THE
MILITARY AND HOSPITALLER ORDER OF
SAINT LAZARUS OF JERUSALEM
HISTORY
The
Order of Saint Lazarus
can trace its roots back to the establishment of a leprosarum in
Jerusalem by Empress Eudoxia in the 4th century to care
and treat lepers and those suffering from other skin diseases.
This was placed under the management of the Basilian Monks. The
establishment, like many other establishments in Jerusalem, had a very
tremulous history throughout the subsequent centuries, particularly
after the establishment of Muslim rule in Jerusalem. The outrages
against the Holy Sites in Jerusalem initiated by the Seljuk Turks
towards the end of the 11th century led to the launching of the First
Crusade which in 1099 resulted in Christian dominion of Jerusalem. In
the subsequent decades of the 12th century, the establishment underwent
reforms to becomer a monastic Military and Hospitaller Order of
Knighthood following the Rule of St. Augustine. It was richly endowed
by various rulers in Europe and by the end of the 13th century had
established its presence in Europe, particularly in France, Germany,
Italy, Sicily and the British Isles.
The
expulsion of the
Christians from Jerusalem by Salah-al-din in 1187, led to the
relocation of the Order to Acre. This last outpost of Christianity in
the Holy Land was lost to the Muslin troops under Khalid in 1291. Prior
to the fall of the Holy Land, the Order had been given the
Château
of Boigny, near Orléans, by King Louis VII of France. This
became the headquarters or magistry of the Order of Saint Lazarus
after the fall of Arce, with other establishments in Europe being
subservent to the Boigny magistry. In the subsequent centuries, various
papal and royal political machinations led to the first major schism in
the Order resulting by the 17th century into two branches: the Order of
Saint Lazarus and Our Lady of Notre Dame in France enjoying the
protection and support of the French kings, and the Order of
Saints Maurice and Lazarus in Sicily under the directorship of the King
of Savoy.
The
18th century was to see the joined
Orders of Saint Lazarus and Our Lady of Mount Carmel gain increasing
status and influence in France having been secularised and becoming a
Royal Order receiving the protection of the French Kings. This status
was maintained until the French Revolution and its aftermat when the
Orders' fortunes declined and its many possessions were appropriated by
the State. In spite of this, the Order of Saint Lazarus survived in
France regaining its Royal protectorship during the Restoration. It
ceased being considered a Royal French Order in 1830, but its members
continued their activities shifting their attentions to the eastern
lands maintining the Order as a semi-independant one. It appears that
this eastern link led to the adoption of the Order by the Melchite
Patriarchy and in 1844, the Order is known to have joined forces with
the Carmelite Order to help reconstruct the monastery and sanctuary of
Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. In the latter half of the 19th century,
the Order's fortunes declined. In 1910, the Patriarch transferred the
administration to a Council of Officers in Paris. These set out to
reorganise the Order and in 1930 asked His Highness Prince Francesco de
Borbon de la Torre to assume the leadership first a Lieutenant General
and later in 1935 as Grandmaster. This again linked the fortunes of the
Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem with the
Bourbon family, ableit the Spanish branch. In the subsequent decades,
misunderstandings regarding ecumenism led to a major schism in the
Order's ranks that gave rise to the Malta Obedience under the
Grandmastership of H.R.H. Don Francesco Enrequé de Borbon y
Borbon and the Paris Obedience under the Grandmastership of H.E. Pierre
Timoleon de Cossé-Brissac. Various efforts had been made to
attempt reunify the Order. In September 2008, the gracious joint
retirement of the two grandmasters of the two obediences followed by
the election of a new Grandmaster - H.E. Don Carlos Gerada de Borbon,
Marques de Almazán - has finally led to the reunification of the
two fractions. The Order continues to enjoy the Spiritual Protection of
the Greek Melkite Catholic Patriarch His
Beatitude Gregory III.
About the Order
