> 00:22:39,940 Now, not only is there human waste, 483 00:22:39,940 --> 00:22:42,190 but it's everything that gets dropped down there, 484 00:22:42,190 --> 00:22:43,510 just like today in the equivalent 485 00:22:43,510 --> 00:22:45,340 of mobile phones or whatever, 486 00:22:45,340 --> 00:22:47,560 everything would've dropped into this hole, 487 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:49,780 and you're certainly not going to go and get it back, 488 00:22:49,780 --> 00:22:53,440 because it's a massive room full of human waste. 489 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:55,210 So if it went down there, you'd leave it there 490 00:22:55,210 --> 00:22:57,790 until the people went to clear it all out 491 00:22:57,790 --> 00:23:00,700 and put it on the field, or whatever they did with it. 492 00:23:00,700 --> 00:23:02,500 - [Narrator] But beyond personal artifacts 493 00:23:02,500 --> 00:23:05,590 that might have been lost, archeologists realized 494 00:23:05,590 --> 00:23:08,230 that there was a unique possibility here. 495 00:23:08,230 --> 00:23:10,660 The material inside the buried latrine 496 00:23:10,660 --> 00:23:13,090 had not been moved for centuries. 497 00:23:13,090 --> 00:23:16,210 The thought of excavating through layers of human waste 498 00:23:16,210 --> 00:23:17,680 isn't for everyone, 499 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:21,190 but the results were to provide incredible insight 500 00:23:21,190 --> 00:23:24,400 into the lives of the medieval people who lived here. 501 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,440 Pierce Mitchell is a practicing medical doctor, 502 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,430 but he's also a leading expert in paleo pathology. 503 00:23:33,430 --> 00:23:35,620 He doesn't only study the material 504 00:23:35,620 --> 00:23:39,700 that archeologists recover, the artifacts and bones, 505 00:23:39,700 --> 00:23:42,070 but the evidence of microorganisms, 506 00:23:42,070 --> 00:23:44,473 the bacteria preserved within them. 507 00:23:46,420 --> 00:23:49,030 When Piers heard of the excavations at Acre, 508 00:23:49,030 --> 00:23:50,890 he lent his expertise. 509 00:23:50,890 --> 00:23:54,160 It was rare to find a medieval latrine of this size 510 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:56,110 that had been so well preserved 511 00:23:56,110 --> 00:23:58,540 along with the material beneath it. 512 00:23:58,540 --> 00:24:02,410 - So we studied the soil that collected in the cictern 513 00:24:02,410 --> 00:24:05,503 underneath the latrines there, 514 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:09,520 and the first thing we did was to look for 515 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,910 the evidence of infectious diseases. 516 00:24:12,910 --> 00:24:15,610 - [Narrator] Piers and his team were looking for evidence 517 00:24:15,610 --> 00:24:18,430 of intestinal parasitic worms. 518 00:24:18,430 --> 00:24:21,280 These lived in some of the food the crusaders ate 519 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,763 and digested, before coming to rest down in the latrine. 520 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:27,250 One of the reasons parasites 521 00:24:27,250 --> 00:24:30,220 are so good at spreading between humans 522 00:24:30,220 --> 00:24:33,043 is the survivability of their eggs. 523 00:24:33,910 --> 00:24:36,400 - They have these tough walls around the eggs 524 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:38,230 that allows them to be preserved 525 00:24:38,230 --> 00:24:40,660 for hundreds and often thousands of years. 526 00:24:40,660 --> 00:24:43,210 So they die after a year or two in the soil 527 00:24:43,210 --> 00:24:44,590 and become non-viable, 528 00:24:44,590 --> 00:24:47,020 but we can look at them down the microscope 529 00:24:47,020 --> 00:24:48,880 and identify the species of worms 530 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:51,340 that were present in the people using the toilets, 531 00:24:51,340 --> 00:24:53,770 because most species have different shaped eggs 532 00:24:53,770 --> 00:24:55,540 and different sized eggs. 533 00:24:55,540 --> 00:24:58,210 - [Narrator] What Piers found opened up a fascinating 534 00:24:58,210 --> 00:25:00,310 but thought provoking window 535 00:25:00,310 --> 00:25:03,340 into the everyday life of the medieval people here. 536 00:25:03,340 --> 00:25:07,450 - We saw many eggs from roundworm and whipworm. 537 00:25:07,450 --> 00:25:10,480 These are parasitic worms that live in your intestines 538 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:14,680 that are spread by feces contaminating your food or water. 539 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:16,990 So generally, if you're not washing your hands 540 00:25:16,990 --> 00:25:21,130 and if you're not cooking your food properly and so on, 541 00:25:21,130 --> 00:25:24,040 you can get reinfected with roundworm and whipworm. 542 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:26,170 We also found the eggs of fish tape worm, 543 00:25:26,170 --> 00:25:28,330 which is a parasite that's much more common 544 00:25:28,330 --> 00:25:29,500 in northern Europe. 545 00:25:29,500 --> 00:25:32,470 So it may well represent northern Europeans 546 00:25:32,470 --> 00:25:34,030 who came to the Holy Land 547 00:25:34,030 --> 00:25:37,090 and then used the latrines in Acre. 548 00:25:37,090 --> 00:25:38,800 - [Narrator] Fish would've been a major part 549 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:40,330 of the diet of many people 550 00:25:40,330 --> 00:25:42,403 here along the Holy Land's coastline. 551 00:25:43,330 --> 00:25:45,490 - Fish tapeworm is contracted 552 00:25:45,490 --> 00:25:48,790 by eating raw or undercooked fish. 553 00:25:48,790 --> 00:25:50,410 And in Northern Europe in the medieval period, 554 00:25:50,410 --> 00:25:52,780 it was common to have raw fish or smoked fish, 555 00:25:52,780 --> 00:25:54,457 pickled fish, salted fish and so on, 556 00:25:54,457 --> 00:25:56,830 and not necessarily cook it. 557 00:25:56,830 --> 00:25:58,960 And this would lead to a very long tapeworm, 558 00:25:58,960 --> 00:25:59,950 over 20 feet long. 559 00:25:59,950 --> 00:26:03,100 It would spiral around the insides of your intestines, 560 00:26:03,100 --> 00:26:06,940 and then they would release eggs into the feces. 561 00:26:06,940 --> 00:26:09,490 And then if you went to the toilet 562 00:26:09,490 --> 00:26:11,800 by a lake where there were fresh water fish, 563 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:14,140 then you can then restart the lifecycle 564 00:26:14,140 --> 00:26:16,570 so that someone who then eats fish from that lake 565 00:26:16,570 --> 00:26:17,983 can get infected themselves. 566 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:22,210 - [Narrator] Parasites like these, along with dysentery, 567 00:26:22,210 --> 00:26:24,490 must have been a part of day-to-day life 568 00:26:24,490 --> 00:26:27,433 for most people in Acre, crusaders or otherwise. 569 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,260 All the military orders had to be able 570 00:26:32,260 --> 00:26:34,480 to care for their battle wounded. 571 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:37,060 Despite their name, the Hospitaller were probably 572 00:26:37,060 --> 00:26:39,460 no more skilled at this than the Templars, 573 00:26:39,460 --> 00:26:41,053 Teutonic Knights or others. 574 00:26:41,980 --> 00:26:44,830 Like the Templars, the Hospitallers operated 575 00:26:44,830 --> 00:26:49,180 houses or convents in countries across Western Europe, 576 00:26:49,180 --> 00:26:52,150 although somehow, their presence may have been regarded 577 00:26:52,150 --> 00:26:54,343 as more benign than their fellow order. 578 00:26:55,630 --> 00:26:58,360 - There were Hospitallers everywhere in Western Europe 579 00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:00,220 in the 13th century. 580 00:27:00,220 --> 00:27:03,190 The St. Alban's monk, Matthew Paris, 581 00:27:03,190 --> 00:27:05,980 who wrote about everything in Europe in the 13th century, 582 00:27:05,980 --> 00:27:09,280 said that they had far more manners than the Templars did. 583 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:10,780 - [Narrator] People were not always sure 584 00:27:10,780 --> 00:27:13,840 whose best interest the Templars served, 585 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:15,703 their own, it was suspected. 586 00:27:16,900 --> 00:27:20,650 By the early 14th century and their dissolution, 587 00:27:20,650 --> 00:27:23,863 all the Templars' vast estates and castles were forfeit. 588 00:27:24,730 --> 00:27:28,030 It was decreed by the Pope that their properties and lands 589 00:27:28,030 --> 00:27:29,950 across Europe and beyond 590 00:27:29,950 --> 00:27:32,312 should be given to the Hospitallers. 591 00:27:32,312 --> 00:27:35,590 But this wasn't always straightforward in some countries, 592 00:27:35,590 --> 00:27:37,630 including England. 593 00:27:37,630 --> 00:27:40,150 - The handover from the Templars to the Hospitallers 594 00:27:40,150 --> 00:27:41,473 was not tidy. 595 00:27:42,340 --> 00:27:43,960 The King of England, it would appear, 596 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:46,180 had wanted to keep those lands. 597 00:27:46,180 --> 00:27:47,530 - [Narrator] King Edward II 598 00:27:47,530 --> 00:27:49,720 resisted for as long as he could, 599 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:53,620 but even a king couldn't defy a papal decree. 600 00:27:53,620 --> 00:27:54,640 - When the king had discovered 601 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:56,770 he was going to have to give the Hospitallers something, 602 00:27:56,770 --> 00:27:58,810 he had instructed his keepers, 603 00:27:58,810 --> 00:28:00,730 the sheriffs or their appointees, 604 00:28:00,730 --> 00:28:03,790 to clear everything out from the Templars lands that moved, 605 00:28:03,790 --> 00:28:05,050 and a few things that didn't. 606 00:28:05,050 --> 00:28:07,330 So all the cattle went, the sheep, 607 00:28:07,330 --> 00:28:10,030 all the stock, all the grain. 608 00:28:10,030 --> 00:28:12,730 Everything growing in the fields, take it. 609 00:28:12,730 --> 00:28:14,830 Anything that's useful, just move it. 610 00:28:14,830 --> 00:28:16,780 So the Hospitallers walked into shells, 611 00:28:17,980 --> 00:28:19,263 buildings that have been allowed to fall down 612 00:28:19,263 --> 00:28:21,760 or that things have been removed from. 613 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:24,490 - [Narrator] Nevertheless, one former Templar property 614 00:28:24,490 --> 00:28:27,040 the Hospitallers did eventually receive 615 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:30,463 was the huge estate in southern England at Crescent. 616 00:28:31,540 --> 00:28:34,150 By the 1380s, the order was holding 617 00:28:34,150 --> 00:28:36,133 its general chapter meetings here, 618 00:28:37,028 --> 00:28:41,020 and the enormous storage barns were collecting cash crops 619 00:28:41,020 --> 00:28:43,810 for the order's own economic interests, 620 00:28:43,810 --> 00:28:45,253 not the King of England's. 621 00:28:46,420 --> 00:28:47,920 In England today, 622 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:51,070 few other Hospitaller buildings now survive, 623 00:28:51,070 --> 00:28:53,293 at least as they appeared in medieval times. 624 00:28:54,940 --> 00:28:56,380 In central England, 625 00:28:56,380 --> 00:28:59,893 in the small village of Barrow Upon Trent, there is one. 626 00:29:01,150 --> 00:29:05,230 It may once have been known as St. Helen's or St Luke's, 627 00:29:05,230 --> 00:29:09,880 but from the mid 11000, it's been St. Wilfred's. 628 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:13,960 - The church is built on a promontory in the Trent Valley, 629 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:16,630 and at the time of its building, 630 00:29:16,630 --> 00:29:19,330 it would've been the most important building in the area. 631 00:29:19,330 --> 00:29:21,490 It would've been seen from miles around. 632 00:29:21,490 --> 00:29:24,100 You could imagine that you were back in medieval times 633 00:29:24,100 --> 00:29:25,570 looking out from the church door. 634 00:29:25,570 --> 00:29:27,310 And we have a gargoyle. 635 00:29:27,310 --> 00:29:30,130 Very eroded, very faded. 636 00:29:30,130 --> 00:29:33,310 But I always imagine he must have seen so many things 637 00:29:33,310 --> 00:29:36,280 since he was put up there in the early medieval times. 638 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,780 It would've been so interesting to hear his story. 639 00:29:39,730 --> 00:29:41,560 - [Narrator] On any historic site, 640 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:45,310 archeologists have to try and understand stratigraphy, 641 00:29:45,310 --> 00:29:48,070 layers of evidence of human activity 642 00:29:48,070 --> 00:29:50,593 beneath or above the surface. 643 00:29:51,820 --> 00:29:54,370 - As an archeologist, people normally consider 644 00:29:54,370 --> 00:29:56,320 what we do is just all under the ground. 645 00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:58,810 But the nice thing about an old historic building 646 00:29:58,810 --> 00:30:01,210 is that it's actually above the ground, 647 00:30:01,210 --> 00:30:02,890 and it's the same sort of stratigraphy. 648 00:30:02,890 --> 00:30:05,680 Obviously the later things are usually on the top, 649 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,190 but a building incorporates so many different aspects 650 00:30:09,190 --> 00:30:11,380 in terms of the walls and the structure and the roof, 651 00:30:11,380 --> 00:30:12,380 and even the floors. 652 00:30:15,550 --> 00:30:19,150 - The church was built, we think, in Anglo-Saxon times, 653 00:30:19,150 --> 00:30:21,670 and we know it was given to the Knights Hospitallers, 654 00:30:21,670 --> 00:30:26,670 and it's been left as purely a little rural country church 655 00:30:27,100 --> 00:30:28,123 since that time. 656 00:30:29,140 --> 00:30:31,090 - [Narrator] St. Wilfred's has some clues 657 00:30:31,090 --> 00:30:33,130 about its medieval past. 658 00:30:33,130 --> 00:30:35,893 Tim has come to see some of these for himself. 659 00:30:37,150 --> 00:30:38,470 - I think the first thing you think of 660 00:30:38,470 --> 00:30:41,380 when you walk into a historic building like this is, 661 00:30:41,380 --> 00:30:43,900 you literally, you open the door, you get the creaking noise 662 00:30:43,900 --> 00:30:45,393 and then it all opens up in front of you, 663 00:30:45,393 --> 00:30:47,830 and you never know quite what you're gonna get 664 00:30:47,830 --> 00:30:50,950 because every single church is different. 665 00:30:50,950 --> 00:30:52,060 - [Narrator] At one time, 666 00:30:52,060 --> 00:30:55,420 this would've been the heart of the medieval village. 667 00:30:55,420 --> 00:30:58,120 - It was originally the main building in the village. 668 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:00,160 It was built as a stronghold, 669 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:02,020 as a place for people to have markets. 670 00:31:02,020 --> 00:31:03,820 It was where they would have some sanctuary 671 00:31:03,820 --> 00:31:07,060 if there were any enemies around. 672 00:31:07,060 --> 00:31:10,240 - [Narrator] It seems an echo of those turbulent times 673 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:12,190 may still remain. 674 00:31:12,190 --> 00:31:13,660 - One of the things I noticed 675 00:31:13,660 --> 00:31:15,700 as soon as I'm walking through the porch is, 676 00:31:15,700 --> 00:31:17,470 and it's quite common, 677 00:31:17,470 --> 00:31:21,370 there are lots of little grooves carved in the walls. 678 00:31:21,370 --> 00:31:22,930 - [Narrator] They're similar to markings found 679 00:31:22,930 --> 00:31:25,300 on some other churches in Britain. 680 00:31:25,300 --> 00:31:27,970 No one really knows what they are, 681 00:31:27,970 --> 00:31:30,580 but there's a theory that might explain them. 682 00:31:30,580 --> 00:31:32,050 - When you consider that the Hospitallers 683 00:31:32,050 --> 00:31:33,370 were a military order, 684 00:31:33,370 --> 00:31:35,350 we would assume that there would've been 685 00:31:35,350 --> 00:31:39,640 always some sort of military presence around the area, 686 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:40,810 just by who they were. 687 00:31:40,810 --> 00:31:43,360 It does look like somebody's been sharpening 688 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:45,703 blades and weapons. 689 00:31:46,570 --> 00:31:48,520 And sometimes you wonder whether this is 690 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:50,770 to impart religious protection 691 00:31:50,770 --> 00:31:53,440 onto the implement they're about to use. 692 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:55,270 So are they about to go to war, 693 00:31:55,270 --> 00:31:57,340 and they bring their knife or their blade 694 00:31:57,340 --> 00:31:59,920 or their weapon, sword to the church, 695 00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:02,050 and then just hone it down a little bit 696 00:32:02,050 --> 00:32:04,570 just before they head off somewhere, 697 00:32:04,570 --> 00:32:06,370 and psychologically, 698 00:32:06,370 --> 00:32:09,520 that may be a little bit more protection for them. 699 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,670 - [Narrator] The Victorians added a pulpit and pews, 700 00:32:12,670 --> 00:32:15,010 but some of the features and carvings 701 00:32:15,010 --> 00:32:18,220 are as they would've been in Hospitaller times. 702 00:32:18,220 --> 00:32:20,530 - The church itself is full of little treasures 703 00:32:20,530 --> 00:32:22,720 that we found over the years. 704 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:25,060 I think the biggest one is probably our effigy, 705 00:32:25,060 --> 00:32:28,643 which is an early, very early 13000, 1340s 706 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:33,070 alabaster effigy of a priest. 707 00:32:33,070 --> 00:32:35,350 It may be a man called John de Belton 708 00:32:35,350 --> 00:32:37,870 who came down from Craik in Durham 709 00:32:37,870 --> 00:32:41,290 to help the hospitalists to develop the church. 710 00:32:41,290 --> 00:32:42,820 We have lots of grave slabs 711 00:32:42,820 --> 00:32:46,570 with the Knights Hospitaller grave markings on them. 712 00:32:46,570 --> 00:32:49,600 - [Narrator] Ann Heathcote and the friends of St. Wilfred's 713 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:53,320 plan to return the church to its original open plan, 714 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:56,320 removing some of the Victorian features. 715 00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:58,150 So it will soon, once more become 716 00:32:58,150 --> 00:33:01,360 the central meeting place and heart of the village, 717 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:03,820 just as it was in Hospitaller times. 718 00:33:03,820 --> 00:33:06,580 - What we want to do is to reclaim it 719 00:33:06,580 --> 00:33:09,610 as our community building for the whole of the village, 720 00:33:09,610 --> 00:33:11,680 and for the whole of this area, 721 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:13,783 and anyone else who wants to use it. 722 00:33:14,620 --> 00:33:17,650 - [Narrator] But one intriguing feature will be preserved, 723 00:33:17,650 --> 00:33:21,550 a small hand-drawn image of a medieval warrior 724 00:33:21,550 --> 00:33:24,613 and the shield of the Knights Hospitaller. 725 00:33:24,613 --> 00:33:27,913 Some people have suggested it's Victorian graffiti. 726 00:33:29,110 --> 00:33:31,990 - The drawing which is near to the effigy 727 00:33:31,990 --> 00:33:36,990 appears to show an early medieval knight in armor. 728 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:42,640 I am told it's original, but it is intriguing. 729 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:44,800 - This is one of the real gems of the church, 730 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:49,060 and it would be nice to think that this is original. 731 00:33:49,060 --> 00:33:52,090 It does look like a 14th century knight. 732 00:33:52,090 --> 00:33:55,270 It's got the correct helmet, it's got the right spear, 733 00:33:55,270 --> 00:33:56,770 it's got the right outfit, 734 00:33:56,770 --> 00:33:58,750 and also, it's got what appears to be 735 00:33:58,750 --> 00:34:00,160 a Hospitaller cross on the shield. 736 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:02,560 So this is just one of the other conundrums 737 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:04,030 that's typical of this church. 738 00:34:04,030 --> 00:34:05,920 There's so many questions you can ask. 739 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:07,090 And I love these things. 740 00:34:07,090 --> 00:34:08,320 I think they're fantastic. 741 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:10,300 And somebody's had to go at copying them. 742 00:34:10,300 --> 00:34:12,070 Obviously, these are in pencil 743 00:34:12,070 --> 00:34:13,240 and they're nowhere near as good, 744 00:34:13,240 --> 00:34:15,130 even though they're relatively modern. 745 00:34:15,130 --> 00:34:18,849 So this is the interesting aspect of it. 746 00:34:18,849 --> 00:34:20,680 Is this original, 747 00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:22,960 is it showing a knight's contemporary 748 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,530 with this part of the church, this phase of the church, 749 00:34:26,530 --> 00:34:29,893 and in which case, who was it and what's it represent? 750 00:34:31,030 --> 00:34:32,619 - [Narrator] Of all the medical ailments 751 00:34:32,619 --> 00:34:35,770 the Hospitallers had to deal with in communities, 752 00:34:35,770 --> 00:34:38,920 one carried more dread than almost any other. 753 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:42,010 - Leprosy is certainly a disease which is feared, 754 00:34:42,010 --> 00:34:45,159 and it's a disease which cannot be cured. 755 00:34:45,159 --> 00:34:46,300 And to that extent, 756 00:34:46,300 --> 00:34:49,840 it is one that inspires terror in many people. 757 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:52,480 - [Narrator] Leprosy was among the worst healthcare problems 758 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:56,380 in the Holy Land and Europe throughout the crusader period. 759 00:34:56,380 --> 00:34:59,260 And yet, in an age rife with disease, 760 00:34:59,260 --> 00:35:01,720 it was not even the deadliest. 761 00:35:01,720 --> 00:35:02,950 - There were many other diseases 762 00:35:02,950 --> 00:35:05,200 that were much more likely to kill you. 763 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:08,320 So it'll be much worse to have tuberculosis 764 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:09,272 than to have leprosy, 765 00:35:09,272 --> 00:35:12,130 and they are very similar bacterial organisms. 766 00:35:12,130 --> 00:35:14,020 Leprosy doesn't normally kill you, 767 00:35:14,020 --> 00:35:17,110 whereas tuberculosis is very good at doing that. 768 00:35:17,110 --> 00:35:19,420 - It was more how leprosy seemed to attack 769 00:35:19,420 --> 00:35:24,070 the things that made us human, outwardly at least. 770 00:35:24,070 --> 00:35:26,350 - Because leprosy affects your face 771 00:35:26,350 --> 00:35:28,480 in a significant proportion of people, 772 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:30,550 and it can make you go blind, 773 00:35:30,550 --> 00:35:34,330 it can cause ulcers and cause numbness 774 00:35:34,330 --> 00:35:39,100 in the hands and the feet, leading to difficulty mobilizing, 775 00:35:39,100 --> 00:35:42,070 all these things mean that it was a very chronic 776 00:35:42,070 --> 00:35:45,190 and socially debilitating disease. 777 00:35:45,190 --> 00:35:47,620 - [Narrator] The social consequences of leprosy 778 00:35:47,620 --> 00:35:50,770 are still prevalent in society today. 779 00:35:50,770 --> 00:35:53,590 It's now known as Hansen's disease, 780 00:35:53,590 --> 00:35:57,730 and it's treated relatively simply with antibiotics. 781 00:35:57,730 --> 00:36:01,420 But in medieval times, it was barely understood. 782 00:36:01,420 --> 00:36:03,310 - So by the time you get to the late 783 00:36:03,310 --> 00:36:07,570 13th and 14th centuries, people have a pretty good idea 784 00:36:07,570 --> 00:36:11,290 of what we today would call Hansen's disease. 785 00:36:11,290 --> 00:36:14,503 Whereas in the past, before that time, 786 00:36:15,430 --> 00:36:17,320 it might have been very, very hard 787 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:20,080 actually to distinguish someone, say with leprosy 788 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:23,290 from a really bad case of say, psoriasis, 789 00:36:23,290 --> 00:36:26,050 skin cancer, or other problems. 790 00:36:26,050 --> 00:36:29,110 - [Narrator] In a society before microbiology, 791 00:36:29,110 --> 00:36:32,230 people sought other explanations for the disease. 792 00:36:32,230 --> 00:36:35,590 - There are different views in medieval Europe, 793 00:36:35,590 --> 00:36:38,350 expressed at different times and in different places, 794 00:36:38,350 --> 00:36:40,060 about leprosy. 795 00:36:40,060 --> 00:36:43,030 But some religious views about leprosy 796 00:36:43,030 --> 00:36:47,800 explained the punishment of the facial disfiguration 797 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:51,430 as a gift from God, as a way of atoning for your sins 798 00:36:51,430 --> 00:36:52,960 while you were still alive 799 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:55,780 so that you could then go straight to heaven when you died, 800 00:36:55,780 --> 00:36:58,900 instead of having to atone for your sins after death 801 00:36:58,900 --> 00:37:00,850 with a concept of purgatory, 802 00:37:00,850 --> 00:37:03,103 which was developing in the medieval period. 803 00:37:04,030 --> 00:37:07,420 - [Narrator] The Bible told the story of the humble Lazarus 804 00:37:07,420 --> 00:37:09,640 who suffered terribly in life, 805 00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:12,880 but who was then rewarded instantly in heaven, 806 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:17,320 whereas his tormentor, Dives, was condemned to purgatory. 807 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:20,260 The parallel between Lazarus and Christ 808 00:37:20,260 --> 00:37:22,960 was clear to the medieval church. 809 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:26,500 - Medieval society places enormous emphasis 810 00:37:26,500 --> 00:37:31,450 on caring for the leper, because the leper is like Christ, 811 00:37:31,450 --> 00:37:35,380 the leper is a member of the body of Christ. 812 00:37:35,380 --> 00:37:37,543 And if you don't care for that individual, 813 00:37:38,530 --> 00:37:41,440 as Dives failed to care for Lazarus, 814 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:44,530 then you yourself are going to be condemned 815 00:37:44,530 --> 00:37:47,710 to a long period in purgatory, or even hell. 816 00:37:47,710 --> 00:37:52,710 So caring for the leper has a spiritual dimension, 817 00:37:52,870 --> 00:37:55,150 and people found leper hospitals 818 00:37:55,150 --> 00:37:57,823 with this concept at the back of their mind. 819 00:37:59,020 --> 00:38:01,270 - [Narrator] There'd been a hospital or leprosarium 820 00:38:01,270 --> 00:38:04,570 outside Jerusalem since the 11th century, 821 00:38:04,570 --> 00:38:08,290 and in the 12th, the Order of St. Lazarus was set up 822 00:38:08,290 --> 00:38:11,530 dedicated to the care of people with leprosy. 823 00:38:11,530 --> 00:38:14,110 Many of its brothers, but not all, 824 00:38:14,110 --> 00:38:17,200 were often sufferers of the disease themselves. 825 00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:20,050 And like the Hospitallers and Templars, 826 00:38:20,050 --> 00:38:22,510 the Knights of Lazarus took their place 827 00:38:22,510 --> 00:38:25,000 on the battlefields of the Holy Land. 828 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:28,510 - Because of the very nature of their condition, 829 00:38:28,510 --> 00:38:30,010 they were pretty fearless people, 830 00:38:30,010 --> 00:38:32,140 and in several battles, they all got wiped out. 831 00:38:32,140 --> 00:38:35,110 Because they thought, what could possibly be better 832 00:38:35,110 --> 00:38:37,300 than fighting a Holy War? 833 00:38:37,300 --> 00:38:39,370 I don't have to think about my own life. 834 00:38:39,370 --> 00:38:41,380 I can fight until they kill me. 835 00:38:41,380 --> 00:38:45,850 And so, there was a time when there were very few people 836 00:38:45,850 --> 00:38:48,460 in the Order of St. Lazarus left who had leprosy. 837 00:38:48,460 --> 00:38:50,800 So people from Europe who didn't have leprosy 838 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:52,990 started joining the Order of St. Lazarus 839 00:38:52,990 --> 00:38:56,890 as a sign of tremendous piety. 840 00:38:56,890 --> 00:39:01,840 So it was regarded as even more spiritually intense. 841 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:04,810 - [Narrator] The late 13th century was a fateful time 842 00:39:04,810 --> 00:39:06,433 for all the military orders. 843 00:39:07,638 --> 00:39:11,290 In 1291, the Mamluk armies took Acre, 844 00:39:11,290 --> 00:39:14,143 and the Holy Land fell back under Muslim control. 845 00:39:15,220 --> 00:39:17,950 Never again did Christian crusaders return 846 00:39:17,950 --> 00:39:19,783 to try to recapture Jerusalem, 847 00:39:20,710 --> 00:39:23,230 nor did any of the military orders. 848 00:39:23,230 --> 00:39:25,450 - 1291 was a disaster for the military orders 849 00:39:25,450 --> 00:39:28,360 because that was their vocation and they lost it, 850 00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:30,580 and also the shock that they'd been fighting for God 851 00:39:30,580 --> 00:39:31,680 and yet they had lost. 852 00:39:33,010 --> 00:39:34,600 So is that because we're sinners? 853 00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:36,910 It's because the West didn't support us? 854 00:39:36,910 --> 00:39:39,160 - [Narrator] The Hospitallers and the other military orders 855 00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:42,370 were forced to consider how to adapt and decide 856 00:39:42,370 --> 00:39:46,120 where next to wage their Holy War in Christ's name. 857 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:48,460 Some, like the Teutonic Knights, 858 00:39:48,460 --> 00:39:51,610 took an entirely different direction northwards 859 00:39:51,610 --> 00:39:55,480 to battle against the pagans of Prussia and Lithuania. 860 00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:57,940 The Hospitallers though realized they needed 861 00:39:57,940 --> 00:39:59,830 security and independence 862 00:39:59,830 --> 00:40:02,740 from a host kingdom which Mike turned the tables on them, 863 00:40:02,740 --> 00:40:04,930 just as the Templars had been undone 864 00:40:04,930 --> 00:40:07,303 by the French monarchy decades before. 865 00:40:08,740 --> 00:40:11,290 A large island in the Aegean Sea 866 00:40:11,290 --> 00:40:13,540 was to provide that independence. 867 00:40:13,540 --> 00:40:16,783 In 1310, the Hospitallers captured Rhodes. 868 00:40:17,860 --> 00:40:20,560 To do this, they fought other Christians 869 00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:23,260 of the Eastern Byzantine Church, 870 00:40:23,260 --> 00:40:26,530 but they justified their actions as being necessary 871 00:40:26,530 --> 00:40:29,293 in order to continue their fight against the Muslims. 872 00:40:30,310 --> 00:40:34,273 The order was to call Rhodes home for more than 200 years. 873 00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:38,800 In 1480, they successfully withstood attack 874 00:40:38,800 --> 00:40:43,800 by an enormous Ottoman army of 160 ships and 70,000 men. 875 00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:48,820 - Not only did they manage to defeat the attackers, 876 00:40:48,820 --> 00:40:50,440 they also managed to turn it 877 00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:53,050 into a fantastic propaganda victory, 878 00:40:53,050 --> 00:40:55,483 back in the rest of that in Christendom. 879 00:40:56,330 --> 00:40:57,640 - [Narrator] The Hospitallers circulated 880 00:40:57,640 --> 00:40:59,590 their own account of the siege, 881 00:40:59,590 --> 00:41:03,070 helped by new technology, printing. 882 00:41:03,070 --> 00:41:06,013 The victory helped to justify their ongoing role, 883 00:41:06,940 --> 00:41:10,330 and of course, keep the donations coming in. 884 00:41:10,330 --> 00:41:13,030 - Western Europe must have lapped up this account 885 00:41:13,030 --> 00:41:15,340 of what real knights could do, 886 00:41:15,340 --> 00:41:19,810 determined soldiers of God fighting against enormous odds 887 00:41:19,810 --> 00:41:21,523 and saving the city. 888 00:41:22,540 --> 00:41:23,863 This is perfect chivalry. 889 00:41:24,910 --> 00:41:26,500 - [Narrator] For a time at least, 890 00:41:26,500 --> 00:41:30,190 the specter of the loss of the Holy Land was laid. 891 00:41:30,190 --> 00:41:31,450 - It shows God's fighting force. 892 00:41:31,450 --> 00:41:33,190 Because of course, in 1291, 893 00:41:33,190 --> 00:41:35,110 it seemed that God wasn't fighting for them 894 00:41:35,110 --> 00:41:36,670 because they'd been defeated. 895 00:41:36,670 --> 00:41:38,770 Now they're saying God is fighting for us again. 896 00:41:38,770 --> 00:41:39,940 We are obviously doing the right thing. 897 00:41:39,940 --> 00:41:42,397 God is on our side this time. 898 00:41:42,397 --> 00:41:44,470 This time we're going to win. 899 00:41:44,470 --> 00:41:46,330 - [Narrator] The Order could bask in their victory 900 00:41:46,330 --> 00:41:48,250 for a few decades. 901 00:41:48,250 --> 00:41:52,120 But when the Ottoman armies came again in 1522, 902 00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:54,920 the Order of St. John was not so blessed 903 00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:58,660 and it found itself homeless once more. 904 00:41:58,660 --> 00:42:01,630 Some organizations which exist today 905 00:42:01,630 --> 00:42:05,860 claim to have lineage back to the orders of the Crusades. 906 00:42:05,860 --> 00:42:07,480 - Some of the medical orders 907 00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:09,160 that were set up during the Crusades, 908 00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:10,360 such as the orders of St. John 909 00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:11,860 and the Order of St. Lazarus 910 00:42:11,860 --> 00:42:14,440 have still kept on their medical role. 911 00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:16,750 There has been an eye hospital in Jerusalem 912 00:42:16,750 --> 00:42:19,003 run by the order of St. John for many years. 913 00:42:20,020 --> 00:42:24,610 The order of St. Lazarus has morphed and evolved over time, 914 00:42:24,610 --> 00:42:27,100 but they're still involved with the concept 915 00:42:27,100 --> 00:42:29,380 of caring for people with leprosy today. 916 00:42:29,380 --> 00:42:32,530 And so, you can see how some of these orders, 917 00:42:32,530 --> 00:42:34,390 for over eight centuries, 918 00:42:34,390 --> 00:42:37,330 have now continued the concept of medical care 919 00:42:37,330 --> 00:42:39,280 which they were originally set up to do 920 00:42:41,410 --> 00:42:43,030 - [Narrator] The most well-known descendants 921 00:42:43,030 --> 00:42:45,190 of the Hospitallers to this day 922 00:42:45,190 --> 00:42:48,823 maintains a vital healthcare role in Britain and Europe. 923 00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:55,750 - The St. John's Ambulance Brigade is rooted in, 924 00:42:55,750 --> 00:42:58,990 it is a descendant of the Hospitallers, 925 00:42:58,990 --> 00:43:00,760 the medieval Hospitallers. 926 00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:04,240 And in fact, as the modern 927 00:43:04,240 --> 00:43:07,510 St. John's Ambulance Brigade developed, 928 00:43:07,510 --> 00:43:10,090 I think it was quite a conscious decision 929 00:43:10,090 --> 00:43:15,090 to emphasize that the heraldry, the imagery 930 00:43:15,310 --> 00:43:18,850 which harked back to the medieval origins, 931 00:43:18,850 --> 00:43:21,820 it gives them one heck of a heritage. 932 00:43:21,820 --> 00:43:24,550 - The Hospitallers cared for the poor sick, 933 00:43:24,550 --> 00:43:26,860 they cared for people who needed to be cared for. 934 00:43:26,860 --> 00:43:27,727 They were there when they were needed, 935 00:43:27,727 --> 00:43:29,770 and they're still there when they're needed. 936 00:43:29,770 --> 00:43:33,520 So they do continue the tradition of the medieval order. 937 00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:36,270 (tranquil music) 938 00:43:42,218 --> 00:43:44,885 (rousing music)