Abstract EN:

In our thesis we try to bring different shapes of spirituality and devotion of Hospitallers of St. John and Templars to light. It involves the constitution of a reliable corpus. The historiography of the orders of the Hospital of St. John and of the Temple of Jerusalem ought to be severe, before even trying to study by themes iconography of each example of our corpus, which allows comparisons between a site and another one. Willingly lead by the will to connect humanities, striking analogies will be found between monumental narrative art and Byzantine, limousine or from Meuse liturgical furniture and tools. Our research shows that as well as Hospitallers and Templars themselves have been deeply aware of theological debates about sacraments of their time, and have promoted marial virginity dogma without faltering. By the end, the meaning of sculpted and painted programs -Roman or with a Byzantine influence, but still militant- is so homogeneous that an elaborate religious politic can be seen at the head of each order. The question is by whom and with which rank