09/12/2026
The Order of Saint Lazarus is another overlooked orders of the medieval world.
Founded in Jerusalem, the order cared for l***rs by the 1140s; the brothers of Saint Lazarus were not only caregivers—they were warriors. They formed a military order with hospitaller functions, made up of knights and sergeants with leprosy who refused to abandon their vows. By the 1170s, even the Master of the Order was required to have leprosy, though not all members were afflicted.
Papal records show how highly they were regarded. In 1248, Pope Innocent IV grouped the Order of Saint Lazarus with the Hospitallers, Templars, and Teutonic Knights, granting them the same privileges. Later popes—Innocent IV, Alexander IV, and Clement IV—encouraged donations and even redirected papal revenues to support them.
By the mid‑thirteenth century, the order held lands across western Christendom, from England to Hungary, with a strong presence in Normandy. Their origins trace back to Jerusalem: a confirmed grant in 1142 placed their house between the Mount of Olives and the Red Cistern, on the pilgrim road to the River Jordan. A possible earlier reference (1130–1145) describes a cistern given to “the house of the l***rs of Saint Lazarus.”
By 1144 they had built a house and cultivated vines. By 1150 they were wealthy enough to purchase land on the Bethlehem Plain. Their Jerusalem house stood near the northwest corner of the city walls, with a postern gate leading directly into their hospital—likely granted by the Ibelin family.
Over the next decades, the order gained the support of kings and nobles. Kings Fulk, Baldwin III, Amalric, and Queen Melisende made donations. Amalric even granted fifty besants annually to support a single l***r. Major barons—including the lords of Beirut, Caesarea, Toron, Galilee, Jaffa, Nablus, and the Count of Tripoli—also contributed lands, rents, and vineyards.
The Order of Saint Lazarus stands as a powerful reminder that even those marked by illness could rise to defend others with honor, courage, and unwavering devotion.
