Order of Saint James of Altopascio

The Order of Saint James of Altopascio ( or "Ordine dei Frati Ospitalieri di San Jacopo"), also called the Knights of the Tau ("Cavalieri del Tau") or Hospitallers of Saint James, was a military order, perhaps the earliest Christian institution to combine the protection and assistance of pilgrims, the staffing of hospitals, and a military wing. According to American historian Ephraim Emerton, who produced the first systematic study of the Order, "the fame of the house drew visitors, both well and sick, including women in childbirth and infants" from around Italy.
History.
Foundation.
The Order was founded by Matilda of Canossa between 1070 and 1080 at Altopascio, a town on the Via Francigena in what is now Tuscany. The earliest datable reference to a hospital "edificatus in locus et finibus ubi dicitur Teupascio" ("built in the place called Teupascio") is from 1084. Ludovico Muratori thought "Teupascio" to be an eighth-century corruption of the Latin "Altopassus". The variants "Taupascio" and "Topascio" have led some to suppose a relationship between the (alternative) name of the town and the Order sometimes known as "of the Tau", after their symbol, which would once have been a common sight in the town. This derivation is highly unlikely, however, and the name appears to be Germanic in origin. 
According to the Order's own tradition it was founded between the , the , and the forest of towards 1050 by twelve citizens of nearby Lucca, a tradition which is preserved in a couple of lines of poetry appended to the Italian version of its rule: 
Probably the "choir of twelve" refers to the founding twelve members (brethren, friars, "fratres"), not to twelve founders. In his "Memorie di Pescia", Francesco Galeotti wrote that the Order was founded by a rich and pious "personaggio" (individual). The Order was dedicated to James the Greater and Egidius. Its head was initially a "rector", later a grand master ("magister generalis"), "custos" (custodian), warden, and eventually even bore the title "Signore d'Altopascio" (Lord of Altopascio). 
Originally the Order was composed of a few canons charged with caring for pilgrims on their way to Rome or the Holy Land, via Italy, but later it extended its concern to the Way of Saint James. Their headquarters were in the church of the same name, San Giacomo dell' Alto Passo. Their Great Hospital dedicated to Saint James at Altopascio ("Domus Hospitalis Sancti Iacobi de Altopassu") is first mentioned in a bull of Innocent III from 1198, though he refers to earlier grants to the hospice by the Bishops of Lucca, whose names indicate that it existed as early as the third quarter of the century. In 1244 the hospice of "Altopassus" received a confirmation of its properties in Italy from the Emperor Frederick II as part of a program of support for institutions looking after the "miserabiles" (unfortunate). The emperor forbade the imposition of any tax on the Order or any interference lay or ecclesiastical with its property. The movement of goods as part of the Order's regular business was to go unhindered.
Expansion.
In time the Order came to be charged with safeguarding the roads and the bridges from brigands. The Order also had a bell named "La Smarrita" that was rung each night from a half hour before sunset to a half hour past to help guide any pilgrim wandering in the woods to safety. This custom was still reported in the time of Lami. They maintained a ferry service on the Arno River:
in the territory of Florence and on the high road to Rome, where formerly a heavy tribute was exacted. This road has now been made free by members of the aforesaid Great Hospital and of other hospitals affiliated with it. So that at present all pilgrims and others freely pass there without payment. 
The lands from which the Order drew its income were found throughout Tuscany: in the Valdarno (bull of Anastasius IV of 1154), Valdinievole (bull of Alexander III of 1169), and Pistoia and Prato (aforementioned bull of Innocent III of 1198). Eventually the Order spread throughout Tuscany and Italy, reaching first Naples, Sardinia, and Sicily. The Order was eventually internationalised and had reached as far as the Rhône in Provence by the end of the twelfth century. It received endowments in Bavaria, Burgundy, the Dauphiné, England, Flanders, France, Germany, Lorraine, Navarre, Portugal, and Savoy. Each separate body was called a "mansio" (plural "mansiones") on analogy with the Roman relay stations and hospitals abiding by the Order's rule were called "obedientiae". Grants to the "mansiones" of money and land and, in the later Middle Ages, tithes were supervised by the grand master. The heart of the Order was always in Tuscany, however, as its close relationship with the great families of the Republic of Florence shows. There is evidence that in the sixteenth century the Order was exchanging lands in such a way as to build up a compact territory of holdings nearer Altopascio. 
The church and hospital of Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas in Paris, subject to the Great Hospital, was founded by Philip IV of France.
Suppression.
The Order was suppressed by the bull "Execrabilis" issued by Pius II on 18 January 1459 along with five other "religiones" (religious orders). Their property was transferred to the fledgling Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem founded by that same bull:
Further, we suppress and annul their former ordinances ("ordines"), the names of their associations, their titles of priority ("priorales") and other dignities, and we decree that henceforth they shall be called, held, and named as of that military order of Saint Mary of Bethlehem. Moreover, in this order there shall be brethren and knights and priests as also in the aforesaid Order of Rhodes [Knights of Saint John], and the head of the aforesaid Hospital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem shall be the Master, elected by the brethren in the same way ("pariformiter") [as in the Order of Rhodes].
The suppression, however, was imperfectly carried out, or perhaps was never carried out at all. The Order certainly retained some Italian property until, on 14 March 1587, Sixtus V, at the request of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, merged the Order of Altopascio with the Order of Saint Stephen. In France it was finally absorbed into the Order of Saint Lazarus in 1672.
Organisation.
Rule.
The Order's rule, the "Regola dei Frati di San Jacopo d'Altopascio", was promulgated in ninety-six chapters by Gregory IX in 1239, and was based on the rule of the Knights of Saint John and, more generally, the rule of Saint Augustine. The rule was requested by the brethren. It is unknown if they abided by a different rule before 1239. The Latin rule is preserved in the Archives nationales on twenty-one 8½"x6" pages. It was first published (in part) by the antiquarian Giovanni Lami between 1741 and 1754 and edited (entirely) by in 1864 in Italian. A Pescian document of 1358 still referred to the order as "living under the Rule of Saint Augustine". 
By a comparison with the Hospitaller rule it is clear that the first twenty-five chapters of the Altopascian rule correspond to the first nineteen chapters from the Hospitaller rule of Raymond du Puy (from 1125–53). Chapters 30–37, which deal with the proper burial of deceased brethren, are probably adapted from the additions made by Jobert of Syria to the Hospitaller rule between 1177 and 1181. Chapters 39–45 are concerned with the care for the sick and were added to the Hospitaller rule by Roger de Moulins in 1181 or 1182. Chapters 47–52 and 76 are derived from the later "usances" (customs) of the order of Saint John, with chapters 49–52 prescribing the ceremonies for the initiation of brethren and "confrati" (affiliated persons). Chapters 53–75 are a selection of later Hospitaller "esgards" (judgements), probably chosen for their relevance to the Altopascian situation. They deal primarily with crime. Chapters 26–29, 38, 46, and 77–96 are not based on the Hospitaller rule.
Composition.
The Order's members appear to have been mostly laymen. References in the Order's rule to fees paid to priests for their services imply that these priests were not members, since the Order's rule elsewhere prohibits private property. In 1324 Marsilius of Padua, in his "Defensor pacis", criticised the Papacy for trying to classify as many persons as possible as "clerici" (clergy), and appears to say that the Order of Altopascio was lay, but the Pope wished to classify it as clerical. Chapter 64 of the Order's rule, however, does refer to brothers who are "priest or deacon or of any other clerical order". If the trend reported by Marsiglio continued, the ratio of clerical to lay brethren may have increased in the late Middle Ages. Pierre Hélyot, having seen certain tomb effigies of some brethren bearing the insignia of ordination, calls the Order the "Chanoines Hospitaliers de S. Jacques du Haut-Pas ou de Lucques" (canons hospitaller of Saint James of Altopascio or of Lucca). 
The knights ("cavalieri") of the Order were established by chapter 93 of its Rule, which is an almost verbatim copy of a paragraph of a set of Hospitaller regulations drawn up at Margat in 1204–06. The knights are only mentioned once else in the Rule, in chapter 78, where the process of electing a grand master is described. The prior of the Order is to select from the brethren a priest ("frate preite"), a knight, and a "servitor" (also "sergent", "servente"), who will form the electorate and choose a master. Emerton casts doubt on the military nature of these knights, suggesting instead that they were lay noble religious. He points out that the Rule omits all of the Hospitallers' references to horses, arms, and armour. 
Besides the priest and knight there is another special position in the order, singled out for its involvement in the election of the master: the "servitor", who was subordinate to the regular brother. The "servitors" were not allowed to fighting among themselves, to refuse work, or to spend the night in town without permission. Strict penalties were prescribed, but their pay was never withheld and they appear to have been hired workers. They were under the direction of the brethren, but performed the majority of menial tasks.
Symbols.
The symbol of the order was the letter tau, usually white on a black field, the vertical arm of the tau being always pointed at the bottom and the crossbar either square at the ends or else concave or notched like a Maltese cross, the result being called a "croce taumata". These peculiarities have suggested to some historians that it represents an auger and an axe or hammer and thus carpentry, probably to be associated with bridge-building and road maintenance. The aforementioned edict of Frederick II contains one obligation placed on the order:
It is our will and command that the hospice and its brethren build and maintain upon the public pilgrim's highway near Ficeclum on the White Arno, at the most convenient point, a bridge for the service of travellers, and this without let or hindrance from any person whomsoever. But if, in case of flood or other accident, they shall be without a bridge, it is our will that they provide a ferry-boat for the free transportation of pilgrims, and it shall be unlawful for any other person to keep any boat there for passengers, whether for hire or not.
The Order's rule, however, does not mention the maintenance of bridges or roads. A similar tau-like symbol or cross was venerated at the same time by the Franciscans. It may have symbolised perfection, since "taf" was the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Activities.
The care of the sick was the primary mission of the Order. The Rule required four physicians and two surgeons attached to the hospital. The Rule exhibits "an enlightened conception of the needs of the sick that would do credit to any modern institution". It laid down the principle of "primum non nocere" and even advised a "hearty diet" during Lent for the ill. For "our lords ("domini", "signori") the sick", as the Order's patients are called in the Rule, beds must be large with separate sheets and coverlets, each patient was to have fur cloak and woolen cap for use in the commons area ("per andare ad luogo commune"). Cribs and cradles were to be provided for newborns. 
The Order was not an order of "fratres pontifices" ("pontifical, i.e. bridge-building, brethren") and was not heavily involved in bridge-building. Hélyot, in examining the origins of certain bridges associated with hospitallers in the Rhône valley, ascribed their construction to the Order of Altopascio, whose members he calls "religieux hospitaliers pontifes" ("bridge-building hospitaller religious"). Hélyot went so far as to associated the famous Saint Bénézet with the Altopascians. Henri Grégoire, writing in 1818, cast doubt on the thesis and Emerton rejected it as groundless while admitting that the Provençal hospitals may well have been associated with Altopascia. Besides the bridge at Fucechhio which is known from the imperial edict of 1244 to have been charged to the Order's care, other bridges may have been maintained in Italy where the Via Francigena crosses the Arda, the , the Taro, and the Usciana.
Primary texts.
Text of the Papal bull of 1239.
Ephraim Emerton provides an English translation of the Papal bull granting the Order a rule: 
Selection of chapters from the Rule, 1239.
Emerton provides an English translation of chapter 20 of the Altopascian rule, concerning punishment for the holding of private property: 
He also provides a translation those chapters (30–37) concerning the death and burial of members: 
He also provides a translation of chapter 45, about the care of the sick: 
He also provides a translation of chapter 64, based on Hospitaller "esgard" 10, which concerns crimes by members: 
He also provides a translation of chapters 67–70 and 72 on the relationship between friars ("fratres") and "servitors": 
He also provides a translation of chapter 93, the only one concerned with knighthoods: 
An incident at Pescia in 1358.
Emerton also provides an English translation of Giovanni Lami's retelling of an incident involving the Order and the city of Pescia in 1358: 