em (Jordan 94). When the Muslims drove the crusaders from the Holy Land in 1921, the order moved to island fortresses in the Mediterranean Sea. There they fought Turkish pirates, becoming known as Knights of Rhodes and Knights of Malta (Jordan 95).The second great chivalric order was the Knights Templars. The Templars were mostly French. The order was founded in 1119 to defend the Holy Sepulcher (Christ's tomb) in Jerusalem, protect pilgrims, and fight the Muslims (Jordan 99). The order grew rapidly and became extremely rich and powerful. In 1307, the Templars moved to France, where their wealth and power aroused envy among the people of the country (Jordan 101). When King Phillip IV ordered the Templars to be arrested, their estates were confiscated, and many were put to death. A few years afterward, the Pope abolished the order (Evans78).The third great chivalric order was know as the Teutonic Knights (Jordan 105). This group of German Knights, also originally formed to protect a pilgrims' hospital in Jerusalem, became a major power in northeast Europe, helping to convert pagan tribes in the Baltic countries to Christianity (Jordan 105). Besides these three major orders, there were many other chivalric orders that existed worldwide, with their main purpose to serve as defenders of Christianity (Evans 82). Yet somehow, the concept of religious chivalry slowly started to sway from its intended purpose, and into one of fantasy and romance. This change focused on another important theme of the time-courtly love. Courtesy and courtly love are expressions of a larger, looser entity of chivalry. This regulated the behavior of a gentleman according to fixed moral principles.The idea of courtly love comprised the code of courtesy and the ideals of knightly conduct derived from feudalism and the ethical teachings of the church (Dijkstra 53). It originated apparently from Islamic Spain, where women had a good deal of freedom and w...
