Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem

The Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem appear in the book’s historical commentary not as actors in King Arthur’s adventures, but as the keepers of a later chivalric ideal. Their response to the 1783 earthquake in Sicily is presented as a last, brief revival of the order’s vows in action, just before the order itself disappeared.

The Order and the Chivalric Ideal

The commentary identifies the order as the Knights of Malta, also naming them the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. It places their work within a wider account of chivalry: the older forms had gradually softened as society became more refined, and the English court in the age of Edward III and the Black Prince had once been held up as a model of knighthood. From that period onward, the outward forms of chivalry began to decay, though there were occasional apparent revivals.

Relief Work in Sicily

The order’s defining episode in this account followed news of the great earthquake in Sicily in 1783. On hearing of the disaster, the Hospitallers manned their galleys and brought food, clothing, and medicines to those affected, along with the consolations of their faith. The commentary depicts them reaching the wounded and dying among the ruins in a distinctive half-military, half-priestly dress: armour beneath a black robe marked with a white cross. Their service joins practical aid to religious consolation, giving visible substance to the vows they had taken.

The Order’s Lasting Image

The author calls this the final expiring token of the old chivalric spirit in its old forms. The qualification matters: the episode is not described as a lasting restoration. Within a few years, in the same generation, the order had passed away. Yet the commentary asks readers to remember its members through this act of care rather than through less worthy deeds. The order’s closing image is therefore not simply one of institutional decline, but of a final moment when its military and religious identity was turned toward helping people in distress.