Museum of the Order of St. John
Founded at the beginning of the twelfth century in Jerusalem, the Order of St John was a religious order with a particular duty to care for the sick, regardless of creed or country.
The Crusaders, who set up their own independent states in the Holy Land, supported it with grants of money and territory. Members of the Order, also known as Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta, came from all over Europe and developed a military role to defend these states. In the 1140s, the Hospitallers were given a ten acre site in London’s Clerkenwell district, which became their English headquarters.