[6] It was flourishing by 1146 when it started to found cells in other parts of the country to cope with the spread of leprosy brought back by soldiers and pilgrims returning from the crusades.

[6] The largest donor is supposed to have been the Norman landowner Roger de Mowbray who himself took part in the Second Crusade from 1147 to 1148; his lion rampant coat of arms was adopted by the hospital alongside the Order of St Lazarus' normal green cross.

[6] He made a generous donation of two carucates of land (c.240 acres (100 ha)), a house and two mills to the Order in 1150 and his family continued their support for many generations.

[6] Subsequent Kings and Popes granted further privileges such as exemption from royal and papal taxes and the right to sell indulgences for the profit of the Order.

[7] Although the Order's main purpose was to provide protection and hospice for both healthy and leprous pilgrims and knights in the Holy Land, its function in England was primarily a fund-raising one.

Methods of debt recovery employed by the Leicestershire gentry included kidnapping and theft and the Masters of Burton Lazars were not afraid to use such vigilante practices.

[7] Luckily for him he had some powerful friends and in 1372 a compromise agreement was reached whereby Geoffrey de Chaddesden gave up command of the order in return for a pension of forty marks a year for the rest of his life.

[7] The dispute was finally settled in court with the King claiming he had been misled about the ownership of St Giles and recognising Lynton as legal Master of both hospitals.

[7] To avoid further ownership disputes Lynton created the Cartulary of Burton St Lazars to fully document the Order's rights to its lands.

[7] The Fall of Acre in 1291 marked the end of the crusades and pilgrimages to the Holy Land and the role of the Order of St Lazarus changed to one of confraternity as Leprosy slowly died out in England.

[2] In 1913 the Marquis of Granby, later the 9th Duke of Rutland, began excavations and uncovered baking ovens and 100 clay tiles (now kept by the British Museum), some bearing the Coats of Arms of families such as the Ferrers, Astleys and Bassets who were patrons or members of the Hospital.