Knights Hospitalier

Ezio, my friend! How may I be of service? This article is in desperate need of a revamp. Please improve it in any way necessary in order for it to achieve a higher standard of quality in accordance with our Manual of Style.

The Knights Hospitalier, (also known as Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, Order of St. John, Knights of Malta, Knights of the Hospital, and Chevaliers of Malta), were one of the Christian orders with the Crusades ; the Knights Templar being another. Their emblem was a white cross, often on a black background. The Knights Hospitalier were founded in the city of Jerusalem to provide care for poor, sick or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land, but became a much more militaristic organization with the onset of the Crusades.

Members

A Knight Hospitalier.

In 1191 the Knights Hospitalier held a significant presence in the poor district of the recently conquered city of Acre. The Grand Master of the Hospitalier Order, Garnier de Naplouse, personally oversaw the district's hospital, and it was here that he experimented on his "patients" with varying concoctions of herbs and drugs.

As well as the military aspect of the Order, the Knights Hospitalier continued to function in a non-combatant role. Numerous Hospitalier monks could be found in the city, preaching and aiding to the local population.

History

The Knights Hospitalier were one of the several Knightly orders founded during the Crusades.Their job was to provide care for the sick and wounded in the Holy Land.

By 1191, the Knights were lead by Garnier de Naplouse, secretly a Templar. He experimented on poor patients to try and replicate the effects of the Apple of Eden. He achieved a limited amount of success, but Altaïr killed him and ended his experimentation.

By the Renaissance the Hospitalier base had moved to Rhodes. They were responsible for killing the Master Assassins Castor. Subsequently Ezio sent a team to burn the Hospitalier compound.

Flags

The Knights have spread 33 Hospitalier flags throughout the poor district of Acre. Collecting them all (in the Xbox 360 version of the game) will grant the player an Achievement:

Icon	Name	Description	Points	Secret?
	Keeper of the 8 Virtues	Find all Hospitalier Flags in Acre.	10	No

Trivia

• The Knights Hospitalier are the only faction of Crusaders without high-ranking soldiers, aside from informant targets.
• In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the exclusive Templar lairs are marked on the map with the same cross that Garnier de Naplouse wears (which, in real life, is the Hospitalier's cross).
• In Assassin's Creed, the Knight's Hospitaler's armor and uniform are strikingly similar to that of the high-ranking Templar crusaders in the Holy Land, the primary difference being the black and white coloring of the Hospitaliers as opposed to the red and white of the Templar crusaders.
• In Assassin's Creed: Revelations, the multiplayer map Rhodes contains a Knights Hospitalier fortress.