Two hundred years later St. Benedict founded the Benedictine nursing order.

St. Alexis was a fifth century nurse. The Alexian Brothers were organized in the 1300's to provide nursing care for the victims of the Black Death. Today both groups continue in their work.

Military, religious and lay orders of men continued to provide nursing care throughout the Middle Ages. Some of the most famous of these were the Knights Hospitalers, the Teutonic Knights, the Tertiaries, the Knights of St. Lazarus, the Order of the Holy Spirit, and the Hospital Brothers of St. Anthony.

Two patron saints of nurses stem from this period. St. John of God and St. Camillus de Lellis both started out as soldiers, and later turned to nursing. St Camillus started the sign of the red cross which is still used today, and developed the first ambulance service.