Hattin and Alarcos: A comparative analysis of the institutional response of the military orders to major Crises in the Latin East and the Iberian Peninsula

This article compares the responses of the Hospitallers in the Kingdom of Jerusalem to the disastrous outcome of the Battle of Hattin, and of the Order of Calatrava in the Kingdom of Castile to the Battle of Alarcos. Comparing the impact of devastating battles on these two military orders facilitates the analysis of inter-institutional and extra-institutional factors, such as institutional patterns and relations with the monarchy, which affected the ability of the orders to recover from these crises. The article uses a variety of twelfth- and thirteenth-century primary sources pertaining to the military orders, such as charters and legislative sources, and also letters, papal bulls and narrative sources from the Latin East and the Iberian Peninsula.