The Crosiers or Brethren of the Cross or crutched friars is a general name for several loosely related Catholic orders, mostly canons regular. Their names derive from their devotion to the Holy Cross. They were founded in the 12th and 13th centuries, during the era of the crusades in the Holy Land. These orders tended to maintain hospitals and care for the sick. Currently, the term "crosiers" most frequently refers to the Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross originating from Belgium, but it could also refer to at least five other orders from Jerusalem, Portugal, Italy, Bohemia, Poland–Lithuania, and a group of friars in England and Ireland. Related orders The Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem were sometimes referred to as crosiers with the double red cross. The order was founded in 1114 to care for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built where Jesus was crucified. The male order was suppressed by Pope Innocent VIII in 1489 though the female order continues to exist. The Portuguese Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra (Ordo Canonicorum Regularium Sanctae Crucis, ORC) was founded by Saint Theotonius in Coimbra in 1132. The order was closed during the brief reign of Pedro IV in 1834, but restored in 1979. The order's mother house is the Monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra. It maintains presence in Europe (Germany, Austria, Holland, Italy, Portugal and Switzerland), in the Americas (Brazil, United States and Mexico), and in Asia (Philippines and India). The Italian Order of the Crociferi (Ordo Cruciferorum; Fratres Cruciferi) was established between 1160 and 1170 by Pope Alexander III. It became popular in Italy and had 208 monasteries divided into five provinces. They wore a blue habit and carried a silver cross. The order was abolished by Pope Alexander VII in 1656. The Belgian or Flemish Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross (Ordo Sanctae Crucis, OSC) is traditionally said to be founded by canon Theodore of Celles in Huy in 1210. The order was confirmed by Pope Innocent IV in 1248. Many monasteries were closed during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, but the order was revived. Its superior general is based at San Giorgio in Velabro in Rome. As well as surviving in Belgium and the Netherlands, it today maintains a presence in Germany, Austria, United States, Brazil, the Congo, and Indonesia. The Bohemian