Jerusalem, Knights of

Jerusalem, Knights Of.

The possession of Jerusalem by a Christian power during the period of the Latin kings (see above, history of Jerusalem), gave birth to the two great orders of knighthood, that of the Temple, and that of St. John of Jerusalem; the former of which was distributed throughout Europe, and the latter — known also under the name of Knights Hospitallers (q.v.) — first fixed themselves at Rhodes, and afterwards dwindled into the little society of the Knights of Malta (q.v.). The Teutonic order sprung up at Acre in 1191, and its grand masters, who became hereditary, were the ancestors of the house of Brandenburg and the kings of Prussia. SEE TEMPLARS.