十字軍という国際的な騎士団は、どの言語で話していたのか。ラテン語が公式だが、フランス語ドイツ語他が入り乱れ、その時の権勢に影響された、その経緯（英語）

Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

Knights Hospitaller were an international military order. The knights came from all over Europe. They were united by common cause and beliefs but spoke different languages which presented a problem. So which language did they use to communicate with each other? 🧵 pic.twitter.com/rAl1FSMyMn

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

Together with the Templars and Teutonic Knights, Hospitallers were one of the three major monastic military orders established during the crusades to the Levant. They would all grow into powerful international organizations during the Middle Ages. pic.twitter.com/mZACGhp4Q4

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

But the other orders did not become as linguistically diverse as the Hospitallers. The Templars were largely based in France and Francien (French) was the dominant language among them. Also a reminder that English aristocracy also spoke French at the time. pic.twitter.com/rRO7tothVk

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

The Teutonic Knights were specifically formed as a German speaking order for knights from the Holy Roman Empire who went to the Holy Land. Middle High German dialect dominated and they wrote their chronicles such as Livonian Rhymed Chronicle and New Prussian Chronicle in it. pic.twitter.com/f6VzJnQIBE

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

But when you look at the map of the commanderies of the Hospitaller Knights, you can see that their linguistic situation was much more complicated. Let's take a look at how they dealt with this question in various periods from Middle Ages to Early Modern Era! pic.twitter.com/QoMnjo6I0r

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

Latin was the language of the medieval elite and was used to communicate between various states and by institutions such as the Catholic Church or on the universities. As such, Latin was also the official language of the Hospitaller order when it was established in 1113. pic.twitter.com/oLBk1zAwgy

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

For example the statues of the Hospitaller order were written in Latin. But there was a problem. Many of their knights were not well educated ("more used to sword") and apparently their knowledge of Latin left much to be desired, to say the least. pic.twitter.com/QPFjKVm9KS

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

Because of this the knights communicated with each other in vulgar languages and statutes and privileges had to be translated into them as well. During the crusades in the Levant, the French language dominated among Hospitallers. This was due to two reasons... pic.twitter.com/D02QxNeub4

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

1) During 12-13th centuries Francien (French) had established itself as the dominant dialect of the Ile-de-France and rose above all the dialects of the Langue d'oïl. It had prestige due to literature such as chansons de geste. It also had a relatively standardized orthography. pic.twitter.com/1nRxapBmCh

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

2) Crusader states in Eastern Mediterranean were dominated by French-speaking aristocracy. French influence therefore covered a vast area, from Cyprus to Constantinople, Thessalonika, Morea and the Aegean. French was used for administrative and literary purposes. pic.twitter.com/HDGJfosOdb

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

So we can assume that the Hospitaller knights who went crusading to the Holy Land in 12-13th centuries used a lot of French language in their communication, and those who didn't know it had to learn at least a little bit to communicate with their brethren in the order. pic.twitter.com/CFDSjzmSpN

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

But things began to change after the fall of Acre in 1291 and the destruction of what was left of the crusader states in the Levant. The Hospitallers eventually moved to Rhodes in 1310 where they stayed until 1522 when the island was conquered by the Ottomans. pic.twitter.com/MGbnrabrjH

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

Even though the crusades states, in which the Hospitallers were founded, were crushed, the Order was already powerful enough to control its own destiny. At Rhodes, the Hospitaller Order formed its own state. Knights from all over Europe continued to enter its ranks! pic.twitter.com/ATiPo4NlFu

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

Shortly after the move to Rhodes, the Hospitallers addressed the linguistic question in 1319. The order was administratively reorganized into seven "langues" (tongues), loosely based on linguistic divisions among the Order. Each langue had its own headquarters in Rhodes. pic.twitter.com/4TRgWK65l2

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

The original seven "langues" were: Auvergne France Provence Aragon Italy Germany England The Hospitallers split their European commanderies along these geographic-linguistic lines. pic.twitter.com/5J3dXvo5wH

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

But these "langues" did not fully correlate with linguistic divisions in the Order. For example in the 15th century, French was already the standard language in Provence and Auvergne. The Langue of Germany also included Hungary and Poland due to geographic proximity. pic.twitter.com/2SyekqjGjj

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

The Langue of Aragon would later split with the creation of the separate Langue of Castille, Léon and Portugal. The Langue of England was abolished following the English Reformation. Much later in 1784 an Anglo-Bavarian Langue was created which also included Polish knights. pic.twitter.com/qx5lh8bVaF

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

The langue system ensured the supremacy of French knights who had three langues. They were the most numerous and provided the larger part of the Order's revenues. But despite this domination, French language did not remain the administrative language of the Hospitaller Order. pic.twitter.com/NZIMVBW8Es

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

The 14th century eventually saw a move back to Latin, as the Hospitaller Order documents were translated to Latin again. In 15th century Latin became used at the proceedings of the Chapters General, the highest legislative authority of the Order convened by the Grand Master! pic.twitter.com/zzo14pTIMv

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

There were different reasons for abandonment of French as the main language of the Order. Following the move to Rhodes, the Hospitallers were now in the Venetian sphere of linguistic influence as they were surrounded by the Venetian colonies of the eastern Mediterranean. pic.twitter.com/ukqbqZ94ZP

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

But even more important were the wider developments in linguistics in Europe. During the 14th and 15th centuries the French language went through radical changes as it evolved into Middle French. Orthography became more complicated and harder to learn for foreigners. pic.twitter.com/Ti4igQNVVI

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

At the same time Humanism reawakened interest in Latin. While French went through chaotic transition from Old French to Middle French, Latin continued to have the stability of a language that had its teachings based on literary models which were unchanged for 1500 years. pic.twitter.com/Ywd5CenRrq

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

Due to these factors, combined with turbulent political situation in France due to Hundred Years' Wars and waning Angevin/French influence in the Mediterranean, French language lost much of its influence abroad, especially in southern Italy, Sicily and Cyprus. pic.twitter.com/1rYzeAI2w9

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Aristocratic Fury @LandsknechtPike

This led to rise of influence of Latin language among the Order. There was also increase of use of Italian language for practical reasons and due to Venetian influence. Texts written in Italian by Hospitallers show influence of Venetian dialect while they were on Rhodes. pic.twitter.com/vWMpjbDoj2

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