Knights of the Cross
Encyclopedia
Religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...
originating from Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, devoted mainly to offering medical care. Throughout its history it was accustomed to the use of arms, a custom which was confirmed in 1292 by an ambassador of Pope Nicholas IV
Pope Nicholas IV
Pope Nicholas IV , born Girolamo Masci, was Pope from February 22, 1288 to April 4, 1292. A Franciscan friar, he had been legate to the Greeks under Pope Gregory X in 1272, succeeded Bonaventure as Minister General of his religious order in 1274, was made Cardinal Priest of Santa Prassede and...
. The grand master is still invested with a sword at his induction into office, and the congregation has been recognized as a military order
Military order
A military order is a Christian society of knights that was founded for crusading, i.e. propagating or defending the faith , either in the Holy Land or against Islam or pagans in Europe...
by Popes Clement X
Pope Clement X
Pope Clement X , born Emilio Bonaventura Altieri, was Pope from 29 April 1670 to 22 July 1676.-Early life:Emilio Altieri was born in Rome, the son of Lorenzo Altieri and Victoria Delphini, a Venetian lady...
and Innocent XII
Pope Innocent XII
Pope Innocent XII , born Antonio Pignatelli, was Pope from 1691 to 1700.-Biography:He was born in Spinazzola to one of the most aristocratic families of the Kingdom of Naples, which included many Viceroys, and ministers to the crown, and was educated at the Jesuit college in Rome.In his twentieth...
, as well as by several Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
s.
Origin
There is some discussion as to the real beginnings of this order. Some authorities, among others the BollandistBollandist
The Bollandists are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians who since the early seventeenth century have studied hagiography and the cult of the saints in Christianity. Their most important publication has been the Acta Sanctorum...
s, tracing it back to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, where the first members were supposed to have borne arms against the Saracens. On the other hand, however, is the contemporary custom of establishing a religious congregation
Congregation (catholic)
The term "congregation" has three usages specific to the Roman Catholic Church. One concerns the Roman Curia, the other two concern religious institutes.- Roman Curia :...
at the time of the foundation of a hospital, as well as the fact that in no document is there any trace of the Palestinian Cruciferi having gone to Bohemia. Moreover, in a parchment Breviary of the order dated 1356 the account of foundation contains no allusion to such a lineage.
The order as a distinct entity in the 13th century time can trace its origin to a Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
-based fraternity
Chivalric order
Chivalric orders are societies and fellowships of knights that have been created by European monarchs in imitation of the military orders of the Crusades...
attached to a hospital at Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
under a community of Clarisses, established by Princess Agnes
Agnes of Bohemia
Saint Agnes of Bohemia , or Agnes of Prague , was a medieval Bohemian princess who opted for a life of charity and piety over a life of luxury and comfort...
, in 1233, making it the only male order founded by a woman and the only Czech-founded order In 1235 the hospital was richly endowed by the queen with property formerly belonging to the German order, a gift confirmed by Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from March 19, 1227 to August 22, 1241.The successor of Pope Honorius III , he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his uncle Pope Innocent III , and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.-Early life:Ugolino was...
(18 May 1236), who stipulated that the revenues should be divided with the Clarisse monastery. After three years, during which the head of the congregation had gone to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
as the accredited representative of abbess
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
Agnes, and the congregation had been formally constituted an order under the Rule of St. Augustine
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
by Gregory XI
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from March 19, 1227 to August 22, 1241.The successor of Pope Honorius III , he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his uncle Pope Innocent III , and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.-Early life:Ugolino was...
(1238), the abbess resigned all jurisdiction over the hospital and its possessions into the hands of the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
the next year. Twelve days later the pope formally assigned these to the recently confirmed Knights of the Cross with the Red Star, who were to hold them forever in fief to the Holy See, on condition of the yearly payment of a nominal sum.
Development
Another hospital was built for the order at the Prague BridgeCharles Bridge
The Charles Bridge is a famous historic bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of the 15th century...
by Agnes, which was taken as the mother-house, and to the title of the order was added in latere (pede) pontis (Pragenis)" ("at the foot of the Prague Bridge"). She also petitioned the Holy See for some mark to distinguish these knights from other Cruciferi, with whom they bore in common the red crusader. To this was added by Bishop Nicholas of Prague, on the authorization of the pope, a red six-pointed star (10 October 1250), probably from the arms of the first general, Albrecht von Sternberg.
The order, which by 1253 had extensive possessions in Bohemia, soon spread to neighbouring lands. The Wrocław house in particular was the centre of many other foundations. It is Bohemia, in an especial manner, to which the knights have rendered incalculable services. Their success in hospital work is evidenced by the rapidity with which their houses multiplied, and the frequent testimony borne to it in documents of kings and emperors.
Within two decades after their foundation the care of souls had become as important as their hospital work, so quickly had the majority of lay brother
Lay brother
In the most common usage, lay brothers are those members of Catholic religious orders, particularly of monastic orders, occupied primarily with manual labour and with the secular affairs of a monastery or friary, in contrast to the choir monks of the same monastery who are devoted mainly to the...
s been replaced by priests. Numerous churches were entrusted to them in all parts of Bohemia, particularly in the western parts, where they formed a bulwark for Roman Catholic Dogma against the spread of the teachings of Jan Hus
Jan Hus
Jan Hus , often referred to in English as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech priest, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague...
in that region. In the Hussite Wars
Hussite Wars
The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars involved the military actions against and amongst the followers of Jan Hus in Bohemia in the period 1419 to circa 1434. The Hussite Wars were notable for the extensive use of early hand-held gunpowder weapons such as hand cannons...
, the Taborites killed the pastor of St. Stephen's at Prague, and the Hussite
Hussite
The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus , who became one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation...
s destroyed the mother-house. This brought the order almost to the point of dissolution, but it recovered sufficiently to offer strenuous resistance to the advance of the Reformed
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
teachings.
In the war with Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
the members of the order justified their claim to the title of knights during the siege of Cheb
Cheb
Cheb is a city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic, with about 33,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Ohře , at the foot of one of the spurs of the Smrčiny and near the border with Germany...
, fighting side by side with the townspeople, and sharing with them their last crust. Their hospital at Prague was also the first refuge of other orders who came to work for souls in Bohemia, among others the Jesuits (1555) and Capuchins
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
(1599).
For almost a hundred and fifty years the archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
s of Prague held the post of grand master and were supported almost entirely by the revenues of the order. Only on the restoration of the possessions of the archdiocese at the end of the seventeenth century was the grand master again elected from among the members, and a general reform instituted. George Ignatius Paspichal (1694–99), the first grand master under the new regime, showed great zeal for the restoration of the primitive ideals, especially that of charity. Even to the present day the Prague monastery supports twelve pensioners and distributes the so-called "hospital portion" to forty poor.
Many knights have won enviable reputations in the world of learning, among others Mikuláš Kozař of Kozařov (died 1592), a celebrated mathematician and astronomer; Jan František Beckovský
Jan František Beckovský
Jan František Beckovský , was a Czech historian, writer, translator, and priest.- Life :Beckovsky was born and studied in Havlíčkův Brod, Brno, Vienna and Prague. In 1685 he entered the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star religious order, in 1688 he was ordained as a priest...
(1658 - 1725), who established at Prague an herbarium
Herbarium
In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...
which is still in existence.
In 1910s, besides the mother-house at Prague, there were about 26 incorporated parishes, and 85 professed members, several of whom are engaged in gymnasia and the University of Prague
Charles University in Prague
Charles University in Prague is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1348, it was the first university in Central Europe and is also considered the earliest German university...
. There were benefices at Hradiště (now part of Znojmo
Znojmo
Znojmo is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, near the border with Lower Austria, connected to Vienna by railway and road . The royal city of Znojmo was founded shortly before 1226 by King Ottokar I on the plains in front of Znojmo Castle...
), Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
(where the order has been established since the thirteenth century and still remains in possession of the Kreuzherren Palais), Cheb
Cheb
Cheb is a city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic, with about 33,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Ohře , at the foot of one of the spurs of the Smrčiny and near the border with Germany...
, Most
Most
Most is the capital city of the Most District, situated between the Czech Central Mountains and the Ore Mountains, approximately northwest of Prague along the Bílina River and southwest of Ústí nad Labem.-Etymology:...
and other towns especially in western Bohemia. Castle of Dobřichovice
Dobrichovice
Dobřichovice is a town lying on both banks of the river Berounka, about 25 km south-west from the centre of the Czech Republic capital Prague. Dobřichovice is situated half way between Prague and Karlštejn Castle, one of the most famous landmarks in the Czech Republic...
near Prague was in the past serving as summer residence of the grand master.
After Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948
Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948
The Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 – in Communist historiography known as "Victorious February" – was an event late that February in which the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, with Soviet backing, assumed undisputed control over the government of Czechoslovakia, ushering in over four decades...
suppressions to all Catholic religious orders (including the Knights) began. During the StB
STB
STB is an acronym that can mean:* Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus – Bachelor of Sacred Theology* Set-top box – a television device that converts signals to viewable images* Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP -- a law firm...
backed “Akce K” (Action K) all men´s orders monasteries were closed, property was confiscated and order members were confined. Kangaroo court
Kangaroo court
A kangaroo court is "a mock court in which the principles of law and justice are disregarded or perverted".The outcome of a trial by kangaroo court is essentially determined in advance, usually for the purpose of ensuring conviction, either by going through the motions of manipulated procedure or...
s with order members were held, 5 of 53 Knight members in 1950 were sentenced to multiple years in prison (36 years altogether). In 1990, after the end of communist era
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
the Order's headquarters moved back into the monastery next to Prague's Charles Bridge
Charles Bridge
The Charles Bridge is a famous historic bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of the 15th century...
.