French-language documents produced by the Hospitallers, 1231–1310

Abstract

This study examines the use of French for documents employed by the Hospitallers in the Holy Land from 1231 until 1310. The period of greatest French-language production, from 1231 until 1275, occurred when the Order's central convent was in Acre. During this time, texts were exchanged primarily between the Hospitallers and Westerners in the East, not with French speakers in the West. Early on, French was employed as an oral and written language, and this practice encouraged the continued use of French-language texts among the Hospitallers, whose members were informed of policy changes through public readings of legal texts. French-language document production diminished in the 1270s, when permanent Christian settlements in the East were threatened. Hospitaller French-language documents were then employed primarily for internal purposes, in conjunction with other French-language writings to defend the Order whose purpose came under attack once members were expelled from the Holy Land.