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Vatin, Nicolas
2000.
Rhodes et l’ordre de Saint-Jean-de-Jérusalem.
p.
117.
Article contents
The 1330 Chapter General of the Knights Hospitallers at Montpellier∗
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 July 2016
Extract
Of all the international military monastic orders of the Middle Ages only the Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem have left reasonably complete records. The publication of documents from their archives has not, however, evenly represented the great historical epochs of the order's past; for the Holy Land period (ca. 1096–1291) we have almost everything, for the Rhodian era (1310–1522) we have almost nothing. This situation has not gone unnoticed, but it has remained uncorrected. Twenty-five years ago John La Monte reported that documents pertaining to the Hospitallers after 1310 were among the important lacunae of crusade historiography, and, more recently, James Brundage has called attention to the fact that nothing has been done to fill this gap. With the exception of a handful of documents published by Joseph Delaville Le Roulx one must still turn to Sebastiano Pauli's eighteenth-century miscellany for original records of the Hospitallers during the two centuries they held Rhodes. The proceedings of the Montpellier Chapter General published here represents a modest attempt to advance beyond the current state of affairs.
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References
1 For a more detailed discussion of problems involved in Hospitaller history during the Rhodian period see my ‘The English Hospitallers during the Great Schism,’ Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History 4 (1967) 90–93.Google Scholar
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19 The list of authorities for this opinion is basically the same as that for those who believe the langues were created in 1330; cf. supra note 7.Google Scholar
20 King, , Knights in the Empire, 50.Google Scholar
21 The present manuscript shows (fol. 1r) Foucheroolles was prior of Champagne when the chapter general opened.Google Scholar
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26 Malta, , Cod. 280, fol. 33v. Since Tybertis' dates have been the subject of considerable error it seems worthwhile to establish his chronology as precisely as possible. In 1326 John L'Archer, Prior of the Hospital in England, wrote to the grand master stating that the order there was in grave financial difficulty; Malta, , Cod. 16, no. 17. In response to this brother Leonard, then prior of Venice, was sent to the Island as a visitor general to investigate the situation; Malta, , Cod. 1136, fols. 165r–166v; Calendar of Documents in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland: Letters, 1305–1342 (London 1895) 484. In 1328 at their provincial chapter the English Hospitallers elected Tybertis prior (The Knights Hospitallers in England, ed. Larking, L. [London, 1857] 215) and Edward III wrote to the pope asking that their action be confirmed. John XXII replied that the grand master would be happy to confirm brother Leonard in his new post but that this would not be done until the next chapter general; Cal. Papal Letters, 1305–1342, 488. In the interval L'Archer, as the legal prior, continued to seal documents with the consent of Leonard de Tybertis (Italics mine); the last surviving charter bears the date 20 August 1330;. British Museum, Cotton MS, Nero, E VI, fols. 93v and 120v–121r. The election of Tybertis was confirmed by the Montpellier chapter general as our manuscript shows (fol. 2v) and he directed the affairs of the English priory until his death sometime in 1335: Malta, , cod. 20, no. 3; B.M., Cotton MS, Nero E VI, fols. 121rv, 122r, 137r, 200v. His successor was appointed at the chapter general of 1335; Malta, , Cod. 280, fol. 33v .Google Scholar
27 The chronology of the English, German, and Italian priors of St. John has long been in need of investigation. The editors of a number of cartularies have complained of the lack of precision in the chronology of Hospitaller officials.Google Scholar
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30 Malta, , Cod. 16, no. 17. See also Larking's edition of Prior Thame's report of 1338 (Hospitallers in England) for examples of heavy ‘legal expenses.’ Google Scholar
31 I should like to express my thanks to Galea, Chevalier Joseph, archivist of the Hospitaller archives in the Royal Malta Library, for his assistance in the preparation of this manuscript. His advice was invaluable in the collation of my copy with the original record and I am indebted to him for numerous improvements in the text.Google Scholar
32 The scribe seems to have added the German priories here as an afterthought.Google Scholar
33 Most of the names of the priors were apparently omitted by the scribe in his haste; they have been supplied from the earlier list in the manuscript.Google Scholar
34 From this point the word auri is omitted.Google Scholar
35 A marginal note in the same hand as the original manuscript reads ‘de prioratu Alamanie.’ Google Scholar
36 No entries follow for Auvergne. Portugal, Rome (Urbis), Baroli, Venice, Hungary, Ireland, and Denmark-Norway below are also blank.Google Scholar
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