ABSTRACT
When German crusaders joined the siege of Acre after the fall of Jerusalem in 1187, they felt the necessity of caring for their sick and founded (in about 1190) a field hospital near the churchyard of St Nicholas outside the walls of the town. After the conquest of Acre, the hospital acquired a house and a piece of land in the city near the gate of St Nicholas. By then, a small fraternity of brethren had gathered at the hospital which was transformed into a military order in 1198, at the time when the early death of Henry VI and the double election in Germany had caused political problems for the Staufen party. 1
