Military order (chivalric order)
A military order is a military chivalric order.
History
They were originally established as Catholic religious societies; the first orders originated during the medieval Crusades with the stated purpose of protecting Christians against violent persecution by Islamic conquests in the Holy Land.
Most members, often titled knights, were laymen; however, they cooperated with the clergy, frequently taking religious vows such as poverty, chastity, and obedience, according to monastic ideals.
Prominent examples include the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar, as well as the later Teutonic Knights in the Baltics.
The Knights Templar, the largest and most influential of the military orders, was suppressed in the early fourteenth century. Others still exist, but no longer as military organizations.
