Those “lepers not like the others”, set in a hospital in Jerusalem, have been integrated in the institutional components of welfare set of the Holy Land during the twelfth century. Recent research has allowed historians to assess the case of the Order of Saint Lazarus during the Crusades. The Order of Saint Lazarus, like the rest of the Monastic Military Or-ders in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, were ousted from the Holy Land in 1291 and thus transferred its economic attention to its European perceptories retaining the raison d’etre of caring for the victims of leprosy. During the subsequent century, the Order therefore became increasingly dependant on for-eign support derived through the workings of the agricultural holdings of the Order in Europe, direct royal contributions and papal support obtained through the sale of indulgences. The loss of land with the resulting decrease in income from taxes led to a significant decease in the land and monetary donations from the nobility of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. After the loss of Jerusalem in 1187, the Order lost a significant portion of its land holdings in regions now controlled by the new Islamic rulers. Further economic gains were made through participation in military razes through the capture and ransoming of prisoners and by acquiring prizes such as captured cattle and other goods. Other economic activities included eel fishing and possibly can-dle making. The agricultural land appears to have been managed on the Metayage system with a sharecrop agreement with tenants of agricultural centres or Ganges. The documented activ-ities included the cultivation and milling of grain and the management of a viticul-ture economy dedicating land holdings to the development of vineyards and the production and sale of wine. These aimed to provide “house-grown” sustenance to the members of the Order and their entourage but also po-tentially obtaining further funds through the sale of surplus. In the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the economic activities undertaken to further the Order’s income included agricultural activities. All these were managed by the Order to further the economic sustenance in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and hence it’s pivotal Crusader and hospitaller role. The Order also received donations and benefices in Europe ena-bling it to establish several perceptories in Italy, Hungary, Central Europe, France and the Netherlands, England and Scot-land. The vari-ous donations given generally by the nobiliary and royalty of the Kingdom of Jeru-salem included direct monetary gifts, land holdings, and annual incomes from tithes and taxes. The Order quickly acquired benefices enabling it to support the leprosarium inmates, the knights and their entourage in its monastery outside the walls of Jerusalem, and also to undertake military campaigns. The Order of Saint Lazarus was no exception. At this point, Jerusalem was considered central to the raison d’etre of the Christian world and hence the Monastic Military Orders active in the Kingdom of Jerusalem established in 1099 attracted the atten-tion and support of European kings, noblemen and various popes. The Order of Saint Lazarus in Jerusalem was definitely active by the beginning of the second decade of the 12th century. The Holy See abrogated its fons honorum of the Order in 1905 forcing a reorganization of the Order into a secular association under the spiritual protectorship of the Melkite Patriarchate. The Risorgimento movement of the late nineteenth century led Pius IX as head of the Papal States to assume administrative control of the Ordre de Saint Lazare and admit a number of individuals who had in some way supported his cause to the Order of Saint Lazarus. Having been made responsible for the Eastern Mediterranean lands in 1838, the choice for a protector allegedly fell on the Melkite Patriarchate who apparently assumed this role in about 1841. In 1831, the then reigning French King abrogated his fons honorum of the Order leaving the Council of Officers free to look to alternative protectors while retaining the fons honorum of the Holy See. The Ordre de Saint Lazare in the early nineteenth century enjoyed the fons honorum of the Holy See (Bull of 1255), the Protectorship of the reigning French King (Edict of 1609 and Bull of 1664), and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (Bull of 1261).
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