ABSTRACT
In the fourteenth century, despite the fact that popular enthusiasm for the recovery of the Holy Land had subsided, fighting for the faith against the Muslims (pugnacity) officially remained the most important mission of the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, and its fulfilment was seen as an expression of piety. The completion of this task by brethren from the order’s European houses required either personal participation in the ongoing effort to defend Rhodes or involvement in the various activities conducted in support of this struggle, such as preparations for military campaigns; participation in the General Chapters coordinating these preparations; sending funds to the Order’s headquarters that had been either raised by collection or received as income from the Order’s possessions (property); and by encouraging non-members to support the island’s defence through personal participation, donations, and prayer. In exercising general power over the community and in passing occasional judgments on issues pertaining to the affairs of individual commanderies, the order’s Rhodes-based authorities were guided by these objectives. However, as this article will demonstrate, the Hospitallers’ outposts in Polish lands – that is to say, in the archdiocese of Gniezno and in the diocese of Cammin – were hardly involved in fulfilling the order’s main task, since their activities were largely limited to serving their local communities. 1 With regard to the local administrative structures of the Order (the Czech Grand priory and the Bailiwick of Brandenburg), most of the decisions concerning the subordinate houses were taken by the priors and baillis. Contacts between the religious houses located in the archdiocese of Gniezno and the diocese of Cammin or individual brothers from this area and the Rhodes-based authorities of the Order were rare. 2 Evidence of such infrequent contacts indicates that the Polish houses served to fulfil the primary mission of the Order, for which purpose pugnacity and piety were required and property had to be used.
