Publisher's Synopsis
The need to provide services to pilgrims visiting the Holy Land, coupled to the need to continuously protect these pilgrims and fight off the threating Islamic forces, led to the development of a new version of Monastic Orders - the Monks of War. These Crusader Orders maintained a dual function, one providing pilgrim services, while the other contributed to the defence of the realm. Working within a relatively tight-knit community, it stood to reason that these Orders interacted between themselves and formed distinct alliances. When setting up these monastic organizations, the brethren looked towards the rules promulgated for earlier established Monastic Orders, particularly the Rule of Saint Benedict and of Saint Augustine. They also 'borrowed' specific regulations from each other.
