Malta: The Order of St John

The urban, cultural and political profile of the Maltese islands is deeply marked by the presence for 268 years of the Knights of St John. The Order has left its mark decisively in the collective memory of the Maltese. Malta: The Order of St John gives a global picture of this multinational institution in those crucial years when Grand Master L'Isle Adam moved the convent from Rhodes to Malta, when legendary Grand Master Valette withstood the Turkish assault in 1565, when Grand Masters Wignacourt, Cotoner and Carafa turned Malta into a centre of Mediterraean corsairing and Grand Masters Vilhena and Pinto tried to imitate the Central European absolutist princes. It all came to a sudden - but not unexpected - end in 1798 when Grand Master Hompesch handed over Malta to the rising star on the European horizon, Napoleon. The various diplomatic attempts of the knights to regain their island all failed. The book also provides the reader with an overview of the most important monuments connected with the knights on Malta and Gozo.

Table of Contents

Introduction • The occident, the chivalric Orders, and their spiritual roots • The Hospitallers – from a brotherhood to an Order • The Hospitallers become a Chivalric Order • Internal changes and the international background • The ‘aristocratization’ of an institution • The Hospitallers in Rhodes • Hospitallers, Templars, and the rulers of the occident – an uneasy partnership • Rhodes – the new headquarters • New orientations • Under Ottoman pressure • On the road to Malta • The Order and its rule – Power, statutes, and organization • From Rhodes to Malta – Aspects of a continuation • The decision for Malta and its global implications • The Hospitallers in Malta – A difficult beginning • Malta and Sicily – The legal and social background • Sieges and heroes • The corso – Backbone of a society and state • Upheavals and changes • The global picture and the Mediterranean environment • Malta and the impact of the rule of the Hospitallers • Social and demographic changes • New economic perspectives • Behind the scene • New cultural horizons • Creating identities – Religion and politics • The eighteenth century – Last splendour and dark clouds • New horizons and a dangerous road • End of an epoch • New arrangements and a complicated resurrection • Grand Masters of the Order of St John ruling over the Maltese islands • The Order’s structure • SITES • Valletta • The Grand Harbour conurbation • The minor palaces and fortifications