THIS BOOK has examined the reaction of the Hospitallers, as an international order of the Church, to crises in the Latin East. These crises included defeat on the battlefield, the loss of castles and towns, and natural disasters; they could be so severe as to impel the Order to change its policies or re-deploy its international resources.

The defeat of the Christians at the battle of Hattin resulted in the almost complete devastation of the Hospitallers' military disposition and economy in the Levant. They lost most of their castles, agricultural lands, and urban properties. Although appeals were sent to the West after the battle asking for help, one of the main difficulties in attempting to identify the Hospitallers' needs is that most of the letters were general in nature and did not include specific requests. Most of these letters emphasized, however, the huge casualties suffered by the Christians at Hattin and the superior size of the Muslim forces indicating that one of the Order's main needs was manpower. The huge mobilisation from its European provinces ref lects the heavy losses suffered in the East. The defeat also prompted changes in the Order's leadership in the East and in Europe. Immediately after Hattin the Hospitallers formed a temporary governing body in Tyre, composed of surviving conventual officers and of European officers rapidly dispatched to the East to replace those killed. This temporary leadership was replaced by a permanent one following the establishment of the Order's headquarters in Acre after the city was recovered in July 1191.