The Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, also known as the Leper Brothers of Jerusalem or simply as Lazarists, was a Catholic military order founded by Crusaders in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and led by a Grand Master. While the monastic order is believed to have been formally established in the 1130s as a hospitaller body, documentary evidence confirms that its central edifice, a leper hospital dedicated to Saint Lazarus, was a functioning concern as early as 1073.

  • In France, it was administratively linked in 1608 to the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, becoming a prestigious royal institution until it was left to become extinct following the Bourbon Restoration in 1830. however, documentary evidence confirms that the edifice was a functioning concern as early as 1073.

The monastic order itself is believed to have been created in the 1130s as a hospitaller order, adopting the hospital Rule of Saint Augustine in use in the West. It was recognised by King Fulk in 1142. While the Order remained primarily a hospitaller order centered on its charism of caring for those afflicted with leprosy, the knights eventually assumed a military role. Although it has been claimed that the Order assumed a military role in the 12th century, this date may not be supported by verifiable evidence, with the earliest reference to the order's military activity dated to 1234. The Lazarists were distinguished by a green cross upon their mantle.

Expansion and Military Action

Hospitals dependent on the Jerusalem leprosarium were established in Acre and various countries in Europe, particularly in Southern Italy (Capua), Hungary, Switzerland, France (Boigny), and England (Burton Lazars). In 1154, Louis VII of France, on his return from the Second Crusade, gave the Order the Château of Boigny near Orléans, which became its headquarters outside of the Holy Land. This example was followed by Henry II of England, who established a house at Harehope, and by Emperor Frederick II.

The knights of the Order of Saint Lazarus notably participated in several major engagements:

  • Siege of Acre (1191)
  • Battle of Arsuf and the Battle of Jaffa (1192)
  • Battle of La Forbie (1244), following the fall of Jerusalem in July of that year.thumb|The green-enameled [[Maltese Cross of the Order of Saint Lazarus.]]

Late medieval period

The order quickly abandoned its military activities after the fall of Acre. However, the merger excluded the order's holdings in the southern part of Italy, then part of the Spanish realm, which were transformed into ecclesiastical benefices.

thumb|[[Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (1528–1580), founder and first Grand Master of the amalgamated Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, recognised in 1572 by Pope Gregory XIII.]]By the time of Pope Clement VIII, the order had two houses: one at Turin for land combat and one at Nice to provide galleys to fight the Turks at sea. It became a national order of chivalry upon the Unification of Italy in 1861 but has been suppressed by law since the foundation of the Republic in 1946. Since 1951, the order has not been recognized officially by the Italian state, though the House of Savoy in exile continues to bestow it for eminence in public service, science, art, and charitable works.

During the French Revolution, a decree of 30 July 1791 suppressed all royal and knightly orders in France, followed by the confiscation of property in 1792. The Holy See did not suppress the order, and the Grand Master, Louis, Count of Provence (the future Louis XVIII), continued to function in exile. During this period, several Russian and Baltic nobles were admitted to the order, including General John Lamb, Prince Suvorov, Count Pahlen, and Count Jacob Sievers.

The order was listed in the Almanach Royal from 1814 to 1830. Following the deaths of Louis XVIII and the order's lieutenant-general, the duc de Châtre, in 1824, apppointments to the order ceased to be made from 1830 and was removed from the royal registers.

Relationship with the Holy See

The Holy See maintains a strict and definitive position regarding chivalric orders. According to official statements from the Vatican Secretariat of State, most recently reaffirmed in a formal note in 2012, the Catholic Church recognizes only its own sovereign orders (such as the Order of Christ or the Order of St. Gregory the Great) and two specific protected entities: the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Guy Sainty claims that the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus is the legitimate dynastic successor to the medieval order, based on the 1572 Papal Bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII that united the Italian branch of the Order of Saint Lazarus with the Order of Saint Maurice in perpetuity under the Grand Magistry of the Savoy dynasty.

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Palen P A.jpg|Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen (1745–1826) with the Order of Saint Lazarus knight cross

Suvorov Alex V.jpg|Russian General Alexander Suvorov (1730-1800) with the Order of Saint Lazarus knight cross

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References

Further reading

  • Environ (1295), Constitution, règlements et nécrologie de Seedorf (Suisse).
  • Military History Online - Order of St.Lazarus in the Latin East