ABSTRACT
Can we consider the military orders as the “offspring” of the urban revolution of the twelfth century? Do they represent a sort of stepping stone that can help us understand the passage from traditional Benedictine monasticism to the new orders of the thirteenth century, as embodied by the mendicants? It was actually within an urban context that most of the armed associations, which were the forerunners of the military orders, were formed between 1100 and 1200. This was the case of the Hospital and of the Order of St. Lazarus in Jerusalem, of the Teutonic Order in Acre, of Avis in Evora, of Calatrava created in the town of that name in Castile, or of the Sword Brothers founded in Riga (Livonia).1 Moreover, it was precisely in the holy
This paper was read at the Universidade Nova of Lisbon, on 5 November 2010. My gratitude goes to Anthony Luttrell and Cynthia J. Johnson for their valuable help on the translation from French to English.
