Ninth Crusade

The Ninth Crusade, or referred as The Grand Army of the Reconquista is a complete Catholic army regiment in the employ of the Vatican. They gather under the command of Archbishop Enrico Maxwell in order to partake in purging England of Millennium's forces.

Their robes and hoods they wear resemble traditional Klu Klux Klan outfit, most notable part is the pointy hoods they have. In fact, their robes are called capirotes, a traditional Catholic custom still in use, most notably in Spain.

Their mission was to aid Hellsing and Alucard in destroying Millennium; however, Maxwell, utterly drunk on power and fanaticism, turned on Hellsing and ordered the the Knights to attack and destroy everyone, soldiers and civilians alike, in an effort to kill all protestants in England and force a massive Catholic conversion. During their battle with Millennium however, they manage to cripple the Major's zeppelin severely with their gunships and inflict severe casualtes on the vampire army up to the point only 572 remained.

Despite being armed with weapons meant to be effective against unholy monsters as well as heavy gunship support, they were overrun and destroyed by Alucard's massive army of familiars. Thirty years into the future, their numbers still were low enough for them to seriously force them to wait for centuries before even considering the possibility of a Tenth Crusade.

Factions
There are at least four branches of the Papal Knights that participated in the ninth crusade.
 * The Knights of the Sagely Brethren represent the Knight Order of the Sword of Courland. They consist of 340 members total, all of which attended the battle of London.
 * The Knights of the Order of Calatrava La Nueva consist of 118 members total. All of its members attended the battle of London.
 * The Knights of the Military Order of Santo Stefano di Toscana (St. Stephen of Tuscany) consist of 257 members. They all attended the battle of London.
 * The Knights of the Order of Malta consist of 2457 members. They all attended the battle of London.