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Many of you have heard numerous different theories about when and how
the Order of the Holy Sepulchre began, therefore I am extracting a
complete chapter dealing with the history of the order from the book
The Cross on the Sword by Michael H. Abrahm D'Assemani.
The author was the first lieutenant of the American Chapter of the
Holy Sepulchre organized in 1926. He spent many years in the
Middle East, was an honorary member of the Imperial Geographical
Society of Persia and the official representative in the America of
the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. I think the reading of this
chapter will clear up a lot of questions regarding our order.
Richard Folger, KC*HS
Chapter V
Who founded the Order of the Holy Sepulchre? When was the Order
founded? Should the honor go to Saint James the Less, called the
Just, the first Bishop of Jerusalem, who could be considered a
guardian and defender of the Tomb of Our Lord? Was the nucleus
of the Knighthood in the association formed by Saint Helena to watch
the Tomb by day and by night? Did Emperor Charlemagne found the
Order?
Positive evidence is not to be had to prove that Charlemagne, the
restore of the Holy Roman Empire, founded the Order of the Holy
Sepulchre. However, he did establish an Order of the Crown of
Charlemagne, and many of his tenets were later adopted and observed by
the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. Moreover, during his stay in
Rome in 800, in the presence of Pope Leo III he received the
representative of the Patriarch of Jerusalem who delivered to him the
keys of the Holy Sepulchre, of the Hill of Calvary, of the Holy City,
and also a banner to testify to his suzerainty.
I
Abbot Bernard Giustiniani1 wrote in 1692:
"Saint James, Apostle and bishop of Jerusalem, in the sixty-third year
after the death of Christ (the ninety-sixth year after His Nativity),
established this Order to guard the Holy Sepulchre of the Savior, and
rallied a number of knights under the standard of the Cross.
"Some writers are of another opinion. Namely, that this Order of
the Holy Sepulchre traces the beginning of its existence to the time
when Godfrey of Bouillon set out to wrest the Holy City from the
shameful occupation of the infidels. And it was under the
auspices of Charlemagne (so they say) who reformed its statues, that
the knights of this Order took up arms. Against this opinion
stands the chronology of the reigns of Charlemagne and Godfrey.
The former ruled from 768 to 816, while Godfrey reigned in 1099.
This is too great an interval to permit such a linking of events.
"The last variant opinion places the origin and institution of this
Order about the year 1110, during the reign of Baldwin, brother of
Godfrey the Great, glorious King of Jerusalem.
"While so many opinions exist as to their origin, all agree as to the
insignia of these knights. This was worn on the breast and
consisted of a red cross on a white background, with four smaller
crosses placed one at each corner. The same device was worn on
the arm and worked into the battle flag.
"It was not without significance that this form of cross was decided
upon. According to the opinion of some, it represents the five
wounds of our Savior from which, as from so many precious fountains,
flows the stream of salvation from the human race. Others
maintain that the four corners of the world are represented, to which
the knights must travel for the honor of the cross depicted in the
middle, preaching its discovery.
"These knights followed the rule of Saint Basil the Great. They
made vows of conjugal chastity and of obedience; they pledged
themselves to the defense of the Holy Sepulchre and of the Christian
Faith, as well as to the protection of those who traveled through the
territory of the Saracens in order to visit the Holy Sepulchre; they
promised also to beg alms throughout the whole world to be used in the
ransom of Christians, led into slavery by the Turks.
"Approbation of this Order was granted by his Holiness Pope Innocent
III. However, because of the invasion of Jerusalem and the
dispersal effected by enemies of the Catholics in the neighboring
provinces, few of this Order persevered and these few betook
themselves to the town of Perugia, in Italy. In order that
further disruption might not follow, these knights still surviving
were united, together with their possessions, privileges, and the
right of immunity which they enjoyed, with the Knights of Saint John
of Malta. This was effected by Innocent VII, but did not apply
outside the confines of Italy as shall be seen in the course of this
chapter.
"Apparently, Francis Mennenio is more scholarly than other authors in
his manner of treating the origin and fortunes of this Order. He
does not exclude the opinion of those who trace its origin to Saint
James, Bishop of Jerusalem. He himself is inclined rather to
believe that the Order owes its existence to the blessed and
beneficent goodness of Constantine the Great. And that this man,
after having founded the Royal Order of Saint George and after the
discovery of the Holy Cross of the Redeemer of the world, thanks to
the efforts of the Empress Helena, his mother, intended to commemorate
this magnificent discovery by the establishment of this Order.
Hence it came about for the erection of churches and other memorials
in honor of our Savior...
"Don Giuseppe de Michieli subscribes to this opinion in his chapter of
this Order, wherein he records the testimony of others.2
"In the memoirs preserved by the Crusaders of the Red Cross in
Bohemia, they themselves stemming from this Order, the tradition of
its origin is identical.3
"Listing the miracles wrought by the cross at that time, and recording
the preaching of the saintly pastors to the people on the subject of
the cross, the memoirs add the following:4
" ' This Order enjoyed a marvelous growth in the early centuries and
also in the following centuries, preserving among its other
prerogative, that of standing guard at the Holy Sepulchre. But
with the advent of Saracen barbarism in the east, this Order of
knights suffered a severe setback. When tidings of their
reverses, as well as of quarrels among the other Christians, reached
the ears of Charlemagne, restorer of the empire in the west, he took
steps to reestablish peace with their enemies. He held a
conference with Haroun, King of the Saracens, in which freedom of
divine worship according to the Catholic Rite was guaranteed the
knights and all Christians, even under the reign of his royal
successors.
" ' It was on this occasion, Mennenio thinks, that the Order of the
Knights of the Holy Sepulchre was restored by Charlemagne.
Furthermore, its statues were fixed by him, and later confirmed and
renewed by the various kings and princes of French blood, and by
Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin, his brother. The first few (of
these rulers) when they assumed the crown, made a solemn vow to God to
organize a crusade to overthrow the Saracen horde, and to recover the
sacred kingdom of Jerusalem. In proof of this the author cites
the revised statues of 1099 which were preserved in the archives of
the Order of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. We give here a
summary of the principal ones, referring interested readers to page
197 of Mennenio's work for the others; this we do so that the present
chapter may not prove boring.
" '.............................
" 'Art. I. In the name of and to the honor of God, Father, Son,
and the Holy Ghost; of the blessed Virgin Mary, His Mother; of the
angels and archangels, patriarchs and prophets of God, of the
apostles, evangelists, disciples and all saints; as well as of all
blessed in heaven.
" 'Art. II. Be it known and clear to all venerable and
illustrious princes, nobles, military and all Christians, that in the
year of Our Lord 1099, the illustrious, victorious and exalted leaders
Saint Charlemagne, Emperor and King of all France; Louis VI, the Wise,
also called the Pious; Philip, called the Wise, Magnanimous, and the
Conqueror; Louis, the Holy and Magnanimous, the commander, Godfrey of
Bouillon and other venerable kings and rules of Christendom, after
having assumed power in their empire or realm, have freely offered
themselves to God, pledging their own assumed persons and goods to
combat and to carry on war across the sea to the end that they may
subjugate and destroy the ignoble and tyrannical nation of Saracen
infidels, and to subject to their own power and authority the Kingdom
of Jerusalem with its strengthening of the Christian Faith. They
have also pledged themselves to the protection and defense of the
Catholic Apostolic Church, and of other Christian churches against all
attacks and persecutions; as also the protection and tutelage of the
prelates of the church, of the poor, the orphans, the widows and other
Christians against all enemies.
" 'Art. III. Be it also known that we, the above-named, have
fulfilled our pledges in the regard to these matters; we have by our
efforts and diligence, and by the favor of God, obtained the Kingdom
of Jerusalem and the Saracen possessions, winning notable victories
over them and furthering the Christian religion. Wherefore the
name of most Christian Ruler was rightly bestowed on us, and
deservedly conceded by other princes and by the Christians. Then
we returned joyfully to our kingdom of France and to our territories
and dominions, and to the other realms whose Christian rulers were
most friendly toward us, helping us with men and money to discharge
our vows and accomplish what we had set out to do. Wherefore, as
reason itself dictates, that too shared in the honor which we enjoyed.
" 'Art. IV. Moreover, in honor of the Passion of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and out of the reverence and obedience we owe to the Holy See,
to His Holiness, the Pope, God's vicar on earth, as well as to the
bishops, we accepted in the city of Rome the holy crosses with which
they signed us and our soldiers in memory of the five wounds of Our
Lord, Jesus Christ. This in order that we might be strengthened
the more against these infidels, and that we might recognize our own
members and the Christians, whether living or dead, in the territories
of these infidels.
" 'Furthermore, we took under consideration and decided to establish
the Order of the Most Holy Sepulchre in the city of Jerusalem, to the
honor and glory of the Resurrection. And t our name of most
Christian Emperor; we added the grand mastery of this Order. We
desire that the knights of this Order wear the five red crosses in
honor of the five wounds inflicted on our Lord Jesus Christ. We
created many knights, signed them with these crosses against the
infidels...
" '.............................
" ' These things were agreed upon and promulgated by us in the city of
Jerusalem, the first day of January, 1099."
" '.............................
"If we were to give full credence to these statements, it would
undermine the authority of those historians who place the founding of
this Order at a much earlier date. Hence there arises in the
mind of the writer a very good reason for doubting the authenticity of
these statutes, in view of the historical implications which cannot be
reconciled.
"In the first place it is incomprehensible how they can say that they
are founding this Order in the year 1099, when earlier they maintain
that the statutes and laws were fixed by the Emperor Charlemagne,
whose reign as we saw above extended from 801 to 815. If he
established the laws and if he was, as it is asserted, prince and
grand master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, the Order must
necessarily have been in existence at the time. And if it did
already exist, then they cannot say that it was founded in 1099.
The second contradiction appears in the second article were, listing
the princes who were the authors of the statutes (supposed to have
been drawn in Jerusalem), they place Louis VI, King of France, after
Charlemagne in the title. Now in no history will you find that
he ever visited Jerusalem. Louis VII, his son, did however, not
in 1099 but in 1145. They also name Philip, King of France, and
son of Louis VII, but he did not visit the Holy Land until 1189.
The third mistake, and this still more inexcusable, is that in the
article mentioned Saint Louis, King of France, is named; whereas it
wasn't until 1215 that he was born (the twenty-fifth of April
according to the genealogies of Albizzi and Retterschucio) that is,
one hundred and sixteen years after said articles were drawn up!
Consequently, he couldn't possibly have been in Jerusalem to sing the
statutes of 1099...
".............................
"With such evident contradictions, the statutes cannot be regarded as
authentic. Of Mennenio, who is certainly a trustworthy
historian, cites these statutes, he does not accept their observations
as facts, for he must surely have recognized how improbable they were.
The evidences are of antiquity attributing the origin to Constantine
the Great, or the the holy Empress, his mother, are practically
incontrovertible since they are so patent.............................
"The sovereign powers of the grand mastery of this Order were bound
inseparable to the empire from the time of Godfrey and Baldwin and
were handed down to the royal successors. The father guardians
of the Holy Sepulchre (of the Franciscan Order), named knights to this
Order by permission of the Holy See, but this purely honorary.
It has been said that supreme power (in the Order) was inseparable
from the authority of the empire of Jerusalem. This is
demonstrated by the insignia of the latter, identical with that of the
knights save that gold was substituted for red. We know from
historical writings, however, that Godfrey, in his battle flags which
displayed the likeness of his crown of Jerusalem, preserved the five
crosses depicted in red; so, too, did his successors. And as
this Equestrian Order was founded in that empire, it would seem that
the former is inseparably united with the realm and to its
sovereignty, the symbol of the five crosses being common both to the
Order and to the empire.
"The prince pretenders manifestly prove that the dignity of the grand
mastery is identical with the powers of the empire of the Holy Land,
for in their arms and emblems they insert the five crosses to lend
weight as it were to their pretensions toward the crown of Jerusalem."
After the din and battle died down upon their capture of Jerusalem on
July 15, 1099, the Crusaders gave their first thought to an
organization that should permanently guard and protect the Holy
Sepulchre. Godfrey of Bouillon gathered his stout warriors for
the purpose of organizing a religious-military Order.
The establishment of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem can
be placed between the fall of Jerusalem, on July 15, 1099, and August
12, 1099. It must have been formally organized and instituted
between the aforesaid dates and before August 12, 1099, for on that
day a group of Knights, wearing the insignia of the Order for the
first time, took part in the hard fought battle of Ascalon, Godfrey
their leader. Although greatly outnumbered, the new Knights
attacked with such fury and determination that they put the Mohammedan
enemy to flight after the first encounter. These first Knights
were called Milites Sancti Sepulcri and were chosen from among the
bravest and most valiant of the noble Christian warriors.
Accustomed to the pursuit of arms, they took the oath to guard and
protect the Holy Sepulchre; religious, priests, and friars celebrated
Mass or offered prayers constantly at the Tomb, as Canons of the Holy
Sepulchre. The Knights having adopted the Rule of Saint
Augustine for their communal life lived the same as the canons.
Before Godfrey's death, he not only gave the Knights of the Holy
Sepulchre their first statutes in the adoption of the Rule of Saint
Augustine, but he also gave them lands and fortified places.5
II
The Order, then, had its beginning at the time of the First Crusade.
The founder was Godfrey of Bouillon, the uncrowned king of Jerusalem.
His Knights were the guardians of the Tomb.
Other Knights had assignments. Their posts gave them their
titles. For example, those ordered to live near the Temple were
called Knights Templar. At first they were not a military Order.
They followed the austere rule of the Cistercians, their habit white,
to which a cross had been added.
The care of lepers were entrusted to the Knight of St. Lazarus or the
Lazarists who lived a severe life under an adopted rule of St. Basil.
The cross of their habit was green with eight points.
The volunteers for the hospital labor -- the caring for the sick, the
poor and strangers in Jerusalem -- were called Hospitallers of St.
John of Jerusalem. Their habit had a black mantle with a white
cross, and their rule was that of St. Augustine. Later, after
the Christians were driven from Palestine, they were known as the
Knights of Rhodes; still later, as the Knights of Malta; and finally,
their present name, as the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem.
According to Alphonse Couret:
"The Order of the Holy Sepulchre is born spontaneously out of the
devotion to the Tomb of Christ, the struggle against the forces of
Islamism, the militant piety of western knights, and the guard of
honor around the Holy Sepulchre instituted by the Latin Kings of
Jerusalem."6
Sir Bernard Burke, in writing about the Order of the Holy Sepulchre,
says:
"This Order may justly rival in antiquity that of St. Lazarus,
credible authors dating its origin as early as the year 69, when St.
James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem, entrusted the guardianship of
the Holy Sepulchre to a number of men, distinguished for piety and
high birth. Some writers, however, consider that it originated
with the Canons regular, whom St. Helena, mother of Constantine the
Great, introduced into her new Church of Mount Calvary; while others
again assert that the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre arose in the time
of Godfrey de Bouillon, or his successor Baldwin, and that by the
later the Patriarch of Jerusalem was nominated first grand Master...
"The Grand Mastership and the right of nominating Knights were
originally vested in the Holy See, though the Pope ceded subsequently
those rights to the Guardian Father of the sacred tomb. Noble
descent was one of the conditions of the reception. The duties
of teh Knights were to hear mass daily; combat, live and die for the
Christian religion; to procure substitutes in the war with the
infidels in case their own presence should be prevented by unavoidable
circumstances, to grant protection to the servants of the Church; to
prevent all sorts of unjust feuds, quarrels, disputes, and usury; to
favour peace amongst the Christians; protect widows and orphans; to
abstain from swearing and cursing; and to guard carefully against
intemperance, lewdness, etc., etc. These heavy and severe duties
were amply compensated for by the extraordinary privileges granted to
the Knights. Among those privileges was the right conceded to
members of the Order to legitimatize, change their names, grant
escutcheons, possess church property though married, to be exempt from
taxes on sale, wine, beer..."7
In the year 1928 further data on the Order of the Holy Sepulchre were
given the world by Count Michael de Pierredon, Minister
Plenipotentiary and Bailli of the Sovereign Military Order of St. John
of Jerusalem and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy
Sepulchre, in his book entitled The Equestrian Order of the Holy
Sepulchre of Jerusalem:
"Almost all of the orders that witnessed the birth of the great epoch
of the Crusaders have lost some of the usefulness and importance; but
amongst those ancient and venerable orders there is one still engaged
in the relief of misfortune and has become in some manner patrimonial
for humanity. The Crusades have ceased to exist but misfortune
and poverty shall always dwell on the earth and the charitable
institution which devotes itself to such work, merits the kind
protection of kings. It is thus that Father Lacombe de Cruzet
wrote to Louis XVIII recommending to him the French Confraternity of
the Holy Sepulchre, and even so, the same situation exists today
concerning the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. Its history comes
down through the corridors of time for nearly one thousand years.
The state of the world today is somewhat different from that era in
which the brave and noble Knights of the Cross lived; the Holy
Sepulchre itself and the Holy Land are not demanding to be conquered,
and yet the work of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre is not
finished, the Christ, Jesus, still needs them as formerly.
"The Order of the Holy Sepulchre is the synthesis of the old
Knighthood such as it existed in the Golden Age because by its
investiture, its aims and origin, united with the rites of the ancient
Knighthood, the aspirations which formed it are at the base of that
institution at the time of the Crusaders."8
Historians list thirty-four crowned heads in hereditary succession as
Grand Masters of the Military Order of the Holy Sepulchre, reaching to
Charles II, King of Spain, Naples and Sicily (1625 - 1700) as follows:9
| 1. |
1099 |
Godfrey de Bouillon,
Duke of Lower Lorraine and first King of Jerusalem |
| 2. |
1100 |
Baldwin I, his brother |
| 3. |
1118 |
Baldwin II |
| 4. |
1134 |
Fulck of Anjou |
| 5. |
1143 |
Baldwin III |
| 6. |
1162 |
Amaury I |
| 7. |
1173 |
Baldwin IV |
| 8. |
1183 |
Baldwin V, son of
Marquis William of Montferrat and of Sibylla, daughter of Amaury
I |
| 9. |
1184 |
Sibylla alone |
| 10. |
1186 |
Guy of Lusignan |
| 11. |
1188 |
Henry, Count of
Champagne, assumed the grand mastery because of his wife,
Isabella, daughter of Amaury I. and Henry was chosen King of
Jerusalem in 1192. |
| 12. |
1195 |
John, Earl of Brienne |
| 13. |
1208 |
Frederick II. German
Roman Emperor |
| 14. |
1250 |
Conrad, son of
Frederick II |
| 15. |
1252 |
Manfred, called the
Tyrant and Usurper, son of Emperor Frederick II |
| 16. |
1265 |
Charles of Anjou was
named grand master by Pope Honorisu III |
| 17. |
1285 |
Charles II, his son |
| 18. |
1309 |
Robert the Good and
Wise, his oldest son, while the first born, Charles I. ascended
the throne of Hungary, and the second oldest, Louis, became
Bishop of Toulouse |
| 19. |
1342 |
Joanna I. daughter of
Robert, conferred the mastery on Louis, Prince of Taranto and
brother of Robert, after having taken it from her husband Andrew
(whom she had hanged); then she conferred it on James of Aragon
and finally on Otto d' Este, duke of Brunswick |
| 20. |
1382 |
Charles II, Duke of
Durazzo |
| 21. |
1386 |
Ladislaus, his son |
| 22. |
1414 |
Joanna II ruled in the
person of her husband James of Narbonne |
| 23. |
1438 |
Various masters for the
space of four years between Rene of Anjou and Alphonse of Aragon |
| 24. |
1442 |
Alphonse V, the Wise,
King of Aragon and Sicily, was confirmed master by the Pope |
| 25 |
1458 |
Ferdinand, his son,
succeeded him after a great deal of controversy with members of
the house of Anjou |
| 26. |
1493 |
Alphonse II, Duke of
Calabria, his son |
| 27. |
1494 |
Ferdinand, his son |
| 28. |
1495 |
Frederick, uncle of
Ferdinand |
| 29. |
1501 |
Ferdinand II on taking
over the Kingdom of Naples assumed the grand mastery |
| 30. |
1516 |
Charles of Habsburg |
| 31. |
1555 |
Philip II, his son |
| 32. |
1598 |
Philip III, King of
Spain |
| 33. |
1621 |
Philip IV, King of
Spain |
| 34. |
1667 |
Charles II, King of
Spain |
One must never confuse our Roman Catholic Order of the holy Sepulchre
of Jerusalem with that of the Greek Orthodox Order of the Holy
Sepulchre. There is nothing in common between the two nor any
connection whatsoever. Of course Roman Catholics should seek
membership in their own approved Order of the Holy Sepulchre.
It is claimed without any proof or acceptable evidence that the Greek
Orthodox Order of the Holy Sepulchre was founded by the Emperor
Constantine the Great in the year 312 A.D.; but, on the basis of
statements by authoritative writers, this we can dismiss as fanciful
imagination. Emperor Constantine the Great founded no such
Order. Though the Greek Orthodox Patriarch claims the right to
the Grand Mastership of it since 1453, only in the last few centuries
was anything heard of the existence or activities of a Greek Orthodox
Order. |
