Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/37

 benefits of the institution upon a broader and more permanent basis, Gerard proposed that they should organize themselves into a regularly-constituted religious body, taking upon themselves the three monastic obligations of poverty, obedience, and chastity, and that they should devote the remainder of their lives to the service of the poor and sick in the newly-established kingdom of Jerusalem. This proposition on the part of the rector, coming as it did at a time when religious enthusiasm had been greatly stimulated by the success of the Christian army, was hailed with acclamation, and at once acted on. The patriarch of Jerusalem received from the candidates the three religious vows, and clothed them in the habit selected for the Order, which consisted of a plain black robe, bearing on the left breast a white cross with eight points.

Pope Paschal II. shortly afterwards formally sanctioned the establishment of the Order, by a bull published in the year 1113. By this instrument the hospital was exempted from the payment of tithes; the endowments it had received were confirmed to it, and the privilege was conceded to its members of electing their own head, whenever a vacancy should occur, without any external interference, either secular or ecclesiastical. After the recovery of Jerusalem from the hands of the Saracens the number of pilgrims rapidly increased, and Gerard, in his solicitude for their welfare, established branch hospitals in most of the maritime provinces of Europe. These were placed under the superintendence and management of members of the Order, as offshoots of the parent institution, and formed points of departure where pilgrims could find shelter and entertainment whilst waiting for transport to the Holy Land.

Gerard, who had already reached a green old age, did not long survive the establishment of his institution. He died in the year 1118, and the post of superior to the hospital became vacant. In accordance with the terms of the Papal bull already mentioned, the fraternity immediately proceeded to elect his successor. Their choice fell on Raymond du Puy, a member of a noble family in Dauphiné. At this time Baldwin II. was seated on the throne of Jerusalem. Although so short a time had elapsed since the establishment of the kingdom