ABSTRACT
This chapter aims at contributing to a better understanding of one minor military order, the Domus Sancte Marie Montis Gaudii de Jerusalem, also known as the Order of Mountjoy, by examining its settlements in north-west Italy. The order of Mount joy was established by ARodrigo lvarez, count of Sarria in Loen. In 1188 Mount joy merged with the Hospital of the Holy Redeemer, a charitable institution which targeted the ransoming of captives and was sponsored by King Alfonso II of Aragon, who had also been one of the first supporters of Rodrigo of Sarria. The last references to the Order of Mount joy in north-west Italy concern its presence in Savona and have not been studied before by scholars interested in military orders. In the course of the twelfth century Savona created a wide network of connections in which the role played by the Latin East was far more significant than that played by Spain.
