A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ORDER

Long before the first of the Christian Crusades in 1096, a group of Amalfi Merchants established a hospice in Jerusalem, on land adjacent to the Benedictine Monastery of St John the Baptist, with the aim of providing respite and care for pilgrims visiting the Holy Land. Later, at the time of the first of the Crusades, this facility, which was staffed by monks from the nearby monastery, provided care, not only for the growing number of Christians making the long, arduous and dangerous pilgrimage, but also for the Crusaders and anyone else who needed their help, regardless of race or religious faith.

The hospice gained a reputation for its exceptionally high standards of hygiene and medical care and, unusually for those times, each patient was provided with their own bed and equipment for personal use, and eating utensils were not shared, which resulted in a much higher than normal survival rate. The Christian monks who worked at the hospice (or hospital as we would refer to it today), looking after and tending to the sick and the injured, became widely known as the “Hospitallers”.

Because of the dangerous situation in the Holy Land at that time the hospital, the monks and the patients needed protection, and a group of Knights volunteered for and accepted that responsibility. Through time, because their role involved very close collaboration with the “Hospitallers”, these Knights became known as the “Knights Hospitaller”

On 15th February 1113, Pope Pascal II issued a Papal Bull officially honouring and recognising the “Knights Hospitaller” as a self-governing Order of Chivalry. History records that as a Christian, chivalric and military order, the original Order of St John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitaller actively continued to help the sick and those in need and evolved to become a major influence in the history of the Holy Land, Rhodes and Malta over the next six tumultuous centuries. 

When the forces of Saladin overran the city of Jerusalem in 1187, the Order was forced to move its headquarters, initially to the coastal city of Acre until 1291 when it moved briefly to Cyprus, and subsequently in 1309 to Rhodes, where it remained until 1522, when the Turkish Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, conquered the island. Although the Knights lost, they were permitted to leave Rhodes safely, which Suleiman allowed because they had fought so bravely and honourably against overwhelming odds. 

In March 1530, out of admiration for the valour shown in defending Rhodes, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, signed an Act of Donation of Malta, giving the island of Malta and several smaller islands over to the Order. The only feudal service demanded in return, was the annual payment of a single falcon to Charles’s Viceroy in Sicily on all Saints Day each year. This annual token payment was the origin of the legend of the Maltese Falcon. 

The Order of St John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitaller thereafter set up its headquarters on Malta and had sovereignty over that island for almost 270 years. During this period the Knightsran a health service for the Maltese people, set up a famous school of anatomy and surgery, and built a hospital that was greatly admired throughout the Western World. Even today, the Order’s past influence and presence is evident in many parts of the island. 

In 1565, during what became known as “The Great Siege of Malta” the Knights of the Order and the Maltese people, although vastly outnumbered by the forces of Suleiman, successfully repelled the invaders, and subsequently the Order continued to govern Malta until 1798, when Napoleon and his forces successfully invaded and occupied the island. Following this defeat, the Knights of the Order were widely dispersed throughout Europe with many taking refuge in St Petersburg under the protection of Tsar Paul I of Russia who, at the request of Pope Pius VI, had earlier taken the Order under his protection. 

In more recent times, on 1 st October 1963, King Peter II of Yugoslavia, a descendant of Tsar Paul I of Russia, and a relative of Queen Elizabeth II, granted the Order a Royal Charter, and in 1964 presented it with the Constitution under which it currently operates. 

The emblem of the Order is the Amalfi Cross, in reference not only to the merchants of Amalfi who set up and funded the original hospice beside the Benedictine Monastery of St John the Baptist in Jerusalem, but more importantly, the four arms of the Amalfi Cross symbolise the four cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance, and the eight points represent the eight Beatitudes as detailed in the teachings of Jesus as recounted in the Bible at Matthew chapter 5: verses 3-10. 

PRO FIDE, PRO UTILITATE HOMINUM

(For Faith, For Service to Humanity)