Christian Military and Chivalric Orders

Gathers the medieval military religious orders of Latin Christendom, whose members combined a monastic rule and vows with an armed mission defending frontiers, escorting pilgrims, or fighting the Reconquista and the Baltic Crusades. The heading spans the great international orders such as the Teutonic Order and the Iberian orders of Alcantara, Aviz, Calatrava, Montesa and Santiago, together with smaller regional orders such as the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. A member belongs here for combining religious vows with an original military mandate under papal or royal charter, distinct from the ordinary Catholic religious institutes that never carried an armed mission, even where an order such as Montesa continues today as a ceremonial order of honor rather than an active military force.