The powerful and secretive military orders, or religious societies, that were established in the Middle Ages during the Crusades still manage to capture the imagination. Their members, many of them knights trained for combat, were charged with protecting Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land and defending the Crusader states. Some of these societies also had charitable purposes, and cared for the sick and poor. But how exactly did these highly organized military forces operate, and who were the Christian soldiers that led them?
Click through the following gallery and find out more about the mighty and mysterious military orders of old.