Nine Thousand Humble Lances: The Rise of the Order of Saint Lazarus

Askelion

Hello everyone!

In response to rapid developments in the situation regarding my brother's death and burial (sorry for the surprise for those who don't know) I've decided to begin to post a TL that I've already had waiting in my hard drive until I begin to update things again.

To indroduce the timeline:
The Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus the Beggar (not to be confused with the modern copycat order) was a minor, yet interesting Crusader Order founded after the First Crusade. The Order served the sick (particularly lepers, who actually formed a large community within the Order). The Order was famous for tolerance, peacefulness, and humility (relative to the other orders of course ;)) but fell do to a lack of funding.

Here's what happens when the Knights of Saint Lazarus catch a bit of a break :D!
 
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Askelion

Nine Thousand Humble Lances:
The Rise of the Knights of Saint Lazarus
Christmas Eve, 1225 Anno Domini-
Royal Palace of the King, Kingdom of Cilicia

Don Paolo walked briskly through the halls of the Palace, passing attentive guards and fellow monks along the war. The King was in the final stages of Leprosy, a disease with which the Don had become intimately accustomed. The King had been doing particularly poorly lately, and had begun to succumb to autoamputation. The Knight knew that there was nothing that he or his Order could do to save the King nor ease his pain, but he attended his patient daily and constantly. It was in this way that he hoped to make the King’s transition to the next world more peaceful. As he walked into the King’s bedchamber, the Knight yelled jovially in Latin:

“My Lord! I’ve come to check on you this morning!”

The Knight was greeted with silence. Paolo’s heart began to thump rapidly in his chest, his mind wracked with worry over the King’s condition. As he came towards his charge, however, he found him sitting upright, his bandages removed from his face. The Knight sat beside him, and the King placed his hand upon his doctor’s shoulder. With difficulty, he began to speak:

“Paolo, my faithful doctor, my time is at an end. I can barely breath, my heart beats slowly now. I am nearly ready to meet the Lord of us all.”

The Knight moved to comfort the King, but was halted by his continued speech.

“In this awful time, I’ve become more and more isolated. My family shies from me. My nobles commune with me through letters only, but I cannot blame any of them. In this time alone I’ve grown close to two things: to Our Lord God, and to you and your Order”.

As the King stopped speaking, several of his court officials entered the bedchamber. They sat before the King and Knight with their faces covered, manuscripts and quills prepared.
The King spoke once again:

“It is for this reason that I, with God and the Court as my witness, do hereby donate my domain to the Order of Saint Lazarus. With this business, I am concluded.”

The King gestured towards the Knight as he was given deeds of succession by the Court Officials.

“Paolo, take these to your Chapter at once. And send in my family, one last time.”

Don Paolo walked out of the chamber with a stunned heart and a sense of inspiration. The Order had always been poor and small, but now it had the opportunity to ascend to the world stage, and to succeed in its goal of caring for the Holy Land and its people. He entered the Inner Sanctum of the Chapter and handed the Deeds to the Prior. The old monk gazed at the Knight with confusion:

“What are these, Brother Knight?”

Paolo betrayed a humble smile in his excited response;

“The deeds to thirty-thousand lances, and to a domain of our own in the lands of Cilicia.”

The lords of the Chapter talked excitedly at the news, and the Prior looked to his Knight with pride:

“May the blessings of Our Lord and Saint Lazarus be upon you, Brother.”

The Knight smiled in return:

“And also with you.”
 
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Askelion

TL Beginning

February 5, 1198: Leo I, King of Cilicia accidentally inhales the sneeze of one of his subjects, and contracts leprosy.
April 2, 1206: King Leo is finally diagnosed with leprosy by his Hospitallers, after attempting to hide the disease for years under masks and veils. The Hospitallers contact the Leper Knights of Saint Lazarus to care for the King.
April 3, 1206-November 10, 1225: As crusades and battles continue to rage around the Cilician Kingdom, but the state itself is relatively untouched save for minor raids and incursions from Turkish Empires in the region. Throughout the half decade, King Leo is cared for by the Knights of Saint Lazarus, and grows attached to them. As his condition continues to develop, the King finds his connection with family and friends deteriorating as they subconsciously work to avoid him. Leo becomes close with the regional Brother-Commander of Antioch and Cilicia, Don Paolo Sgrillo da Avellino.
December 24, 1225: King Konstandin I dies of leprosy after officially leaving his Kingdom to the Order of Saint Lazarus. After some initial deliberation, the Court of Cilicia agrees to peacefully grant their King’s final act, in exchange for keeping a role in government.
January 10, 1226: The Kingdom of Cilicia is re-christened The Sovereign Monastic Realms of the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus the Beggar. As the Knights move into their new position, they gain much popularity in western Europe, and are hailed as the most merciful of the orders.
January 11, 1226-September 6, 1226: The Monastic Realms utilize their new treasury to expand both their military and hospitaller capabilities. The Cilician Militia is reformed under the banner of the Knights of Lazarus, and the Armenian nobles in the region swear fealty to the order. Many of these nobles join the Order itself. In a strange occurrence known in the future as the Lazarian Migration, lepers from throughout Europe and the Middle East move to Cilicia to join the Order of Saint Lazarus. The Knights capitalize upon this new stream of manpower, and conquer the island of Cyprus in July. The Byzantines sue for peace after losing the island, fearing that the Latin empires might use the incident to launch a crusade against them. The Order is particularly noted internationally as relatively peaceful and tolerant towards locals and Saracens.
 
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Zioneer

Zioneer

Banned
This idea intrigues me. Please, write more about it.

Though, lepers as a source of manpower, wouldn't that not work out very well, since leprosy causes the limbs to be disfigured, grow weaker, and so forth?
 

Domoviye

Very intriguing.
If the lepers do simple, easy jobs, and frighten people into leaving, I can see them as manpower at least in the initial stages. But eventually they'll mostly be a drain.
 

Askelion

Domoviye said:
Very intriguing.
If the lepers do simple, easy jobs, and frighten people into leaving, I can see them as manpower at least in the initial stages. But eventually they'll mostly be a drain.[QUOTE/]

Thanks for the posts everyone!

The lepers serve an interesting role in the order (similar to OTL). They serve in minor labor, act as monks, and those in the earlier stages act as soldiers. The majority of the Order are healthy though :D.

And the lepers are not the only manpower I'm talking about! Don't forget about the mass induction of Cilician and Armenian troops and nobles into the order!

I agree that this is a very unique topic, and loved writing this TL .

Thanks for the interest :)
Click to expand...
 

Paladin

Errr, no offense, but I think you're off by about a century. The crusades didn't even start until 1095. The Order of St. Lazarus didn't appear until around 1143, and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia wasn't really united till after the beginning of the Twelfth century. Other than that, great timeline.
 

Askelion

Paladin said:
Errr, no offense, but I think you're off by about a century. The crusades didn't even start until 1095. The Order of St. Lazarus didn't appear until around 1143, and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia wasn't really united till after the beginning of the Twelfth century. Other than that, great timeline.
Click to expand...

GASP :D

Thanks for catching that...I must've forgotten to change my preliminary calculation dates (for gauging time) with the actual dates!

Thanks Paladin, for your interest and your assistance in helping me dodge a major historical bullet ;)
 
Germaniac

Germaniac

Donor
An Army of disfigured, dying, cursaders! consider me subscribed.

No offense to any lepers but this could be the closest to a non-asb zombie army.

Now seriously I am very interested, but I'm not sure how likely is it to hand over Cilicia and how the Armenians will adjust to now living in a monastic state run by lepers
 

Askelion

UPDATE TIME!...Sort of.

Hey everyone! Just finished my brother's funeral, and I'll finally be able to get some time to do Alternate History reliably once again. Thanks for your patience and support.

In order to make the time go by a little easier before the next update, I've included a current (TL-wise) map of the near east.

See you all tomorrow!

Good Map Lazarans.jpg
 

Askelion

UPDATE

November 8, 1226: Turkish Ghazis, flying the flag of Jihad, slaughter several Christians in the lands of the Ilkhanate. The Sultans of Rhum and Aleppo publicly condemn the action, and join the Fatmids in Egypt in announcing the rights for the Christians to engage the Ilkhanate. The Order of Lazarus promptly demands that the Ilkhanate surrender those Ghazis responsible. The Turks refuse.
March 5, 1226-December 12, 1227: A Crusader host of forty-thousand soldiers led by nine thousand knights from the lands of the Order of Lazarus and Principality of Antioch invades the Ilkhanate. In one month’s time, the city of Edessa is seized by Latin forces. The Franks lose only a single battle in over a year’s time. By December of 1092, the Ilkhanate has lost a large portion of land to the Lazaran host, and sue for peace. The Lazarans agree to only take half of their conquests in exchange for the assurance that no other crimes against Christians will be permitted in Turkish lands.
December 20, 1227: The Order of Saint Lazarus is among several Latin factions which contribute to the Council of Genova, during which Catholic states discuss the prospects of the Crusader states, and the potential for losing the Holy Land. Central to the discussion is the nature of the Muslim nation, having been separated into Seljuk, Turkic, Saracen, and Moorish culture groups. The Council hopes that they will be able to pit the various factions against each other, and condones diplomacy from the Latin states to that end.
February 8, 1227: In accordance with the goals of the Council of Genova, the Principality of Antioch and Order of Lazarus enter into a secret agreement with the Fatmid Caliphate and Seljuk Sultanate of Rhum and Fatmid Caliphate. In the agreement, the Fatmids and Rhumians will allow the Franks to attack the Sultanate of Aleppo and the Ilkhanate. In accordance, Rhum and the Caliphate will claim part of the lands of the Aleppo and Ilkhanate, whilst Antioch and Lazaria will seize the rest. The agreement is sealed, and the Order requests that a new crusade be called to liberate Aleppo from the Muslims.
March 17, 1227: After hearing of the Lazran plan for consolidating Latin power in the middle east, the Pope declares the Lazaran Crusade, aimed at securing Aleppo and diminishing the power of the Ilkhanate in the region.
March 18, 1227-January 5, 1228: Over several months, the powers of Europe pool soldiers and knights in search of retribution in the Holy Land. The Orders of the Knights Templar, Teutonic, Hospitaller, Santiago, and Calatrava all depart en masse to attack the Muslims beside their Lazaran allies. The Frankish force soon numbers nearly 100,000 men led by 40,000 knights.
 

Basileus Giorgios

A few friendly criticisms.

Is it plausible that a Monophysite Armenian Orthodox monarch would donate his Monophysite Armenian realm to an order of strongly Catholic knights?

Cyprus was not Byzantine in 1226, it belonged to the Kingdom of Jerusalem after being conquered by Richard the Lionheart.

You seem to have forgotten about the Fourth Crusade dismantling Byzantium.

The Il-Khanate did not exist in the early thirteenth century. Nor did the Fatimid Caliphate.

Other than that, this is interesting stuff! :)
 

Askelion

Basileus Giorgios said:
A few friendly criticisms.

Is it plausible that a Monophysite Armenian Orthodox monarch would donate his Monophysite Armenian realm to an order of strongly Catholic knights?

Cyprus was not Byzantine in 1226, it belonged to the Kingdom of Jerusalem after being conquered by Richard the Lionheart.

You seem to have forgotten about the Fourth Crusade dismantling Byzantium.

The Il-Khanate did not exist in the early thirteenth century. Nor did the Fatimid Caliphate.

Other than that, this is interesting stuff! :)
Click to expand...

On the first point: men behave quite interestingly when they have both latin-leading tendencies and a horrible disease. That's all that I can say about that.

As to the other points, I seem to have jumbled up my info. I thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll have a more successfully researched Mk.II of the timeline up soon (just need to iron out which factions are which:D).

Thanks for the interest!

~Ash
 
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