I was up and out early, as I wanted to go to the Museum of St. John in Clerkenwell. Although I used to be in St. John Ambulance (and enjoyed many an evening covering West End theatres and White City dogs, amongst other things) I had never been to the Museum. The tours started at 11.00 a.m. and 2.30 p.m., and I wanted to have a look around the museum before the first tour started.
Getting there was easy; the Hammersmith & City Line from Shepherds Bush Market goes to Farringdon, and from there it is just a short walk to the Museum in St. John;s Gate, St. John Street. In fact, the journey took so little time I arrived before the Museum opened at 10.00 a.m., and a very kind member of staff, seeing me standing outside the door, let me in a bit early, which was much appreciated, as it was freezing.
The Museum of St. John isn't large, but is absolutely fascinating, detailing the history of the Order from its inception to the present day.
The first hospital was opened in Jerusalem in AD 1080, next to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, to care for sick pilgrims visting the Holy Land, which since the Muslims had taken it inAD 638, had often been difficult for Christians to visit. It served both as a hospital and also a hostel, and the men and women who worked there were members of a new religious order, officially recognised by the Church in AD1113, and were known as the Hospitallers. Other religious orders, such as the Knights Templar, guarded pilgrims, but initially the Hospitallers only cared for the sick. and the hospital was capable of looking after 1000 patients, or up to 2000 if the need arose. Later, after the fall of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers took on a military role, and became known as the Knights of the Order of Saint John. The Museum includes a model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which wealthy pilgrims would bring back as a souvenir of their visit.
The Hospitallers had some very modern ideas about the care of the sick - for instance, patients were served their food on silver plates, which were much more hygienic than wooden ones, they believed that fresh air and good food were essential for the sick, and introduced the concept of quarantine. In addition, the designs of their hospitals were based on what was best for the well-being of the patients. They believed that patients should be treated as if they were Christ Himself and given the very best that they could offer. As well as caring for the sick, they also looked after orphans, ran an ambulance service and buried the dead.
Other hospitals were opened in addition to the initial one at Jerusalem until, following the loss of the Holy Land in 1291, the Knights retreated to their lands in Cyprus and decided to found another headquarters in the east, which they did in AD 1310 in Rhodes, where they ruled 12 islands, minting coins, trading widely and defending the population from attack.
They had to move again in AD 1523, when Rhodes was captured by the Turks, and in AD 1530 settled in Malta, where the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, had offered them land for a rent of one falcon a year. Quite a bargain! By this time, the Knights were a trading and fighting force, capable of withstanding a determined attack by the Turks in AD 1565, so that Malta remained Christian. her capital, Valletta, was named after Jean de la Valette, who sucessfully defended the island, although outnumbered more than three to one by the Turkish forces. In Malta, the Knights became very much like monarchs, to the extent that Grand Master Manual Pinto da Fonseca wore a monarch's crown - there is a large painting of him with his crown. The Knights stayed in Malta until ousted by Napoleon; from there they moved eventually to Rome, where their headquarters are today.
One of the most interesting items in the Museum is a short video about the experiences of two brothers, Claude and Rostand Meres, based on the 14 letters which they wrote to their other brother Frances and their father whilst serving as Knights. The Meres family sent at least six of their sons and one of their daughters to join the Order. But other items are also fascinating, such as the images from "The Siege of Rhodes" from AD1480, an illuminated manuscript by Guillaume Caoursin, the cannon which was dredged up from the sea, the various paintings on the walls, the coins from the Holy Land.
I had expected there would be quite a crowd on the tour at 11.00 a.m., but although there were a couple of large private tours, in the official Museum on there were just three of us with a very informative guide.
Going on the tour meant that I saw parts of the Museum which aren't open to the public; we went through several locked doors which the guide had to swipe to open, and visited the Chapter House, the Old Chancery, the Council Chamber and the Malta Room with its beautiful Florentine table with an eight pointed star and paintings of Malta at the time of Jean de Valette and large herb jars. The old spiral staircase from the original building, fortunately, now has guide rails.
After leaving the Museum, we went to the Chapel and crypt, which is some distance away; the Chapel is still used for services, as is the crypt. The crypt is from the original church on the site, and includes various tombs and a stone taken from the pavement of the street by the Manger in bethlehem, when the paving was taken up in 1931. Presented in memory of his wife and also of his son, who was killed in 1940, by E.Keith Roach, who was District Commissioner of Jerusalem from 1926 - 1943, it was the only piece that was saved.
The Chapel is new; unused from the 1540 dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII, until Holy Communion was celebrated there again in 1905 in the presence of members of the revived order of St. John. it was destroyed during the War and almost completely rebuilt, as there was almost nothing left of the original.
Next to the Chapel is a garden, with a large crucifix with two angels above at the far end, a fountain in the middle, and and a few flowers . The whole place has an air of peace and tranquility; it must be lovely in the summer and I wondered whether many of the peop,e who work in the nearby offices and shops come and sit and eat their lunch there.
After the tour, which lasted about an hour, I returned to the Museum to have a look at the rest of the exhibits; there is plenty to occupy a couple of hours, or more if you want to take everything in.
And although the headquarters of the Order of St. John, both the revived English one and the continuing one in Rome, have not been based in Jerusalem for hundreds of years, they can still be said to have a base there in the presence of St. John's Eye Hospital, which was opened in 1882 on land which Sir Edmund Lechmere had obtained from the Ottoman Sultan.
Altogether, the Museum of St. John is a little gem, tucked away largely out of sight, but wellworth the effort of finding it.
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