Introduction

1. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

2. In the month of March, on the Sunday of Mid-Lent in the year 1181 after the birth of Christ.

3. I, Roger, a humble servant of the poor sick, sat in the Great Chapter (= General Chapter) in the presence of the clergy and laity and the lay brothers who sat around me.

4. For the glory of God, the glorification of the saints, the advancement of spiritual life, and the benefit of the sick, we have enacted these laws, to be observed zealously without any distinction.

5. We command those who are now living and those who are to come after to obey them.

Chapter I

1. Firstly, we command that our churches, wherever we have them, be furnished with beautiful vestments according to the decree of the prior who resides in the house.

2. (He shall determine) whose books, clergy for the service, vestments and altar equipment, chalices, censers and (that) an eternal light in the church and other furnishings are needed.

Chapter II

Secondly, we stipulate that there be four learned and wise doctors in the hospital who have knowledge of urine and of many diseases (= ailments) of the sick, that they advise them and give medicine according to the disease.

Chapter III

Thirdly, we stipulate that the beds of the sick shall be of such length and width that they may rest in them, and each bed shall be equipped with its own sheet that belongs to it.

Chapter IV

Fourthly, we command that every sick person in the hospital has a fur coat to wear, two felt shoes to go to and from their toilet, and a (sheep) woollen cap.

Chapter V

Furthermore, we stipulate that cradles be provided for women who give birth in great poverty, so that they may lie separate from their children, so that the children do not suffer any harm from their mothers.

Chapter VI

Furthermore, we command that the dead in the hospital have a bier, like the brothers, and be covered with a red cloth bearing a white cross.

Chapter VII

1. In the seventh chapter we stipulate that wherever we have a hospital for the sick in Christendom, the nurses shall serve the sick with a pure heart, and their needs shall be fully met, without any complaint or argument, and shall bear everything in such a spirit that they may receive God's reward for it.

2. And if someone should transgress our commandments which we have made for him, then this shall be reported to the superior, and he shall administer the law of the house as it is.

Chapter VIII

1. We also stipulate that the Prior of France shall annually give one hundred sheets to the hospital in Jerusalem to renew the bedclothes of the sick.

2. He is to offset these cloths against his payments to those he gives as alms from his houses.

Chapter IX

The Prior of Saint Giles (S. Gilles) has all the same rights (duties) as the Prior of France, including with regard to the alms sent for God's sake.

Chapter X

The Prior of Lombardy sends two thousand ells of cotton cloth in various colours annually and donates them together with his chapter.

Chapter XI

The Prior of Pisa also sends that many ells of his cloth.

Chapter XII

The Prior of Venetia also had so much.

Chapter XIII

The bailiwicks located around the (Mediterranean) Sea are to provide the following services:

Chapter XIV

The Prior of Antioch is to send two thousand cubits of calico (cotton cloth) here to also enlarge the bedsheets of the sick.

Chapter XV

The prior of Pilgrim's Mountain (near Athlit) is to send two truckloads of sugar so that syrup, elechiaria, and other medicines can be made from it for the sick.

Chapter XVI

The Bailiff of Tiberias is contributing just as much.

Chapter XVII

The Prior of Compostela (Constantinople) gave two hundred felts.

Chapter XVIII

1. Therefore, the brothers should be zealous day and night with a pure heart in the service of the sick, who are our lords.

2. We also determine that the sick on the wards

3. Nine servants should be at the service of the sick, washing their feet, drying them with towels, making their bed, and bringing them food and drink, performing their service humbly.

4. These are the laws that Master Arnul issued in Mergarten.

Master Roger's confirmation of what the house should do.

All the brothers of the House of the Hospital, all who are and all who will come, should know that the good customs of the House in Jerusalem must be the following:

Chapter I

1. First and foremost, the holy house of the hospital should receive sick men and women, and it should have physicians who would bring healing lungs to the sick, prepare syrup for the sick, and take care of everything that is not necessary for the sick.

2. On three days a week, the sick should receive fresh pork or mutton.

3. Those who cannot eat that should receive chicken meat.

Chapter II

1. Two sick people are said to have a sheepskin,

2. which they should wear when they go to the toilet.

3. There should be one pair of boots for every two sick people.

4. Every year, the hospital is supposed to give a thousand thick lambskins to the poor.

Chapter III

1. The hospital should take in and care for all children abandoned by their fathers or mothers.

2. Men and women who wish to marry but have nothing with which to celebrate their wedding should be given two bowls or the portions of two brothers by the hospital house.

Chapter IV

1. And the house of the hospital shall keep a shoemaker brother who has three servants who repair the old shoes that have been given to them for the love of God.

2. And the Elemosynar shall keep two servants who will repair the old clothes in order to give them to the poor.

Chapter V

The Elemosynar is to give each prisoner twelve denarii immediately after they are released from prison.

Chapter VI

Every night, five clerics are to read the Psalter for the benefactors of the house.

Chapter VII

1. And every day, thirty poor people shall eat once a day at the table for God's (reward), and the five clerics may be among these thirty poor people, but the twenty-five shall eat before the convent.

2. And each of the five clerics shall receive two denarii and eat with the convent.

Chapter VIII

Three days a week they are to give alms to all those who come to ask for bread, wine and cooked food.

Chapter IX

1. Every Saturday during Lent, they are to summon thirteen poor people, wash their feet, and give each of them a shirt, new trousers, and new shoes.

2. To three chaplains or three clerics from these thirteen (poor people) they shall give three denarii, and to each of the others two denarii.

Chapter X

1. This is the hospital's own alms, established within the hospital itself, excluding the armed brothers who are to maintain the house honourably, and several other alms, of which it is impossible to list them all individually.

2. And whatever it may be, to see the good men and to bear witness to their glory, Brother Roger, the Master of the Hospital, Prior Bernhard and the entire General Chapter know.