ABSTRACT
The conferences on the Military Orders, held at St John’s Gate in London, attract scholars from all over the world. This selection of the papers read in 2005 is, therefore, a guide to the progress of international research, although, as was the case in 2000, the impression it gives that work relating to the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem dominates the field may be misleading. The authors of thirteen of the twenty-seven papers in this collection concentrate on the Hospital, which plays a significant part in at least six others. In comparison, only five are devoted to the Temple and one to the Teutonic Order. Architecture, archaeology and the part which the orders played in Europe are well represented, and it is good to see interesting work being undertaken on the far north and on eastern Europe. Four papers deal specifically with military or naval matters – that there were no more is characteristic of modern scholarship – while another four deal with the spiritual life of the brothers and sisters. Family relationships – a growing field of interest – make an appearance, and the trend for papers on the early modern period continues.
