Knights Hospitalier

The Knights Hospitalier, also known as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, the Order of St. John, the Knights of the Hospital, and the Chevaliers of Malta, were one of the Christian orders of the Crusades; the Knights Templar being another. Their emblem was a white cross, often on a black background.

The Knights Hospitalier were founded in the city of Jerusalem to provide care for poor, sick or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land, but became a much more militaristic organization with the onset of the Crusades.

Members
In 1191, the Knights Hospitalier held a significant presence in the Poor District of the recently conquered city of Acre. The Grand Master of the Hospitalier Order, Garnier de Naplouse, personally oversaw the district's hospital, and it was there that he experimented on his "patients" with varying concoctions of herbs and drugs.

As well as the military aspect of the Order, the Knights Hospitalier continued to function in a non-combatant role. Numerous Hospitalier monks could be found in the city, preaching and aiding to the local population.

History
The Knights Hospitalier were one of the several knightly orders founded during the Crusades. Their job was to provide care for the sick and wounded in the Holy Land.

By 1191, the Knights were led by Garnier de Naplouse, who was secretly a Templar. He experimented on poor patients to try and replicate the effects of the Apple of Eden. He achieved a limited amount of success, though he was assassinated by Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, which ended his experimentation.

By the Renaissance, the Hospitalier base had moved to Rhodes, and were responsible for killing the Master Assassin Castor. Subsequently, Ezio sent a team of Ottoman Assassins to burn the Hospitalier compound to the ground.

Flags
Throughout the Poor District of Acre, the Knights Hospitalier had spread 33 of their flags, which would grant the player with an achievement for the Xbox 360 upon collecting them all.

Trivia

 * The Knights Hospitalier are the only faction of Crusaders without high-ranking soldiers, aside from informant targets.
 * In Assassin's Creed, the armor and uniform of Knights Hospitalier guards armor is strikingly similar to that of the high-ranking Templar crusaders in the Holy Land, with the primary difference being the black and white coloring of the Hospitaliers as opposed to the red and white of the Templar crusaders.
 * In Assassin's Creed: Revelations, the multiplayer map Rhodes contains a Knights Hospitalier fortress.