KNIGHTS. 
which induced the suppression, the pro- 
perty in question was conveyed to the 
}i.mGHTS of St. John of Jerusalem. The 
order of St. John ori;iinated from the esta- 
blishment of an hospital at Jerusalem, in 
the year 1048, by certain Italian merchants, 
for tlie reception of pilgrims and travellers, 
which they dedicated to the Baptist. The 
subsequent conquest of Jerusalem, by 
Godfrey of Boulogne, who wrested it 
from the Turks, was of infinite service to 
the Hospital, which flourished in the same 
proportion with the facility thus afforded 
for visiting the holy city. Raymond, rec- 
tor of the brethren in its then state, being 
of an active and military turn, formed the 
plan of converting them into knights, cap- 
tains, and servants ; he marshalled tliem in- 
to bands, invented banners, and led them 
on against the Turks, as knights of the or- 
der of St. John of Jerusalem; they fought 
with great bravery; but the inferiority of 
their numbers occasioned frequent defeats, 
and they were at length eompelled to give 
up their possessions to the conqueror Sala- 
dine : after a continued series of toils and 
misfortunes, and a constancy in the cause 
of religion which did them great honour, 
they were finally expelled from the Holy 
Land, in the year 1292. 
The master and brethren fled to the 
island of Cyprus, where they employed 
their leisure in framing statutes for the go- 
vernment of the order; but recurring to 
their former military pursuits, they attack- 
ed Rhodes in 1308, which, with seven other 
islands, soon fell into their possession ; they 
then assumed the addition of Rhodes to 
their previous titles ; there they flourished 
for a very considerable length of time, and 
resisted the Turks with equal bravery and 
skill; but Sultan Soliman, having deter- 
mined at all events to dislodge them, he as- 
sembled an army of 300,000 men, with 
which he invaded the island, and, after six 
months incessant fatigue and excessive loss, 
he succeeded in expelling them. The Em- 
peror Charles V. gave them Malta at this 
critical sera, to which island the knights re- 
tired in 1623. There they underwent re- 
peated invasions from the Turks, and ob- 
tained the admiration of all nations for 
their invincible courage and address, in re- 
pelling their attacks. The Knights of Mal- 
ta, as they were now called, might have re- 
mained for centuries to come in quiet pos- 
session of their island, had they not been 
disturbed by a power they had little reason 
to dread till very lately ; their surrender of 
it to the arms of France, has been the 
means of placing it in the possession of Eng- 
land, and the order may be considered as 
almost extinct. 
Jordan Brisset introduced the order into 
England, by founding the Priory of St. 
John, at Clerkenwell, where it flourished 
till the general dissolution of religious 
houses by Henry VIlI. It wilt be suffi- 
cient to add, from Malcolm’s “ Londinium,” 
“ Camden says, that the piiors were held 
equal in rank to the first barons of the 
realm ; and their riches certainly enabled 
them to support their splendour of living. 
Such was their power and influence, that 
Edward III. thought it necessary, in the 
fortieth year of his reign, to appoint Richard 
de Everton visitor of the hospitals ot this 
order, in England and Ireland, to repress . 
their insolence, and to enforce propriety of 
conduct ; which appointment was repeated 
five years after by the same King.” 
Knight originally signified a servant ; 
but there is now but one instance where it 
is taken in that sense, and that is knight of 
a shire, who properly serves in parliament 
for such a county ; but in all other instances 
it signifies one who bears arms ; who for his 
virtue and martial prowess is by the King, 
or one having his authority, exalted above 
the rank of gentleman, to an higher step of 
dignity. They were called milUes, because 
they formed a part of the royal army, by 
virtue of their feudal tenures ; one condi- 
tion of which was, that every one who 
held a knight’s fee, immediately under the 
crown (which in the reign of Edward II. 
amounted to 201. per annum,) was obliged 
to be knighted. He was also to attend the 
King in his wars, or fine for his non-com- 
pliance. The execution of this prero- 
gative, as an expedient to raise money 
in the reign of Charles I., gave great 
offence, though then warranted by law, 
and the recent example of Queen Eliza- 
beth: it was, therefore, abolished by 16 
Charles I. c. 20. Considerable fees accrued 
to the King on the perform^ce of the 
ceremony. King Edward VI. and Queen 
Elizabeth had appointed commissioners to 
compound with the persons who had lands 
to the amount of 401. a year, and who de- 
clined the honour and expense of knight- 
hood. 
Knights banneret. These knights are 
only made in the time of war. They are 
ranked next after the barons ; and their 
precedence before the younger sons of 
viscounts was confirmed by James I. in the 
