The Knights Hospitaller Options

[FlakJacket]

So we've had the shenanigans with the the Papal States and the Templars turning up again courtesy of Shadows of Europe and Threats 2, does anyone know if the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem get a mention in any of the books? I've been having a look at them after coming across some information on them and it's rather intrguing.

Since these guys are still legit unlike the Templars, they actually hoovered up a lot of their loot after they got the chop as well as some of their people, I figure things like the Alliance for Allah invasion would have been a real boon for these guys - fighting for Mother Church against the invading infidels. Rather than having to rely on mercenaries like they did at the beginning, wonder if the Church would like their own military wing/order?

There's already a question over their status of whether they're a sovreign entity or not. If the Alliance decided to take time out to occupy Malta or more likely Rhodes I could see them staking a claim to the place by counter-invading and kicking them out. And if they did go back to Rhodes it'd be handy for the Templars who want to expand back into and retake the Middle East and the Balkans. The question becomes how much they know about each other and what if any co-opertion there might be.

[Pedant]

The Knights Templar seem to crop up everywhere...
Not sure i like how they were done in Shadowrun, i just don't see the relationship between an independant knightly order who basically represented the world's first international bank, and the order who seem to represent a magical covert ops team for the pope.
Also as the first lot all got executed for heresy (however unlikely they were to have done it), i can't see the catholic church refounding the order.
What about the Teutonic Knights? i could see them as either being an elite unit reporting to Lofwyr, or a group of wannabe dragonslayers trying to kill him!

[toturi]

Emmm, you know that St John's Ambulance comes from the Knight Hospitaliers? Maybe you could cast them as a sinister church counterpart to Universal Brotherhood. But seriously that would be difficult, caring for the sick takes massive amounts of money.

[FlakJacket]

Well that can be a facet as well, just stick them in charge of the hospitals and such like in the Papal States alongside the Carmelites. With all the cash the church has maybe even have them also doing a little medical research, ethical investment/research and all that.

Whilst they did start out as a mainly as a charitable order, by the mid-12th century they'd effectively split into two halves with one side still helping the sick but the other being a military affair. By the time they came to Rhodes or even Malta the military side had pretty much come to the fore.

I kind of saw them as an expanded Swiss Guard since the 2060's are a lot more dangerous and mercenaries just doesn't really go with the image the church tries to project. I figure the Swiss would become something akin to the Secret Service with the expanded Papal States.

Edit: Or are we all talking cross purposes over the Templars, Hospitallers and others? :)