John.
In 1093 the untiring efforts of Peter the Hermit, with the support of Pope
Urbain II., brought about the first Crusade, and in 1099 we first hear of
Gerard, the founder of the Order of St. John. Gerard was a French monk who,
seeing the good work done by the Hospice of St. John, had attached himself
to it, and had at this time been working in the cause of charity, and
devoting himself to the pilgrims for many years.
Godfrey de Bouillon, having defeated the Saracens outside the walls of
Jerusalem, entered that city and visited the Hospice of St. John; he there
found many of the Crusaders who had been wounded during the siege, and who
had been carried thither after the taking of the place: all of these men
were loud in their praises of the loving kindness with which they had been
received and tended.
Great was the honour and reverence in which these simple monks were held
ever after by the Crusaders; for was it not common talk that these holy men
had themselves subsisted on the coarsest and most repulsive fare in order
that the food in the hospice should be both pure and abundant? Fired by
this fine example of Christian charity, several noble gentlemen who had
been tended in the hospice gave up the idea of returning to their own
countries, and consecrated themselves to the Hospice of St. John, and to
the service of the pilgrims, the poor, and the sick. Among these was
Raimond Dupuy.
The great Prince Godfrey de Bouillon fully approved of the steps taken by
these gentlemen, and for his own part contributed to the upkeep of the
hospice the seigneurie of Montbirre, with all its dependencies, which
formed a part of his domain in Brabant.
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