List_of_Princes_and_Grand_Masters_of_the_Sovereign_Military_Order_of_Malta

List of grand masters of the Knights Hospitaller

List of grand masters of the Knights Hospitaller

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This is a list of grand masters of the Knights Hospitaller, including its continuation as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta after 1798. It also includes unrecognized "anti-grand masters" and lieutenants or stewards during vacancies.

Coat of arms of the Order of Saint John. The personal coat of arms of the Grand Master would be shown alongside the order's coat of arms in 14th to 15th centuries. Beginning in the mid-15th century, the Grand Master would quarter the order's coat of arms with his own.

In lists of the heads of the Order, the title "Grand Master" is often applied retrospectively to the early heads of the Order. The medieval heads of the Order used the title of custos (Guardian) of the hospital. The title magister (Master) is used on coins minted in Rhodes, beginning with Foulques de Villaret. The first to use the title Grandis Magister (Grand Master) was Jean de Lastic (reigned 1437–1454).[1] Later grand masters in Rhodes used Magnus Magister (Grand Master).

In 1607 the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II created the Grand Master a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichsfürst).[2] This grant was renewed by the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II on July 16, 1620.[2][3] On March 20, 1607, Pope Paul V granted the Grand Master the style of His Eminence and precedence at the Court of Rome immediately after the cardinals.[2]

In 1880 the title of Fürst (Prince) was recognised in Austria by the Emperor Franz Joseph I.[4]

On February 2, 1929, the title of Principe (Prince) and the style of Altezza Eminentissima (Most Eminent Highness) were recognised in Italy by King Victor Emmanuel III.[5]

The style currently used by the Grand Master is:

English: Most Eminent Highness,[6]
Italian: Altezza Eminentissima,[7]
French: Altesse Eminentissime,[8]
German: Hoheit und Eminenz,[9]
Spanish: Alteza Eminentísima.[10]

Numbered lists of the heads of the Order were published beginning in the early 17th century, with updated editions appearing throughout the 18th century.[11] The numbering of Masters and Grand Masters published in the 1719 Statutes of the Order lists Blessed Gerard as founder without number, Raymond du Puy as 1st Master, and Ramón Perellós (the incumbent as of 1719) as 63rd Grand Master.[12] The numbering currently used by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta lists Blessed Gerard as 1st Master, Raymond du Puy as 2nd Master, Ramón Perellós y Rocafull as 64th Grand Master, and Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto as 80th Grand Master.[13]

Knights Hospitaller (Kingdom of Jerusalem)

Further information: History of the Knights Hospitaller in the Levant
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Knights of Rhodes

Further information: Hospitaller conquest of Rhodes and Hospitaller Rhodes
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Knights of Malta

Further information: Hospitaller Malta
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Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Quick Facts Prince and Grand Master of Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Incumbent ...
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See also

References

  1. [1]
    Morris (1884), 17–19.
  2. [2]
    Gothaisches Genealogisches Handbuch des Fürstlichen Häuser, Fürstliche Häuser Band 2 (Marburg: Verlag des Deutschen Adelsarchivs, 2018), 175.
  3. [3]
    "Del titolo di 'Altezza' del Gran Maestro dell'Ordine Gerosolimitano", Rivista del Collegio araldico anno I (1903): 271.
  4. [4]
    Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstlicher Häuser Band I (Glücksburg: C. A. Starke, 1951), 178.
  5. [5]
    "Regio Decreto 21 gennaio 1929, n. 61", articolo 51 Gazzetta Ufficiale del Regno d'Italia, Anno 70, Numero 28 (2 febbraio 1929), 526.
  6. [6]
    Constitutional Charter and Code, Title III, Article 12, Sovereign Order of Malta.
  7. [7]
    Carta Costituzionale e Codice, Titolo III, Articolo 12, Sovrano Ordine di Malta.
  8. [8]
    Charte constitutionelle et Code, Titre III, Art. 12, Ordre Souverain de Malte.
  9. [9]
    Verfassung und Codex, Kapitel III, Artikel 12, Souveräner Malteserorden.
  10. [10]
    Carta Constitucional y Código, Títolo III, Art. 12, Soberano Orden de Malta.
  11. [11]
    Bibliography: Friedrich von Hellwald, Bibliographie méthodique de l'Ordre souv de St. Jean de Jérusalem (1885), 137f. Examples: Abcontrafeiung aller Großmeister des ritterlichen Johanniter-Ordens, Frankfurt 1611. Chevillard, Jacques-Louis, Les noms, qualités, armes et blasons de leurs Eminences Messieurs les Grands-Maistres de l'Ordre de Saint Jean de Jérusalem, dits de Malte, depuis leur origine jusqu'à présent, — Paris (1697, updated 1741). François Clément, Chronologie historique des grands-maîtres de l'Ordre de St. Jean de Jérusalem in: L'art de vérifier les dates, Paris (1770). Cronologia de i Gran-Maestri dello Spedale del Santo Sepolcro, ec. detti di Malta, dedicated to the then-ruling Grand Master, Ramon Perellos y Roccaful, printed by Domenico de' Rossi in Rome (1709). An updated version of this work was re-published with English translation in 1962. Cronologia De I Gran Maestri Dello Spedale Della Sacra Religione Militare Di S Gio Gerosolimitano E Dell’Ordine Del Santo Sepolcro Oggi Detti Di Malta. (1099 -1962) — Chronology of the Grand Masters of the Hospital of the Sacred Military Religion of St John of Jerusalem and the Order of the Holy Sepulchre now known as the Order of Malta. (1099-1962), translated by Fra John Edward Critien, photography and design by Daniel Cilia, published in collaboration with Heritage Malta (1962), reprinted in 2005, ISBN 9789993270676. Horquet, Karl, Chronologie der Grossmeister des Hospitalordens während der Kreuzzüge, Berlin (1880) The etched portraits used in the list below fictional (with attributed coats of arms) are from a French Histoire des Chevaliers Hospitaliers published in 1726: Monsignor l'Abbe de Vertot, Histoire des Chevaliers Hospitaliers de S. Jean de Jerusalem - appellez depuis les Chevaliers de Rhodes, et aujourd'hui les Chevaliers de Malthe (1726).
  12. [12]
    Volume che contiene gli statuti della Sacra Religione Gerosolimitana, Orden de Malta, per Antonio Scionico, 1719,1–9 (manual continuation of the chronology to Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc as 69th).
  13. [13]
    "The Grand Masters". orderofmalta.int. Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  14. [14]
    The Order's Great Seal, or leaden bulla, remained in use, with some modifications, from the 12th century until 1798. Until 1278, when Nicholas de Lorgne introduced a separate conventual bulla, there was no distinction between the seal of the Grand Master and that of the order. The general design of the seal featured, on the obverse, the Grand Master kneeling in prayer before the patriarchal cross. This image was usually accompanied with the sacred letters alpha and omega, which referenced the Second Coming of Christ. The central image was surrounded by a legend with the Master's name followed by the official designation CVSTOS. Barbara Packard, Seals of the Grand Masters, Museum of the Order of St John, 14 October 2015.
  15. [15]
    Zammit, Vincent (1992). Il-Gran Mastri - Ġabra ta' Tagħrif dwar l-Istorja ta' Malta fi Żmienhom - It-Tieni Volum 1680-1798. Valletta, Malta: Valletta Publishing & Promotion Co. Ltd. pp. 405–406.
  16. [16]
    Numbering according to the SMOM (website orderofmalta.int as of 2017) implies the recognition of Riccardo Caracciolo as 33rd Grand Master, and of Paul I of Russia as 72nd Grand Master (r. 1798–1801).
  17. [17]
    Constitutional Charter and Code of the SMOM (1997).
  18. [18]
    Pullella, Philip (23 June 2016). "Knights of Malta head resigns after dispute with Vatican". Reuters. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  19. [19]
    Dunlap's election was made possible by the 2022 revisions to the Order's constitution ordered by Pope Francis, which removed the traditional requirement that the Grand Master be able to prove noble ancestry.
  20. [20]
    "The Order of Malta's new Constitution". orderofmalta.int. Sovereign Military Order of Malta. 2022-09-03. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
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