الرهبان المحاربون.. السياسة والسلطة في بريطانيا في العصور الوسطى

1298: Alexander of Wales watched William Wallace's army across the battlefield of Falkirk. Hours later, he was killed by the Scots. 1381: Robert Hales, the hated poll tax collector, was dragged from the Tower of London and executed, his head paraded through the streets before being placed on a pike on London Bridge. 1590s: John Kendall sent coded messages to Perkin Warbeck's supporters and hired a collier to kill Henry VII. These men were not conspiring lords, they were knights of the Hospitaller. Commonly known as warrior monks, they were a religious and military order that fought in defense of the Holy Land, assuming that they were above war and petty politics. But in Europe, they became involved in local government, holding positions as royal, administrative, and political leaders. They commanded armies, attended parliaments, and engaged in court intrigues and civil wars. While the Knights Templar have long captured the public imagination, and the Hospitallers have been no less influential, their story has remained largely secret - until now. From the English conquest of Ireland through Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries and beyond, the story of the Knights Hospitaller in Britain and Ireland shows them engaging in civil wars, violent disputes, duels, assassinations, and sorcery.