Raymond du Puy


Raymond du Puy was a knight from Dauphiné in France and the second superior of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem from c. 1121 until shortly before his death.
He was maybe the son of Hugues du Puy, lord of Pereins, Apifer and Rochefort in Dauphiné.
Raymond du Puy developed the Knights Hospitaller into a strong military force. He is also said to have taken over the management of the leprosarium outside Jerusalem that eventually broke off from the Order of St. John to become the Order of Saint Lazarus, becoming its seventh master just before his death.
Raymond du Puy divided the membership of the Order into clerical, military, and serving brothers and established the first significant Hospitaller infirmary near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. He was present at the capture of Ascalon in 1153.