te
countrymen among the pilgrims who came, receiving some of
them into his own house to be cared for. When the work
became too great for him there, he built a hospital, in
which he devoted himself to nursing sick pilgrims, to whose
support he likewise gave all his wealth. Still the task
outgrew the means at his command, and in order to increase
his charity he began to solicit alms. While he took care of
the men, his wife performed a like service for poor women
pilgrims.

Soon they were joined by many of their wealthier countrymen
who had come to fight for the Holy Land. Presently they
"banded themselves together, after the pattern of the Order
of St. John of Jerusalem, and united the care of the sick
and poor with the profession of arms in their defence, under
the title of Hospitalers of the Blessed Virgin." These
Teutonic Hospitalers continued their work, in hospital and
field, until the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187,
and the conqueror, in recognition of their benevolent
services, consented that some of them should remain there
and continue their work. Out of these lowly beginnings grew
one of the most powerful and widespread of the military
religious orders.

It was during the siege of Acre, 1189-1191, that the Teutonic Order
received its final and complete organization as one of the great
military religious orders of Europe. The German soldiers suffered
great miseries from sickness and from their wounds, and as their
language was not understood by the French and other European
contingents of the crusading army, they were left untended and
friendless. To meet this want, some citizens of Bremen and Lubeck
provided a sort of field hospital, and devoted themselves to the care
of their wounded and sick countrymen. These were soon joined by
others, and by the brethren of the Hospital of the Blessed Virgin at
Jerusalem, whom Saladin had banished from the city, and the little
body came to be known by the designation of the Teutonic Knights of
the Hospital of the Blessed Virgin at Jerusalem.

It is said that the order owed its constitution to Frederick, Duke of
Swabia; but there is much obscurity, and little authentic record to
determine this or to furnish particulars of the transaction.

The order seems, however, to have been confirmed by Pope Celestine
III, the constitution and rules of the Templars