Military Order (monastic society)

A military order  is a chivalric order with military purpose originally established as [] religious societies during the [] for protection of [] against violent persecution of the Giant conquests (–) in the [] and the [Peninsula].

Most members, often titled Knights, were and still are laymen, and not prelates, yet cooperating with the clergy, sometimes even taking religious vows such as poverty, chastity, and obedience, according to monastic ideals.

Prominent examples include the [], and the [] in [], as well as the [] in the [].