The Hospital of St John, the Bedroom of Caritas

The Order of St John was famous for its charitable work, in particular in the Order’s hospital in Jerusalem in the twelfth century. Numerous donations attest to this fact: they were made by pious donors to ‘the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem’ rather than to ‘the Order of St John of Jerusalem’, and, commonly, to ‘the poor of the Hospital of St John and the brothers serving God there’. Later donors sometimes made a connection with the fight against the infidel, but this was rare. Donors expected spiritual benefits from their donations to the Order because it was involved with the care of the sick and the poor. It was an order of hospitallers.