 The origins of the Knights Hospitaller are unclear , but the order probably emerged around the 1070s in Jerusalem . It started as a religious order which cared for the sick , and later looked after pilgrims to the Holy Land . After the success of the First Crusade in capturing Jerusalem in 1099 , many crusaders donated their new property in the Levant to the Hospital of St John . Early donations were in the newly formed Kingdom of Jerusalem , but over time the order extended its holdings to the Crusader states of the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch . Evidence suggests that in the 1130s the order became militarized when Fulk , King of Jerusalem , granted the newly built castle at Bethgibelin to the order in 1136 . A papal bull from between 1139 and 1143 may indicate the order hiring people to defend pilgrims . There were also other military orders , such as the Knights Templar , which offered protection to pilgrims . 
 The origins of the Knights Hospitaller <a href='drop_aux' title='1'><mark>are</mark></a>unclear , but the order probably emerged around the 1070s in Jerusalem . It started as a religious order which cared for the sick , and later looked after pilgrims to the Holy Land . After the success of the First Crusade in capturing Jerusalem in 1099 , many crusaders donated their new property in the Levant to the Hospital of St John . Early donations <a href='uninflect' title='2'><mark>were</mark></a> in the newly formed Kingdom of Jerusalem , but over time the order extended its holdings to the Crusader states of the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch . Evidence <a href='uninflect' title='3'><mark>suggests</mark></a> that in the 1130s the order became militarized when Fulk , King of Jerusalem , granted the newly built castle at Bethgibelin to the order in 1136 . A papal bull from between 1139 and 1143 may indicate the order hiring people to defend pilgrims . <a href='dey_it' title='4'><mark>There</mark></a> <a href='uninflect' title='5'><mark>were</mark></a> also other military orders , such as the Knights Templar , which offered protection to pilgrims . 
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