CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Knights of Malta</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07477a.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="The most important of all the military orders, both for the extent of its area and for its duration"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml"><link rel="icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="robots" content="noodp"><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../utility/screen6.css" media="screen"></head> <body class="cathen" id="07477a.htm">  <br/> <div id="capitalcity"><table summary="Logo" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left"><a href="../"><img height=36 width=153 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></td><td align="right"> <form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0"/> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9"/>  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label> <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel"/>  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label> <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel"/> </form> <table summary="Spacer" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td height="2"></td></tr></table> <table summary="Tabs" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../"> Home </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_white_on_color" href="../cathen/index.html"> Encyclopedia </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../summa/index.html"> Summa </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../fathers/index.html"> Fathers </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../bible/gen001.htm"> Bible </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../library/index.html"> Library </a></td> </tr></table> </td> </tr></table><table summary="Alphabetical index" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"> <a href="../cathen/a.htm"> A </a><a href="../cathen/b.htm"> B </a><a href="../cathen/c.htm"> C </a><a href="../cathen/d.htm"> D </a><a href="../cathen/e.htm"> E </a><a href="../cathen/f.htm"> F </a><a href="../cathen/g.htm"> G </a><a href="../cathen/h.htm"> H </a><a href="../cathen/i.htm"> I </a><a href="../cathen/j.htm"> J </a><a href="../cathen/k.htm"> K </a><a href="../cathen/l.htm"> L </a><a href="../cathen/m.htm"> M </a><a href="../cathen/n.htm"> N </a><a href="../cathen/o.htm"> O </a><a href="../cathen/p.htm"> P </a><a href="../cathen/q.htm"> Q </a><a href="../cathen/r.htm"> R </a><a href="../cathen/s.htm"> S </a><a href="../cathen/t.htm"> T </a><a href="../cathen/u.htm"> U </a><a href="../cathen/v.htm"> V </a><a href="../cathen/w.htm"> W </a><a href="../cathen/x.htm"> X </a><a href="../cathen/y.htm"> Y </a><a href="../cathen/z.htm"> Z </a> </td></tr></table></div> <div id="mobilecity" style="text-align: center; "><a href="../"><img height=24 width=102 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></div>  <div id="mi5"><span class="breadcrumbs"><a href="../">Home</a> > <a href="../cathen">Catholic Encyclopedia</a> > <a href="../cathen/h.htm">H</a> > Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem</span></div> <div id="springfield2"> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-top' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <h1>Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem</h1> <p><em><a href="https://gumroad.com/l/na2"><strong>Please help support the mission of New Advent</strong> and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more  all for only $19.99...</a></em></p> <p><a href="../images/10304dcx.jpg"><img alt="Image" align=right src="../images/10304dca.jpg"></a></p> <p>(Also known as K<font size=-2>NIGHTS OF</font> M<font size=-2>ALTA</font>).</p> <p>The most important of all the <a href="../cathen/10304d.htm">military orders</a>, both for the extent of its area and for its duration. It is said to have existed before the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">Crusades</a> and is not extinct at the present time. During this long career it has not always borne the same name. Known as <a href="../cathen/07476a.htm">Hospitallers</a> of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> until 1309, the members were called Knights of <a href="../cathen/13024b.htm">Rhodes</a> from 1309 till 1522, and have been called Knights of Malta since 1530.</p> <p>The origins of the order have given rise to learned discussions, to fictitious legends and hazardous conjectures. The unquestionable founder was one Gerald or Gerard, whose birthplace and family name it has been vainly sought to ascertain. On the other hand, his title as founder is attested by a contemporary official document, the <a href="../cathen/03052b.htm">Bull</a> of Paschal II, <a href="../cathen/04636c.htm">dated</a> 1113, addressed to "Geraudo institutori ac praeposito Hirosolimitani Xenodochii". This was certainly not the first establishment of the kind at <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>. Even before the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">crusades</a>, hostelries were indispensable to shelter the <a href="../cathen/12085a.htm">pilgrims</a> who flocked to the Holy Places, and in the beginning the <em>hospitia</em> or <em>xenodochia</em> were nothing more. They belonged to different nations; a <a href="../cathen/06238a.htm">Frankish</a> hospice is spoken of in the time of <a href="../cathen/03610c.htm">Charlemagne</a>; the Hungarian hospice is said to date from King St. Stephen (year 1000). But the most famous was an Italian hospice about the year 1050 by the merchants of <a href="../cathen/01379a.htm">Amalfi</a>, who at that time had commercial relations with the Holy Land. Attempts have been made to trace the origin of the <a href="../cathen/07476a.htm">Hospitallers</a> of St. John to this foundation, but it is obvious to remark that the <a href="../cathen/07476a.htm">Hospitallers</a> had <a href="../cathen/08486b.htm">St. John the Baptist</a> for their patron, while the Italian hospice was dedicated to St. John of Alexandria. Moreover, the former adopted the <a href="../cathen/02079b.htm">Rule of St. Augustine</a>, while the latter followed <a href="../cathen/02436a.htm">that of the Benedictines</a>. Like most similar houses at that time, the hospice of <a href="../cathen/01379a.htm">Amalfi</a> was in fact merely a dependency of a <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a>, while Gerard's was autonomous from the beginning. Before the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">Crusades</a>, the <a href="../cathen/08208a.htm">Italian</a> <a href="../cathen/07480a.htm">hospital</a> languished, sustained solely by <a href="../cathen/01328f.htm">alms</a> gathered in <a href="../cathen/08208a.htm">Italy</a>; but Gerard profited by the presence of the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">crusaders</a>, and by the gratitude felt for his hospitality, to acquire territory and revenues not only in the new <a href="../cathen/08361a.htm">Kingdom of Jerusalem</a>, but in <a href="../cathen/05607b.htm">Europe</a>  in <a href="../cathen/13772a.htm">Sicily</a>, <a href="../cathen/08208a.htm">Italy</a>, and Provence. In the acts of donation which remain to us, there is no mention of the sick, but only of the poor and strangers. In this respect the hospice of Gerard did not differ from others, and his epitaph defines his work:</p> <blockquote><p>Pauperibus servus, pius hospitibus . . . . <br>Undique collegit pasceret unde sous.</p></blockquote> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>Thanks to the resources accumulated by Gerard, his successor, Raymond of Provence (1120-60), caused the erection of more spacious buildings near the church of the Holy Sepulchre, and henceforth the hospice became an infirmary served by a community of hospitallers in the modern sense of the word.</p> <p>Strictly speaking, therefore, the <a href="../cathen/07476a.htm">Hospitallers</a> of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> only began with Raymond of Provence, to whom they owe their rule. This rule deals only with their conduct as religious and infirmarians, there being no mention of <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a>. It especially sets forth that the <a href="../cathen/07480a.htm">hospital</a> shall permanently maintain at its expense five physicians and three surgeons. The brothers were to fulfil the <a href="../cathen/05215a.htm">duties</a> of infirmarians. A pilgrim, about the year 1150, places the number of sick <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">persons</a> cared for at 2000, a figure evidently exaggerated, unless we make it include all the <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">persons</a> harboured in a whole year. Raymond continued to receive donations, and this permitted him to complete his foundation by a second innovation. To accompany and defend at need, the arriving and departing <a href="../cathen/12085a.htm">pilgrims</a>, he defrayed the cost of an armed escort, which in time became a veritable army, comprising <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a> recruited from among the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">crusaders</a> of <a href="../cathen/05607b.htm">Europe</a>, and serving as a heavy cavalry (see <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">C<font size=-2>HIVALRY</font></a>), and Turcopoles recruited from among the natives of mixed blood, and serving as light cavalry armed in the <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Turkish</a> fashion. With this innovation originated the most ancient military dignities in the order: the marshal, to command the <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a>, the turcopolier, for the Turcopoles. Later the grand masters themselves went into battle. Gosbert (c. 1177), the fifth successor of Raymond, distinguished himself, and Roger de Moulins perished gloriously on the field of battle (1187). Thus the Order of St. John imperceptibly became military without losing its eleemosynary character. The <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">statutes</a> of Roger de Moulins (1187) deal only with the service of the sick; the first mention of military service is in the <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">statutes</a> of the ninth grand master, Alfonso of <a href="../cathen/12297a.htm">Portugal</a> (about 1200). In the latter a marked distinction is made between secular <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a>, externs to the order, who served only for a time, and the professed <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a>, attached to the order by a perpetual <a href="../cathen/15511a.htm">vow</a>, and who alone enjoyed the same spiritual privileges as the other religious. Henceforth the order numbered two distinct classes of members: the military brothers and the brothers infirmarians. The brothers <a href="../cathen/03579b.htm">chaplains</a>, to whom was entrusted the divine service, formed a third class.</p> <p>While the Order of St. John became a mixed order, that of the <a href="../cathen/14493a.htm">Templars</a> was purely military from the beginning, and on this point it can claim priority, despite the contrary assertions of the <a href="../cathen/07476a.htm">Hospitallers</a>. The <a href="../cathen/14493a.htm">Templars</a> followed a different monastic rule and wore a different habit  the white habit of the <a href="../cathen/03780c.htm">Cistercians</a>, whose rule they followed, with a red cross, while the <a href="../cathen/07476a.htm">Hospitallers</a> had the black mantle with a white cross. In <a href="../cathen/15546c.htm">war</a> the <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knightly brothers</a> wore above their armour a red surcoat with the white cross. Mutually emulous from the outset, they soon became rivals, and this rivalry had much to do with the rapid decline of the <a href="../cathen/08361a.htm">Kingdom of Jerusalem</a>. In other respects the two orders held the same rank in <a href="../cathen/14250c.htm">Church and State</a>, both being recognized as regular orders and endowed by the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papacy</a> with most extensive privileges, absolute independence of all spiritual and temporal authority save that of <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, exemptions from <a href="../cathen/14741b.htm">tithes</a>, with the <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">right</a> to have their own <a href="../cathen/03574b.htm">chapels</a>, <a href="../cathen/04049b.htm">clergy</a> and cemeteries. Both were charged with the military defense of the Holy Land, and the most redoubtable strongholds of the country, the splendid ruins of which still exist, were occupied by one or the other (Rey, "Monument de l'architecture militaire des Croisés", Paris, 1865). On the battlefield they shared between them the most perilous posts, alternately holding the van and rear guard. The history of the <a href="../cathen/07476a.htm">Hospitallers</a> of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> is involved in that of the Latin Kingdom of the same name, with which the order was associated in prosperity and adversity. When the kingdom was at the height of its glory, the <a href="../cathen/07476a.htm">Hospitallers</a> possessed no fewer than seven strongholds, some situated on the coast, others in the mountains; of these Margat and Krak, in the territory of Tripoli, are the most famous. They enjoyed the revenues of more than one hundred and forty estates (<em>casalia</em>) in the Holy Land. As to their <a href="../cathen/05607b.htm">European</a> possessions, a writer of the thirteenth century credits them with about nineteen thousand manses or manors. It was <a href="../cathen/10733a.htm">necessary</a> to organize a financial administration in order to assure the regular payment of revenues of these widely scattered possessions. This was the task of Hugh of Ravel, seventeenth Grand Master of the Holy Land (c. 1270). The lands attached to a single house were placed under the command of a <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knight</a> of the order, who formerly was called a preceptor, but afterwards took the title of commander. This official was charged with collecting the revenues, one portion of which was devoted to the support of his community, formed of a <a href="../cathen/03579b.htm">chaplain</a> and some brothers; the other portion being destined for the houses of the Holy Land. This latter portion consisted of an annual and invariable impost called "Responsions".</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>Thanks to these resources, drawn from <a href="../cathen/05607b.htm">Europe</a>, the order was able to survive the fall of the <a href="../cathen/08361a.htm">Kingdom of Jerusalem</a>, which involved the loss of all its possessions in <a href="../cathen/01777b.htm">Asia</a>. After the capture of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> by Saladin (1187), the <a href="../cathen/07476a.htm">Hospitallers</a> retained only their possessions in the Principality of Tripoli, and these they lost a century later by the fall of Acre (1291). They were <a href="../cathen/11189a.htm">obliged</a> to seek refuge, under their grand master, Jean de Villiers, in the Kingdom of <a href="../cathen/04589a.htm">Cyprus</a>, where they already had some possessions. King Amaury assigned them as a place of residence the town of Limassol on the coast. Having become islanders, the <a href="../cathen/07476a.htm">Hospitallers</a> were <a href="../cathen/11189a.htm">obliged</a> to modify their manner of <a href="../cathen/15546c.htm">warfare</a>. They equipped fleets to fight the <a href="../cathen/10424a.htm">Muslims</a> on the sea and to protect the <a href="../cathen/12085a.htm">pilgrims</a>, who had not ceased to visit the Holy Places. But it was chiefly the conquest of the island of <a href="../cathen/13024b.htm">Rhodes</a>, under the Grand Master Foulques de Villaret, that brought about a complete transformation of the order.</p> <h2>The Knights of Rhodes (1309-1522)</h2> <p>The Knights of <a href="../cathen/13024b.htm">Rhodes</a>, the successors of the <a href="../cathen/07476a.htm">Hospitallers</a> of St. John, were distinguished from the latter in many ways. In the first place, the grand master of the order was thenceforward a temporal sovereign in that island, which constituted a <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">ecclesiastical</a> principality, under the nominal suzerainty of the Emperors of the East. Secondly, although Villaret's first care was to build a new infirmary, the care of the sick took a secondary place, as the members of the order had scarcely occasion to devote themselves to any save the members of the community. The name <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a> then prevailed over that of hospitallers. This character was accentuated by the fusion of the <a href="../cathen/07476a.htm">Hospitallers</a> with the remaining <a href="../cathen/14493a.htm">Knights Templar</a>, subsequent to the suppression of the latter (1312). This fusion at the same time increased the wealth of the order, to which the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> assigned the <a href="../cathen/12462a.htm">property</a> of the <a href="../cathen/14493a.htm">Templars</a> in every country except <a href="../cathen/03410b.htm">Aragon</a> and <a href="../cathen/12297a.htm">Portugal</a>. In <a href="../cathen/06166a.htm">France</a>, where <a href="../cathen/12004a.htm">Philip the Fair</a> had sequestrated this <a href="../cathen/12462a.htm">property</a>, the order obtained restitution only by paying large indemnities to the king. From this time its organization took its definitive form, the whole body being divided into tongues, <a href="../cathen/12428b.htm">priories</a>, and commanderies. The tongues, or nations, were eight in number, each having its own bailiff; and one of the eight supreme dignities was reserved to each tongue  to Provence, that of the grand commander; to Auvergne, that of marshal; to <a href="../cathen/06166a.htm">France</a>, grand hospitaller; to <a href="../cathen/08208a.htm">Italy</a>, admiral; to <a href="../cathen/03410b.htm">Aragon</a>, standard-bearer; to Castile, grand chancellor; to <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a>, grand bailiff; to <a href="../cathen/05445a.htm">England</a>, turcoplier. (On these dignities see <a href="../cathen/10304d.htm">MILITARY ORDERS</a>.) The grand master might be elected from any of the various tongues; he exercised supreme authority, but under control of the grand chapter and with the aid of several councils. Each tongue was subdivided into <a href="../cathen/12428b.htm">priories</a>, and the head of each <a href="../cathen/12428b.htm">priory</a> had the <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">right</a> to receive new <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a> and to visit the commanderies. The <a href="../cathen/12428b.htm">priories</a> number twenty-four, and the commanderies, which were subdivisions of the <a href="../cathen/12428b.htm">priories</a>, 656. All these posts were held according to seniority, the commanderies after three campaigns, which were known as "caravans".</p> <p>A most important change in the character of the order was the transformation of the <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a> into corsairs. The piracy practiced by the <a href="../cathen/10424a.htm">Muslims</a> was the scourge of the Mediterranean and especially of <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> commerce. The Knights of <a href="../cathen/13024b.htm">Rhodes</a>, on their side, armed cruisers not only to give chase to the pirates, but to make reprisals on the <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Turkish</a> merchantmen. With increasing audacity they made descents on the coast and pillaged the richest ports of the Orient, such as Smyrna (1341) and Alexandria (1365). However, a new <a href="../cathen/10424a.htm">Muslim</a> power arose at this period  the Ottoman <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Turks</a> of <a href="../cathen/07619a.htm">Iconium</a>  and took the offensive against <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christianity</a>. After the fall of <a href="../cathen/04301a.htm">Constantinople</a>, Mahomet II directed his attention to the task of destroying this den of pirates which made Rhodes the terror of the <a href="../cathen/10424a.htm">Muslim</a> world. Henceforth the order, thrown on the defensive, lived perpetually on the alert. Once, under its grand master, Pierre d'Aubusson, it repulsed all the forces of Mahomet II in the siege of 1480. In 1522 Solyman II returned to the attack with a fleet of 400 ships and an army of 140,000 men. The <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a> sustained this great onslaught with their habitual <a href="../cathen/06147a.htm">bravery</a> for a period of six months under their grand master, Villiers de l'Isle Adam, and capitulated only when their supplies were completely exhausted. Their lives were spared, and they were permitted to withdraw. Solyman II, in homage to their heroism, lent them his ships to return to <a href="../cathen/05607b.htm">Europe</a>. They dispersed to their commanderies and begged <a href="../cathen/03625a.htm">Charles V</a> to grant them the island of Malta, which was a dependency of his kingdom of <a href="../cathen/13772a.htm">Sicily</a>, and this sovereignty was granted them in 1530, under the suzerainty of the kings of <a href="../cathen/14169b.htm">Spain</a>.</p> <h2>The Knights of Malta (1530-1798)</h2> <p>The Knights of Malta at once resumed the manner of life they had already practiced for two centuries at <a href="../cathen/13024b.htm">Rhodes</a>. With a fleet which did not number more than seven galleys they resisted the Barbary pirates who infested the western basin of the Mediterranean. They formed a valuable contingent during the great expeditions of <a href="../cathen/03625a.htm">Charles V</a> against <a href="../cathen/15088a.htm">Tunis</a> and Algiers and at the memorable victory of <a href="../cathen/09181b.htm">Lepanto</a>. The Knights of Malta were also permitted to equip galleys at their own expense to give chase to the <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Turkish</a> galleys. These enterprises did not fail to draw upon them fresh attacks from the <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Ottomans</a>. Solyman II, regretting his generosity, gathered a second time all forces of his empire to dislodge the <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> corsairs from their retreat. The siege of <a href="../cathen/09574a.htm">Malta</a>, quite as famous as that of <a href="../cathen/13024b.htm">Rhodes</a>, lasted for four months (1565). The <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Turks</a> has already taken possession of a part of the island, destroying nearly the whole of the old city, slaying half the <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a> and almost 8000 soldiers, when Malta was delivered by an army of relief from <a href="../cathen/14169b.htm">Spain</a>. In retreating the <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Turks</a> are said to have left 30,000 slain. A new city had to be built  the present city of Valette, so named in memory of its valiant grand master who had sustained this siege. Malta, however, was not rid of its most dangerous adversary until the battle of <a href="../cathen/09181b.htm">Lepanto</a> (1571) which dealt the Ottoman fleet a fatal and final blow.</p> <p>From this time the history of Malta is reduced to a series of encounters by sea with the Barbary corsairs which have only local interest. The struggle was carried on chiefly by younger <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a> who were in haste to accomplish their three "caravans" in order to merit some vacant commandery. It was an existence filled with perils of every kind, sudden attacks, adventures, successes and defeats. There was constant risk of life, or of liberty, which could be regained only at the cost of enormous ransoms. But when success came, the undertaking <a href="../cathen/12454c.htm">proved</a> lucrative, not only defraying all costs but also enriching the captain. The best result was the deliverance of hundreds of <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> slaves, chained as rowers on the <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Turkish</a> galleys. In requital the vanquished <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Turks</a> were in turn reduced to slavery and sold to <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> galleys which had need of rowers. In this respect Malta remained a veritable slave-market until well into the eighteenth century. It required a thousand slaves to equip merely the galleys of the order, which were a hell for those unfortunates. It will be readily understood that the habit of living in the midst of these scenes of <a href="../cathen/15446a.htm">violence</a> and brutality exercised a bad influence on the <a href="../cathen/10559a.htm">morals</a> of the <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a> of the order. Discipline became relaxed and the grand mastership became a more and more perilous <a href="../cathen/07462a.htm">honour</a>. Revolts were frequent. In 1581 the grand master, Jean de la Cassière, was made <a href="../cathen/12430a.htm">prisoner</a> by his own <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a>, whose principle grievance was the expulsion of lewd <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">women</a>. The <a href="../cathen/15511a.htm">vow</a> of obedience was little better observed than that of <a href="../cathen/03481a.htm">celibacy</a>. Once in possession of some commandery situated on the Continent, a <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knight</a> would become indeed independent of the grand master's authority and maintain only the most remote relations with the order. As to the <a href="../cathen/15511a.htm">vow</a> of poverty, the <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a> were recruited solely from among the nobility, <a href="../cathen/12454c.htm">proofs</a> of noble descent being more severely scrutinized than religious dispositions, and naturally, the wealth of the order formed the only motive of these vocations. Its decay began, too, with the confiscation of its possessions. One effect of <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestantism</a> was the alienation of a large group of commanderies, to be thenceforward appropriated to the <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestant</a> nobility, as, for instance, the Bailiwick of Sonnenburg in <a href="../cathen/12519c.htm">Prussia</a>. In other <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestant</a> countries the order was simply suppressed. In <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> countries the sovereigns themselves assumed more and more the <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">right</a> to dispose of the commanderies within their <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a>. At last Malta, the very centre of the order, was treacherously surrendered under the grand master, the Count von Hompesch, to <a href="../cathen/10687a.htm">General Bonaparte</a> when he made his expedition to <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a> (12 June, 1798).</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <h2>Present state of the order</h2> <p>The secularization of the <a href="../cathen/12462a.htm">property</a> of the order in <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestant</a> countries was extended by the <a href="../cathen/13009a.htm">French Revolution</a> to the greater number of <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> countries. On the other hand, Czar Paul of <a href="../cathen/13231c.htm">Russia</a> assigned them considerable <a href="../cathen/12462a.htm">property</a> in his domains (1797), and in return was elected grand master, but his election was not recognized by the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>. From that time forward the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> has named the grand master of the bailiff who takes his place. From 1805 to 1879 there was no grand master, but <a href="../cathen/09169a.htm">Leo XIII</a> re-established the dignity, bestowing it on an Austrian, Geschi di Sancta Croce. It is now (1910) held by Galeazzo von Thun Hohenstein. The actual conditions for admission to the order are: nobility of sixteen quarterings, the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/05752c.htm">Faith</a>, attainment of full legal age, integrity of character, and corresponding social position. There are now in existence only four great <a href="../cathen/12428b.htm">priories</a>, one in <a href="../cathen/02612b.htm">Bohemia</a>, and three in <a href="../cathen/08208a.htm">Italy</a>. There are still commanders and several classes of <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a>, with different insignia, but all wear the same eight-pointed Maltese cross (see <a href="../cathen/04667a.htm">PONTIFICAL DECORATIONS</a>).</p> <p>To the Order of the Knights of Malta belong the Convent of S. Maria del Priorato on the Aventine in <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, overlooking the Tiber, and commanding from its gardens one of the most delightful views of the city. The walls of the <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">convent</a> are adorned with portraits of the <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a>, and the archives are rich in records of the order. The <a href="../cathen/14773b.htm">tombs</a> of the <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knights</a> in the <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">convent</a> church are interesting. The order was summoned to attend the Convention of <a href="../cathen/09040a.htm">Geneva</a> (1864), on the same footing as the great powers.</p> <p>The <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestant</a> Baliwick of Sonnenburg in <a href="../cathen/12519c.htm">Prussia</a> disappeared after the secularization of its <a href="../cathen/12462a.htm">property</a> in 1810. Nevertheless Frederick William IV created a new confraternity of "Evangelical Johannittes" (1852), under the master (<em>Herrenmeister</em>) always chosen from the royal family, and with a great number of other dignitaries. Admission to the order is subject to numerous conditions, ancient nobility, corresponding social position, and entrance fee of 900 marks, a probation of at least four years as a <a href="../cathen/03691a.htm">knight</a> of honor before admission of the accolade which confers the title of Knight of Justice. Their first <a href="../cathen/11189a.htm">obligation</a> is to collect contributions for the support of <a href="../cathen/07480a.htm">hospitals</a>. Thus this <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestant</a> branch of the order has returned to the ideal of its first founder in the time of the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm#section1">First Crusade</a>. Moreover, in times of <a href="../cathen/15546c.htm">war</a>, since 1870, the order has been devoted to ambulance service on the field of battle.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <div class="cenotes"><h2>Sources</h2><p class="cenotes">HELDWALD, <em>Bibliographie méthodique de l'Order de St-Jean de Jérusalem</em> (Rome, 1885); PAOLI, <em>Codice diplomatico del S. Ordine di S. Giovanni</em> (Lucca, 1733); BOS<em>IO, Istoria della S. Religione di S. Giovanni Jerosolym</em>, (Rome, 1594-1602), continued by TOZZO (Verona, 1705), also Fr. tr. by BAUDOIN (Paris, 1643); VERTOT, <em>Histoire des chevaliers hospitaliers de St-Jean</em> (Paris 1727); DE SALLES, <em>Annales de l'Ordre de Malte</em> (Vienna, 1889); PAOLI, <em>Dell' origine ed institio dell' Ordine Jerosolym</em> (Rome, 1781); DELAVILLE-LEROUX, <em>Cartulaire général des hospitaliers de Jérusalem (1100-1310)</em> (Paris, 1894-97); IDEM, <em>Les hospitaliers de en terre-sainte et à Chypre (1100-1310) (Paris 1904); PRUTZ, Die Anfnge der Hopsitaliter auf Rhodos</em> (1310-1355) (Munich, 1908); CAOURSIN, <em>Descriptio obsidionis Rhodiæ</em> 1480 (Ulm, 1496); DELABRE, <em>Rhodes of the Knights</em> (Oxford, 1909) PRUTZ, <em>Malteser Urkunden und Regesten</em> (Munich, 1884); DE LA GRAVIÈRE, Les chevaliers de Malte (1537-1566) (Paris, 1887); LANE-POOLE, <em>The Barbary Corsairs</em> (London, 1890).</p></div> <div class="pub"><h2>About this page</h2><p id="apa"><strong>APA citation.</strong> <span id="apaauthor">Moeller, C.</span> <span id="apayear">(1910).</span> <span id="apaarticle">Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem.</span> In <span id="apawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="apapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company.</span> <span id="apaurl">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07477a.htm</span></p><p id="mla"><strong>MLA citation.</strong> <span id="mlaauthor">Moeller, Charles.</span> <span id="mlaarticle">"Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem."</span> <span id="mlawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="mlavolume">Vol. 7.</span> <span id="mlapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company,</span> <span id="mlayear">1910.</span> <span id="mlaurl"><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07477a.htm>.</span></p><p id="transcription"><strong>Transcription.</strong> <span id="transcriber">This article was transcribed for New Advent by the Priory of St. Thomas Becket of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem.</span> <span id="dedication"></span></p><p id="approbation"><strong>Ecclesiastical approbation.</strong> <span id="nihil"><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> June 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.</span> <span id="imprimatur"><em>Imprimatur.</em> +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.</span></p><p id="contactus"><strong>Contact information.</strong> The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster <em>at</em> newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.</p></div> </div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.</strong></center></td></tr></table><p align="center"><a href="../utility/contactus.htm">CONTACT US</a> | <a href="https://cleanmedia.net/p/?psid=491-308-20180429T2217479770">ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT</a></p></div> <ins class="CANBMDDisplayAD" data-bmd-ad-unit="30849120210203T1734389107AB67D35C03D4A318731A4F337F60B3E" style="display:block"></ins> <script src="https://secureaddisplay.com/au/bmd/"></script>  <ins class="CMAdExcludeArticles"></ins> </body> </html>