Gerard Thom

Gerard (c. 1040 – September 3, 1120), variously surnamed Tum, Tune, Tenque or Thom, was the founder of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, or the Knights Hospitaller.
He was born possibly at Amalfi, or according to other accounts Martigues in Provence, while one authority even names the Chateau d'Avesnes in Hainaut. Either as a soldier or a merchant, he found his way to Jerusalem, where a hospice had for some time existed for the convenience of those who wished to visit the Christian holy places. Of this institution Gerard became guardian or provost at a date not later than 1100, and here he organized that religious order of St John which received papal recognition from Paschal II in 1113, by the bull Geraudo institutori ac praeposito Hirosolimitani Xenodochii. It was renewed and confirmed by Calixtus II shortly before the death of Gerard in 1120.
==References==
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==External links==
* Blessed Gérard Tonque and his everlasting brotherhood: The Order of St. John
Category:1040s births
Category:1120 deaths
Category:Christians of the Crusades
Category:Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller
Category:Beatified people
Category:Founders of Roman Catholic religious communities
Category:12th-century venerated Christians
ca:Gerard (beat)
de:Gerhard Sasso
es:Gerardo Tum
fr:Gérard Tenque
it:Gerardo Sasso
he:גרארדוס
pl:Gerard Tonque
pt:Gerard Tum
scn:Girardu Sassu
uk:Жерар Блаженний