Raymond du Puy



Raymond du Puy (Raimundus Puteanus, 1083–1160) was a French knight and the second superior of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem from c. 1121 until shortly before his death.

He was the son of Hughes Du Puy, a nobleman of the Viennois region of Lower Burgundy in what is now south-eastern France, a general serving under Godfrey of Bouillon who was made  governor of Acre. He was also related to Adhemar of Le Puy, the papal legate during the First Crusade. The surname Du Puy likely refers to Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire).

He 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 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.