ST JOHN SINGAPORE BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS KNOWLEDGE of the ORDER of ST JOHN (2016 Edition)
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ST JOHN SINGAPORE BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS CADET PROFICIENCY BADGE SCHEME KNOWLEDGE OF THE ORDER OF ST JOHN (2016 Edition) LESSON OBJECTIVES The objectives, as part of the Cadet Proficiency Badge Scheme (CPBS) require members, at the end of the lesson, to be able to know the following: 1. The events leading up to the formation of the Order. 2. The original purpose and the aims of the Order. 3. The main events, names and appropriate dates leading up to the fall of Malta. 4. The development of the Order and its Foundation to the present day. 5. The Full Name of the Order, the Original Purpose, Symbols of the Order 6. The Organisation Structure and the significance of the Great Officers of the Order. 7. The Cadet Code of Chivalry 8. The development of the St John in Singapore. The Knowledge of the Order of St John is a compulsory proficiency badge and is a pre-requisite for members of the Brigade to qualify for the following award badge under the badge scheme: 1. Chief Commissioner’s Badge 2. Deputy Chief Commissioner’s Badge 3. Commissioner’s Badge 1 THE MOST VENERABLE ORDER OF THE HOSPITAL OF ST JOHN OF JERUSALEM 2 JERUSALEM AND THE CRUSADES The exact date when the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem first came into being is unknown although it was about 1070, when a hospice - a place of care - was established in Jerusalem by monks from a neighbouring Benedictine abbey to care for the growing number of Christians making the long and dangerous pilgrimage to the holy city. When the First Crusades captured Jerusalem in 1099, the Hospice was maintained by Benedictine monks under their Rector Gerald, known to history as the Blessed Gerald. Many crusades were nursed back to health in the hospital and in gratitude lavished gifts upon it. As a result, Gerald was able to find the new Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, which was recognised by Pope Paschal II in 1113. Over the next forty years it developed into a religious and military order, with its brothers and sisters (commonly known as Hospitallers of St John or Knights Hospitallers) providing care to the poor and sick of any faith. They also took on the additional role of defending all Christians and others within their care when they were threatened. Gerald's successor, Raymond du Puy, who first took the title of Master of the Hospital, instituted a new class of military Brethren to help the knight Templars in protecting the routes of pilgrimage and defending the frontiers of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. From that time onwards, there were three main classes of Brethren of the Hospital, the Knights, the Chaplains, and the Serving Brothers. The Hospitallers, however, never neglected the original purpose for which the order had been founded, namely to care for the sick and to succour the poor and the homeless. By the end of the twelfth century, the knights of the Hospital had won undying fame and their renown for valour stood as high as that of their great comrades and rivals the Knights Templar. These two powerful Orders constituted the main defence of the Holy Land for nearly two centuries until its evacuation by the Christians after the fall of Acre in 1291. 3 RHODES AND MALTA The Order was driven from Jerusalem in 1187 and established its headquarters on the coast of Palestine, before moving to Cyprus and then on to Rhodes. In 1530 it moved to Malta, where it governed until it was expelled by Napoleon in 1798. Throughout their sovereign years on Rhodes and Malta the Knights’ medical work continued. In Rhodes the hospital had separate wards for infectious disease and maternity care. In Malta the Order ran a health service for the Maltese people and set up a famous school of anatomy and surgery. The great ward in Malta’s hospital was the longest room in 18th Century Europe. THE ORDER IN BRITAIN From the beginning the Order grew rapidly and was given land throughout Western Europe. Its estates were managed by small groups of brothers and sisters who lived in communities that provided resources to the headquarters of the Order. These communities were gradually gathered into provinces called Priories or Grand Priories. In Britain these estates were first administered from one of the communities (called a Commandery) at Clerkenwell, London from about 1140 and the original Priory Church was built at the same time. St John Gate in 1880s However, over time, the extensive amount of land the Order owned in Britain meant that it needed to be managed by several different Commanderies. In 1185 the Commandery at Clerkenwell became a Priory, and had responsibility for Commanderies that had been set up in Scotland and Wales as well as the ones in England. Ireland became a separate Priory. 4 HENRY VIII In 1540 the Order was suppressed by King Henry VIII, as part of the process known as the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It was restored and incorporated by Queen Mary I in 1557, but when Queen Elizabeth I again confiscated all its estates in 1559 she did so without annulling its incorporation. These acts by English Sovereigns did not directly affect the Order in Scotland, but the influence of the Reformation ended the Order’s activities there in about 1564. The Order in Britain then fell into abeyance. Henry VIII The religious Order of the Hospital of St John, which is now formally known as The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, went through a time of disarray after it was expelled from Malta, but it had recovered by the middle of the nineteenth century, when its headquarters were established in Rome. It is still often called “The Order of Malta” and its members are frequently referred to as “Knights of Malta”. In the 1820s the Knights of Malta living in France offered knighthoods to specific people supporting the Order in Great Britain, irrespective of their Christian denomination. Their approach was not part of the official policy of the Order of Malta, but the English Knights devoted themselves to charitable activities, which were organised into what became known as Foundations. It was this British group, carrying out very substantial charitable activities, which Queen Victoria recognised and incorporated in 1888 and which became the modern Order of St John. Victoria ruled the largest empire the world has ever known and the Order saw it as part of its role to spread Western medical practice to the colonies. Today St John is still active in over 40 countries across the world. Queen Victoria ST JOHN AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION Britain was one of the first countries to become industrial and in the 19th century there were many dangerous workplaces. Conditions and machinery were hazardous and workers were exhausted by the long hours. Accidents were frequent but workers rarely saw a doctor in time. Death or disability from untreated injuries was common. 5 Members of the British Order wanted to find a way to help. They decided to train ordinary people in first aid so accident victims could be treated quickly and on the spot, and in 1877 they set up St John Ambulance to do this. Classes were set up across the country, particularly in workplaces and areas of heavy industry, but also in villages, seaside towns and middle class suburbs. In 1887 trained volunteers were organised into a uniformed Brigade to provide a first aid and ambulance service at public events. In many parts of Britain, St John was the first and only provider of an ambulance service right up to the middle of the 20th century, when the National Health Service was founded. When there were far fewer doctors and hospital beds than today, St John nurses looked after the sick and injured in their own homes. Members of the St John Ambulance Members of the St John Ambulance Brigade Association in the 1880s performing duty at a parade in 1887 THE MODERN ORDER There were originally three charitable Foundations of the modern Order. One, which became The St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Foundation, was established in 1882. The St John Ambulance Association, which was concerned with training the public in first aid, was established in 1877. And, the third was The St John Ambulance Brigade, which provided first aid care to the public. It had its origins in 1873, and became a Foundation in 1887. The St Memorial stone of the St John John Ambulance Association and The St John Ophthalmic Hospital in Jerusalem Ambulance Brigade were amalgamated in 1974 to in 1882 form the present St John Ambulance Foundation. There was a major re-structuring of the Order’s constitution in 1999. This introduced a new governing body called the Grand Council. The Order today consists of Priories, Associations and the St John Eye Hospital Group which has its main hospital in Jerusalem. The Order of St John, now known as St John International, is active in more than 40 countries around the world. 6 History of the Order of St John…In Timeline 600AD Abbot Probus established a hostel for Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem 1099 Capture of Jerusalem by the forces of the First Crusade. The Blessed Gerald founded the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem soon after this date. 1113 The Order was formally recognized by Pope Paschal II. 1148 Foundation of the Priory of Clerkenwell in London. 1291 The fall of Acre. The Christian forces were expelled from Palestine and the few surviving Hospitallers escaped to Cyprus.