Fraternal organization of Catholic knights founded by Godfrey de Bouillon at the time of the first Crusade and officially recognized in 1113 by Pope Paschal II. In the twelfth century they guarded the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre and the city of Jerusalem against the Muslims.

In 1977 Pope Paul VI approved a new constitution for the Order which describes its purpose: "The Order relives in a modern manner the spirit and ideal of the Crusades, with the arms of faith, of the apostolate, and of Christian charity. To this end the Order (a) fosters in its members the practice of the Christian life; (b) is zealous for the preservation and spread of the faith in Palestine; (c) champions the defense of the rights of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, the cradle of the Order."