Order of Montjoie
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The Order of Montjoie was a military order during the crusades.
The period of the Crusades witnessed the rise of religious orders and Christian military orders. The order of Montjoie is mentioned in the thirteenth century as having been founded for the purpose of protecting Christian pilgrims in Spain. Its existence was brief, having been established c.1180 and united with the Order of Calatrava in 1221.
The order was founded by count Rodrigo in the Holy Land. Rodrigo was from the order of Santiago, and had already established the order in Castile and Aragon before establishing it in the kingdom of Jerusalem in the tower of Ascalon. The headquarters of the order was situated on Montjoie, the hill where the original crusaders had first seen Jerusalem, hence its name ("joyous mountain", mons gaudii in Latin). The rule of the order was adapted from the Cistercian rule, and was entirely a Spanish order. The emblem of the order was a red and white cross.
A number of knights from the order fought at the Battle of Hattin in 1187, but none of them survived. The rest of the order fled to Aragon, where they remained until 1221 when Ferdinand of Aragon joined them to the Order of Calatrava.
This Order was also known as the Order of Trufac.
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- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
