The Knights of Saint John, or of Malta, were founded by Amalfitan merchants and monks as a hospital/Hostelry about 1000 A.D., to treat pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land, but military necessity soon forced on them a warring as well as a benevolent medical role. They grew into one of two wealthiest and extremely disciplined and powerful brotherhoods of the middle ages and a pillar of defense for the Holy Land in the Crusades.

Master builders, they built the most fortified and inaccessible castles which became the model for European castles for the next two centuries. Chased by the Saracens to Rhodes, they built a fleet which was the scourge of the Turkish navy throughout the Mediterranean. They were deeded Malta by Charles V in 1530 in order to protect the Emperor’s navigation routes: for 200 years they fought Barbary Coast pirates, stealing their treasures and becoming enormously wealthy in the process.

On Malta they built the first modern city of Europe and they repulsed the largest naval force then assembled by the Turks in 1565, in one of the most gruesome battles ever in history.

They attracted some of the best artists and musicians of the period to Malta and in time wealth and comforts softened their temper. Napoleon drove them out in 1798 without firing a single shot. He stole their treasure which in turn, was sank by Nelson at Abukir Bay in Egypt, and, as of today, it is still mysteriously unrecovered.

The Knights seemingly disappeared from sight, reemerging in the 20th century as a powerful Sovereign State supported by the Vatican. In spite of a scandal involving high finance and the Sicilian Mafia, they are dedicated today to international relief operations raising and operating massive budgets. The warriors of yesterday have become monks again, but maybe only for a time. 4366