ABSTRACT
This volume focuses on the life and activities of the Military Orders in the West, a fi eld of study which rose to prominence in the 1950s. In this respect it was particularly heart-warming to read the tribute to Alan Forey in Philippe Josserand’s plenary lecture. Topics include frontiers, spirituality, internal relations, discipline, texts, heraldry, relics, commandery life and management, prioral politics and the development of the status of nobility. Five papers deal with or touch on the Iberian peninsula, which has been the scene of so much fi rst-class history in recent years. Four concentrate on England, two each on Germany and Italy and one each on Flanders and Provence. The vast majority concern the history of the Templars and the Hospitallers, particularly the latter. One paper deals with the Teutonic Order and two with the Iberian ones. On the other hand, there are increasing signs that the Orders are no longer being treated in isolation, but are being seen in relation to each other. This is particularly apparent in the plenary lectures delivered by Nikolas Jaspert and Damien Carraz.
