Knightly orders

Acre was one of the Crusaders` main bases from 1104 to 1187. In the hundred years from its reconquest by the Christians to its destruction by the Marmluks, Acre was the most important Crusader base and the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1191 to 1229 and from 1244 to 1291. The three most important knightly orders also stayed here:

• The Teutonic Order
• The Hospitallers
• The Templars

The knightly orders brought into being during the Crusades combined the monastic with the chivalrous, the ascetic with the combative, and the charitable with the protective ideal. With the help of donations and the exemption from tithes, it was possible for the knightly orders - primarily the Templars - to accumulate huge fortunes. They took over the costume from the Muslims and provided it with crosses in different shapes and colors to differentiate the orders from one another.

In 1190, during the siege of Acre, the Teutonic Order was founded as a brotherhood for nursing. It was equipped with a tent hospital made of sails from Bremen and Lübeck merchant ships. The Teutonic Order was converted into a knightly order in 1198, which after the destruction of Acre went to Cyprus and Venice and settled in Marienburg. The Order of St. John had in the 11./12. Developed from a pilgrims` hospital in Jerusalem in the 19th century and first moved to Cyprus in 1291 and Rhodes in 1308. The Order of the Templars, which came into being in 1119 and owed their status to Bernard of Clairvaix, set up their headquarters in Acre in 1191. After its devastation, the Templars set up new quarters on Cyprus.