Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/25

 kingdom. The commanders of his forces gradually developed into a nobility, receiving as a reward for their services, and as a guarantee for their future attachment, large grants of land, hampered only with the conditions of military service whenever they were called upon by their chief. These nobles again subdivided their estates amongst their inferiors under nearly similar conditions, so that eventually the whole country was held under a tenure purely military in its requirements. It is not surprising that under these circumstances a martial spirit should pervade the new colonists. Military service was the only road to advancement; it was by such service alone that they held their possessions, and the power of the sword became paramount. Under such a system that spirit of chivalry was first developed, which in its more mature years gave birth to the monastic military orders of the East.

Personal prowess being considered man’s proudest ornament, and the pursuit of learning abandoned to the monk in his cloistered retreat, the profession of arms was the only occupation open to the youth of high and noble estate. Taught from childhood to take delight in the military exercises which formed the daily occupation of the retainers in every baronial castle, he imbibed at an early age that ardent craving for distinction which was one of the fundamental principles of chivalry. Imbued with the religious veneration of the period—a veneration deeply tinged with superstition, he was led to consider as sacred the obligations imposed on him by the chivalric code. To fight in defence of his religion was not only a sacred duty, it was also an inestimable privilege. He had been taught that pardon for his sins was to be purchased by a display of martial zeal in behalf of his faith, and that the shedding of his blood in the sacred cause would insure him an entry into the joys of Heaven. This doctrine appealed in the warmest and most direct manner to the prevailing sentiments of the time. What wonder then that it was eagerly accepted and gradually worked its way through all ranks of society. Whilst such was the bent of public feeling in Europe, there arose gradually in the East a state of things which, as it became known, aroused the martial ardour of the nations to a pitch of frenzy.

The Byzantine empire had continued to maintain its rule