Knights Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (; ), also known as the Order of Saint John, Order of Hospitallers, Knights Hospitaller, Knights Hospitalier or Hospitallers, was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headquartered in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, on the island of Rhodes, in Malta and St Petersburg.
France in the Middle Ages
One of the more bizarre episodes of Philip's reign was his involvement in the destruction of the Knights Templar. The Templars had been founded during the Crusades more than a century earlier, but now consisted of old men who's prestige was greatly diminished after the fall of the Holy Land and no longer seemed to serve any useful purpose worth their privileges. Unable to find suitable evidence of misdeeds by the Templars to justify disposing of the order, Philip had to resort to a mass meeting at Tours in 1308 to rally support. Finally in 1312, Clement V, despite his misgivings, issued a bull ordering their dissolution. The Templars' possessions were handed over to the Knights Hospitallers and their remaining members imprisoned or executed for heresy.