The main Catholic military orders of monastic-knights - with a Knight Templar in the middle. In the medieval period the knights here identified as "Malte" - ie the Knights of Malta, were known as the Hospitallers or Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem.

Blessed Gerard, founder of Order of Malta in 11th Cen. Sr Petra Clare

SCA Hospitaller Surcoat & Cloak

Jean de La Vallette - Grand Master of the Knights of St. John (1495-1568) Portrait by Francois Xavier Dupre

The Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes is a medieval castle in the city of Rhodes, on the island of Rhodes, in Greece.

The Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes is a medieval castle in the city of Rhodes, on the island of Rhodes, in Greece.
The Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes is one of the few examples of Gothic architecture in Greece. It functioned as a palace, headquarters and fortress.
The palace was originally built in the late 7th century as a Byzantine citadel. After the Knights Hospitaller occupied Rhodes in 1309, they converted it into their administrative centre and the palace of their Grand Master. After the island was captured by the Ottoman Empire, the palace was used as a Turkish command centre and fortress. During the Italian rule of Rhodes It became a holiday residence for the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, and later for Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. In 1948, Rhodes and the rest of the Dodecanese were transferred to Greece.

Templar and Hospitaller

Portrait of a Knight of Malta, attributed to Mirabello Cavalori (1535–1572), New York, Met Museum

A Knight of Malta - Phillipe de Champaigne

Paul I of Russia, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller

Paul I of Russia's Crown as Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller

Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc, Grand Master of the Order of St John, 1775-1797

A Templar nun, from page 542 of Ancient and Modern Malta.

Grand Master Jean de La Valette

Juan de Homedes, Grand Master of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta

Portrait of a Knight of Malta, attributed to Mirabello Cavalori (1535–1572), New York, Met Museum

Knight of Malta

Saint Mary's Tower,
Island of Comino in Malta.

Saint Mary's Tower, in Maltese: Torri TA Santa Marija, also known as the Comino Tower, is a large bastioned watchtower built in 1618. It was the fifth of six Wignacourt towers - a series of large coastal watchtowers built in Malta by Alof de Wignacourt the 54th Grand Master of the Order of Malta (ie the Order of Saint John).
The tower was used by the Armed Forces of Malta until 2002, and it is now in the hands of Din l-Art Helwa. It is a prominent landmark and can be clearly seen from both Malta and Gozo.

The Cittadella,
Victoria, island of Gozo, Malta.

The Cittadella (Maltese: Ic-Cittadella), also known as the Citadel, is a small fortified city and citadel. The area has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. The settlement here was developed by the Phoenicians. During the Roman era, it became the acropolis of a city known as Glauconis Civitas. In the Medieval era it was known as the Gran Castello. In the fifteenth century, during the rule of the Crown of Aragon, the city's fortifications were strengthened. Malta later came into the possession of the Knights Hospitaller (1530–1798) after they had been expelled from the Holy Land and then from Rhodes (1310–1523).

Grand Cross of the Order of Malta, SMOM

Mdina,
Western District, Northern Region, Malta.
Mdina is a medieval walled town which served as the island's capital from antiquity until 1530, when the capital was moved to Birgu. When the Order of Saint John (the Knights Hospitaller) arrived in Malta in 1530, Grandmaster Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam promised to uphold the rights of the Maltese people, and was given the keys of Mdina.
Evidence of settlements in Mdina goes back to before 4000 BC. It was possibly first fortified by the Phoenicians around 700 BC, because of its strategic location on one of the highest points on the island and as far from the sea as possible. When Malta had been under the control of the Roman Empire, the Roman Governor built his palace there.

Maltese cross in the courtyard at the Vilhena Palace in Mdina, Malta.

Bodrum Castle,
Bodrum, Turkey.

Bodrum Castle, (Turkish: Bodrum Kalesi) was built from 1402 onwards, by the Knights of St John as the Castle of St. Peter or Petronium.
Confronted with an invasion by the Seljuk Turks, the Knights Hospitaller, whose headquarters were on the island of Rhodes, needed another stronghold on the mainland. Grand Master Philibert de Naillac (1396–1421) identified a suitable site across from the island of Kos, where a castle had already been built for the Order. Its location was the site of a fortification in Doric times (1110 BC) as well as of a small Seljuk castle in the 11th century. The same promontory is also the probable site of the Palace of Mausolos, the famous King of Caria.
The construction of the castle began in 1404. Construction workers were guaranteed a place in heaven by a Papal Decree of 1409. They used stone from the nearby Mausoleum of Mausolos. Fourteen cisterns for collecting rainwater were excavated in the rocks under the castle.
Each langue of the Order had its own tower, each in its own style. Each tongue was headed by a Bailiff and was responsible for the maintenance and defence of a specific portion of the fortress and for manning it with sufficient numbers of knights and soldiers. Seven gates lead to the inner part of the fortress.
For over a century St. Peter's Castle remained the second most important castle of the Order. It served as a refuge for all Christians in Asia Minor. The castle came under attack with the rise of the Ottoman Empire, first after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and again in 1480 by Sultan Mehmed II. In 1482, Prince Cem Sultan, son of Sultan Mehmed II and brother of Sultan Bayezid II, sought refuge in the castle, after a failure in raising a revolt against his brother.
When the Knights decided to refortify the castle in 1494, they again used stones from the Mausoleum. Walls facing the mainland were thickened to withstand the increasing power of cannon. Walls facing the sea were less thick, since the Order had little to fear from a sea attack due to their powerful naval fleet.
In June 1522 the sultan attacked the Order's headquarters in Rhodes from the Bay of Marmaris with 200,000 soldiers. The castle of Rhodes fell in December 1522. The terms of surrender included the handing over of the Knights' fortresses in KOs and St Peter's Castle in Bodrum.
After the surrender, the chapel was converted into a mosque and a minaret was added.

Bernard de Witte, Prior of Malta, 1651

Réunion des Musées Nationaux-Grand Palais - Raymond Dupay

Unknown Chaplain of the Order of St John

Annet de Clermont-Gessant, 59th Grand Master of the Order of St John, 1660.

Pietro Anselmi, Grand Admiral of the Order of St John

Manuel Pinto de Fonesca, Grand Master of the Order of St John, 1741-73

Nicolas Cotoner, 61st Grand Master of the Order of St John, 1663-80

St Ubaldesca. Born in 1136, near Pisa, Ubaldesca entered the Order of St John

Ramon Perellos y Roccaful, Grand Master of the Order of St John, 1697-1720

Francisco Ximenes de Texada, Grand Master of the Order of St John, 1773-75

Chaplain of the Order of St John holding a map of Malta

Ritratto di François Joseph de Robert de Termes, all'età di 41 anni, Philippe de Champaigne, (XVII secolo)

Nicolao Mansi 1720 (prop. priv.) Lucca

Coat_of_arms_of_the_Sovereign_Military_Order_of_Malta_(variant)

Honoré de Quiqueran de Beaulieu

Albrecht von Hohenhollern

Grandmaster and Chaplains of the Knights of the Order of Saint John - Antoine de Favray

Knights Hospitallers

Benedetto XVI riceve l'Ordine di Malta per i 900 anni.jpg

Benedetto XVI riceve l'Ordine di Malta per i 900 anni. First from left is fra Karel Paar (Prince Grand Prior of Bohemia, Emeritus)

Knight of Malta and Chaplain

Monseigneur Paul Alphéran, évêque de Malte et archevêque de Damiette

Mdina

Frà Galeas von Thun und Hohenstein, 75th Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Chevalier De l'Ordre De Malte. Portrait XVIIIème

Emperor Paul I of Russia', , 1799-1800. Borovikovsky, Vladimir Lukich . Found in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Academy, St. Petersburg.

Stemma-Gran-Maestro-Matthew-Festing

Juan de Homedes, Grand Master of the Order of St John of Jerusalem

Frà Andrew Bertie, 78th Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (1988-2008)

the floor of St John's Co Cathedral Valletta Malta

Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc, Grand Master of the Order of St John, 1775-1797.

Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc, Grand Master of the Order of St John, 1775-1797

The Queen in the Robes of St John (Ambulance).

Unknown portrait of a Knight of the Order of Malta, Florentine, 16th centur

Hospitallers meet in chapter after a military victory in the 1480 Siege of Rhodes

Francesco di Cristofano, 1514

Lope de Vega,fue uno de los más importantes poetas y dramaturgos del Siglo de Oro español.(25 de Noviembre)

Portrait of the Grand Prior Giovanni Domenico Mainardi , Antoine de Favray (1758)

Conte GALEAZZO DI THUN ED HOHNSTEIN, GRAN MAESTRO SOVRANO ORDINE DI MALTA - 1905

Florence, Uffizi museum - portrait of Giovanni Carlo de'Medici (4 July 1611 – 22 January 1663)

Bailiff Joaquin Fernandez-Portocarrero , Antoine de Favray (1760)

Ritratto del Gran Priore Giovanni Domenico Mainardi, Antoine de Favray (1758)

Giovanni Battista Orsini, Grand Master of the Order of St John, 1467-1476.

Manuel Pinto de Fonesca_Grand Master of the Order of St John, 1741-73

Fulk de Villaret

Réunion des Musées Nationaux-Grand Palais

Réunion des Musées Nationaux-Grand Palais.

Convento de Cristo

Maltese Cross

Raymond du Puy de Provence -(1083–1160)

Raymond du Puy de Provence (1083–1160)

Saint Mary's Tower

The Cittadella