Military orders · Kingdom of Sicily under the regency · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Hospitallers (Apulia)

The Hospitallers have been in Apulia since the first years of the order: the papal bull of 1113 names their hospices at Bari, Otranto and Taranto, the ports where pilgrims took ship for the East.

After William I razed Bari in 1156 the head house of the province moved to Barletta, which became the priory of Barletta. In 1200 they keep hospices and churches in the crusading ports, take in pilgrims and crusaders, and draw rents from lands in the Apulian plain. They are a power without minorities or regencies, answering to their own master.

Who he is

Name
The prior of Barletta (name in 1200 not pinned)
Title
The Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem: its prior and houses in Apulia
Since
Houses at Bari, Otranto and Taranto by 1113; the priory moved from Bari to Barletta after 1156
Confidence
medium

Paschal II's bull Pie postulatio voluntatis (15 February 1113) names the Hospital's western houses, among them Bari, Otranto and Taranto. it.wikipedia (Barletta): the Hospitallers set up a priory at Barletta to replace the one in Bari, ruined after the revolt of 1156. it.wikipedia (Ognissanti, Trani): the Hospitallers were also present at Trani.

Overlord

The master of the Hospital at Acre and the pope; the order holds its Apulian lands under the king's protection.

What it holds

  • The priory house at Barletta
  • Hospices at Bari, Otranto and Taranto (since 1113)
  • A house at Trani
  • Scattered lands and rents in the plain (not pinned)

How it was acquired

Gifts of the Norman kings, barons and towns from the early twelfth century.

Allies and rivals

Neighbours of the Templars and the canons of the Holy Sepulchre in the same ports.

How things stand that morning

Holding their houses in the royal ports under the regency, neutral in the war.

Wealth

Pilgrim traffic, rents of lands, gifts. No figures.

Military

Brethren in the houses; no field force recorded in Apulia.

Threats

  • War in the ports
  • Royal or baronial seizure of lands in a disorderly regency

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. 1200-1202The crusade preached since 1198 sends crusaders through the Apulian ports (Brindisi, Barletta) toward the East.Depends on: The crusade going by the Apulian route Stopped by: The crusade sailing from Venice instead

Places of note

  • Priory of Barletta: Head house of the Hospital in Apulia
  • Hospice of Bari: Named in 1113
  • Hospice of Otranto: Named in 1113
  • Hospice of Taranto: Named in 1113
  • House at Trani: Hospitallers present (date not pinned)

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The 1113 bull and the move to Barletta are solid; the houses' state and holdings in 1200 are not pinned.

On the map: Marked as points in the towns; their lands are not mapped.

Primary sources for Sicily

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

7 more in the sources library for Southern Italy and the Islands.

Sources and studies

  1. Pie postulatio voluntatis, bull of Paschal II, 15 February 1113 (en.wikipedia)
  2. Barletta (it.wikipedia)
  3. Chiesa di Ognissanti, Trani (it.wikipedia)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.