Knights Hospitaller

The Knights Hospitaller enter the narrative as the institution through which Ghino di Tacco’s change of standing becomes public and durable: after the Abbot of Cluny intercedes for the highway-robber, the Pope admits Ghino to the order, makes him a knight, and grants him a grand priory. The episode presents the order as a route from outlawry to recognized service, though it gives no further account of the institution’s structure or activities.

Ghino’s Admission and Office

At the Abbot’s urging, Ghino comes to the papal court under the assurance that he will be safe. The Pope takes him into favor and, before granting him a grand priory among the Hospitallers, has him made a knight of the order. The sequence links Ghino’s new office to papal approval: his admission follows the Abbot’s testimony to his worth and the Pope’s own judgment of him.

Service and Narrative Significance

The story closes Ghino’s arc by describing him as holding the office for the rest of his life and proving a loyal friend and servant of the Church and the Abbot of Cluny. The Knights Hospitaller therefore mark more than a change of title: membership gives the former robber an enduring place in an ecclesiastical order and confirms his reintegration into authorized service. The narrative supplies this single institutional connection without describing the order’s wider organization or duties.