[Sander Marechal]

Hi all, I am looking about information about the uniforms and changes in uniform of the Hospitallers in the 13th century. I have found only a little information about this. Much of it is only very general, just stating that first they wore black and later red. The only specifics (especially dates) I could find were in an Osprey book (Hospitallers part 1). Here's what I have so far.

• In 1118 Raymond Dupuy succeeded Gerald, founder of the Hospitallers. It was Raymond who proposed that the Hospitallers take up arms. So, no arms & armour before 1118.
  
• During the 12th and early 13th century, the uniform for brother-knights and brother sergeants was a black or brown cappae. I think that's a full robe with sleeves and a hood. It was worn over armour and had a small white cross on the left side of the chest.
  
• In 1248 came a papal decree that brother-knights and brother-sergeants could wear wide, black surcoats with a small white cross on it. But only in dangerous areas (i.e. battle?)
  
• In 1259 there was a papal order that the brother-knights (not the brother-sergeants) would wear black mantles (as opposed to brown?). And during war they would wear red surcoats with a white cross.
  
• In 1278 the previous decree was revoked. Everyone started wearing the red surcoat to battle.
  

A couple of things come to mind here. First off, the Hospitallers were well funded. I assume that their arms and armour were modern for the time. Plenty of information about that. So I'm mostly wondering about the cappae versus surcoat and what colors to use.

Another thing that comes to mind is that papal decrees don't usually come out of the blue. It stands to reason that cappae hindered mobility in combat and that Hospitallers started to wear them before 1248 even though they were not allowed. For that same reason I can imagine that the 1278 revocation of the 1259 decree was because people got upset that brother-knights were so distinguished from brother sergeants. After all, nobility should not matter in a religious order, right?

I would love to find more information about the 13th century Hospitallers uniform, as this appears to be the transitional period for this uniform. What exactly is a 12th/13th century cappae? Are there any effegies or paintings that depict Hospitallers in this century? Any sources to back up the dates from the Osprey book?

Thanks in advance!

[Sander Marechal]

Nobody knows anything about Hospitaller uniforms?

Anyway, I have found two pictures so far. On Wikipedia.

The first picture shows the siege of Acre from 1291. The painting itself is from approximately 1840. It shows a mail-clad Hospitaller with a red surcoat that comes down to about mid-thigh.

The second image is the first in a series of twelve paintings commissioned in 1994 by the Knights of Rhodes that depict the Hospitallers. This image depicts Hospitallers between 1200 and 1250. What is interesting is that it also shows red surcoats, not black surcoarts or cappae. Historical research for these pictures was done by Marquis Anthony Bullegieg de Siro?? (I think... it's hard to read the text on the painting).

[Boris R.]

well if you could find a way to visit Malta yourself, that would be one great start. they have museum right there in Valletta, one that shows the whole history of the order, starting in Jerusalem, through battle of Rhodes, than siege of Malta and lastly the piracy of Knights and their capitulation to Napoleon in the eve of 19th century
and they are stack full of preserved suits of armour from whole of the last millenium

[Sander Marechal]

[Boris R.]