1. john, knights of st. a religious order of knights, founded in 1048, and instituted properly in 1110, for the defence of pilgrims to Jerusalem; established a church and a cloister there, with a hospital for poor and sick pilgrims, and were hence called the Hospital Brothers of St. John of Jerusalem; the knights consisted of three classes, knights of noble birth to bear arms, priests to conduct worship, and serving brothers to tend the sick; on the fall of Jerusalem they retired to Cyprus, conquered Rhodes, and called themselves Knights of Rhodes; driven from which they settled in Malta and took the name of Knights of Malta, after which the knighthood had various fortunes.
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