7. _Knights of St._ John _of_ Acon _or_ Acres.
UNDER the Patronage of this Saint was this Order erected; they exercised all Duties of Charity towards Pilgrims, and assumed Arms in imitation of the _Hospitallers_; they followed the Rule of St. _Augustine_; and according to _Favina_, had a Black Habit, upon which they wore a _White Cross patee_. After _Acon_ was taken they removed into _Spain_, and flourished in the Reign of _Alphonsus_ the Astrologer King of _Castile_, about which time Pope _Alexander_ IV. approved the Order under the conjoined Title of St. _Thomas_ and St. _John_ of _Acon_. This King gave them by his Will all the Furniture of his House, and much Money; but afterward they dwindled, and at last were united to the _Hospitallers_. The Ensign was a _Red Cross_, in the middle whereof stood the Figures of St. _John_ and St. _Thomas_.
DISTINCT from the former, yet wearing the same Habit, as the Knights of St. _John_ of _Acon_, making the same Processions, and following the same Rule; their Badge was a _Saltire Gules_, (or as others are of Opinion) the same with that of St. _John_ of _Acon_, wanting the Figures in the middle: But _Favin_ reports, this Order was instituted by King _Richard_ I. after the Surprizal of _Acon_; and that these Knights were of the _English_ Nation, who wore a White Habit and a _Red Cross_, charged in the middle with an _Escallon_, and that St. _Thomas Becket_ was their Patron. Howbeit, after the Christians were driven out of the _Holy Land_, the Knights of this Order were joined to the _Hospitallers_.
THESE were also called Knights _de Sta. Maria_; they were Officers and Servants to the Kings of _Armenia_; their Habit was Sky colour with a _Cross Gold_ on their Breasts; others say a _Red Cross_, and in the middle the Picture of St. _Blaze_, their Patron. This Order was at the height, when the _Armenian_ Kings of the House of _Luzignan_ kept their Court in _Acon_.
10. _Knights of the Martyrs in_ Palestine.
THESE took their Denomination from an Hospital in _Palestine_, dedicated to St. _Cosmus_ and St. _Damianus_, Martyrs; where Acts of Charity were exercised towards Sick Strangers. Their Profession obliged them to other Works of Mercy, _viz._ to redeem Captives, and bury their Dead. They followed the Rule of St. _Basil_, which was confirmed to them by Pope _John_ XXII. There Badge was a _Red Cross_, in the middle whereof, within a Circle, was the aforesaid Two _Saints_. When they retir’d into _Europe_ they changed into a _Red Cross_, and St. _Augustin_’s Rule.