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According to many historians, the Order was started by a group of monks whose work was primarily to look after lepers in the 4th or 5th century. Due to this very contagious work, these monks were given quarters outside the walls of Jerusalem and their 'hospice' was established near to the Gate of Saint Lazarus, or, as it was referred to, the postern of Saint Lazarus. It is due to this geographical location that this group of caregivers became known as the Order of Saint Lazarus. The Order remained primarily a Hospitaller Order, operating a worldwide network of hospitals and Lazar Houses, and sending aid to wherever there was sickness and suffering, maintaining or supporting leper hospitals, medical centres, ambulance units and various other humanitarian institutions throughout the world.
The Order is also chivalric in that it became a monastic Order of Knighthood in the early 12th century. Its ranks held those who were already knights or those of noble birth who received knighthood after entry into the Order. The Order always had the power of conferring knighthood on any person deemed suitable. This ancient prerogative was enshrined in the Act of 1624, which created the category of Knights of Grace, where nobility was not required. This power, to confer knighthood, remained unimpaired from the 12th century and needed no recognition for its validity, preceding, as it did, all secular knighthoods still surviving to this day.
Apart from this knightly aspect of chivalry, it also implied that privilege went hand in hand with responsibility, to care for the sick and protect the weak. It was service without being servile, the use of one's effort and strength for the purpose of Christian and human charity.
The Order was not a reward, but a commitment of service past, present and future, to carry out its aims, and to work for humanity in its name. Through the dedication of its knights and members, its nobility of purpose, and its splendid history, the Order's traditions have survived intact throughout the centuries, and should continue so for centuries to come, as long as Christianity, and a need to help our fellow man, exists.
We welcome existing knights, dames, members and prospective members to explore our web site and learn more about the Order of Saint Lazarus organisation and the Saint Lazarus Hospice Foundation.
By the 1990's members of Saint Lazarus, in England, who had been looking for a serious Hospitaller programme in which to participate, decided it was the time for a change. They sought a programme which would be devoted to working in an area not currently supported by any other chivalric organisation, and a programme which would highlight the Christian, charitable, and caring nature of the members of Saint Lazarus.
Consequently a number of British past-members and high officers of the Paris Obedience decided, from 1st January 1995, to form a British chivalric and Hospitaller organisation to be known as 'The Grand Priory in the United Kingdom and Overseas of the Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem'. This decision immediately removed them from any direct foreign authority, including any Grand Master.
A meeting was convened in London on the 13th May 1999, which established the United Grand Priories of the Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem. In this May meeting, England and Scotland formally passed the necessary resolutions for the establishment of the United Grand Priories, which, at that moment, was composed of The Grand Priory of England, Wales, Isle of Man and Channel Islands and The Grand Priory of Scotland.
The United Grand Priories included a Grand Council, which is made up of two members from each Grand Priory. Fra John Baron von Hoff and Dr. Christopher Drew first represented the English Grand Priory, whilst HE Chevalier Richard Comyns of Ludston and HE Chevalier James Neilson represented the Scottish Grand Priory.
It was decided by the members of the Grand Council that Fra John Baron von Hoff would be the Master General and Chairman of the Council.
On the 23rd of August 1999 the Grand Council met and admitted the Grand Priory in Southern Africa.
The same situation was very evident in other countries and islands, including Malta, Gozo, Italy, France, Greece and the English-speaking members of the Order in Tripoli, Libya. After an extensive recruitment campaign in the Mediterranean region, the Lazarite world eventually saw the formation of a separate Grand Priory wholly dedicated to the Mediterranean region, on the 15th of February 2004.
As we have seen, to this end, a new 'international' body was established, known as 'The United Grand Priories of the Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem'. This organisation, run by a Grand Council, acts as the supreme governing body for the independent Grand Priories, which are:
The Grand Priory of England, Wales, Isle of Man and Channel Islands of The HospitallerOrder of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem.
The Grand Priory of Scotland of the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem.
The Grand Priory in Southern Africa of The Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem.
The Grand Priory of the Mediterranean of the Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem.
Each Grand Priory is governed by a Council of Knights.The Grand Priory of the Mediterranean is represented in the Grand Council of the United Grand Priory by the Grand Prior, Mons. Anton Gauci ECLJ and the Chancellor, Dr. Massimo Ellul.
The United Grand Priories are an ecumenical Christian organisation that sees its function as an opportunity to foster ever-stronger ecumenical bonds between the various branches of Christianity. To this end it hopes to encourage members and clergy from all parts of the Christian community to belong to the Order, and work together in harmony and understanding, under the banner of Saint Lazarus.
Each Grand Priory will initially have its own independent Hospitaller programme but it would not be unreasonable to assume that at times the four Grand Priories would join together for a common purpose.
The Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem was a military, religious and Hospitaller Order of Chivalry, and bore no resemblance to modern-day historical or charitable organisations.
It was military in that it played a military role from 1120 to about the beginning of the 16th century. Until 1291, its military activities were centred in the Holy Land helping to hold it for Christianity, while after its loss they were involved in the protection of the pilgrim routes, particularly of that to Santiago de Compostela.
The military role was partly revived in the early 17th century when the Order maintained a squadron of ten frigates based at St Malo, manned by the knights, novices and chaplains. With the ending of the Order's naval activities in 1668, the military role was continued by means of its naval academy, and the ownership of a military school in Paris, which it held until the French Revolution in 1791.
With regard to the religious aspect, the Order was originally an order of monks taking the triple vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The monastic character was in no way lessened when it commenced its military role.
After the Crusading period, the Order's religious character was maintained by means of its chaplains, its Religious Protector, its Spiritual Grand Prior, its rules, services and traditions. Members were expected to live their lives in the spirit of ecumenical Christian charity.
The Order was Hospitaller in that its origins allegedly stem from a leper hospice founded in Jerusalem in the 4th or 5th century. According to Gautier de Sibert's 'History of the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem', the Order was first established during the time of Saint Basil, with the founding of its first hospital in the city of Ptolemais (Acre). Other authors state that the source of the name of the Order stems from the fact that the Order was started by a group of Armenian monks who worked under the Rule of Saint Basil, and that their work was primarily to look after lepers. Due to this very contagious work, these monks were given quarters outside the walls of Jerusalem and their 'hospice' was established near to the Gate of Saint Lazarus, or, as it was referred to, the postern of Saint Lazarus. It is thus due to this geographical location that they became known as the Order of Saint Lazarus.
The majority of historians, however, agree that such claims of continuity from remote antiquity was in effect an apocryphal pretension so that the Knights of Saint Lazarus pass as the oldest of all the Orders, especially since they became, in a very short time, expert Hospitallers and carers of the ill, lepers and needy. Despite its subsequent military role, it remained primarily a Hospitaller Order, operating a worldwide network of hospitals and Lazar Houses, and sending aid to wherever there was sickness and suffering, maintaining or supporting leper hospitals, medical centres, ambulance units and various other humanitarian institutions throughout the world.
The Order was chivalric in that it became a monastic Order of Knighthood in the early 12th century. Its ranks held those who were already knights or those of noble birth who received knighthood after entry into the Order. The Order always had the power of conferring knighthood on any person deemed suitable. This ancient prerogative was enshrined in the Act of 1624, which created the category of Knights of Grace, where nobility was not required. This power, to confer knighthood, remained unimpaired from the 12th century and needed no recognition for its validity, preceding, as it did, all secular knighthoods still surviving to this day.
Apart from this knightly aspect of chivalry, it also implied that privilege went hand in hand with responsibility, to care for the sick and protect the weak. It was service without being servile, the use of one's effort and strength for the purpose of Christian and human charity.
The Order was not a reward, but a commitment of service past, present and future, to carry out its aims, and to work for humanity in its name. Through the dedication of its knights and members, its nobility of purpose in caring for the sick, and its splendid history, the Order's traditions have survived intact throughout the centuries, and should continue so for centuries to come, as long as Christianity, and a need to help our fellow man, exists.
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