[templars Crusades Chivalry] Vertot - History Knights Jerusalem / Malta. Complete. 1755.

VERTOT (René AUBERT de). History of the Knights Hospitaller of Saint John of Jerusalem since called The Knights of Rhodes and today The Knights of Malthe [Malta] - Expanded edition of the Statutes of the Order and the names of the Knights. In Paris, at Brocas, 1755. 5 vols. in in-12 format (168 x 103 mm) of 1 f. white, 10 ff. n.fol., 608 pp. and 1 f. bl. ; 1 f. bl., 2 ff. n.fol., 502 pp. and 1 f. bl. ; 1 f. bl., 2 ff. n.fol., 564 pp. and 1 f. bl. ; 1 f. bl., 2 ff. n.fol., 540 pp. and 1 f. bl. ; 1 f. bl., 2 ff. n.fol., 502 pp. and 1 f. bl. Uniform bindings from the period in full glazed and speckled brown calfskin, cold fillet framing the covers, smooth spines decorated with gilded casters, gilded framing boxes, gilded fleurons, seeding of gilded circles, old-red morocco title labels , piece of tan morocco volume number, golden title, golden volume number, golden palette at the tail, golden fillet on the cuts, speckled edges. Partly original edition; complete with the 5 volumes constituting it. ''This work, the most important of Abbé Vertot, earned its author the special favor of wearing the cross of the Order''. (in Dorbon-Aîné). ''The first and second volumes are largely devoted to the Templars''. (in Dessubré). The order has its origins in the Sainte-Marie-Latine monastery, founded in Jerusalem in the middle of the 11th century by Amalfi merchants. The superior, Brother Gérard known as Gérard Tenque, created around 1080, next to the monastery, a new “hostellerie” (or hospice) and a church dedicated to John the Baptist. Its role is to welcome and care for Christians who come to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Jerusalem was, at this time, under Muslim domination. During the First Crusade in 1099, Jerusalem came under Christian domination. Blessed Gérard requests recognition of his “hostellerie” as a monastic order. Pope Paschal II promulgated a bull to this effect on February 15, 1113. The brotherhood of the Jerusalem Hospital then became a military order, like that of the Templars. Like the Templars, the Hospitallers will then play a leading role on the political scene of the kingdom of Jerusalem. In 1137, they received custody of the fortress of Bath-Gibelin from Fulk I, king of Jerusalem; in 1142 that of Krak des Chevaliers. Their military structure and their strongholds make it a very effective army, even if it does not hesitate to interfere in the management of the kingdom of Jerusalem. The order follows the vicissitudes of the Latin States of the Holy Land and their progressive retreat towards the coast. On May 28, 1291, the crusaders lost Saint-Jean-d'Acre after a bloody battle during which the grand hospital master, Guillaume de Villiers, was seriously injured. The Templars and Hospitallers, with the last Frankish forces, were then forced to leave the Holy Land. The Hospitallers then settled in Cyprus. Dessubré, Bibliography of the Order of the Templars, 1094 (for the original from 1726) - Dailliez, Bibliography of the Order of the Temple, 1892 - Caillet III, Bibliographic manual of psychic and occult sciences, 11115 - Fesch, Bibliography of the Freemasonry, 1437 - Dorbon-Aîné, Biblioteca esoterica, 5108 - Fournier, Portable dictionary of bibliography, 540 - Graesse, VII, Treasure of rare and precious books, p. 288 - Brunet V, Manual for the bookseller and book lover, 1148. Small defects affecting corners and crowns. Small alteration at the head of the spine of one of the volumes. Rare foxing in the text. Small circle on the margins of the first and last notebooks of one of the volumes. Otherwise, good condition.