In theMiddle Ages,acommandery(rarelycommandry) was the smallest administrative division of theEuropeanlanded propertiesof amilitary order.It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.[1]The word is also applied to theemolumentsgranted to a commander. They were the equivalent for those orders to amonastic grange.The knight in charge of a commandery was acommander.
Etymology
editThe word derives from Frenchcommanderieorcommenderie,from mediaevalLatincommendariaorcommenda,meaning "a trust or charge", originally one heldin commendam.[2][3]
Originally, commandries were benefices, particularly in the Church, heldin commendam.Mediaevalmilitary ordersadopted monastic organizational structures and commandries were divisions of theOrder of Knights of St. John of Jerusalem,and later theOrder of Teutonic Knightsand other knightly orders were organized along similar lines.[3]The property of the order was divided into "priorates" (orpriories), subdivided into "bailiwicks," which in turn were divided into "commanderies" or "commendæ";these were placed in charge of a"commendator"orcommander.The word is also applied to the emoluments granted to a commander of a military order of knights.[2]
A commandry of the Teutonic Knights, each headed by aKomtur,was known as aKomtureiorKommende.The equivalents among theKnights Templarwere "preceptor"and" preceptory ".[dubious–discuss]In 1540, the possessions inEnglandof theKnights Hospitaller- the commanderies to which the English term first referred - were seized as crown property.[3]
Usage
editModern
edit- A territory of theVenerable Order of Saint John
- A division of theKnights Templar,found within theYork RiteofFreemasonry.
- A chapter of theMilitary Order of Foreign Wars.
Medieval
editIn the Near East and throughout Europe:
- A territory ofthe Order of St John of Jerusalem,theKnights Hospitallers
- A territory of theOrder of Teutonic Knightsand other orders
- The Commandery,an historic building in the city ofWorcester,England probably built by Knights Hospitallers
See also
editReferences
editCitations
edit- ^Anthony Luttrell and Greg O'Malley (eds.),The Countryside Of Hospitaller Rhodes 1306–1423: Original Texts And English Summaries(Routledge, 2019), p. 27.
- ^abChisholm 1911,p. 765.
- ^abc"commandery | commandry, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, December 2018,https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/36962.Accessed 9 December 2018.
Sources
edit- This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Commandery".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 765.
