His example was widely copied by
the Christian princes and great nobles among the Crusaders, who enriched
the hospice with many lands and seigneuries, both in Palestine and in
Europe. All these lands and properties were placed unreservedly in the
hands of the saintly Gerard to do with as he would for the advancement of
his work. In 1118 Gerard died in extreme old age; "he died in the arms of
the brothers, almost without sickness, falling, as it may be said, like a
fruit ripe for eternity."
The choice of the Hospitallers as his successor was Raimond Dupuy, a
nobleman of illustrious descent from the Province of Dauphiny, and it is he
who first held rule under the title of Grand Master. In all charity and
loving kindness the life of Gerard had been passed, the brethren of St.
John occupying themselves merely in tending the sick, in helping the poor
and the pilgrims; but Raimond Dupuy was a soldier of the Cross, and he laid
before the Order a scheme by which, from among the members thereof, a
military corps should be formed, vowed to a perpetual crusade against the
Infidel. This, in full conclave, was carried by acclamation, and the most
remarkable body of religious warriors that the world has ever seen then
came existence.
This pact against the Infidel was in the first instance directed against
the barbarians who swarmed around the Holy City, and the Hospitallers, who
nearly all had been knights and soldiers of Godfrey de Bouillon, joyfully
took up their arms again to employ them in the defence of this locality
which they cherished, and in defence of the pilgrims who were robbed,
murdered, and maltreated in all the surrounding country.
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