Hospitallers of the Holy Spirit

The Order of the Hospitallers of the Holy Spirit was founded in 1175 in Montpellier , Kingdom of France . The founder of the order was Blessed Guydon ( Guy de Montpellier ; 1160–1209), who founded the Holy Spirit Hospital in Montpellier to treat the poor and needy. Gwidon collected abandoned children in the hospital, cared for the education of young people and helped the needy and the poor. The hospital, founded by blessed Guidon, existed in Montpellier until 1562, when it was destroyed by Calvinists during religious wars .

Gwidon chose the Holy Spirit as the patron saint of the new order. The charter of the organization was written based on the rule of St. Augustine . On April 22, 1198, Pope Innocent III in the first year of his pontificate approved the charter of the Order of the Holy Spirit.

In 1203, the Duke of Burgundy, Ed III, donated a large sum of money to the Order of the Holy Spirit and the monks founded the first hospital in Dijon, after the redistribution of Montpellier. In 1204, the Roman titular church of Santo Spirito in Sassia was transferred to the order for care. This temple is located on the site where before the XII century the charity Schola Saxorum (Wessex School), founded by King Wessex Ine, was located . This charity helped pilgrims who arrived in Rome from Wessex. After the modern temple of the Holy Spirit (Santo-Spirito) was built on this site, the prefix “in-Sassia” (in Wessex) was added to its name. The hospitals of the Holy Spirit, having received this church in their care, also added the prefix “from Wessex” ( lat. De Saxia ) to the official name of their order. At this church, the hospitals of the Holy Spirit established a hospital for the needy, which had about 300 hospital beds and served about a thousand people a day. At that time it was the largest hospital in Rome.

Hospitallers of the Holy Spirit were engaged in charity work in various countries of medieval Europe. The monks of the Order of the Holy Spirit raised orphaned children, looked after disabled people, the elderly, helped poor families, and attended free funerals. Monks provided free visits to pilgrimage sites and redeemed slaves from Muslims. During its heyday, the order totaled several hundred to one thousand members. In 1220, hospitals at the invitation of the Krakow Bishop Ivo Odrovonzha arrived in Poland, where they founded a hospital in Prondnik-Bialom . In addition to caring for the sick and charity work, among the needy hospitals of the Holy Spirit was the protection of Christians against armed units of the Albigenses in southern France.

In 1672, the French king Louis XIV tried to transfer the assets of the order to state ownership to form a pension fund for retired soldiers. Having received the refusal of the Holy See, he banned the activities of the Order of the Holy Spirit in the territory of the French kingdom. In 1693, the activities of the order were restored in France. In 1708, the order lost its paramilitary characteristic. In 1711, Pope Clement XI included the Order of the Holy Spirit in the modern order of the Hospitallers of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem , where he had some independence until 1783, when its autonomy was terminated.

Order Structure

Members of the order were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of priests and monks who took vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty. The second group consisted of laity who were called “knights”. The order was headed by the Grand Master .

The units of the order, which were called "hospitals" were divided into four categories:

• "Religious" , which consisted of priests, female and male monasticism, and laity who brought monastic vows (the so-called " oblaty "). The head of this unit bore the title "commander." This title was approved by the bull of Pope Alexander VI in 1216 and confirmed by the bull of Nicholas IV in 1291;
• “Layansky” , which consisted of lay people who were engaged in charity and medical activities;
• “Brotherly” , consisting of lay people who respected community life or brought simple monastic vows. There were numerous brotherhoods that had their own name (for example, the Brotherhood of the Ark of the Holy Spirit). These brotherhoods united ordinary lay people and representatives of the aristocracy. The charter of these fraternities was approved by Pope Eugene IV . Members of such fraternities were some persons of the European royal courts (for example, Charles VIII , Henry VII , Elizabeth of York , Louis XII );
• The unit "Supporters of the Order" united the laity of different social groups who did not make any vows and supported the activities of the order in various ways. Among the "supporters" were also representatives of various European royal and noble courts.

After the independence of the Order of the Holy Spirit in the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem was abolished, some former members of the Order of the Holy Spirit organized the secular medical organization Arcispedale (Ospedale) di Santo Spirito (Hospital of the Holy Spirit), which was engaged in medical activities in the hospital at the church Santo Spirit in Sassia. This medical organization considers itself to be the successor of the Order of the Holy Spirit ^[1] and has preserved its activities to this day, operating in many countries of modern Europe.

In the Middle Ages, a female branch of the Order of the Holy Spirit was founded under the name "Sisters-Hospitallers of the Holy Spirit", the activity of which has survived to our time.

• 700 Jahre Heilig-Geist-Spital Markgröningen. Hrsg .: Stadt Markgröningen. Markgröningen 1997.
• Annamaria Böckel: Heilig-Geist in Nürnberg. Spitalstiftung & Aufbewahrungsort der Reichskleinodien. Nürnberg 1990. ISBN 3-87191-146-1
• Gisela Drossbach: Christliche Caritas als Rechtsinstitut. Hospital und Orden von Santo Spirito in Sassia (1198–1378). Schöningh, Paderborn 2005 (Kirchen- und Staatskirchenrecht, Band 2) ISBN 3506717669 .
• Hannes Lambacher: Klöster und Spitäler. Die Geschichte der Stadt Memmingen. Stuttgart 1997. ISBN 3-8062-1315-1

• Hospitaliers
• Catholic orders and congregations

• Of the Holy Spirit of the order, fraternity and society // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Catholic Encyclopedia
• History of the Order (Fr.)