Ode a la glorie des chavaliers de l'ordre de saint lazare des Jerusalem

Abstract

The Ode à la Gloire des chevaliers de l'Ordre de Saint-Lazare de Jérusalem written by Jacques de Coras was published in Paris by Sabastien Cramoisy who was the official publishing house of the Order of Notre Dame of Mount Carmel and St. Lazarus of Jerusalem. The Ode was published “avec permission” and was thus officially sanctioned by the King of France Louis XIV [b.1638; d.1715; reign 1643- 1715]. When published in 1673, the Order of Saint Lazarus was riding on the crest of the wave of the King’s favour under the leadership of François Michel le Tellier Marquis de Louvois. Popularly known as the Sun King, Louis XIV was a significant patron of the Order. The poem is written as a prophetic vision delivered by an angel to Saint Lazarus describing the valiant history of knights dedicated to his name. It reviews the history of the defence of the Holy Land during the Crusades, their courage in battle to defend their faith and the French king St. Louis IX, their piety towards the very sick and the lepers, and subsequently their defeat at the hands of the Muslim hordes. It further reviews the subsequent Order’s revival under the glorious and powerful French Kings, and its consolidation and enhancement by the union of the new Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem.