Among the orders born during the crusades, the Hospitallers of St John are the only one whose history continues without interruption to the present day. Unlike the Templars, the Hospitallers began as a community devoted to caring for the sick and only later took on military duties. This dual nature, care and defence, stayed with them throughout their history.
The hospital in Jerusalem
Even before the First Crusade, some merchants from Amalfi had founded a hospice for pilgrims in Jerusalem, next to a church dedicated to the Virgin. From this nucleus a hospital dedicated to St John the Baptist developed. In the early twelfth century it was led by a man whom the sources simply call Brother Gerard.
On 15 February 1113 Pope Paschal II issued the bull Pie postulatio voluntatis, placing the hospital and its dependencies under the protection of the Holy See. This is the document that marks the order's legal birth.
From care to defence
Under Gerard's successor, Raymond du Puy, the community received a rule and began to take on military functions, following the Templars' example. The Hospitallers took charge of important fortresses: the most famous is the Krak des Chevaliers in Syria, which they held from 1142.
The order nevertheless always kept its original mission. Its normative texts called the sick "our lords", and the brothers regarded themselves as their servants. The formula captures well the reversal of values at the heart of Hospitaller spirituality.
Cyprus and the conquest of Rhodes
After the fall of Acre in 1291 the Hospitallers moved to Cyprus. Between 1306 and 1310 they conquered the island of Rhodes, which became their seat for more than two centuries. On Rhodes the order turned into a naval power and built a fortified city, with the Grand Master's palace and the Street of the Knights, still visible today.
After the suppression of the Templars in 1312 much of their property in Europe passed to the Hospitallers, considerably strengthening their economic base.
The langues of the order
The knights were organised into "langues", that is national groups, each with its own lodging, called an auberge, and with specific responsibilities in defence. For a long time there were eight langues:
| Langue | Area |
|---|---|
| Provence | Southern France |
| Auvergne | Central France |
| France | Northern France |
| Italy | Italian peninsula |
| Aragon | Crown of Aragon |
| England | England and the isles |
| Germany | The Empire |
| Castile | Castile and Portugal |
The eight-pointed cross, now known as the Maltese cross, is often interpreted as a symbol of the eight beatitudes, a widespread traditional reading.
The siege of 1522 and the move to Malta
In 1522 the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent besieged Rhodes with vastly superior forces. After months of resistance, Grand Master Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam accepted surrender, and the knights left the island early in 1523 with the honours of war.
Years of provisional headquarters followed, until in 1530 Emperor Charles V granted the order the islands of Malta and Gozo, together with the city of Tripoli, in return for a symbolic tribute: one falcon a year.
The Great Siege of 1565
In 1565 a large Ottoman fleet attacked Malta. Grand Master Jean de Valette led the defence for about four months, during which Fort St Elmo fell, while the positions of Birgu and Senglea held out. The arrival of reinforcements from Sicily finally drove the besiegers to withdraw.
After the victory, Valette laid in 1566 the first stone of the new capital, which took its name from him: Valletta. St John's Co-Cathedral, with works by Caravaggio including The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, remains the symbolic heart of that period.
The loss of Malta and survival
In 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte, on his way to Egypt, occupied Malta almost without a fight, and the order lost its territory. After a period of uncertainty, in 1834 its seat was established in Rome, where it remains.
Today the Sovereign Military Order of Malta is a subject of international law that maintains diplomatic relations with many states and is engaged in hospital and humanitarian work. In some Protestant countries there are also orders of St John derived from the old commanderies, such as the English order or the Bailiwick of Brandenburg.
The symbolic meaning
The Hospitallers' history offers an image of knighthood different from the Templar one. Here the ideal is not only combat but service: the knight kneels before the sick. In the traditional reading, this humility is the order's true initiatory test, even more than courage in battle.
In short
- The Hospitallers grew out of a pilgrims' hospital in Jerusalem, recognised by Paschal II in 1113.
- Under Raymond du Puy they took on military duties without abandoning care of the sick.
- From 1310 to 1523 they were based on Rhodes, then from 1530 on Malta by grant of Charles V.
- The Great Siege of 1565 ended with the Ottoman withdrawal and the founding of Valletta.
- After 1798 the order settled in Rome, where it continues its work as the Order of Malta.
