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Papal Bull of Pope Paschal II (1113)

PAPAL BULL OF POPE PASCHAL II


PROCLAMATION OF THE VICAR OF CHRIST RECOGNIZING THE HOSPITALLER ORDER OF SAINT JOHN; GRANTING IT PERPETUAL RIGHTS, PRIVILEGES AND INDEPENDENCE; AND, FOR ALL TIME, PLACING IT UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE HOLY SEE. (Translated from the original Latin)

Paschal, bishop, and servant of such as are the servants of God, to his venerable son Gerard, founder and Master of the Hospital at Jerusalem, and to his lawful successors for evermore. The requests of a devout desire ought to meet with a corresponding fulfillment. Inasmuch, as of thy affection thou hast requested, with regard to the Hospital which thou hast founded in the city of Jerusalem, in proximity to the Church of the blessed John the Baptist, that it should be supported by the authority of the apostolic see, and fostered by the patronage of the blessed apostle Peter:

We, therefore, much pleased with the pious earnestness of thy hospitality, do receive the petition with our paternal favour, and do ordain and establish, by the authority of this our present decree, that that house of God, your Hospital, shall now be placed, and shall for ever remain, under the protection of the apostolic see, and under that of the blessed Peter. All things whatsoever, therefore, which by thy persevering care and solicitude have been collected for the benefit of the said Hospital, for the support and maintenance of pilgrims, or for relieving the necessities of the poor, whether in the churches of Jerusalem, or in those of parishes within the limits of other cities; and whatsoever things may have been offered already by the faithful, or for the future may through God's grace be so offered, or collected by other lawful means; and whatsoever things have been, or shall be granted to thee, or to thy successors, or to the brethren who are occupied in the care and support of pilgrims, by the venerable brethren the bishops of the diocese of Jerusalem; we hereby decree shall be retained by you in peace and undiminished.

Moreover, as to the tithes of your revenues, which ye collect everywhere at your own charge, and by your own toil, we do hereby fix and decree, that they shall be retained by your own Hospital, all opposition on the part of the bishops and their clergy notwithstanding. We also decree as valid all donations, which have been made to your Hospital by pious princes, either of their tribute moneys or other imposts.

We ordain furthermore, that at thy death no man shall be appointed in thy place, as chief and master, by any underhand subtlety, or by violence; but him only who shall, by the inspiration of God, have been duly elected by the professed brethren of the Institution. Furthermore, all dignities or possessions which your Hospital at present holds, either on this side of the water, to wit in Asia, or in Europe, as also those which hereafter by God's bounty it may obtain; we confirm them to thee and to thy successors, who shall be devoting themselves with a pious zeal to the cares of hospitality, and through you to the said Hospital in perpetuity. We further decree that it shall be unlawful for any man whatsoever rashly to disturb your Hospital, or to carry off any of its property, or if carried off to retain possession of it, or to diminish ought from its revenues, or to harass it with audacious annoyances. But let all its property remain intact, for the sole use and enjoyment of those for whose maintenance and support it has been granted. As to the Hospital or Poor Houses in the Western provinces, at Burgum of St. Aegidius, Lisan Barum, Hispalum, Tarentum, and Messana, which are distinguished by the title of Hospitals of Jerusalem, we decree that they shall for ever remain, as they are this day, under the subjection and disposal of thyself and thy successors.

If, therefore, at a future time, any person, whether ecclesiastical or secular, knowing this paragraph of our constitution, shall attempt to oppose its provisions, and if, after having received a second or third warning, he shall not make a suitable satisfaction and restitution, let him be deprived of all his dignities and honours, and let him know that he stands exposed to the judgment of God, for the iniquity he has perpetrated; and let him be deprived of the Sacraments of the Body and Blood of Christ, and of the benefits of the redemption of Our Lord, and at the last judgment let him meet with the severest vengeance. But to all who deal justly and rightly with the same, on them be the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that not only here below they receive the rewards of a good action, but also before the Judge of all mankind, they may enjoy the blessing of peace eternal.


I PASCHAL, Bishop of the Catholic Church.
I RICHARD, Bishop of Alboe, have signed.
I CALIXTUS, Bishop of the Catholic Church.
I LANDULPHUS, Bishop of Beneventum, have read and signed.

Given at Beneventum, by the hand of John, Cardinal of the Roman Church, and Librarian, on the 15th day of the calends of March, in the 6th indiction of the incarnation of our Lord, in the year 1113, and in the 13th year of the Pontificate of our Lord Pope Paschal II.

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Papal Bull of Pope Anastasius IV

PAPAL BULL OF POPE ANASTASIUS IV


A PROCLAMATION OF THE VICAR OF CHRIST CONFIRMING AND EXTENDING THE SACRED RIGHTS, UNIQUE GRANTS AND SPECIAL IMMUNITIES BESTOWED, IN PERPETUITY, ON THE HOSPITALLER ORDER OF SAINT JOHN OF JERUSALEM BY THE HOLY ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

Anastasius, Bishop, and servant of such as are servants of God, to his beloved son Raymond, Master of the Hospital in the city of Jerusalem, and to his brethren, both present and to come, professed forever in the religious life, health and the apostolic blessing. The religion of the Christian Faith piously believes and truly confesses that while Jesus Christ, Our Lord, was rich in all things, He became a poor man for our sake. Wherefore He promises those who would imitate Him rewards of timely consolation: "Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." Likewise the Father of orphans and Refuge of the poor exhorting us to be hospitable and generous says in the Gospel: "What you have done for one of my least brethren, you have done for Me." And to prove further the excellence of such goodness, He assures us that He will give a reward even for a cup of cold water. We, therefore, whose express duty it is to provide with paternal care for those near and far, embrace you in your devotion and bestow Our favors according as they are asked. And following the example of Our predecessors of happy memory, Innocent, Celestine, Lucius, Eugene, all Roman Pontiffs, We take under the protection of Saint Peter the Hospital and the home at the Holy City of Jerusalem, and We protect with the privilege of the Holy See all persons and property pertaining to it.

We decree that whatever possessions or goods that have been acquired by the hospital to sustain the needs of pilgrims and the poor in the parishes of the Church at Jerusalem or of other churches, whether they have been acquired by purchase through the watchful care of those in charge, or bestowed by certain individuals, either through a future grant from kings or princes because of the largess of God, or acquired by some other just means; whatever has been lawfully granted to the parish priests by the venerable brethren of the See of Jerusalem, whether for themselves or for your successors, and to the brethren who care for the pilgrims, We command these (possessions) be preserved peacefully and in their entirety.

If any real estate is given to the same venerable House through someone's devotion, you may build houses there, and erect churches and make cemeteries according to the need of those who live there, as long as there do not exist neighboring abbeys that might be disturbed by this. Moreover, when lands which have been given to you are conferred with a legal title, you may have the faculty and the license to found oratories there and to make cemeteries in accordance with the needs of pilgrims and of those brethren only, who dine at your table. We decree, therefore, that the receptors of your brotherhoods (x) or collections without detriment to their masters shall stand under the protection of Saint Peter and of Us, and wherever they shall travel through the world, they shall have peace.

We decree likewise that whoever has been received in your brotherhood, if by chance the church to which he belongs has been prohibited from holding divine services, and he should happen to die, he shall not be denied a church burial, unless he has been excommunicated or under interdict by name.

Besides, if any of your brothers who have been sent by you to receive these same brotherhoods and collections shall arrive at any city, town, or village, if by chance that place is under interdict from divine services, out of reverence for Almighty God the church shall be opened once in the year at their joyful coming, and when the excommunicated have been turned out, divine services shall there be celebrated.

And since all of your goods are to be expended for the sustenance of the pilgrims and the poor, and they are not to be given to any other use, We decree that no cleric or layman may in any way presume to exact tithes from you for the gain you reap from your labors. We decree that no bishop will be permitted to pronounce a sentence of interdiction, suspension, or excommunication upon the churches under your care. Nevertheless, if a general interdict has been pronounced upon these places, divine services may be celebrated simply, as long as the excommunicated are turned out along with those under interdict by name, the doors are closed, and no bells are rung.

Moreover, so that nothing will be lacking to you for the fullness of salvation and the care of your souls, and that the sacraments of the church and divine services may be conveniently arranged for you and for Christ's poor, We decree that you may take to yourselves clerics and priests no matter whence their origin as long as you have proof of their integrity and their ordination, to the best of your knowledge through letters and consistent testimony of witnesses; and you may keep them with you either at your principal establishment or in those subject to you; provided that they are not under obligation to some locality or diocese, and that they are not considered harmful to the profession and the Order.

And if the bishops by chance are unwilling to yield these men to you, you nevertheless will have the right to take them in and retain them through the authority of the Holy Roman Church. These same clerics shall be subject to no person outside your chapter with the exception of the Roman Pontiff.

We in no way impart the power to you of taking free laymen into your community for service with the poor without objection from someone.

We refuse permission to return to the world to your brethren who once in, and having been received into your community, have made their profession and taken the religious habit. Nor would it be right for anyone of them after making his profession and assuming the cross of the Lord and taking the habit of your Order, to cast it off.

Nor should anyone move to another place, whether it be a major or a minor monastery, without consulting the brethren or the master of the place, and if the brethren should be unwilling, he should not move there even though a license has been obtained. And no license shall be given to any ecclesiastic or secular authority to take them in or keep them.

Consecrations of altars or basilicas, ordinations of clerics who have been promoted to Holy Orders, and other church sacraments are in the hands of the bishop of the diocese; if indeed he is a Catholic and has favor and communion with the Apostolic See, he shall freely and willingly give you these services with no irregularity towards you; otherwise you are permitted to approach a Catholic bishop of your choice who is indisputably supported by Our authority to grant the requests you make.

And at your death, since you are the provider and prefect of the place, no one will be put in charge through deception, craft, or violence, but only he whom the brethren elect according to the will of God.

Furthermore, the legacies or possessions here or beyond the sea, in Asia or Europe, which the hospital now rightly possesses or will be able to obtain through reasonable means, we confirm for you in behalf of your efforts in the hospital work, and through you for the said hospital. Let no one have the rashness to disturb the aforementioned hospital, or take away its possessions, or retain anything that has been stolen from it, to weaken it, or to harass it with any violence; but let everything be preserved whole and entire, which has been given for direction and sustenance and shall be provided for in the future for any purpose with due respect to the authority of the Apostolic See and the canonical justice of the bishop of the diocese.

And if in the future any ecclesiastic or secular person knowing this Our constitution attempts the rashness of going against it after the third warning unless he has made sufficient amends for the defection, he shall be relieved of the dignity of his power and office, and he shall learn that he is liable to divine justice for perpetrating the offense, and he shall be deprived of the most sacred Body and Blood of Our Lord and Our God and Redeemer Jesus Christ, and at the last judgment he shall be subject to the severest vengeance. But to all who preserve the rights of this place may the peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ come in so far as they here are receiving the fruit of their good actions, and when they meet the strict Judge may the reward of eternal peace be theirs. Amen, amen, amen.

Given at the Lateran through the hand of Roland, cardinal priest of the Holy Roman Church and chancellor, on the 21st day of October, in the third indiction, the year of the Incarnation of Our Lord 1154, during the second year of the pontificate of Pope Anastasius IV.

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Rule of the Order (1120-60)

THE RULE OF THE ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM

by BLESSED RAYMOND DU PUY (A.D. 1120-60 )

 

In the name of God, I Raymond Servant of Christ's poor and Warden of the Hospital of Jerusalem, with the counsel of all the Chapter, both clerical and lay brethren, have established these commandments in the House of the Hospital of Jerusalem.

1. HOW THE BRETHREN SHOULD MAKE THEIR PROFESSION.-

Firstly, I ordain that all the brethren, engaging in the service of the poor, should keep the three thing with the aid of God which they have promised to God, that is to say, chastity and obedience, which means whatever thing is commanded them by their masters, and to live without property of their own: because God will require these three things of them at the Last Judgement.

2. WHAT THE BRETHREN SHOULD CLAIM AS THEIR DUE.-

And let them not claim more as their due than bread and water and raiment, which things are promised to them. And their clothing should be humble, because Our Lord's poor, whose servants we confess ourselves to be, go naked. And it is a thing wrong and improper for the servant that he should be proud, and his Lord should be humble.

3. CONCERNING THE CONDUCT OF THE BRETHREN AND THE SERVICE OF THE CHURCHES AND THE RECEPTION OF THE SICK.-

Moreover this is decree that their conduct should be decorous in church, and that their conversation should be appropriate, that is to say, that the clerics, deacons and sub-deacons, should serve the priest at the alter in white raiment, and if the thing shall be necessary another cleric should render the service, and there should be a light every day in the church, both by day and by night, and the priest should go in white raiment to visit the sick, bearing reverently the Body of Our Lord, and the deacon and the sub-deacon, or at least an acolyte should go before, bearing a lantern with a candle burning, and the sponge with the holy water.

4. HOW THE BRETHREN SHOULD GO ABROAD AND BEHAVE.-

Moreover, when the brethren shall go to the cities and castles, let them not go alone but two or three together, and they shall not go there with those whom they would, but with those whom their Master shall order, and when they shall become there where they would go, let them remain together as united in their conduct as in their dress. And let nothing be done in their movements which might offend the eyes of anyone, but only that which reveals their holiness. Moreover, when they shall be in a church or in a house or in any other place where there are women, let them keep guard over their modesty, and let no women wash their heads or their feet, or make their beds. May Our Lord, who dwells among his saints, keep guard over them in this matter.

5. BY WHOM AND HOW ALMS SHOULD BE SOUGHT.-

Also let religious persons, both clerical and lay brethren, go forth to seek alms for the holy poor; also when they shall seek for a lodging (hostel), let them go to the church or to some suitable person and let them ask of him their food for charty sake, and let them buy nothing else. But if they should not find anyone who will give them the necessaries, let them buy by measure one meal only, on which they shall live.

6. CONCERNING THE ALMS OBTAINED AND CONCERNING THE PRODUCE OF THE HOUSES.-

Also let them take neither land nor security from the alms collected, but let them deliver them up to the Master with an account in writing, and let the Master deliver them up with his own account in writing to the poor in the hospital; and let the Master receive from all the Obediences the third part of the bread and wine and of all food, and that which shall be surplus should be added to the alms, and let him hand it over in Jerusalem to the poor with his own account in writing.

7. WHO AND IN WHAT MANNER THEY SHOULD GO ABROAD TO PREACH.-

And let not any of the brethren, of whatever Obedience they may be, go to preach or to make collections, except only those whom the Chapter and the Master of the Church shall send. And let those same brethren, who shall go to make collections, be received in whatever Obedience they shall come, and let them receive such food as the brethren have ordained among themselves, and let them demand no other thing. Also let them carry with them a light, and in whatever house they shall be lodged (herbergié), let them cause the light to burn before them.

8. CONCERNING THE CLOTHING AND FOOD OF THE BRETHREN. -

Furthermore also we forbid the brethren to wear at any time brightly coloured cloth (dras ysambruns ne galembruns) or furs of animals (pennes sauvages) or fustian. Also let them not eat more than twice in the day, and le eat no meat on Wednesdays or Saturdays, or from Septuagesima until Easter, except those who are sick or feeble; and let them never lie down naked, but clothed in shirts or linen or wool, or in other similar garments.

9. CONCERNING BRETHREN GUILTY OF FORNICATION.-

But if any of the brethren, and may such a thing never happen, through sinful passion shall fall into fornication, if he shall sin in secret, let him do his penance in secret, and let him impose upon himself suitable penance; and if it shall be well known and proved absolutely for certain, then in that town in which he shall have committed the sin, on the Sunday after Mass, when the people shall have left the church, let him be severely beaten and flogged with hard rods (verges) or leather thongs (corroies) in the sight of all by his Master or by other brethren commanded by the Master, and let him be expelled out of all our company: and after wards if Our Lord shall enlighten the heart of that man, and he shall return to the House of the Poor, and shall confess himself to be guilty and a sinner and the transgressor against the law of God, and shall promise amendment, he should be received and for a whole year should be treated as a stranger, and the brethren should observe during this period of time whether he be satisfactory, and afterwards let them do as shall seem good to them

10. CONCERNING BRETHREN QUARRELLING AND STRIKING ONE ANOTHER.-

Also if any brother dispute with another brother, and the Procurator of the House shall have heard the complaint, the penance should be as follows: he shall fast for seven days, the Wednesday and the Friday on bread and water, and he shall eat seated on the ground without table and without napkin (toaille). And if the bro shall strike another brother he shall fast for forty days. And if he shall depart from the House, or the Master under whose authority he shall be, wilfully and without the leave of his Master, and afterwards he shall return, he shall eat for forty days seated on the ground, and shall fast on Wednesdays and Fridays on bread and water; and for as long a time as he has been absent, let him be treated as a stranger, unless by chance the time should have been so long that the Chapter should think proper to modify it.

11. CONCERNING THE SILENCE OF THE BRETHREN.-

Also at table, as the Apostle says, let each one eat his bread in silence, and let him not drink after Compline. Also let the brethren keep silence in their beds.

12. CONCERNING BRETHREN MISBEHAVING.-

And if any brother shall not conduct himself well, and shall be admonished and corrected by his Master or by other brethren twice or three times, and if, at the instigation of the Devil, he will not amend his ways not obey, he should be sent to us on foot with a written report of his sin; and always a small allowance (procuration) should be given to him sufficient to enable him to come to us, and we will correct him; and also no brother should strike the sergeants subject to him for any fault or sin they may commit, but let the Master of the House and the brethren exact vengeance in the presence of all; but always let the sentence (justice) of the House be maintained completely.

13. CONCERNING BRETHREN FOUND WITH PRIVATE PROPERTY.-

And if any of the brethren have made a disposition of private property at his death, he shall have concealed it from his Master, and afterwards it shall be found upon him, let that money be tied round his neck, and let him be led naked through the Hospital of Jerusalem, or through the other houses where he dwells, and let him be beaten severely by another brother and do penance for forty days, and he shall fast on Wednesdays and Fridays on bread and water.

14. WHAT OFFICE SHOULD BE CELEBRATED FOR THE DECEASED BRETHREN.-

Moreover we command that this statue should be made, which is most necessary for us all, and we ordain it in commanding that for all the brethren who die in your Obedience thirty Masses should be chanted for the soul of each; and at the first Mass each of the brethren, who shall be present, shall offer one candle with one Denier. Which Deniers, as many as there shall be, should be given to the poor for God's sake; and the priest who shall chant the Masses, if he be not of the House, should have provision in the Obedience on those days; and on completion of the office, the Master should render charity to the said priest, and let all the garments of the deceased brother be given to the poor; also let the brother priests, who shall sing the Masses, pray for his soul to Our Lord Jesus Christ, and let each of the clerics chant the Psalter, and each of the lay brothers 150 pater-nosters. And also concerning all other sins and matters and complaints let them judge and decide in Chapter with righteous judgement.

15. HOW THE THINGS HERE DETAILED ARE TO BE FIRMLY MAINTAINED.-

All these things, just as we have detailed them above, we command and ordain in the Name of Almighty God, and of the Blessed Mary, and of the Blessed St. John, and of the poor, that these same things should be kept with the utst strictness.

16. HOW OUR LORDS THE SICK SHOULD BE RECEIVED AND SERVED.-

And in that Obedience in which the Master and the Chapter of the Hospital shall permit, when the sick man shall come there, let him be received thus, let him partake of the Holy Sacrament, first having confessed his sins to the priest, and afterwards let him be carried to bed, and there as if he were a Lord, each day before the brethren to eat, let him be refreshed with food charitably according to the ability of the House; also on every Sunday let the Epistle and the Gospel be chanted in that House, and let the House be sprinkled with holy water at the procession. Also if any of the brethren, who hold Obedience in different lands, coming to any secular person offering allegiance and giving him the money of the poor, in order that those persons should cause the said brethren to prevail by force against the Master, let such brethren be cast out of all the company.

17. IN WHAT MANNER BRETHREN MAY CORRECT BRETHREN.-

Also if two or more brethren shall be together, and one of them shall conduct himself outrageously be evil living, the other of the brethren should not denounce him to the people nor to the Prior, but first let him chastise him by himself, and if he would no be chastised, let him join with himself two or three brethren to chastise him. And if he should amend his ways, they should rejoice at it; but if he be not willing to amend his ways, then let him write down the guilt of the brother, and let him send it to the Master privately, and according at the Master and the Chapter shall order let it be done concerning him.

18. HOW ONE BROTHER SHOULD ACCUSE ANOTHER BROTHER.-

Let no brother accuse another brother unless he be well able to prove it; and if he shall accuse him and be unable to prove it, he is no true brother.

19. THAT THE BRETHREN BEAR ON THEIR BREASTS THE SIGN OF THE CROSS.-

Also let all the brethren of all the Obediences, who now and henceforward shall offer themselves to God and to the Holy Hospital of Jerusalem bear on their breasts the cross, on their cassocks (chapes) and on their mantles, to the honour of God and the Holy Cross that God by that banner (gonfanon), and through faith and works and obedience, may guard and defend us in soul and in body, with all our Christian benefactors from the power of the Devil in this world and the next. Amen.

Statutes of Fra. Jobert (1176)

Statutes of Fra. Jobert 1176

 

A. THE CHAPTER GENERAL OF 1176

THE PRIVILEGE OF THE SICK TO HAVE WHITE BREAD. -

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

  • Let all men know of those who are, and those in the future shall be sons of Holy Mother Church, that I Jobert, Master of the Hospital of Jerusalem, with the good will and unanimous consent of all our brethren assembled in our Common Chapter, before the presence and witness of the passion and resurrection of Our Lord, have given and granted in permanent possession to our blessed lords, that is to say to the poor of the Xenodocheum of the Hospital of Jerusalem, and to Brother Steven the Hospitaller at the present time, and to their successors who shall come after them perpetually for all time, two casales, that is to say the casales of St. Mary and Caphaer, with all their possessions and appurtenances within and without, for the provision of white bread which should be given to them forever; and if by chance it should happen that the corn should fail in the casales or be insufficient to provide for the needs of the poor, enough should be taken from the Treasury to purchase white bread and to provide sufficient for the poor; and if should happen that the wheat from the casales should be mixed with evil herbs, good wheat should be taken measure for measure from the granary of the Hospital, and so sufficient should be provided for our lords the poor. And in order that this gift may be established and unaltered forever, we have caused this charter to be sealed with our seal; and if anyone from henceforward would go to contrary to this Holy Commandment, or would distort it, may he be damned with Judas the traitor in everlasting damnation, with Cain and Dathan and Abiron, whom the earth swallowed up, may he be cursed with the curse. Amen.

  • Each loaf should be the weight of two marks, and should be given to two poor persons.

  • This decree was made in the year of the Incarnation of Our Lord 1176.

Statutes of Fra. Jobert (1177)

Statutes of Fra. Jobert 1177

 

B. THE CHAPTER - GENERAL OF 1177

THE CUSTOMS OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOSPITAL OF JERUSALEM

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

These are the customs which should be observed in the House of the Hospital of Jerusalem.

  1. The first morning Mass should not be begun before it is day, nor should the Commander of any house order the priest to chant mass. And no priest should chant mass twice in a day, unless by chance the body of the dead person be there, and then in this manner, first should be chanted the mass for the day, if it be a Sunday or a day of Festival, and afterwards should be chanted that for the dead, if a body be present there. And everywhere where a deceased (brother) of the hospital shall be buried, the day of his death should be written in the calendar. And for thirty days masses should be chanted for his soul. And when the Trental shall be completed, the day the anniversary should always be celebrated for his soul, and when the church where the Trental shall be celebrated has three priests, one should celebrate the Trental, and the other two chant the masses for the day. And if two priests only be there where the Trental should be celebrated, the service should be shared between them, and the gratuity. And when there shall be there no more than one priest, they shall obtain another a stranger to celebrate the service of the Trental.

  2. And when it shall be celebrated, one besant and a new shirt and breeches, according to the custom of the House, should be given to him. And if it be impossible to find a stranger priest. and the priest of the house be without the company of another priest, the Trental should be celebrated in this manner, that is to say that every day he should chant for the dead except on Sundays and days of solemn festival; and then afterwards he should make the commemoration and remembrance for the brother that is departed. But when the thirty days shall be passed, and after the number of days on which commemoration should be made only for the soul of the brother shall be fulfilled by the Trental, and there should be given to the priest the charity aforesaid. And if by chance these things should happen in Lent in the houses where there shall be no more than one priest, let it be postponed until after Easter, and then let celebration be made for the soul of the brother without delay.

  3. And let the brethren always take care to have a light in the church, and let the chalice for administration be of silver, and the censor of silver.

  4. And it is commanded that the bodies of pilgrims or of other Christians, who shall die after the Hour of Vespers, should be left until the next day; and in the Hospital, where they shall have died, let them not lie upon their biers without a light. And the next day before Prime they should be carried to the church, and after Mass should be buried; the biers of the dead should be like those that are in Jerusalem.

  5. The bodies of the brethren should be watched in the church, and the clerics should be around them chanting their psalms, and the tapers should be lighted. Of the charity that is given to the priests for the Trental the house should retain nothing; but for the Trentals of strangers the brethren should retain the half.

  6. For the public and private masses the priests should have nothing for themselves, except so much as the brethren should wish to give them of their own free will.

  7. Of the payments from confessions the sixth part should be given to the priests and the clerics, not by contract but of grace; but in casales where there shall be no burgesses, and no one except one priest, the arrangements aforesaid shall be at the discretion of the Commander of the house, and the gratuity of the clerics he shall give as shall seem good to him.

  8. Of the wills and legacies, which shall be made to vicars up to one besant, the half should be given to them; but the legacies and wills, which shall be left to the Hospital , when they shall be paid over, the brethren should receive them without deduction.

Statutes of Fra. Roger de Moulins (1181)

Statutes of Fra. Roger de Moulins 1181

 

STATUTES OF FR. ROGER DE MOULINS 1177-87

The Chapter-General of 1181

THAT THE CHURCHES SHOULD BE REGULATED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PRIOR.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. In the year of the incarnation of Our Lord 1181 in the month of March, on the Sunday on which they chant 'Laetare Jerusalem' (i.e. March 22nd), I Roger, servant of Christ's poor, in the presence of the clerical and lay brethren seated around the Chapter-General, to the honour of God and the glory of our Religion, and the support and benefit of the sick poor.

  1. It is commanded that the statutes of the church aforesaid and the benefits for the poor afterwards written should be kept and observed forever, without going contrary to them in any respect. Concerning the churches it is commanded that they should be arranged and regulated at the disposition of the Prior of the clerics of the Hospital with regard to books clerics vestments priests chalices censers perpetual light and other ornaments.

  2. And secondly, it is decreed with the assent of the brethren that for the sick in the Hospital of Jerusalem there should be engaged four wise doctors, who are qualified to examine urine, and to diagnose different diseases, and are able to administer appropriate medicines.

  3. And thirdly, it is added that the beds of the sick should be made as long and as broad as is most convenient for repose, and that each bed should be covered with its own coverlet, and each bed should have its own special sheets.

  4. After these needs is decreed the fourth command, that each of the sick should have a cloak of sheepskin and boots for going to and coming from the latrines, and caps of wool.

  5. It is also decreed that little cradles should be made for the babies of the women pilgrims born in the House, so that they may lie separate, and that the baby in its own bed may be in no danger from restlessness of its mother.

  6. Afterwards it is decreed the sixth clause, that the biers of the dead should be concealed in the same manner as are the biers of the brethren, and should be covered with a red coverlet having a white cross.

  7. The seventh clause commands that wheresoever there are hospitals for the sick, that the Commanders of the houses should serve the sick cheerfully, and should do their duty by them, and serve them without grumbling or complaining, so that by these good deeds they may deserve to have their reward in the glories of heaven. And if any of the brethren should act contrary to the commands of the Master in these matters, that it should be brought to the notice of the Master, who shall punish them according to the sentence of the house commands.

  8. It was also decreed, when the council (i.e. Chapter-General) of the brethren was held, that the Prior of the Hospital of France should send each year to Jerusalem one hundred sheets of dyed cotton to replace the coverlets of the poor sick, and should reckon them in his Responsion together with those things which shall be given in his Priory to the House in charity.

  9. In selfsame manner and reckoning the Prior of the Hospital of St. Gilles should purchase each year the like number of sheets of cotton and send them to Jerusalem, together with those things which shall be given in his Priory for the love of God to the poor of the Hospital.

  10. The prior of Italy each year should send to Jerusalem for our lords the sick two hundred ells of fustian (= cotton sheets) of divers colours, which he may reckon each year in his Responsion.

  11. And the Prior of Pisa should send likewise the like numbers of fustians.

  12. And the Prior of Venice likewise, and all should be reckoned in their Responsions.

  13. And likewise the Bailiffs this side of the sea should be particular in this same service.

  14. Of whom the Bailiff of Antioch should send to Jerusalem two hundred ells of cotton cloth for the coverlets of the sick.

  15. The prior of Mont Pelerin (i.e. Tripolis) should send to Jerusalem two quintals of sugar for the syrups, and the medicines and the electuaries of the sick.

  16. For this same service the Bailiff of Tabarie (i.e. Tiberias) should send there the same quantity.

  17. The Prior of Constantinople should send for the sick two hundred felts.

  18. Moreover guarding and watching them day and night, the brethren of the Hospital should serve the sick poor with zeal and devotion as if they were their lords, and it was added in Chapter-General that in every ward (rue) and place in the Hospital, nine sergeants should be kept at their service, who should wash their feet gently, and change their sheets, and make their beds, and administer to the weak necessary and strengthening food, and do their duty devotedly, and obey, in all things for the benefit of the sick.

THE CONFIRMATION BY THE MASTER ROGER OF THE THINGS THAT THE HOUSE SHOULD DO

Let all the brethren of the House of the Hospital, both those present and those to come, know that the good customs of the House of the Hospital of Jerusalem are as follows:

  1. Firstly the Holy House of the Hospital is accustomed to receive sick men and women, and is accustomed to keep doctors who have the care of the sick, and who make the syrups for the sick, and who provide the things that are necessary for the sick. For three days in the week the sick are accustomed to have fresh meat, either pork or mutton, and those who are unable to eat it have chicken.

  2. And two sick persons are accustomed to have one coat of sheepskin (pelice de brebis/berbis?), which they use when going to the latrines (chambres), and between two sick persons one pair of boots. Every year the House of the Hospital is accustomed to give to the poor one thousand cloaks of thick lamb skins.

  3. And all the children abandoned by their fathers and mothers t Hospital is accustomed to receive and to nourish. To a man and woman who desire to enter into matrimony, and who possess nothing with which to celebrate their marriage, the House of the Hospital is accustomed to give two bowls (escueles) or the rations of two brethren.

  4. And the House of the Hospital is accustomed to keep one brother shoemaker (corvoisier) and three sergeants, who repair the old shoes (soliers) given for the love of God. And the Almoner is accustomed to keep two sergeants who repair the old robes that he may give them to the poor.

  5. And the Almoner is accustomed to give twelve deniers to each prisoner, when he is first released from prison.

  6. Every night five clerics are accustomed to read the Psalter for the benefactors of the House.

  7. And every day thirty poor persons are accustomed to be fed at table once a day for the love of God, and the five clerics aforesaid may be among those thirty poor persons, but the twenty-five eat before the Convent, and each of the five clerics should have two deniers and eat with the Convent.

  8. And on three days of the week they are accustomed to give in alms to all who come there to ask for it, bread and wine and cooked food.

  9. In Lent every Saturday, they are accustomed to celebrate Maundy for thirteen poor persons, and to wash their feet, and to give to each a shirt and new breeches and new shoes, and to three chaplains, or to three clerics out of the thirteen, three deniers and to each of the others, two deniers.

  10. These are the special charities decreed in the Hospital, apart from the Brethren-at-Arms whom the House should maintain honourably, and many other charities there are which cannot be set out in detail each one by itself. And that these things be true good men and loyal here bear witness, that is to say Brother Roger, Master of the Hospital, and Brother Bernard the Prior and all the Chapter-General.

Letter from the East (1187)

Letter from the East to Master of Knights Hospitaller 1187

 

Munro's introduction:


After the second crusade it was difficult to arouse enthusiasm in Many letters were written begging piteously for aid. In the meantime a Holy Land went from had to worse. Owing to the mistaken policy of Christians, Noureddin had been allowed to get a strong foothold in Egypt. But dissensions arose between his general and the vizier of Egypt, and the latter the king of Jerusalem for aid. While Amalric, profiting by this carrying on a successful campaign in Egypt, the events recorded in the took place. See Kugler: Geschichte der Kruzzuge pp. 167-169.

The second letter gives the most reliable account of the events which the fate of the kingdom of Jerusalem. It is without pretence to literary style, and the spelling is very bad. In the text the proper names are spelled as in the original letter. The forms in brackets have been adopted from Rey's Colonies franques de Syrie aux XII me et XIII me siecles (Paris 1883), and Guy Le Strange's Palestine under the Moslems (Boston and New York, 1890). The rapidity of Saladin's success and the hopelessness of the Christians are well brought out. See Wilken: Geschichte der Kreuzzuge, Vol, III, pp.274, ff.
 


 

We make known to you, lord Arehambault, master of the Hospitalers in Italy, and the brethren, all the events which have happened in the countries beyond the seas.

Learn, therefore, that the king of Jerusalem was near Saphora [Bephoria] with a great army of at least thirty thousand men about the festival of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and was in perfect concord with the count of Tripoli, and the latter was with the army. And behold Saladin, the pagan king, approached Tdbaria [Tiherias] with eighty thousand horsemen and took Tabaria. After this was done the king of Jerusalem left Saphora and went with his men drawn up against Saladin. And Saladin came against him near Marestutia [Marescallia] on the Friday after the festival of the Apostles Peter and PauL Battle was engaged and during the whole day they fought fiercely, but night interrupted the strife. In the intervening night the king of Jerusalem fixed his tents near Salnubia, and on the next day, Saturday, moved with his army.

About the third hour the master of the Templars with all his brethren, began the battle. They received no aid and by God's permission lost the greater portion of their men. After this happened, the king by hard fighting and with great difficulty, went with his army to Naim, bout a league distant, and then the count of Tripoli came to the King and made him pitch his tents near the mountain which is a sort of fortress, and they were not able to pitch more than three tents. After this was done, the Turks seeing that they had pitched their tents, kindled fires around the army of the king, and, in truth, the heat was so great that the horsemen were baking and were not able to eat or drink. Next, Baldwin of Fatinor, Bacbaberhoc of Tabaria and leisius, with three other associates, separated themselves from the army, went over to Saladin and-a thing which is grievous to relate--denied their faith, surrendered themselves to him, and betrayed to him the army of the king of Jerusalem, by revealing the difficult position in which it was.

Therefore Saladin sent against us Techedin [Taki-Eddin] with twenty thousand chosen soldiers who rushed upon our army, and the battle raged very fiercely from the ninth hour to vespers. And, because of our sins, very many of ours were killed, the Christian people were conquered, the king was captured, and the holy cross and count Gabula and Milo of Colaterido and Onfred [Honfroy] the youth, and prince Reinald [Reginald] captured and killed. And Walter of Arsun and Hugo of Gibelen [Gilbelin] and the lord of Botrono [Botron] and the Lord of Marachele and a thousand others of the best, captured and killed, so that not more than two hundred of the horsemen and soldiers escaped. The count of Tripoli, lord Basian and R. [Reginald], the lord of Sidon, escaped.

After this Saladin collected his army again and on Sunday came to Saphora and took Saphora and Nazareth, and Mount Tabor, and on Monday came to Acon [Acre], which is also called Acris; and those in Acon surrendered. Likewise those of Caifas and those of Cesarea [Casarea) and of Jafa [Joppa], and of Naple [Neapolis], and of Ram [Ramlah], and of St. George, and of Ibelinon [Ibelin], and of Bellefort [lielfort], and of Mirahel, and of Tyron [Tyre], and of Gwaler, and of Garer [Gaza], and of Audurum [Darum], all surrendered. After this, when our galley moved from Tyro [Tyre], they sent Sabani to Saladin that he should go to Jerusalem and they would surrender the city. And we fled with the galley to Lechia [Laodicea], and we heard that Tyre had surrendered. Moreover, the following cities are still safe and are awaiting aid from the western Church; namely, Jerusalem, Sur, Saehea [Asealon], Marchat, Antyochia [Antioch], Lassar, Saona, Triplis [Tripoli]. Moreover, so great is the multitude of the Saracens and Turks that from Tyre, which they are besieging, they cover the face of the earth as far as Jerusalem, like an innumerable army of ants, and unless aid is quickly brought to the remaining above-mentioned cities and to the very few Christians remaining in the East, by a similar fortune they will be plundered by the raging infidels, thirsting for the blood of the Christians.

Grant of Arms (1259)

Grant of Arms to the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem 
by Pope Alexander IV (1259)

 

To the Master and brothers of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.

As almighty God has established your order in his Church as a column fixed on the base of obedience for the necessary protection of the Holy Land, of which you are the famous athletes, the robust fighters and the chosen champions, and in whose defense you have girded yourselves with the ensigns of the cross to fight the war of God against the blasphemers of his name;
and as you are the eminent people of God, splendid nation and zealous crowd of just men, the council and gathering of strong men of the King of kings, in whose hands truly swords are double-edged and shining beacons in the search for justice among nations and for the city of God;
we intend to comfort with suitable favors and enlarge with appropriate gifts the worthy order itself and you, knights of Christ, in whom God has instilled the spirit of the strong Macchabees and of other ancient warriors in those lands, and we intend to grant you what we know will contribute to the growth of your order and the protection of the said Land.
And because we understand that among the brothers of your order there is no distinction in clothing between the knights and the others, as there is in most similar orders, and for that reason many noblemen who, having forsaken the seductions of the world, decide to go to the defense of said Land under the garment of your order, but faced with the above-mentioned observance, see their ardor cool;
we, desirous that this order increase, with the help of the Lord, with ceaseless and increased donations, by the authority of the present we grant you, so that you may unanimously enact and thereafter inviolably observe among the brothers, that knights of the said order wear a black mantle, so that they be distinguished from the other brothers of the order.   And, in war and in combat, that they use surcoats and other coats of arms, that are red, and in which a white cross is sewn in the manner of your banner, so that, in such uniformity of emblems the identity of souls become evident, and that the salvation of the persons might follow as a consequence.

Given at Anagni, 11 August, 5th year [of our pontificate].

Investiture (pre-1798)

Investiture of a new Knight pre 1798

 

In 1804 Chevalier Louis de Boisgelin published a History of the Order of Malta, which contained this description of the Reception of new Knights.

"Those who are determined to dedicate themselves to the service of the sick, and to the defence of the Catholic religion, in the habit of our Order, are received at their profession in the following manner:- They ought to be perfectly well acquainted that they are about to put off the old man, and to be regenerated; by humbly confessing all their sins; according to the established custom of the church; and, after having received absolution, they are to present themselves in a secular habit, without a girdle, in order to appear perfectly free at the time they enter into so sacred an engagement, with a lighted taper in their hands, representing charity; to hear mass, and to receive the holy communion."

They afterwards presented themselves most respectfully before the person who was to perform the ceremony, and requested to be received into the company of brothers, and into the holy Order of the Hospital of Jerusalem. He then addressed them in a short speech, to confirm them in their pious designs, to explain how salutary and advantageous it was to consecrate themselves to the service of the poor in Christ Jesus, to be constantly employed in works of mercy, and to devote themselves to the defence of the Christian faith-a favour which many had vainly attempted to obtain.

He proceeded to point out the engagement they were to enter into of perfect obedience;- the severity of the rules, which would no longer permit them to act for themselves, which obliged them absolutely to renounce their own will and pleasure, and implicitly to comply with that of their superiors; so that if ever they felt an inclination to do one thing, they were, compelled by their vow of obedience to do another.

He next asked the candidate whether he found himself disposed to submit to all these obligations ; whether he had ever before taken the vows in any other Order; whether he had ever been married; if his marriage had been consummated; if he owed any considerable sums; and if he were a slave: because, if, after having taken the vows, it were discovered that he had done any of these acts, or had been in the last-mentioned situation; he would be immediately stripped of his habit with disgrace, as a deceiver, and given up to the master to whom he formerly belonged.

If he declared that he had contracted. no such engagements, the brother who received him presented him an open missal, on which he placed both his hands, and having answered all the above questions, made his profession in the following terms:

"Io N. faccia voto e prometto a Dio omnipotente, ed alla Beata Maria sempre Vergine, madre di Dio, ed a Sun Giovanni Battista di osservare peretuamente, con Iajuta de Dio, vera obedienza a qualunque superiore che unie sara dato do Dio, e dalla nostra religione, e di piu vivere senza proprio e d'osservar castita."

"I N. do vow and promise to Almighty God, to the holy eternal Virgin Mary, mother of God, and to St. John the Baptist; to render, henceforward, by the grace of God, perfect obedience to the superior placed over me by the choice of the Order, to live without personal property, and to preserve my chastity."

Having taken his hands from the hook, the brother who received him said as follows: "We acknowledge you as the servant of the poor and sick, and as having consecrated your self to the defence of the Catholic church:" To which he answered: "I acknowledge myself as such." He then kissed the missal, placed it on the altar which he likewise kissed, and brought it back to the brother who received him, in token of perfect obedience. Upon which, the brother took the mantle, and shewing him the white cross upon it, thus addressed him: "Do you believe, my brother, that this is the symbol of that holy cross to which Jesus Christ was fastened, and on which he died for our sins?" To which the new brother replied: "Yes, I do verily believe it." The other the added: "It is also the sign of our Order, which we command you to constantly wear." The new brother then kissed the sign of the cross; and the other threw the mantle over his shoulder in such a manner that the cross was placed on the left breast. The brother who had received him then kissed him, saying,: " Take this sign in-the name of the holy Trinity, of the holy Virgin Mary, and of St John the Baptist, for the increase of faith; the defence of the Christian name, and for the service of the poor. We place this cross on your breast, my brother, that you may love it with all your heart ; and may your right hand ever fight in its defence, and for its preservation ! Should it ever happen that in combatting for Jesus Christ against the enemies of the faith, you should retreat, desert the standard of the cross and take to flight. in so just a war: you will be stripped of this truly holy sign, according to the statutes and customs of the Order as having broken the vow you have just taken, and cut off from our body as an unsound and corrupt member."

He then put the mantle on the new brother; tied it with strings round his neck, and said: "Receive the yoke of the Lord, for it is easy and light, and you shall find rest for your soul. We promise you nothing but bread and water a simple habit and of little worth. We give you; your parents and relations a share in the good works performed by our Order, and by our brothers, both now and hereafter; through-out the world." To which the newly professed knight answered Amen, (that is to say) So be it. After which the brother who had received him, and all who were present on the occasion, embraced and kissed him in token of friendship, peace, and brotherly love. The priests, particularly he who said mass, then repeated the following prayers:

"Thou hast showered down thy mercy upon us, oh God ! in the midst of thy temple-Psalm. The Lord is great, he is worthy to be praised in the city of God, even upon his holy hill, &c.

"Behold how good and joyful a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity, &c. Glory be to the Father, &c:

"Thou hast showered down, &c. Kyrie eleison, Christe eleision, Kyrie eleison. Our father; &c: Lead us not into temptation, &c. Save thy servant, oh God ! who putteth his trust in thee. Send him help from thy holy place, and from Sion. Defend him, and let the enemy have no advantage over him, nor the wicked one approach to hurt him. Be unto him, oh -Lord! a strong tower from the face of his enemy, and from them that persecute him. Lord, hear our prayers, and let our cry come unto thee. The Lord be with you, and with your spirit.

"Let us pray.

"Oh. God! who convertest the wicked, and desirest not the death of a sinner, we most humbly beseech thy divine Majesty to send the assistance of thy heavenly grace upon this thy servant; who putteth his trust only in thy mercy; and preserve him with thy continual help, that he may always serve thee truly, and never be led astray by any temptation, through Jesus Christ: our Lord. Amen.

"Let us pray.

"Oh almighty and everlasting God ! who alone workest great marvels, send down upon N. thy servant the healthful spirit of thy grace; and, that he may truly please thee, pour upon him the continual dew of thy blessing; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"Let us pray.

"The Lord receive thee into the number of the faithful! and, whilst we his unworthy servants receive thee with our prayer, grant thee his grace to do well, with the will to persevere therein, and bring thee to the happiness of eternal life ! that, as brotherly love has united us on earth, the goodness of God, which invigorates that love has united us in heaven with his faithful servants. Grant this, oh Lord! through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen."

Report on the proposed Catholic Grand Priory of Russia (1797)

Report on the proposed Catholic Grand Priory of Russia 1797

 

To his Eminence and Sacred Council.

SO as to discharge the honourable duty set upon us by your Eminence and this Sacred Council in their venerable decree of July, we have the honour to inform your Eminence and this Sacred Council that we have carefully examined the Treaty drawn up between the Plenipotentiaries of His Majesty Emperor of all the Russias and the Venerable Bailli Litta, Plenipotentiary Minister of this Sacred Order, and in each Article we observed tracts of the greatest benevolence and munificence of this August Monarch, whilst not content to fully grant to this Sacred Order all its requests, due to the ancient possessions in Poland which passed under His dominion, but also wished, with a generosity fitting only the great magnanimity of His Heart, to grant it more than double its requests, and under conditions far more advantageous and prestigious for the Sacred Order than initially requested.

We shall not report here the entire contents of the Treaty as it is necessary that your Eminence and this Sacred Council do so in person, as well as the four Articles that were drawn up separately from the Treaty, so that they may ratify these, which we deem should be done immediately, and on each article.

We now have the honour to inform your Eminence and this Sacred Council on several matters which we extract from the report of the Venerable Bailli Litta which accompanies this Treaty and which brings to our attention that His Imperial Majesty through his benevolence towards the Sacred Order arranged to reserve the first nomination and Commanderies to the Priory, but not deeming it fitting of the respect and gratitude owed to His Majesty by this Sacred Order, of taking advantage of His act of great clemency, we consider it necessary that the Venerable Bailli Li(tta) beg His Imperial Majesty in the name of your Eminence and this Sacred Council to proceed with the nomination of this Priory and Commanderies, furthermore that He will thereby ensure that the Sacred Order will be invested with fitting subjects , who will continue to deserve the Lofty Protection and Love that His Majesty has shown this Sacred Order, following such nomination the Chancery of the Sacred Order will send the usual seals for which the Venerable Bailli Litta will indicate the name of the Saint, or other, under which the Commanderies should be drawn. And as it could sometimes happen that His Majesty, relative to the aforementioned first nomination of the Priory and Commanderies, will wish to appoint persons who, due to their particular circumstances are unable to submit to the all the statutory depositions, we consider it necessary that the Minister of the Sacred Order demonstrate to His Majesty the firm intent already expressed by your Eminence and this Sacred Council, of according these persons all the dispensations which His Majesty wishes to concede them, whilst entreating Him to maintain intact their obligation to undergo the corresponding proofs, to pay the Common Treasury the established fee, etc, once the Sureties have been established.

We see from the same report that His Imperial Majesty wishes to receive for Himself, Her Majesty the Empress and the three Princes of His August Family the Cross of Devotion. Certainly an event, that in the midst of the adversities with which our Order is beset, which the benign Hand of Divine Providence wishes to give a new Lustre, and to thus summarily render more glorious and triumphant its Name throughout the entire World. Therefore we deem vital that the Venerable Bailli Litta offer His Majesty the most warm and respectful thanks on behalf of your Eminence and the entire Order for such a great honour, and at the same time beg Him to accept on His own behalf and that of his August Family, not only the Cross of Devotion, but also the Habit and the Grand Cross.

The same Venerable Bailli Litta suggests that His Imperial Majesty may appreciate the granting of the Cross of Devotion to the two Plenipotentiaries who concluded this present Treaty, under whose names the usual Seals could be issued from the Chancery and sent to the same Venerable Bailli Litta, who before all else, should present them to His Imperial Majesty, and we deem the same necessary for three Ladies, who were recommended by Her Majesty the Empress.

The Venerable Bailli Litta makes several mentions of the Special Protection given to his work by His Naepolitan Majesty, and the great Zeal with which the Duke of Serracapriola discharged his duties, for which your Eminence has already expressed thanks, and it only remains to suggest the opinion of Venerable Bailli Litta that the said Duke should be given the Cross of Devotion, as well as the Count of Coblenz, Plenipontentiary Minister to the Russian Court of His Majesty the Emperor of Hungary and Bohemia, and the Duke of Siessers, General Lieutenant in the service of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia, who co-operated most effectively towards the success of these negotiations. Of course the Venerable Bailli Litta should not present the relevant Seals without having first reassured himself of His Imperial Majesty's approval.

In his report the Venerable Bailli Litta further notes that His Imperial Majesty indicated it would please Him that those Knights of the Order who are engaged in His military Service and who will be unable to go to Malta in order to take part in the Crusades, should be recompensed for the Campaigns undertaken after their reception, be these on the Black Sea or at the borders against the Infidel. To which sovereign care we believe we must strictly adhere, obviously only for those persons who have obtained a special recommendation from His Imperial Majesty.

Finally, the Venerable Bailli Litta informs us in his report that His Imperial Majesty, giving ever more of His generosity, assured him that in consideration of the permanence of a Minister for the Sacred Order in St Petersburg, and in order to provide a site for Chapter meetings, for housing archives and a Chapel, He has entirely given over to the Sacred Order ownership of one of the largest and finest palaces to be found in that Capital, which shall be called Malta Palace, with permission to place the Arms of the Sacred Order on its facade.

To the many great acts of kindness by His Imperial Majesty are added spoken honours for which we can merely suggest nothing better than to entreat your Eminence to act as the voice of the entire Order and to send to the Throne of His Imperial Majesty the most humble and respectful expressions of thanks. This is the sum knowledge with which we can inform your Eminence and this Sacred Council, whilst with the most profound respect we declare ourselves.

Creation of the Catholic Grand Priory of Russia (1797)

Creation of the Catholic Grand Priory of Russia 1797

 

CONVENTION BETWEEN HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY the EMPEROR of all the RUSSIAS, and the SOVEREIGN ORDER of MALTA.

His Majesty the emperor of all the Russias, on one side, wishing to give a proof of his sentiments of affection, esteem, and consideration, towards the illustrious order of Malta, at the same time intending to assure, consolidate, and encrease, the establishment of the said order in his dominions, which has already been instituted in Poland, particularly in the provinces, of that country now belonging to the Russian government, and being desirous of obtaining for those of his subjects who are capable of being, received into the illustrious order of Malta all the advantages, honours, and privileges, annexed thereto ; and the sovereign order of Malta, with his most eminent highness the grand-master, on the other side, being perfectly sensible of the kind intentions of his imperial majesty towards them, of the importance and utility of such an institution in the empire of Russia, and being desirous on their part of fulfilling the wise and benevolent designs of his majesty the emperor, by facilitating them by every possible means consistent with the constitution and laws of the order; have, by common consent, agreed to form a convention for the accomplishment of these respective objects, according to the reciprocal wishes of the contracting parties.
In consequence of which, his imperial majesty the emperor of all the Russias has appointed, and authorised to act as his plenipotentiaries, the sieur comte Alexander de Besborodko, privy counsellor of the first class, minister of the council of state, director-general of the post-office, knight of the orders of St. Andrew and St. Alexander Newsky, and grand cross of that of St. Windimir, of the first class; together with the sieur prince Alexander de Kourakin, his vice-chancellor, privy counsellor, minister of the council of state, chamberlain, knight of the orders of St. Andrew, St. Alexander Newsky, and of St. Anne, of the first class, likewise of the royal orders of Danebrog and of the Perfect Union.-The sovereign order of Malta, with his most eminent highness the grandmaster, have named for the same purpose the sieur Jules Rene, bailli comte de Litta, grand-cross of the order of Malta, knight of justice of the venerable language of Italy, commander of several commanderies, knight of the military order of St.George, of the first class, and of the Polish orders of the White Eagle and St. Stanislaus, rear-admiral of the Russian navy, and minister plenipotentiary from the sovereign order of Malta and his most eminent highness the grand-Master, to his imperial majesty the emperor of all the Russias. These plenipotentiaries, having communicated and exchanged the full powers with which they were vested in due form, agreed upon the following articles:

ARTICLE I. His imperial majesty the emperor of all the Russias, as an act of justice, and at the same time to prove,his sentiments of affection and high consideration for the illustrious order of Malta, approves, confirms, and ratifies, in his own name and that of his successors for ever, in the most ample and solemn manner, the establishment of the said order of Malta in his dominions.

ARTICLE II. His imperial majesty the emperor, acknowledging the validity of the establishment that the order of Malta, under the guaranty of the imperial court of Russia, possessed in Poland, the advantages and enjoyment of which have been suspended by the troubles in that country and the dissolution of its government, as a compensation for the revenues assured to the order in Poland on estates belonging to the ordinate of Ostrog, and being desirous of extending and adding to the. solidity and consistence of the present establishment of the order of Malta in Russia, his said majesty has most graciously granted to the order of Malta to have and to. hold for ever the annual sum of three hundred thousand Polish florins, which shall be collected and distributed by said' order, according to mode agreed upon in the different articles of the first convention.

ARTICLE III. The state treasury of the empire of Russia shall pay from the total sum annually received, in title of emphyteose, on all the starosties of Poland now in the Russian dominions, the sum of three hundred thousand Polish florins every year to the the order of Malta; this annual payment to be made at, two different times; the first of a hundred and fifty thousand Polish florins on the 30th June/11July and the second of the same sum, making in the whole three hundred thousand Polish florins, on the 31st December/11 January. These said payments are to be made to the receiver for Malta, his treasurer resident in. Russia, or any other person legally authorised to receive them.

ARTICLE IV. The said annual sum of three hundred thousand Polish florins, which his imperial majesty thus graciously grants to the order of Malta, shall be for perpetuity exempted from all drawbacks whatsoever, and from ordinary and extraordinary taxes, and shall form the foundation and revenues of the institution of the said order in his dominions, which shall be termed the grand-priory of Russia.

ARTICLE V. The grand-priory of Russia shall consist of a grand-priory, and ten commanderies. The respective revenues shall be distributed every year in the following manner:-the grand-priory shall have sixty thousand Polish florins; the first and second commanderies thirty thousand Polish florins each; the third and fourth commanderies twenty thousand Polish florins each: the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, each fifteen thousand Polish florins.

ARTICLE VI. The dignified post of grand-prior shall pay annually to the venerable common treasury of the order of Malta, by way of responsions, twelve thousand Polish florins; and all the ten commanderies shall likewise pay in annually their respective responsions in the following, manner:-the first and second commanderies each six thousand Polish florins; the third and fourth, each four thousand ; the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, fifteen hundred each. These annual responsions due to the venerable common treasury of the order of Malta shall be deducted from the sum total of three hundred thousand Polish florins by the minister, receiver, or treasurer, for the order of Malta residing in Russia, who shall receive the above-mentioned revenues from the grand-priory, and shall be charged with making the above-mentioned annual repartition.

ARTICLE VII. His imperial majesty and his most eminent highness the grand-master being equally convinced of the use and importance of a permanent legation from the order of Malta in Russia, to facilitate and maintain a direct communication between their respective dominions, and to attend assiduously to every particular relative to this new establishment, have agreed by common consent to dedicate for this purpose the annual sum of twenty thousand Polish florins as a salary for the minister and receiver of the order of Malta residing in the empire of Russia; besides the annual sum of twelve thousand Polish florins for the maintenance of the chapel and archives, and likewise for the pay of officers belonging to the grand-priory and the minister.

ARTICLE VIII. The eighteen thousand Polish florins which remain from the sum total of three hundred thousand florins shall be employed for supplying annually the different expences at Malta relative to the grand-priory of Russia.

ARTICLE IX. The order of Malta shall enter into the enjoyment of its revenues from the 1st of January, 1797; and the sum total of the three hundred thousand Polish florins of this first year, together with the amount of the first four months of the year 1798, shall be paid into the common treasury of the order of Malta, as an indemnification for the expence of the extraordinary mission to St. Petersburg, and likewise for the expences indispensably necessary for the order of Malta in the empire of Russia. In consequence of which, the grand-prior and the ten commanders who shall be appointed will enter upon their respective revenues from the 1st of May, 1798.

ARTICLE X. His Imperial majesty declares, that the dignity of the grand-priory of Russia, and the ten commanderies dependent thereon, can never be conferred, on any pretext, on those of his subjects who are not entitled to be received into the order of Malta.

ARTICLE XI. His imperial majesty grants to the order of Malta full and entire liberty to establish and follow, in its new institutions in his dominions, its own form of government; and he admits and takes under his special protection the execution of the rules and statutes adopted or its interior administration.

ARTICLE XII. His imperial majesty being also desirous that the illustrious order of Malta thus established in Russia should possess the same consideration and splendour that it enjoyed in the other states of Europe, and knowing that nothing can possibly contribute more to this important object than a strict observation of the laws and statutes of the order; he ordains that every individual who composes, or shall in future compose, the said grand-priory of Russia, shall exactly conform to, and put in practice, all the duties prescribed in the rules and constitution of the order of Malta, either for their respective reception, or any other object relative to their situation.

ARTICLE XIII. His imperial majesty is still more attentive to, and interested in, the execution of the preceding article, from the perfect conviction that the duties of the knights of Malta prescribed by the wise constitution of the order are always inseparable from those which every faithful subject has contracted towards his country and lawful sovereign.

ARTICLE XIV. The reception of the knights of Malta, and the proofs of nobility required on that occasion, shall be the same as in the heretofore grand-priory of Poland ; and the passage fees shall be paid according to the tax fixed in the above-mentioned priory.

ARTICLE XV. The Knights shall perform the usual caravans in the most exact manner, and shall make the usual conventual residence in malta.

ARTICLE XVI. On the death of each commander, or professed knight, his effects, according to the statutes, shall belong to the common treasury of Malta; procurator-general, or agent of the order appointed for this purpose, shall be charged to collect the said effects. This article does not regard the commanders of family or jus patronat, but solely relates to those persons who are regularly professed in the order.

ARTICLE XVII. Every individual of the order of Malta shall be equally obliged exactly to fulfil his statutable duties. The commanderies and grand-priory are bestowed according to seniority, which is reckoned from the date of their respective receptions: but this right of seniority is of no avail unless all the other duties of the order be fulfilled; so that every candidate for the commanderies and grand-priory must be competent, not only from the right of seniority, but from having performed his statutable duties.

ARTICLE XVIII. His imperial majesty, as a still further proof of his personal regard for his most eminent highness the grand-master, gives his consent that his eminence, in quality of chief of the order of Malta, shall enjoy the same magisterial prerogative in the grand-priory of Russia as in all other priories such as conferring a commandery by favour once in five years, should one become vacant in that space of time. This commandery shall be subject to the payment of an annate, and of all other duties imposed in the magisterial collations. His most eminent highness cannot, however, bestow this commandery on any knight who is not of the grand-priory of Russia.

ARTICLE XIX. In order that the repartition of the property of Malta may extend to a greater number of persons, no knight shall be permitted, from right of seniority, to possess more than one commandery at the same time; he therefore must quit his commandery, upon being promoted to one of more considerable value. The mutations of commanderies in the grand-priory of Russia shall take place in Malta, according to the laws and rules of the order.

ARTICLE XX. The knights who from their merit have obtained a commandery by favour, from the beneficence of the grand-master, shall not be included in the regulations contained in the preceding, article, which relate exclusively to the commanderies in right of seniority.

ARTICLE XXI. The grand-priory of Russia, and the commanderies depending thereon, shall be subject, equally with all the other commanderies of Malta, to the mortuary and vacancy duties ;and the common treasury of the order shall have, during that time, the administration of the revenues.

ARTICLE XXII. The rent of any commandery which shall remain vacant through want of a candidate shall be paid into the common treasury of the order, until such time as a member of the grand-priory shall become capable of obtaining it.

ARTICLE XXIII. His imperial majesty the emperor of all the Russias likewise approves confirms, and ratifies, all the commanderies of the order of Malta termed of family, or jus patronat, already instituted in Poland, and which now make part of the Russian dominions; and his imperial majesty declares, that all the conditions and clauses announced and stipulated in the different acts of the above-mentioned respective foundations shall be entirely and exactly fulfilled, without any exception from one or the other side.

ARTICLE XXIV. His imperial majesty, to contribute still more to the happiness and prosperity of the order of Malta, and at the same time to enable all the Catholic nobility of his empire, and even those who from particular circumstances cannot submit themselves entirely to the statutable duties of the order of Malta, to participate in the distinctions, honours, and prerogatives, granted to this illustrious order, which his imperial majesty has constantly loved and respected, deigns to grant, from this present moment and for ever, permission and his imperial sanction for all future commanderies of family or jus patronat; for which all those who are desirous of entering into this noble institution must address themselves directly to the order of Malta, or to its representative in the empire of Russia, whether it be to agree upon the reciprocal conditions, or to arrange and commit to writing the respective foundations, and to obtain from Malta the necessary approbation. The commanderies of family shall be entitled in the order of Malta by the names of the families which originally founded them.

ARTICLE XXV. The grand-Priory of Russia.shall hold the capitular assemblies in the chief place of residence, and especially the one fixed for the 23d of June, the eve of the festival of St. John the Baptist, patron of the order of Malta. The venerable chapter shall review and direct all the affairs of the grand-priory that fall under its cognizance, keep a register of its deliberations, and send the requisite communications to Malta.

ARTICLE XXVI. The venerable chapter shall be presided by the grand-prior, and in his absence by the most ancient commander.

ARTICLE XXVII. The capitular regulations fixed by the statutes of the order shall be followed in every thing relative to the proposition and decision of affairs.

ARTICLE XXVIII. The minister-plenipotentiary from Malta in the empire of Russia, in quality of procurator-general of his most eminent highness the grandmaster, the sacred council of the order, and common treasury, shall be constant recorder, in virtue of his office, of affairs, which shall be decided by the majority of votes; and in case of an equality, the grand-prior shall have the casting vote. All affairs discussed and decided according to the statutes, customs, and privileges, of the order, shall be, terminated without delay; but if they be out of the common order of things, the decision shall be sent to Malta before they are executed.

ARTICLE XXIX. All professed knights in the order of Malta who may happen to be upon the spot shall be obliged to attend the chapters ; where they shall all have deliberative votes, and take their seats according to seniority and the capitular rules of the order. The knights in their noviciate shall also assist at the chapter, but without deliberative votes.

ARTICLE XXX. All the commanders of family shall be invited to the chapters in which they shall take their seats with the other commanders, according to the antiquity of the foundation of each commandery. They shall have a consulting vote, and when it shall be question of any thing relative to the patronal commanderies a deliberative one.

ARTICLE XXXI. In order to enable all the knights of Malta who have both military and civil employments in his imperial majesty's service to perform the duty of their order, permission will be granted them to absent themselves whenever the above-mentioned duties make it indispensably necessary.

ARTICLE XXXII. As all the other grand-priories, though they retain the distinctive colours of the order, have each a different uniform, his imperial majesty and his most eminent highness the grand-master will make choice of one for the grand-priory of Russia.

ARTICLE XXXIII. The grand-prior and commanders alone shall have right of wearing the grand cross of the order in saltire; all the other knights shall wear the small cross at the button-hole.

ARTICLE XXXIV. The honorary knights in Russia, such as those who, without having made their proofs of nobility in the order of Malta, have obtained leave to wear the cross called of devotion or favour, must place the small cross at their button-hole but not wear the particular uniform of the grand-priory of Russia, without the especial permission of his imperial majesty and his eminence the grand-master.

ARTICLE XXXV. All the honorary knights in Russia shall legitimate and register in the chancery of the grand-priory the titles by which they are authorised to wear the cross of the order.

ARTICLE XXXVI. His imperial majesty tile emperor of all the Russias, in the last place, most graciously grants, that the order of Malta shall enjoy the same privileges, prerogatives, and honours, in his dominions, as the said illustrious order enjoys elsewhere from the esteem and affection of other sovereign princes.

ARTICLE XXXVII. The present convention shall be ratified by his imperial majesty the emperor of all the Russias, and by the sovereign order of Malta and his most eminent highness the grand-master; and the ratifications shall be exchanged in the space of four months from the day of their signature, and even sooner if possible.
In testimony of which, the underwritten plenipotentiaries have signed the present convention, to which they have put their seals. Concluded at St. Petersburg, the 4-15th January, 1797.
(L. S.) Alexander Comte de Besborodko.
(L. S.) Prince Alexander Kourakin.
(L. S.) Fr. Jules Rene Bailli Comte de Litta.

SEPARATE ARTICLES.

ARTICLE I. The arrears due to the order of Malta in Poland, from having been deprived of its revenue ever since the year 1788, including the four thousand golden ducats likewise due from the time of the first foundation of the order of Malta in Poland, according to the treaty of 1775, till the moment when the estates and dependencies thereof situated in Ostrog were seized upon and incorporated with the Russian dominions in 1793, shall be comprised in the general debt of the heretofore republic of Poland, in order to be verified when the general liquidation shall take place, and as such shall be acquitted according to the mode adopted for the general payment of the debts of the republic. This separate article shall have the same force and validity as if inserted word for word in the convention concluded on the same day, and shall be ratified at the same time.
In testimony of which, the underwritten plenipotentiaries have signed it, and have put their seals. Concluded at St. Petersburg, the 4-15th January, 1797.
(L. S.) Alexander Comte de Besborodko.
(L. S.) Prince Alexander Kourakin.
(L. S.). Fr. Jules Rene Bailli Comte de Litta.

ARTICLE II. In regard to the arrears due to the order of Malta from the year 1793 inclusively, when the said Polish provinces became part of the Russian dominions, till the 31st of December, 1796, his imperial majesty, as another proof of his affection and benevolent intentions towards the illustrious order of Malta, thought he reserves to himself the right of making in future the arrangements which shall appear the most proper relative to the above-mentioned arrears, now most graciously declares, that he will from this present moment grant the payment of the particular sum due as a matter of right to the common treasury of the order, which sum arises from the annual responsions not having been as yet paid in. These, being fixed at twenty-four thousand Polish florins a-year to the sum total of ninety-six thousand Polish florins for the four years elapsed since the said time. In consequence of which, his imperial majesty deigns to grant five thousand Dutch ducats for the payment of the said sum to the order, which shall be paid the moment the ratification of the present convention shall take place. This separate article shall have the same force and validity as if inserted word for word in the convention concluded on the same day, and shall be ratified at the same time.
In testimony of which, the underwritten plenipotentiaries have signed it, and put their seals. Concluded at St. Petersburg, 4-15th January, 1797.
(L. S.) Alexander Comte de Besborodko.
(L. S.) Prince Alexander Kourakin.
(L. S.) Fr. Jules Rene Bailli Comte de Litta.

ARTICLE III. The grand-priory of Russia, which takes the place of the heretofore grand-priory of Poland in the order of Malta, shall be incorporated, as the latter has hitherto been, in the ancient language of England which had been partly restored in the order of Malta. His most eminent highness the grand-master and the sacred council of the order shall for the future take upon themselves to see that this incorporation be made according to the constitution and laws of the order, the principles of justice, and a regard to their reciprocal convenience. This separate article shall have the same force and validity as if inserted word for word in the convention concluded on the same day, and shall be ratified at the same time.
In testimony of which, the underwritten plenipotentiaries have signed it, and put their seals. Concluded at St. Petersburg, 4-15th January, 1797.
(L. S.) Alexander Comte de Besborodko.
(L. S.) Prince Alexander Kourakin.
(L. S.) Fr. Jules Rene Bailli Comte de Litta.

ARTICLE IV. As all the payments mentioned in the present convention are expressed by Polish florins, and as it is of great importance to prevent the inconveniences and alterations for the future which might possibly result in the said payments from the difference of exchange, the high and mighty contracting parties have agreed by common consent to fix an unalterable value to that coin, according to which the respective payments agreed upon in this convention, and indeed all the payments in the grand-priory of Russia, shall be made in perpetuity, and that without any alteration whatsoever. His imperial majesty and his most eminent highness the grand-master have, in consequence, fixed, in the most irrevocable manner, the value of the said Polish florin at twenty-five Russian copecks. This separate article shall have the same force and validity as if inserted word for word in the convention concluded on the same day, and shall be ratified at the same time.
In testimony of which, the underwritten plenipotentiaries have signed it, and put their seals. Concluded at St. Petersburg, the 4-15th of January, 1797.
(L. S.) Alexander Comte de Besborodko.
(L. S.) Prince Alexander Kourakin.
(L. S.) Fr. Jules Rene Bailli Comte de Litta.

ADDITIONAL ARTICLES.
In the Convention concluded between the Plenipotentiaries of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias and that of the Sovereign Order of Malta and his most Eminent Highness the Grand-Master, at St. Petersburg, the 4-15th of January, 1797. The plenipotentiaries of his imperial majesty the emperor of all the Russias and that of the sovereign order of Malta and his most eminent highness the grand-master, having judged it proper to add some further stipulations concerning the institution of the order of Malta in Russia to the convention signed by them at St. Petersburg on the 4-15th of January, 1797, have concluded and signed, in virtue of the respective full powers with which they are vested, the following additional articles.

ARTICLE I. His imperial majesty the emperor of all the Russias, having approved that there should be conventual chaplains in the grand-priory of Russia for performing the service of the churches of the order, whether in Russia or Malta, designs to add to the concessions already mentioned in the above convention a new foundation of three commanderies, appropriated to the class of conventual chaplains, each of which commanderies shall receive the annual sum of six thousand Polish florins, to be paid by the state treasury of the empire of Russia, according to the same valuation and on the same terms as are stipulated in the said convention.

ARTICLE II. The annual responsions to be paid to the venerable common treasury of the order by the said three commanderies shall be fixed at a thousand Polish florins each.

ARTICLE III. The conventual chaplains of the grand-priory of Russia shall make their proofs of reception, pay their passage fees to the venerable common treasury, and fulfil all their statutable duties, conformably to what was agreed upon by the last general chapter of the order in 1776; they shall also enjoy all the rights, advantages, honours, and prerogatives, assigned them by the laws. The above-mentioned conventual chaplains shall be named to the commanderies according to their seniority in the order and their statutable capacity.

ARTICLE IV. His imperial majesty grants that there shall be a conventual chaplain of the Maltese nation in the grand-priory of Russia, in the same manner as in the other grand-priories of the order: this chaplain to be chosen from among the most illustrious families of the island, and to have merited by his conduct the esteem of the order.

ARTICLE V. His imperial majesty leaves the nomination of the said Maltese chaplain to his most eminent highness the grand-master, and that, not only at present, but for ever. This magisterial nomination shall be each time communicated to the imperial court, and shall be registered according to form in the grand-priory of Russia. The said Maltese chaplain shall be held to fulfil all the statutable duties, and shall enjoy, by virtue of his nomination, the same rights, honours, and prerogatives in the grand-priory of Russia, as the conventual chaplains subjects of his imperial majesty the emperor of all the Russias; save those particular restrictions prescribed by the statutes in regard to the Maltese chaplains, which are equally in force in, the other priories of the order.

ARTICLE VI. The annual responsions of these last commanderies, fixed by the convention at fifteen hundred, Polish florins, shall be raised to three thousand Polish florins each.

ARTICLE VII. To avoid all discussion which might in future arise in the interpretation of the twenty-second article of the convention, it is agreed, that the revenue of every commandery which shall remain vacant for want of a candidate shall, from the first day of the vacancy till it is filled up by some one who has made himself capax, be entirely dedicated to the use of the venerable common treasury ; and that the course of mortuary and vacancy shall only begin on the day the candidate is named to the commandery, conformably to statute the 9th and to the 14th ordinance of the treasury.

ARTICLE VIII. The present additional articles shall have the same force and validity as if they had been inserted word for word in the convention concluded at St. Petersburg on the 4-15th of January, 1797. They shall be ratified by his imperial majesty the emperor of all the Russias, by the sovereign order of Malta, and his most eminent highness the grand-master, and the ratifications exchanged at the same time.
In testimony of which, we, the respective plenipotentiaries, have signed them and put our seals. Concluded at St. Petersburg, the 17-28th of November, 1797.
(L. S.) Alexander Prince de Besborodko.
(L. S.) Prince Alexander Kourakin.
(L. S.) Fr. Jules Rene Bailli Comte de Litta.

Proclamation of Paul I as Protector (1797)

Proclamation of Paul I as Protector of the Order of Malta 1797

 

[Translation]

SIRE, - The Sovereign Order of Malta, eager to acknowledge its debt of gratitude, and to perform a duty, not only sacred but dear to the hearts of every one of its members, approaches the foot of your throne to its grateful thanks. Your Majesty's benefactions are such as must ever remain deeply engraved on our memory.
The new establishment which the munificence of Your Imperial Majesty has secured to the Order of Malta in the Empire of Russia, has been sanctioned in that Island with the most lively enthusiasm, and ever sentiment of joy and gratitude. To give a still greater solemnity to our acknowledgement, and to express our homage still more forcibly, His Highness my Lord the Grand Master, together with the Supreme Council have unanimously decreed an Extraordinary Embassy on the occasion.
Being chosen by my Order for this august mission, it is in quality of Ambassador Extraordinary, that I am charged to acquaint Your Imperial Majesty with the universal wish of the whole Order that you would deign to become chief of this establishment, and accept a title so dear, and so encouraging to us all ; a title indeed which you, Sire, by your generous sentiments, and the favours bestowed upon us, have already so justly acquired, namely, that of Protector- of the Order of Malta, and as such we trust we shall see Your Imperial Majesty invested with the ensigns of an Order equally ancient and illustrious, ever renowned for its exploits, and venerable from the sanctity of its institutions.
His Eminent Highness and the Supreme Council have, therefore, sent your Imperial Highness the Ancient Cross of the celebrated La Vallette, that invincible defender of our Island who bequeathed his name to a city which he alone has rendered impregnable. This cross has hitherto been religiously preserved in the treasury of our Cathedral Church, as a precious monument, which constantly recalled to our remembrance the glorious military exploits performed by a Grand Master of Malta, who might properly be termed the Hero of Christianity; and we now feel a pleasure in offering it to your Imperial Majesty, as a proof of our gratitude, as a mark worthy of his piety, and as a happy presage of the renewal of our prosperity.
This offer is accompanied by our most ardent vows for the glory of Your Imperial Majesty, and the happiness of your Empire. This august and revered ensign of our Order, together with the recollection of our ancestors, and the proofs of valour given by the Knights of Malta will, we doubt not, excite in the bosoms of the illustrious, brave, and faithful nobles of Your Majesty's Empire an enthusiasm and a spirit of emulation worthy the most glorious ages of chivalry; and the solemnity of this memorable day will. constantly recall to posterity the remembrance of the munificence of Paul I, and the gratitude of the Order of Malta.

Report on the Creation of Orthodox Commanderies (1798)

Report on the Creation of Orthodox Commanderies 1798

 

To his Eminence and Sacred Council.

THE treaty, so joyfully drawn up between our Sacred Order and His Majesty, Emperor of all Russias had, not only our Sacred Order, but the entire world as an admiring audience of the prompt and honourable justice with which His Imperial Majesty responded to the requests, which our Sacred Order humbly placed at the foot of His throne, of reintegrating us in the enjoyment of His Rights over the Goods of the Order of Ostrog which passed under His dominion with the division of Poland.

They also admired His generosity and munificence well suited to the greatness of His spirit, with which He dealt with this Sacred Order, granting it more than double its requests, and finally above all shone the singular benevolence of this Great Monarch towards our Order, whilst in order to reassure him against the unfortunate events which are currently afflicting him, He deigned to assure several times our Venerable Ambassador that He would be his Protector and supporter, and so as to reawaken in the all the States of the World that consideration which the correct impartiality of our institute so justly deserved, there is no kind of honour that was not heaped upon him. But the magnanimous actions of this August Monarch did not cease here, knowing full well of the very serious losses incurred by the Order, which must have caused Him such anguish as to imperil His existence, He did not wish to defer by an instant providing the most prompt and effective assistance which on top of that provided by the founding of the Priory for the Catholic Nobility in His state, and with the limitless capacity for raising funds conceded to the Nobility of the same Priory which will not be inconsiderable, and will benefit the Common Treasury with very advantageous conditions, the very Zealous and Venerable Ambassador desired the Benefice. His Majesty provided us with another very great aid and saw to its increase by calling upon all the Greek Nobility of His Vast States, without altering our Constitution, our method or our internal regime. Seconding, therefore, to His Imperial Majesty all the general votes of the entire Greek Nobility of His vast Dominions, in order to have the Decoration of our Cross, which in that Empire has acquired a new lustre and in order to keep alive this tie for all future time.

He made our Sacred Order another considerable donation of 200 thousand Roubles annually, on top of the rights established in favour of the Common Treasury, the endowment awarded to our Sacred Hospital, for the defense of the Island and for the maintenance of these fortifications, He wished that the remainder be divided into 84 pensions, that these be known as Commanderies and would be issued by the Ministry of the Order to those of the Greek Nobility who fulfilled the necessary requirements, notably those of proof of Nobility in the form which shall be prescribed, payment into the Common Treasury of the corresponding passage fee, and also whatever may appear in the Plan drawn up by the Venerable Bailli, Ambassador to the Plenipotentiaries of His Imperial Majesty. The Plan will clearly reveal to this Sacred Council, that our Constitution remains completely unaltered, even more so its Fundamental Maxims, and its perfect neutrality towards all Christian Sovereigns and States, our ancient system and Regime remains unchanged, and it can actually be truthfully said that this new establishment is in substance an aggregation of Crosses of Devotion, of which there are examples for the whole period that these have been awarded to Persons of Cults other than Ours, and in fact the Venerable Ambassador having communicated his Plan to Monsignor Archbishop of Thebes, His Holiness' Ambassador to His Imperial Majesty, who confirmed on receipt that it was compatible with our principles.

Reading of this said plan will reveal to your Eminence and this Sacred Council the considerable advantages it brings to our Common Treasury, however we consider it our duty to outline here a summary. The Sovereign Intent of His Imperial Majesty is that such a donation will take effect from the first of July of this year and that on the 21 of December a donation of 100 thousand Roubles be made to the Common Treasury. The 84 new Commanders will immediately have to pay their passage, fixed at 1200 Roubles each, which brings a total of 100,800 Roubles, and the other 84 Knights destined to succeed them to the Commanderies will only pay half of their passage which amounts to 50,400 Roubles, the three sums amounting to a total of 251,200 Roubles, which the Sacred Order will receive in full next December. It is understood that those 84 Knights destined to take over the Commanderies, who will now only pay half their passage, will have to pay in full in order to acquire them. From the first of January of next year the Common Treasury will begin to enjoy the yearly income from the Sureties at 25% over each Commandery, which in total bring a sum of 41,350 Roubles, and another 10 thousand Roubles earmarked for the Sacred Hospital, and the other 10 thousand Roubles destined for the defense of the Island and maintenance of the Fortifications which make the considerable total of 61,350 Roubles annually, independent of passage fees, Rights of Nobility, which cannot be calculated until several years later.

There will also be another annual income fixed by the Sureties, for the foundation of which His Imperial Majesty gave ample licence, and the bonus they will bring will be a subject for much consideration, reassuring the Venerable Ambassador that there will be more than a few similar Foundations, the example of the Sovereign having inspired in all the Nobility a sincere attachment to Our Order, and an ardent fervour for its robes.

Reflecting now upon this truly great Generosity which the Beneficent Monarch has already shown and will show to Our Order, one can but see the Hand of God at work, who in the midst of all the bitter troubles which afflict us, having seen fall under attack the properties which were bought with so much sweat and blood spilt by our Seniors in the service of Christianity, reassures so greatly our spirits with the powerful protection of such a Monarch, and all the imminent obligations that this entails, and however much good we can see in this it is very difficult for us to express it, and certain that the entire Order is of the same sentiment, we join ourselves with it in asking your Eminence to act as our interpreter to His Imperial Majesty and to present as homage from the entire Order, our ardent prayers that He may not cease, now or in the future, to turn to the Most High for His continuing prosperity, and that of His August Family and happy Country.

The superior zeal with which the Venerable Ambassador Bailli Count of Litta worked for the best interests of the Mother House during these very important negotiations, and the intelligence with which he carried them out, the remarkable circumstances of not having incurred the minimal expense to ourselves but acquiring considerable profit on our behalf, must not be left unknown to your Eminence and this Sacred Council. We are certain his Superiors' appreciation would be deemed by him sufficient reward, but we take the liberty of adding, that as the circumstances of this Order do not allow this Act to be accompanied by a proportionate demonstration, we estimate that at the least he could be presented with a Diamond Cross such as to be found in the Conservatory of Your Eminence's choice, in the meantime, with the profoundest respect,

Proposed creation of Greek Orthodox Commanderies (1797)

Proposed creation of Greek Orthodox Commanderies 1797

 

This Treaty had yet to be ratified, and was drafted 1st June 1798 whilst the Order was still in Malta and under a Catholic Grand Master. Owing to the invasion by Napoleon the Treaty was never concluded. Accounts, and Letters from the Imperial Family to the Grand Master which are in the same archive folio are included at the end of the document.

IN THE NAME OF THE VERY HOLY AND INDIVISIBLE TRINITY

His Majesty Emperor of all the Russias on the one hand, wishing in his role of Protector of the Order of Malta, to demonstrate more and more His feelings of affection, regard and consideration, and aware of the advantages He can provide for His states and faithful subjects by granting a great importance to the establishment of the Order in the Russian Empire, to the effect of having the entire Illustrious Nobilty of His Empire take part, enjoying the same honours and distinctions as those admitted to the Grand Priory of Russia, established by the Agreement signed in St Petersburg on 17 January 1797, and on the other hand THE SOVEREIGN ORDER OF MALTA AND HIS EMINENCE THE GRAND MASTER, inspired by the deepest gratitude for the feelings and kind deeds of His Imperial Majesty, and wishing on their part to concur and facilitate, whilst keeping to the Constitution and the Laws of the Order, the accomplishment of an objective of such great import and usefulness to the entire Nobility of the Emperor of Russia, towards whom are directed the good intentions of His Imperial Majesty, have by common accord consented to form an Agreement to dispose of the respective objectives which the high Parties have proposed.

In consequence of which they have nominated and authorised as their Ministers Plenipotentiaries, His Imperial Majesty of all the Russias, the Lords N and N, and the Sovereign Order of Malta and His High Eminence the Grand Master, Lord N., who after having discussed matters and exchanging their full authority are directed to the following articles.

ARTICLE I. His Majesty Emperor of all the Russias, knowing how much the Institutions of the Illustrious Order of Malta are ready to inspire and keep in the greatest energy and purity, the sentiments of honour and love of glory, which distinguish the Nobility of His Empire, by and act of His Sovereign munificence, founds in His States in favour of the Order of Malta, a new Establishment for the Nobility of the Greek Religion.

ARTICLE II. For the foundation of this new Establishment of the Order of Malta within the Empire of Russia, His Majesty the Emperor very graciously assigns and accords in perpetuity, in the most ample and Solemn manner an annual revenue of 200 thousand Roubles, which will be administered, levied and allocated according to the method established in the various articles of the present Agreement.

ARTICLE III. The State Treasury of the Russian Empire will pay annually to the Order of Malta the sum of two hundred thousand Roubles. This annual payment will be made in two instalments, that is to say, the first of one hundred thousand Roubles on the 30 June/11 July, and the second instalment of one hundred thousand Roubles, in order to acquit the payment of the two hundred thousand Roubles, on the 31 December/11 January of each year. The said annual payments will have to be made to the Receiving Minister of Malta, or to his Treasurer residing in the Russian Empire, or to whomsoever shall be legally authorised to receive the allocation stated and fixed in the various Articles of this present Agreement.

ARTICLE IV. His Imperial Majesty declares that the aforementioned annual sum of two hundred thousand Roubles which He graciously grants to this foundation, will be exempt in perpetuity from all reduction and any tax, ordinary and extraordinary, in order that this new Establishment of the Order of Malta founded in the Russian Empire, will enjoy in perpetuity, in full and without the least deduction whatsoever the annual sum of two hundred thousand Roubles.

ARTICLE V. This new Establishment founded for the Nobility of the Greek Religion will be composed of eighty-four different Commanderies, the revenues from which will be fixed in the following manner; Two Commanderies at six thousand Roubles annual revenue each, two Commanderies at five thousand Roubles annual revenue each, four Commanderies at four thousand Roubles annual revenue each, six Commanderies at three thousand Roubles annual revenue each, eight Commanderies at two thousand five hundred Roubles annual revenue each, twelve Commanderies at two thousand Roubles annual revenue each, eighteen Commanderies at one thousand five hundred Roubles annual revenue each, thirty-two Commanderies at one thousand five hundred Roubles annual revenue each.

ARTICLE VI. All the aforementioned eighty-four Commanderies will pay annually to the Venerable Common Treasury of the Order in Malta twenty percent of their respective revenues according to the division indicated in the previous Article. The aforementioned Commanderies shall further make an annual payment of five percent in order to be exempt from the duty belonging to the Venerable Common Treasury of the Order over the goods of each owner upon the latter's death, to which duty are subject all the Knights of Malta and therefore through this aforementioned annual contribution of five percent of the Russian Knights of the Greek Religion shall be exempt in perpetuity.

ARTICLE VII. That which remains to complete the total sum of two-hundred thousand Roubles shall be distributed each year in the following manner : for the benefit of the Great Hospital of Malta, ten-thousand Roubles yearly for the defense of the Island and the repair of the Fortifications, ten-thousand Roubles, for the expenses of the permanent Mission in St Petersburg, four-thousand Roubles for the upkeep of the Chapel of the Greek Religion including its minister, four-thousand six-hundred Roubles, and for house repairs and other additional expenses, ten-thousand Roubles.

ARTICLE VIII. The Order of Malta will be given possession of the revenues assigned to its new establishment in the Russian Empire, and which constitutes the subject for this present Agreement, beginning from the 1 July until the 1 of January 1799, making for the half year one-hundred thousand Roubles which shall be deposited in the Venerable Common Treasury of the Order of Malta. Consequently of the Commanders who shall be nominated, none shall begin to benefit from their respective revenues until the 1 January 1799.

ARTICLE IX. The contracted high Parties are convened by common accord to fix and assign in the Articles of this present Agreement the duties which the Knights of Russia and the Greek Religion will of necessity have to fulfil without any exception in order to gain admittance to this Establishment of the Order of Malta and to subsequently enable them to obtain the Commanderies founded by this present Agreement.

ARTICLE X. The prescribed duties are as follows ; 1: Undergo the proof of Nobility the manner of which shall be established by a Commission nominated by the first of the eighty-four Commanders and which shall include the representative of the Order of Malta in the Empire of Russia, this will later be approved and sanctioned in Malta. 2: Pay into the Venerable Common Treasury in Malta the passage fee, be it of Majority or of Minority, from the moment of their reception by all the other Knights of the Order, and to satisfy all the duties and taxes established within the Order of Malta. The Majority passage, that is to say, for all those who are received after the age of fifteen years is fixed at 1200 Roubles. The Minority passage, that is to say, for those who are received before the said age is fixed at 2400 Roubles. 3: Undertake the four customary Crusades, be it in Malta within the ranks of the Order, or be it in the Russian army, against the Infidels. Six months of Campaign shall be completed for a Crusade. To establish the discharge of Crusading duties, it shall be necessary to obtain a Certificate from the military Chiefs and Commanders outlining the length of service and good conduct. 4: Not to be in debt either to the Venerable Common Treasury of the Order of Malta nor to the Venerable Grand Priory of Russia.

ARTICLE XI. All individuals who wish to be admitted to this new Establishment of the Order of Malta in the Russian Empire, will of necessity have to fulfil the duties outlined by the Numbers 1 and 2 of the preceding Article, and to subsequently measure up to the expectations of the Commanders and to be granted future vacancies, it will be necessary to have fulfilled all the duties outlined in the same Article under the Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4.

ARTICLE XII. All the Knights who will be received into this new Establishment of the Order of Malta will be obliged to precisely fulfil all the duties prescribed by the present Agreement, and it is by right of seniority which must be accrued after the time of respective receptions, that the enjoyment of Commanderies will be attained through successive vacancies, but the right of seniority will not be valid until the prescribed duties have been discharged, so that all candidates can be favoured, they shall have to acquire right of seniority and the completion of all duties prescribed by this present Agreement.

ARTICLE XIII. A Commander may, on the occasion of subsequent vacancies, on leaving the Commandery to which he had already been admitted move to a Commandery of Improvement, that is to say of better renown. But in order to obtain this improvement within the Commanderies, a Commander must have acquired the right of seniority, nor be indebted to the Venerable Common Treasury nor the Venerable Grand Priory of Russia.

ARTICLE XIV. The eighty-four Commanderies of this new Institution will be subject to, as all the other Commanderies of Malta, to the duties of Burial and vacancies, these will be regulated according to the laws and customs observed in all the Grand Priories. The Venerable Common Treasury of the Order will have, within the terms prescribed for Burials and Vacancies, the administration and the revenue of a vacant Commandery.

ARTICLE XV. The revenue from all Commanderies which remain vacant due to lack of Candidates, shall be deposited in full in the Venerable Common Treasury of the Order, until an individual shall show himself capable of filling the post, and it will be only from the day that he will have legally acquired it, that Burial and Vacancy will come into force, conforming to Statute IX and Order XIV of the Common Treasury.

ARTICLE XVI. His Eminence Monsignor Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta, leaves to His Majesty the Emperor the first nomination of the eighty-four Commanders and the eighty-four Knights who will have the expectancy of the Commanderies on the occasion of the latter's subsequent vacancies, according to the rank of priority assigned them by His Majesty the Emperor in this first nomination.

ARTICLE XVII. The aforementioned eighty-four initial Commanders will be exempt from their Crusading duties. The first eighty-four Knights nominated by His Majesty the Emperor and who will have the expectation of Commanderies will pay at the time of their nomination, only half of the fixed passage fees, but when they will subsequently be in a position of obtaining a Commandery, they will have to pay the remainder of their passage fees and satisfy all duties and taxes fixed by the Order of Malta.

ARTICLE XVIII. His Majesty the Emperor leaves to his Eminence Monsignor Grand Master, head of the Order of Malta, to exercise his magisterial prerogative to bestow a Commandery every five years, whilst during which interval he will render vacant some amongst the aforementioned eighty-four Commanderies which form this new Establishment.

ARTICLE XIX. The Commanderies, which by virtue of the concession of His Majesty the Emperor, outlined in the preceding Article, will be bestowed by his Eminence Grand Master, shall be subject to the annual fees and other duties outlined in the Magisterial Conferments, the very Eminent Grand Master will not however be able to validate this Magisterial pre-eminence other than in favour of an individual admitted to this new establishment of the Order of Malta ARTICLE XX. The very Eminent Grand Master, wishing to bestow Commanderies by his magisterial grace as a reward for merit, wishes that prior to magisterial inclusions taking place, His Majesty the Emperor indicates the individuals who through their personal service will be well deserving of the Sovereign, the State and the Order of Malta, and will be the most worthy of this preference.

ARTICLE XXI. So that the distribution of the goods assigned to this new establishment of the Order of Malta, can be extended over a larger number of individuals, it will not be permitted for any Knight to have, by virtue of seniority more than one Commandery at one time, so that he quits the Commandery he had before he can opt for another, superior, Commandery. The acquisition of Commanderies will be carried out according to the conditions of Succession, the regulations outlined in the articles of this present Agreement.

ARTICLE XXII. The Knights who, by their particular merit, will have gained the goodwill of His very Eminent Grand Master, a bestowed Commandery, will not be subject to the regulations outlined in the previous article, which is only relevant to those Commanderies gained by virtue of Seniority.

ARTICLE XXIII. His Majesty the Emperor of all Russias, in order to contribute more and more to the advantages of the Order of Malta, to its well being and its prosperity, and at the same time aid all individuals of the Nobility of His Empire, and also those who through particular circumstances are not in a position to fully afford the duties prescribed in the present Agreement, the means to fully partake of the distinctions, honours and prerogatives assigned to Russian Knights, admitted and received into this new Establishment of the Order of Malta, deigns to accord from the present and once for all time His Imperial permission and Sanction for all foundations to come from family Commanderies or Patronage, for all those who wish to follow this noble Institution, will have to address directly the Order of Malta or its representative in the Russian Empire, be it to agree reciprocal conditions or draw up respective deeds of foundation and obtain from Malta the necessary approval.

ARTICLE XXIV. Family or Patronal Commanderies will be titled in perpetuity in the Order of Malta, and wherever there is need, with the name of the founding families. The family Commanders will enjoy all honours, privileges and prerogatives which will be assigned to them by the respective Agreement between the Empire of Russia and the Sovereign Order of Malta.

ARTICLE XXV. The Commanders of this new Establishment will assemble in the house belonging to the Grand Priory of Russia of the Order of Malta, to acknowledge and direct matters, be this through administration and bookkeeping, or the observance, interpretation and execution of the regulations and conditions stipulated in the present Agreement, by observing the rules prescribed for those assembled.

ARTICLE XXVI. The Plenipotentiary Minister of Malta to the Russian Empire, in his function of general Proxy for your Eminence Monsignor Grand Master of the Supreme Council of the Order, and of the Venerable Common Treasury will be given audience according to his rank and seniority. He will report on all matters decided by majority vote, according to the forms and customs observed in the Order of Malta and according to the regulations prescribed in the present Convention. He will keep a register of relevant debates and will make to Malta the required communications.

ARTICLE XXVII. The present Convention will be ratified by His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias and by the Sovereign Order of Malta and his very Eminent Monsignor Grand Master, and the ratifications will be exchanged as promptly as is possible. At which time the undersigned Plenipotentiaries will sign and seal the present Agreement. Drawn up in St Petersburg this

​

STATEMENT ========= Monies which will be paid to the Venerable Common Treasury in the year 1798 for the second Establishment of the Order of Malta in the Russian Empire

Sum for the first term of 1 July 1798 to 1 January 1799 R 100,000

Passage Fees of 84 Commanders at R 1,200, R 100,800

Passage Fees paid in half for 84 Knights R 50,400

Total R 251,200

​

NB - To the sum of Roubles 251,200 is added 20% according to actual exchange of St Petersburg, over Vienna, given to Malta 301,440

​

DISTRIBUTION of 200 thousand Roubles annually assigned by His Majesty the Emperor to the second establishment of the Order of Malta in the Russian Empire

2 Commanderies each at R 6,000, R 12,000

2 " " 5,000 " 10,000

4 " " 4,000 " 16,000

6 " " 3,000 " 18,000

8 " " 2,500 " 20,000

12 " " 2,000 " 24,000

18 " " 1,500 " 27,000

32 " " 1,200 " 38,400

84 Commanderies R 165,400

To the Great Hospital of Malta 10,000

For the maintenance of the fortifications of Malta 10,000

For the Chapel in St Petersburg 4,600

For the permanent Maltese Mission in Russia 4,600

For the Palace of Malta in St Petersburg 6,000

Total R 200,000

​

STATEMENT Of annual revenues, fixed and extraordinary, of the Venerable Common Treasury originating from the second establishment of the Order of Malta in the Russian Empire

 

Surety 20% on the sum of R 165,400, R 33,080

Duty of 5% in lieu of those effects calculated on said sum of R 165,400, 8,270

For the Great Hospital of Malta 10,000

For the maintenance of the fortifications of Malta 10,000

Fixed Revenues R 61,350

Fees Burials and Vacancies Duties and Taxes ____

Total R ____

​

 

 

Letter from Czar Paul I, Emporer of all the Russia to the Grand Master in Malta.

Monsignor the Grand Master I have received from the hands of the Ambassador Count de Litta, your Eminence's letters, marked with the seal of the Order of Malta, with which he had been charged, he delivered to me the ones and the others in a solemn audience which I granted him for this purpose. The sentiments which your Eminence expressed to me in Your name and that of Your Order, were most agreeable to me. It is with equal pleasure that I have associated myself to a Corps which from time immemorial has had as guide to its actions valour and glory, I can therefore assure your Eminence that I attach a particular value to the Consignment You have made to me of the Crosses brought by the most celebrated heroes of Your Predecessors as well as Your own. I accept the Quality of Protector of the Order of Malta with which Your Eminence, together with all Your Knights, has honoured me, if it belongs to me, due to the proofs that I have given up to the present regarding my Goodwill, to the Order of Malta, I forsee that the Feelings of Esteem and Affection that I shall retain for it, will furnish me in the Future with occasions in which to advance Its Interests. The Count de Litta, of whom I wish to render witness the distinguished manner in which he discharged the task he was set in my regards, will always find me disposed to receive and consider all that will be relevant to this objective, he will not have failed to recount to your Eminence of the distribution of the Crosses and Commanderies which I have already carried out in the Grand Priory of Russia.

I am for the rest
Monsieur Grand Master

Of your Eminence
The most affectionate Paul

St Petersburg
26 February 1798

 

 

Letter No 2 from the Empress.

Monsieur the Grand Master, Monsieur the Ambassador the Count de Litta presented Me with the Grand Cross of the Order of Malta which your Eminence had charged him to deliver to Me. I received with a true satisfaction this token which distinguishes a Corps whose reputation has shone through up to our times. It is for this reason that the Emperor My Husband has accorded it His Esteem, publicly ascertained by the foundation of a Grand Priory in the Russian Empire. I do share these feelings of His Majesty, and it will always give Me pleasure to furnish proof of this to your Eminence as well as to Your Order.

 

 

Letter to the Grand Master on behalf of Alexander.

The Grand Duke Nicolas My Son

To M Grand Master in Malta

Having been awarded the same decoration, and his tender age not yet allowing him to express the sentiments which he will one day experience, I shall serve as his interpreter with your Eminence

I am for the rest very perfectly

M Grand Master
Of your Eminence

The most affectionate

St Petersburg
27 February 1798

Monsignor Grand Master, I shall leave your Eminence to be the judge of the feelings inspired in me by the Grand Cross of the Order of Malta which the Ambassador the Count de Litta has just delivered to me. These tokens of Heroism and Valour have been appreciated as they should be on my part, they remind me of all the glorious deeds which have shone upon the Order, and which have merited it the most distinguished sufferance of His Majesty the Emperor my Father. I can therefore but feel very flattered to see myself associated with a Corps that gathers to itself such fine titles of public and general Esteem. It is with these sentiments that I am

Monsignor Grand Master
Of your Eminence
The most affectionate Alexandre
St Petersburg
February 1798

To M Grand Master, in Malta.

Epistle of Pius VI to de Litta 5th November 1798

Epistle of Pius VI to de Litta 5th November 1798

 

[Translation]

TO OUR WELL-BELOVED SON, THE BAILLI DE LITTA,
ST. PETERSBURG

Monastery of Cassini, near FIorence,
5th November 1798,

PIUS P. P. VI.

BELOVED SON, - Our Salutation and Apostolic Benediction.
We were seized with horror upon the reception of your first dispatch, containing the protest and manifest of the Grand Priory of Russia upon the subject of the loss of Malta, and to learn that the Grand Master, in order to save his private interests, had had the unworthy weakness of sacrificing that of the entire Order.
His Majesty, the-Emperor of All the Russias, who will use his utmost endeavours to re-establish the privileges and the honour of the Priory, being in possession of the facts of the case, has every reason to employ his power to re-establish the said Priory in its primitive prerogatives and rights.
We shall co-operate with the authority which is needed, because in addition to the printed Act, signed by the Emperor, all the other Langues and Priories are invited, general and particular, to join in the said Act, so that the Order may be restored to its ancient splendour. And being aware that in a body composed of so many and divers nations, unless a preponderance of number intervened, nothing would be done obliging and compelling the individual members to observe the new law. Moreover it will be much more honourable and satisfactory for the Russian Priory to learn the same ideals prevail among many of the brethren to vindicate the common honour. The crime, such as it has been represented, is enormous, indeed it could not be more atrocious, and having taken the measure against the Grand Master he so ignominiously deserves it will be necessary to use the same against each of those Knights who, for a vile interest, were associated with him in this horrible scene.
We shall be desirous of knowing how many of the Knights of other Langues agree with the noble sentiments of the Emperor, and what may be the resolution which they may take in order to sanction it, for the example of others. Giving you, &c. (Signed) PIUS VI, Pope.

Election of Paul I as Grand Master 1798

Election of Paul I as Grand Master 1798

 

PROCLAMATION Appointing PAUL I. to the Grand-mastership.

WE, the bailiffs, grand-crosses, commanders, knights of the grand-priory of Russia, and all other members of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, present -in this imperial residence of St. Petersburg, reflecting on the disastrous situation of our order; its total want of resources; the loss of its sovereignty and chief place of residence; the dispersion of its members, wandering through the world without a commander or any fixed spot of rendezvous; the encreasing dangers by which it is threatened; and the plans formed by usurpers to invade its property, and ruin it entirely: being desirous, and in duty bound, to employ all possible methods to prevent the destruction of an order equally ancient and illustrious, which has ever been composed of the most chosen nobility, and which has rendered such important service to the Christian world; of an order, the institutions of which, were founded on such good principles as must not only be the firmest support to all legitimate authority, but tend to its own preservation and future existence: animated by gratitude toward his imperial majesty the emperor of all the Russias, for the favours bestowed on or order; penetrated with veneration for his virtues and confidently relying on his sacred word, "that he will not only support us in our institutions, privileges, and honours, but that he will employ every possible means to re-establish our order in its original respectable situation, when it contributed to the advantage of Christendom in general, and to every different state in particular:"-

Knowing the impossibility in our present circumstances the members of our order being generally dispersed, of preserving, all the forms and customs prescribed in our constitution and statutes; but being nevertheless desirous to secure the dignity and the power inherent to the sovereignty of our order, by making a proper.choice of a successor to d'Aubusson, l'Isle-Adam, and La Valette:- We, bailiffs and grand-crosses, commanders, knights of the grand-priory of Russia, and all other members of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, assembled at St. Petersburg, the chief place of residence of our order, not only in our names, but in those of the other languages; grand-priors in general, and all their members in particular who shall unite themselves to us by a firm adhesion to our principles, Proclaim his Imperial Majesty the EMPEROR and AUTOCRATOR of all the Russias, PAUL I. GRAND-MASTER of the order of St. John of Jerusalem.

In virtue of the present proclamation, we promise, according to our laws and statutes, and that by a sacred and solemn engagement, obedience, submission, and fidelity, to his imperial majesty the most eminent grand-master.
Done at St. Petersburg, the residence of our order, this present Wednesday the 27th of October, 1798.
(L. S.)

His imperial majesty condescended to accept this mark of respect and confidence in his goodness, and answered by the following

DECLARATION.

WE, by the grace of God, PAUL I. emperor and autocrator of all the Russias, &c. &c. &c.
In consideration of the wish expressed to us by the bailiffs, grand-crosses, commanders, knights of the illustrious Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of the grand-priory of Russia, and other members assembled together in our capital, in the name of all the well-intentioned part of their confraternity, we accept the title of grand-master of this order; and renew on this occasion the solemn promises we have already made, in quality of protector, not only to preserve all the institutions and privileges of this illustrious order for ever unchanged in regard to the free exercise of its religion, with every thing relating to the knights of the Roman-catholic faith, and the jurisdiction of the order, the seat of which we have fixed in our imperial residence ; but ,also we declare that we will unceasingly employ for the future all our care and attention for the augmentation of the order, for its re-establishment in the respectable situation which is due to the salutary end of its institution, for assuring its solidity, and confirming its utility. We likewise declare, that in taking thus upon us the supreme government of the order of  St. John of Jerusalem, and considering, it our duty to make use of every possible means to obtain the restoration of the property of which it has been so unjustly deprived, we do not pretend in any degree, as emperor of all the Russias, to the smallest right or advantage which may strike at or prejudice any of the powers our allies: on the contrary, we shall always have a peculiar satisfaction in contributing, at all times, every thing in our power towards strengthening our alliance with the said powers.

Our grace and imperial favour towards the order of St. John of Jerusalem in general, and each of its members in particular, shall ever remain invariably the same. Given at St. Petersburg, the 13th of November, in the year 1798, and in the 3d year of our reign.
(Signed) PAUL.

(Counter-signed) PRINCE BESBORODKO.

Creation of Commanderies for Russian Nobles 1798

Creation of Commanderies for Russian Nobles 1798

 

PROCLAMATION
OF
His IMPERIAL MAJESTY the EMPEROR of all the RUSSIAS.

WE, PAUL, the First, by the grace of God, emperor and autocrator of all the Russias, grand-master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, &c. &c.
It is an undoubted fact, that the Order of St John of Jerusalem has, from the moment of its foundation, contributed, by the wisdom and utility of its institutions, not only to the wellbeing of the Christian world in general, but to the advantage of the different states of Christendom in particular. We have always done justice to this illustrious Order; and we have given a striking proof of our particular affection to it, on our accession to the imperial throne of Russia, by establishing a grand-priory in our dominions, to which we have granted an analogous revenue. Our quality of grand-master of this Order, which we accepted in compliance with the general wish of all the well-intentioned members who compose it, induces us to pay the strictest attention towards the proper means of restoring the order to its original lustre, and to the recovery of those possessions of which it has been unjustly deprived. In consequence of which, being desirous on one side of giving a fresh proof of our esteem and attachment for this ancient and respectable institution ; and, on the other, wishing to make partakers in the privileges, honours, and distinctions, attached to this order, those nobles among our subjects whose fidelity towards the throne, and whose personal bravery, together with that of their ancestors, have not only preserved our empire whole and entire, but defeated from time immemorial the numerous enemies of our country, and extended its limits: wishing also that this institution may be an additional motive to our faithful nobility, and stimulate them not only to the love of glory in general, but to acts tending to the advantage of the nation, and agreeable to the sovereign ; we have therefore judged it fitting to institute, and we do institute, by our imperial authority and by these presents, a new foundation of the order of St. John of Jerusalem in favour of the nobles of our empire, according to the following regulations, which shall serve in future for the fundamental basis to the Organisation of the said foundation.

ARTICLE I. Independently of the sums heretofore assigned to the grand-priory of Russia, we graciously grant for the new foundation of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, and for the other expences attendant thereon, the annual sum of two hundred and sixteen thousand rubles; which shall be received, administered, and divided, according to the mode prescribed in the following articles.

ARTICLE II. The state treasury of the empire shall annually pay the said sum of two hundred and sixteen thousand rubles to the new foundation of the order of St. John of Jerusalem. This payment shall be made at two different terms, viz. the first, of one hundred and eight thousand rubles, on the 30th of June, and the second, of the same sum, on the 31st of December, every year: the said payments are to be made into the treasury of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, which shall afterwards make repartition according to the rules announced and fixed in the different articles of the present foundation.

ARTICLE III. This sum of two hundred and sixteen thousand rubles which it has pleased us to grant, shall be for ever free from all drawbacks, or expences of any kind whatsoever; so that it shall be wholly and entirely enjoyed by the said foundation.

ARTICLE IV. This new foundation shall consist of commanderies of different value, the revenues of which shall be fixed in the following manner:- There shall be two commanderies of each six thousand rubles a-year, four of four thousand rubles, six of three thousand rubles, ten of two thousand rubles, sixteen of fifteen hundred rubles, and sixty of one thousand rubles each.

ARTICLE V. All the above-mentioned ninety-eight commanderies shall annually pay into the treasury of the order, by way of responsions, twenty per cent of their respective revenues, according to the repartition in the preceding article; likewise five per cent as an exemption from a duty due to the treasury of the order on the effects of each commander after his decease.

ARTICLE VI. The remaining part of the two hundred and sixteen thousand rubles shall be distributed every year, to supply the necessary expences of the order, such as they have been stated to us, and to which we have given our approbation.

ARTICLE VII. The order of St. John of Jerusalem shall enter into the enjoyment of the revenues we have assigned this new foundation from the 1st of January, 1799, till the 1st of July of the same year; so that the one hundred and eight thousand rubles, making the half of the said revenue, shall be all paid into the treasury of the order: in consequence of which, the knights appointed to these different commanderies will not enter into the possession of their revenues till the 1st of July, 1779.

ARTICLE VIII. All institutions, to be useful and lasting, must be governed by clear and exact regulations: we therefore think it necessary to establish in the articles of the present foundation the duties which the knights shall be indispensably obliged to perform, and that without exception of persons ; in default of which, no one can either be admitted as knights, or raised to the dignity of commanders.

ARTICLE IX. These duties consist,
first, - in making their proofs of nobility according to the mode which shall be established by a commission of an hundred original commanders, which we shall appoint for that purpose ; in which shall be included the lieutenant, who shall represent us in our new quality of grand-master. The above-mentioned mode shall next be approved and sanctioned by ourselves. Secondly, - In paying into the treasury the passage-fees either of majority or minority at the moment of the reception, in the same manner as other knights in the order, and in paying all the other necessary duties. The majority fees for those received after the age of fifteen years are fixed at twelve hundred rubles; the minority fees for those received under ten years old at two thousand four hundred rubles.
Thirdly, - In making, four ordinary caravans, either on board the squadrons of the order, or in the Russian army or navy : a campaign of six months shall be counted as one caravan. To verify the performance of the caravan duties, the knight must be provided with a certificate signed by the military chiefs and commandants, proving the time he served and attesting his good conduct.
Fourthly, - In not being in debt to the treasury of the order.

ARTICLE X. Every candidate for admission into this new foundation of the order of St. John of Jerusalem must previously fulfil the conditions imposed in the first and second members of the preceding article. In order to aspire in future to the dignity of commander in case of a vacancy, it is indispensably necessary he should comply with all the obligations prescribed in the first, second, third, and fourth, members of the said article.

ARTICLE XI. The knights who shall belong to the foundation of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem shall be obliged punctually to fulfil all the conditions prescribed by these presents; and in case of a vacant commandery, the person who succeeds must obtain it from right of seniority: but this right of seniority ceases to be valid, if the candidate has not performed all the duties required of him ; far to succeed to a vacant commandery, a scrupulous observation of the conditions imposed in the present foundation is equally necessary with the above-mentioned right of seniority.

ARTICLE XII. When any commanderies shall become vacant, a commander may quit the one he already enjoys, to be preferred to a better: but in order io obtain such, the commander must possess the right of seniority, and not be indebted to the treasury of the order.

ARTICLE XIII. The ninety-eight commanderies in this new institution shall be subject, equally with the other commanderies of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, to the mortuary and vacancy duties; and these duties shall be directed by the laws and customs established for this purpose. The treasury of the order shall enjoy the administration and revenues of the vacant commandery during the term prescribed for the receipt of the mortuary and vacancy.

ARTICLE XIV. The rents of every commandery which shall remain vacant for want of a candidate shall be entirely paid into the treasury of the order, until such time as some one shall render himself capable of obtaining it; and he shall not begin to receive the revenues till the very day when he shall be legally nominated to the commandery.

ARTICLE XV. We reserve to ourselves the sole right of nominating the ninety-eight commanders who shall be put in possession of the commanderies instituted by this new foundation.

ARTICLE XVI. The first ninety-eight commanders thus nominated by us shall be the only ones dispensed from the duties prescribed in the articles of the present foundation, and shall be only held to the payment of the passage fees and the established taxes.

ARTICLE XVII In our quality of grand-master of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, we likewise reserve to ourselves the exercise of the magisterial prerogative, by virtue of which we have a right, once in five years, to confer a commandery by favour, if during this interval of time one of the ninety-eight commanderies which form this new institution should become vacant.

ARTICLE XVIII. The commanderies which, as mentioned in the preceding article, shall be conferred by favour, shall be subject to the payment of all the duties fixed in the magisterial collations.

ARTICLE XIX. It being our intention to confer the magisterial commanderies by favour only as a reward of merit, we promise to choose those alone who are deserving the protection and esteem of the sovereign, the state, and the order.

ARTICLE XX. That the repartition of the revenues assigned by us for this new foundation of the order of St. John of Jerusalem may extend to a greater number of persons, no knight shall be allowed to enjoy more than one commandery at the same time ; so that when he gives up one, it shall be only to be promoted to a better. The mutations of commanderies shall take place according to the tenor of the conditions and regulations announced in the articles of the present foundation.

ARTICLE XXI. Those knights who, by their personal merit and our sovereign good-will, shall have obtained a commandery by favour, shall not be included in the regulation mentioned in the preceding article ; the said regulation relating only to the commanderies obtained by right of seniority.

ARTICLE XXII. To contribute still further to the well-being of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, and to enable all the nobility of our empire, and even those among them who, from particular circumstances, cannot in all things comply with the obligations prescribed in the articles of the present foundation, to partake the distinctions, honours, and prerogatives, granted to the knights received into this new foundation; we deign to grant, from this present moment and for ever, our imperial permission to all those who wish to found commanderies of family or jus patronat to make such foundations; and in that case they must address themselves directly to our lieutenant, either to agree on the reciprocal conditions, or to commit to writing the act of these foundations, which must afterwards be presented to us for our approbation and confirmation thereof.

ARTICLE XXIII. The commanderies of family or jus patronat shall always bear the name of their original founders. The commanders of family shall enjoy all the honours, privileges, and prerogatives, attached to their foundations.

ARTICLE XXIV. The commanders of the present institution shall assemble in the palace of the order of St. John of Jerusalem in our imperial residence at St. Petersburg, there to take cognizance of affairs either of administration or economy, or the observance, interpretation, and execution, of the regulations and conditions resolved and ordained in the present foundation; at the same time observing the rules established for the holding of draw assemblies.

ARTICLE XXV. The lieutenant who shall represent us in our quality of grand-master of the order of St. John of Jerusalem shall preside at these assemblies. He shall be perpetual recorder, by virtue of his office, of all affairs whatsoever which shall be decided by the majority of votes, according to the forms and customs observed in the order, and the regulations prescribed in the present foundation. A register shall be kept of all the deliberations, for our inspection.

ARTICLE XXVI. Lastly, we confirm in the most solemn manner, in our name and in that of our successors for ever, all and each of the articles of the present foundation; the said articles to have their full effect, and to be inviolably executed. Concluded at St. Petersburg, the 29th of November, in the year of our Lord 1798, and in the third of our reign.
(Signed) PAUL.
(Countersigned) PRINCE BESBORODKO.

Support from the Grand Priory of Germany for Paul I Oct. 1798

Support from the Grand Priory of Germany for Paul I - Oct. 1798

 

 

Support from the VenerableGrand Priory of Germany.

We Prince Grand Prior, Bailiffs, Grand Cross, Commanders and Knights adhering to the Grand Priory of Germany.

Also as deeply pained as our brothers of the venerable Grand Priory of Russia after the terrible catastrophe which has deprived us of the Seat of our Order, We do not hesitate for one moment from showing our support for the principles which have guided their protest of 26 August and for the sentiments which were expressed with such noble vigour.

Our hearts and arms belong entirely to the Order, which we shall take action to defend and avenge. We shall be eternally grateful to the August and powerful Monarch who has given us the means, and who, on the eve of the greatest reversal, deigns to associate us with his fortune by taking us under his powerful aegis, even by finally nominating himself our Protector and Head, thereby crowning his kindness towards an Order, which has always been illustrious, and which traitors have in vain tried to cover with shame.

We hope soon to prove to the universe that the seed of infamy will not germinate on the soil of honour, and pursue the traitors who have sullied our history, before the entire Order assembled in General Chapter, in conformity with the spirit of our Statutes.

Placed under the immediate surveillance of HM THE EMPEROR and KING, Protector born from the Grand Priory of Germany, we cannot but announce our intentions, and take all definitive steps, strictly in accordance with our laws, apart from such time when they could become the object of negotiation between the Sovereigns our Protectors.

The harmony which reigns between the two Imperial Courts leaves us in no doubt whatsoever that Their Majesties will deign to agree on the measures they believe we should adopt, and that concord between the two powerful Monarchs is for us the augury of a future as comforting as it is glorious.

Heitersheim 23 October 1798.

L.S.
For the Chapter
Signed: The Grand Bailiff Baron de Ferret
Procurator of the Chapter.

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Lord Nelson's letter to Emperor Paul I of Russia - Nov. 1798

Lord Nelson's letter to Emperor Paul I of Russia - Nov. 1798

 

Palermo, 3lst October 1799.

To His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Russia.

SIRE, As Grand Master of the Order of Malta, I presume to detail to Your Majesty what has been done to prevent the French from re-possessing themselves of the Island, blockading them closely in La Valetta, and what means are now pursuing to force them to surrender. On the 2nd September 1798 the inhabitants of Malta rose against the French robbers, who, having taken all the money in the Island, levied contributions ; and Vaubois, as a last act of villainy, said, as baptism was of no use he had sent for all the Church plate. On the 9th, I received a letter from the Deputies of the Island praying assistance to drive the French from La Valetta.
I immediately directed the Marquis di Niza, with four sail of the line, to support the Islanders. At this time the crippled ships from Egypt were passing near it, and 2,000 stand of arms, complete with all the musket-ball cartridges, were landed from them, and 200 barrels of powder.
On the 24th October I relieved the Marquis from the station and took the Island of Gozo-a measure absolutely necessary, in order to form the complete blockade of La Valetta, the garrison of which at this time was composed of 7,000 French, including the seamen and some few Maltese ; the inhabitants in the town, about 30,000 ; the Maltese in arms, volunteers, never exceeded 3,000 1. I entrusted the blockade to Captain Alexander John Ball, of the Alexander, 74, an officer not only of the greatest merit, but of the most conciliating manners. From that period to this time it has fell to my lot to arrange for the feeding of 60,000 people, the population of Malta and Gozo ; the arming the peasantry ; and, the most difficult task, that of keeping up harmony between the Deputies of the Island. Hunger, fatigue, and corruption appeared several times in the Island, and amongst the Deputies. The situation of Italy, in particular this kingdom (the Two Sicilies), oftentimes reduced me to the greatest difficulties where to find food. Their Sicilian Majesties at different times have given more, I believe, than £40,000 in money and corn. The blockade in the expense of keeping the ships destined alone for this service (cost) full £180,000 sterling. It has pleased God hitherto to bless our endeavours to prevent supplies getting to the French, except one frigate and two small vessels with a small portion of salt provisions. Your Majesty will have the goodness to observe, that until it was known that you were elected Grand Master, and that the Order was to be restored in Malta, I never allowed an idea to go abroad that Great Britain had any wish to keep it. I therefore directed His Sicilian Majesty's flag to be hoisted, as I am told, had the Order not been restored, that he is the legitimate Sovereign of the Island.
Never less than 500 men have been landed from the squadron, which, although with the volunteers not sufficient to commence a siege, have yet kept posts and battery not more than 400 yards from the works. The quarrels of the nobles and misconduct of the chiefs rendered it absolutely necessary that some proper person should be placed at the head of the Island.
His Sicilian Majesty, therefore, by the united request of the whole Island, named Captain Ball for their chief director, and he will hold it till Your Majesty as Grand Master appoints a person to the office. Now the French are nearly expelled from Italy, by the valour and skill of your generals and army, all my thoughts are turned towards the placing the Grand Master and the Order of Malta in security in La Valetta, for which purpose I have just been at Minorca, and arranged with the English General a force of 2,500 British troops, cannon, bombs, &c., &c., for the siege. I have wrote to Your Majesty's Admiral, and His Sicilian Majesty joins cordially in the good work of endeavouring to drive the French from Malta.

Regulation edict for the two Russian Grand Priories - Dec. 1798

Regulation edict for the two Russian Grand Priories - Dec. 1798

 

Regulation edict by Emperor Paul I Grand Master of the Order, for the two Russian Grand Priories.

We Paul I, by the grace of God, Emperor and Autocrat of all Russia, Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Holy John of Jerusalem.

In consequence of the regulations and everywhere observed on the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, and to give more solidity to its establishment in Our empire, we judged to propose to fix a more precise manner the limits, the dignities, seniority and rights of all this that which is due to this Order.
In conformity with the institutions created by us in different times, the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem will be composed in Our Empire of the Russian Catholic Grand Priory, according to our foundation of the 1st January 1797, and of the Russian Grand Priory according to Our foundation of 29th November 1798.
The persons who were admitted to one of these Grand Priories for the carrying out of all the regulations which it including, will be held every time within the limits of their Priory, in accordance with our decisions, of manner that none will be able to receive neither rights neither seniority, nor commandery out of the Priory, where it was received. But, in all the cases where these two Priories meet, each knight will line up according to his seniority, in accordance with the statutes of the Order.

Given at Saint-Petersburg, 28th December, 1798, the third year of our reign and the first of our Grand Mastership.

Appeal by Paul I, Grand-Master of the Order, to the European Nobility Dec. 1798

Appeal by Paul I, Grand-Master of the Order, to the European Nobility Dec. 1798

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Appeal by the Emperor Paul I, Grand-Master of the Order, to the other Grand Priories and to the European nobility.

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We PAUL THE FIRST by the Grace of God Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias &c. &c. &. Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of St John of Jerusalem &c. &c. &c.

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The misfortunes of the times have reached the point when the Order of St John of Jerusalem, famous for its virtues over so many centuries, today treacherously thrown out far from the seat of its ancestors, finds itself facing the greatest of dangers. We have judged that it would conform to the quality of Protector that We have graciously accepted to come to the aid of that Order and to save it from the shipwreck which threatens it. We have deigned to this effect to gather it, in its distress, to the bosom of OUR Empire, as a safe haven, and We have established its new residence in OUR Capital. Recalling to OUR memory the merits of the illustrious Order of St John of Jerusalem, both towards the Religion as toWards all the Christian Princes, WE have resolved to turn OUR attention and OUR strength, not only re-establish it, to the general advantage, in its property and in its ancient state of splendour, but also to give it again in the future greater extent, radiance and solidity. It is for this reason, and through a particular benevolence towards that Order, that WE have showered it with new benefits, and in deference to its wishes, WE have graciously accepted the supreme Magistry, with the firm intention to use all OUR power and imperial authority to its advantage and its needs.

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Defined by these ideas, WE deeply and with all the solicitude that a public matter demands, urge all the Priories of the Order to join us in OUR plans, and to unite with US to form but one sole Body, which will gain greater consistency for the assent and support of the greater number of its Members; it is for this reason that WE invite each and every one of the brave and valiant men of Christianity, from whichever part of the world they may be, who would have acquired their nobility by arms or by other important services rendered to the State, to take part in this noble Institution. That all those consequently who have not yet degenerated from the virtues of their ancestors, who to preserve their nobility, or to give it a new lustre, have desired to be received among the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, and who through some circumstance could not obtain it in their country, We shall realise their wishes with complete confidence that We will not fail to satisfy their just desires. WE therefore solemnly state, that all Gentlemen who are in a position to make their proofs of nobility according to the laws and statutes of the Order and in keeping with the established method to this effect within OUR Empire, may be received as a Knight in the Imperial Residence of St Petersburg, and in that quality will enjoy OUR specific protection and OUR benevolence.

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WE pride ourselves that, placed by divine Providence and the right of succession on the Imperial throne of OUR ancestors, through the power and the force deriving from it, it is granted to US to protect, increase and maintain an Order so ancient and so distinguished among the Orders of Chivalry, fully convinced that through it WE are rendering a most signal service to the Universe. In effect the laws and statutes of the Order inspire love of virtue, form good habits, strengthen the relationships of subordination, and offer a powerful remedy against the evils which have produced this foolish obsession for novelty and frantic licentiousness of thought. Finally, for the Nations, this Order is in itself a means of increasing strength, security and glory.

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Given in OUR Imperial Residence of St Petersburg the 21st December, the 1798th year of our Era, the 3rd of OUR Reign and the 1st of OUR Magistry.

(signed:) PAUL

(countersigned:) COUNT DE LITTA

Order from Paul I Grandmaster ejecting the Priory of Bavaria from the Order

Order from Paul I Grandmaster ejecting the Priory of Bavaria from the Order

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Order of Emperor Paul I
Grandmaster ejecting the Priory of Bavaria from the Order.

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Order of HM the Emperor of all Russia, Grand Master of the Order Sovereign of St John of Jerusalem, passed on by H. E. the Current Privy Councillor and Minister of State Mr de Rostopsin to H. E. M. the Bailiff Count de Litta lieutenant of the Grand Master.

Monsieur the Count,
His Imperial Majesty the Emperor ordered me to communicate at Your Excellency the following orders.

That He has had to send back all the papers which will reach him from Priory of Bavaria.

To summon an extraordinary Chapter to declare that the priory of Bavaria is no longer a part of the order of Saint John of Jerusalem.

I have the honour to be with the highest consideration,
Monsieur the Count

Of Your Excellence
The very humble and very obed. Servant

Signed: ROSTOPSIN

Of 13 Xbre of 1798 St Petersbourg.

Certified true copy for the Magistral Secretary Department of Germany.

The Comm. GAVAZZANI

The Lieutenant of the Gran Master
The Bailliff Count de LITTA

Pro memoria of Pius VII to Mgr Laurent de Litta Nuncio to Russia March 1799

Letter written on the order of Pope Pius VII to Mgr Laurent Litta, Nuncio to St Petersburg by Mgr Antoine-Marie Odescalchi, nuncio to Florence, to disapprove of the nomination of the Emperor Paul I of Russia as Grand Master of the Order.

Florence, 16 March 1799

Every time that I have had to deal, in my preceding dispatches, with Yr Mst Rev'd Excellency on the affairs of the Order of Jerusalem, I never fail to point out to you the deep desire of HH that, within that priory, one should proceed on everything that might regard the Grand master Hompesc (sic), by following all the prescribed rules of the apostolic constitutions and the statutes of the Order with the same restraint that each member of a regular institution should have. Whilst the briefs of HH in reply to Bailiff Litta, brother of Yr Mst Rev'd Excellency show the particular consideration with which He holds that priory and, even more so, which He has for the most august Emperor who honours it with his mighty protection, he clearly explains the conduct which He desires that the priory should hold in affairs of such great importance. Yr Mst Rev'd Excellency may thus readily understand the astonishment of HH when he was made aware by the same bailiff, about the irregular dishonourable discharge of GM Hompesc (sic) and, above it all, the proclamation by the same emperor of all the Russias as grand master of the Order.

I cannot conceal from Yr Mst Rev'd Excellency that the mind of HH has been very troubled by the announcement of the events seeing, at a stroke, both the apostolic constitutions that reserve to the Holy See the right to judge the person of the GM as well as the constitutions of the Order which fix precise and invariable rules for his election and from which only the pope may depart, simultaneously set aside. In addition to all these considerations, HH immediately predicts that the precipitate action of the grand priory of Russia will lead to several vehement complaints to his throne by GM Hompesc (sic) as well as by the various Langues and sovereigns who protect it and which could cause the Order itself great and irreparable harm.

In fact, he is not mistaken. And, in truth, the virulent complaints coming, not only from the GM, but also from the bailiffs of the various Langues who, latterly in Trieste, actually form the "petit conseil" are incessant in demanding the observance of their statutes and in seeking favour relative to the current situation.

Can a powerful court keep silent when news reaches it of the measures taken in Spain in respect of the commanderies of the Order and of the suppression of the priory of Bavaria, ordered by the new Elector at the time of his succession to the Electorate of Bavaria? How can one resist the request of GM Hompesc (sic), whom all the priories except that of Russia, continue to regard as arrayed in his dignity? What reply can one give to the representations of the sovereigns?

What measures, finally, can one take in these unhappy times in connection with the destruction ordered by the Elector of Bavaria? HH would surely have wished to be able to conceal, by silence, the conduct of the priory of Russia in order not to put to the test the friendship and good harmony which is of such great advantage to the catholics of that empire. He had achieved reconciliation with this most powerful sovereign but, on the other hand, he could well see that to conceal that conduct any further would amount to a betrayal of the sacred trust in his pontifical authority and show weakness in an affair which interests most of the catholic sovereigns. This precise need and essential duty have occupied all his thoughts on this most important subject, after his recovery from the illness from which he had suffered, and he finally decided to order me to transmit to Yr Mst Rev'd Excellency the attached Report, which, although it will not be made public for the moment, will always, on the part of HH, be able to justify to the world, one day, his obligation to defend the rights of the Holy See and to preserve within the purity of its institution such a respectable Order as that of St John of Jerusalem.

In addition, HH confides in Yr Mst Rev'd Excellency's well known prudence and perspicacious conduct to make his feelings known with all possible delicacy, and at a time and in such a manner as to cause the least possible deterioration to the generous disposition witnessed by HM towards the catholic religion and the very person of HH, which is an obvious proof of the constant friendship nourished by the pope with regard to this sovereign, in spite of the events concerning the Order of Malta; that Yr Mst Rev'd Excellency will present him with the brief of the concession for the Archbishop of Mohiloff to wear the purple, which I address to him in my separate dispatch.

In this state of affairs, Yr Mst Rev'd Excellency will understand and will be able, I hope, to make his brother, the bailiff understand that prudence alone led HH to abstain from answering his last dispatch containing the Acts of the proclamation of HM as grand master, just as it is not the opportune moment for HH to become involved in conversations relating to the treaty concluded between HM and GM Hompesc (sic) for the creation of the grand priory of Russia which, in different circumstances would certainly not meet with any obstacle, given that it had been sanctioned by pontifical authority. For the same reasons, I refrain from speaking about the foundation of commanderies for the schismatics, which could be tolerated, as Yr Mst Rev'd Excellency wisely considered, but all the same never approved.

Through the execution of these orders of HH, I find myself discharged of all that, in Yr Mst Rev'd Excellency's preceding dispatches, had dealt with the affairs of Malta.

The Abdication of Hompesch to the Emperors of Austria and Russia 1799

The Abdication of Hompesch to the Emperors of Austria and Russia 1799

Letter of the Grand Master to the Emperor of
Austria.

6th July 1799.

SIRE,— Bent under the weight of misfortunes which overwhelm me, the intimate conviction (as much as the nature and the fast functioning of the events have left me in faculty); that I filled religiously the sacred duties of my state, can only prevent me to succumb to my misfortune, and to serve to me as some consolation.
The same feeling of my duties towards the Order, which under my direction was tested of so cruel catastrophes, also carries me to devote myself to its wellbeing, with its re-establishment and its conservation in its old rights, statutes and privileges, in my voluntarily abdicating of the dignity of which I am clothed, and consequently dispensing the Knights of this illustrious Order of the duties which they had contracted towards their unhappy Chief.
I implore Your Imperial and Royal Majesty to receive this declaration, to recognise the attachment to my duties and to the successes of the general cause which inspired it to me, and to deign to present it before his intimate ally, the Emperor of all Russia, under the powerful auspices whose the Order of Saint-John of Jerusalem will reappear, from which I was the first to call upon the protection, and of which I will be the first to bless the generous efforts for the good of the Religion.

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Letter of the Grand Master to Emperor Paul I.

6 July, 1799

SIRE,— While deigning to remember that I was the first to put with a respectful confidence the Order of Saint-John of Jerusalem, whose direction had been entrusted to me, under the powerful protection of Your Imperial Majesty, he will convince himself easily that I was the first to as bless the interest as Your Majesty testified toward the Religion; since the misfortunes which had tested it, which its unfortunate chief well regrets not to have been able to prevent, and of which he would have estimated himself extremely happy to be the only victim. It is the attachment even to duty, Sire, and to the Religion of Malta, which I lay down the law of complete sacrifice to its wellbeing, and to voluntarily draw aside the obstacles that my person could carry to its reunification and its entire re-establishment, in my voluntarily abdicating my dignity of Grand-Master.
My conscience and the approbation which I attend on the justice of Your Imperial Majesty will be my only consolations, and no person will take a part more livelier with the advantages which will result for the Order under the glorious auspices of Your Imperial Majesty, which the whole of Europe recognises for its defender and saviour. I implore you to be persuaded of the deep respect, &c.

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Second Letter of the Grand Master to the Emperor
of Austria.

6 July, 1799.

SIRE,— In imploring Your Imperial and Royal Majesty an asylum for my Order and my person, after the catastrophe of Malta, I was ready to submit myself, from that time, to all that it would please for him to order for the good of the common cause and that of the re-establishment of the Order.
I have very often renewed the same assurances of this perfect submission. It is it that imposes the sacrifice for me that the Provost Maffei asked me on the part of Your Majesty.
I implore you to be persuaded of the deep respect, &c.

Report from the Annual Register of the Order of St John for 1799

Report from the Annual Register of the Order of St John for 1799

 

While His Russian Majesty exerted his whole authority and influence to rouse a general attack on the French Republic, he received into his protection those who had suffered from its tyranny and oppression. He extended his protection and munificent patronage to the dispersed and ejected Knights of Malta. The Grand Bailiff, the Grand Cross, and other distinguished members of this Order assembled at St. Petersburg in October 1798, elected the Emperor Grand Master of their Order. His Majesty, who is said to have solicited, accepted this dignity and exercised its prerogatives, in conferring with great pomp and solemnity the different degrees, titles, and offices of the Order on various persons of distinction. Count Litta, envoy extraordinary from the Pope, and the Prince Terra Capriola, envoy from Naples, were honoured with the Grand Cross. A new institution, under the name of a Grand Priory, was established at St.Petersburg in favour of the Knights of Malta, and endowed with an annual revenue of 216,000 roubles. This was to serve as a residence and rallying place for all the Knights.
The motives assigned by His Imperial Majesty for this act of munificence, were a regard to the common cause of Christianity and Christendom to which the illustrious Knights of Malta had been so eminently subservient, to preserve that Order, and to enable them to recover the possessions that had been ravished from them by injustice and violence, and to add a new incitement to the loyalty and bravery of the Russian nobles, by the hope of being admitted, in consequence of signalised merit, into the illustrious fraternity of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem.
From this Order no person of noble descent and otherwise properly qualified according to the rules of the Order of any country in Christendom was to be interdicted. To the ancient and standing laws of the Order His Majesty added a number of regulations respecting his own new foundation.
The ukase for this establishment was accompanied by a proclamation, declaring that any gentleman of any Christian country, duly qualified, might be received as a Knight of St. John in the Imperial residence of St. Petersburg, and reside there, in that character, and enjoy the Emperor's favour and protection.
'We flatter ourselves (says His Majesty) that having through Divine Providence and hereditary right come to the Imperial throne of our ancestors, we have it in our power to protect, maintain, and even increase and extend the splendour of an Order so ancient and renowned among the orders of chivalry, convinced that by such a conduct we shall render an important service to the universe. The laws and regulations of this Order inspire a love of virtue, form good morals, strengthen the bonds of subordination, and present a powerful remedy against the present mania for innovation and the unbridled licentiousness of thought. Finally, this Order is a medium for augmenting the power, security, and glory of states.' The Emperor in February 1799 sent a note to all the foreign Ministers resident at St. Petersburg, requesting them to make known to their respective Courts, that he had accepted the title of Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of which St. Petersburg was henceforth to be the seat and the chief residence.
Orders were also issued to the Ministers of Russia not to receive any letters addressed to His Imperial Majesty, in which the title of Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem should be omitted.
On this new institution for the presentation of an ancient Order, although its patron and head was neither unmarried [n]or a Catholic, the aged, infirm, and unfortunate Pope, Pius VI, in the Monastery of Cassini near Florence, bestowed his approbation, sanction, and his paternal and apostolical benediction (in anticipation) on the 5th November 1798

The Maltese Order During 1797-1801

The Maltese Order During 1797 - 1801 from the official records

 

THE MALTESE ORDER DURING 1797 - 1801

Year 1797.
After the death of Prince De Rohan, Ferdinand Hompesh was elected Grandmaster of the Order.
On January 4th, Emperor Paul the First (Paul the First of Russia), having deep respect for the famous Maltese Order and bearing in mind the intention of founding a similar Order in the Russian Empire, "...As it is useful and helpful to assert the good rules", set up the CONVENTION in St. Petersburg* (in XXXVII articles). He appointed and gave the responsibility to the Minister Count Besborodjko and Prince Kurakin, to negotiate with Bailiff Count Litta, the Grandmaster's Minister of the Maltese Order, to start the activities of the Order in Russia.

"...The Russian Treasury should pay the Order 300,000 Polish zloty every year, for the land the Order owns in Poland, instead of making a profit on it. This amount of money has to be the annual capital, and the profits of the Order from the Russian land should be named "The Grand Russian Priory", which will be divided into The Grand Priory and 10 Commanderies. The Commanderies would be given only to the Russians, and never to the foreigners, and they are obliged to pay Malta the "Responcia", a fixed sum of money. The Maltese Minister in Russia should be paid a salary of 20,000 Polish zloty. A fixed sum of money has to be established for the other expenses of the Russian Priory. The Maltese Grandmaster has the right to rule the Russian Priory and every five years can give, as charity, one Commandery. Every Commander can have only one Commandery. The Russian Court has the right to nominate and confirm the Commanders called Hereditary (jus patronatus). The nobility of Roman-Catholic faith of the Russian Empire can join the Order. The Russian Priory shall celebrate the feast of St. John on the eve of June 23rd every year, with festive gatherings (Council Meetings). The Maltese Minister in Russia shall take part in the Council meetings, he should get acquainted with the current situation of the Order and always participate in the decisions by vote. The Knights and the Hereditary Commanders should also attend the meetings. A special uniform should be introduced for the Russian Priory. The Prior and the Commanders should wear the cross of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem round their neck and the rest of the Knights should have the sign on the lapel. All these regulations should be introduced within four months."

* This Convention with additional articles and secret parts can be found in Russian and French languages in the archives of the Hall of Treaties (Traktatnaja Palata), under N2.

Together with the rules mentioned above, on November l7th (according to the new calendar and November 28th according to the old one) of the same year, another VIII articles were added.

"...In the Russian Grand Priory there should be introduced the services of Conventional Chaplains, who will be useful to the Order's churches in Russia as well as in Malta. As payment to them, the Russian Treasury will allot the three Commanderies with the profit of 6,000 Polish zloty. The Conventional Chaplains shall be appointed by the Maltese Grandmaster and will be sent to give service from Malta. All the profits of each Commandery, which are not made use of during the year, shall belong to the Treasury of the Order."

On January 4th of the same year, another IV secret articles, concerning the regions in Poland belonging to the Order according to the Treaty (Tract) of year 1773, were added to the Konventsia. "...Between the years 1788 and 1793 (when the Ostrozhensky regions were added to the Russian territory) the profit of 4,000 Russian tchervonnikh (the Russian currency of that time) will be added to the Polish debts. From the year 1793 up to December 31st of 1796, all the profits will be paid directly to the Order and 24,000 Polish zloty will be added from the Russian Treasury.

The Grand Polish Priory will be joined to the Russian Priory and the Polish zloty shall be valued at 0.25 Russian kopeck."

As it was mentioned above in the article XXIV of the Konventsia giving permission to start the new Hereditary (jus patronatus) and the Commanderies in the Russian Priory several* Russian citizens started negotiating with Count Litta, the Grandmaster's responsible envoy.

* The Konventsia (printed in Russian and French) is kept in the Hall of Treaties under N3, gives the list of the negotiators as follows:

1797 December 20th - with Privy Councillor Count Ilyinsky.
1798 January 23rd - with General - Lieutenant Mikhail Lubomirsky.
         January 24th - with Privy Councillor Prince Franzisk Sapiago.
         June l0th - with Collegial Councillor Count Joseph Bork.
1799 February 22nd - with Royal Privy Councillor Leo Naryshkin.
         February 22nd - with Royal Privy Councillor Prince Nikolai
         Yuosupov.
         February 26th - with Privy Councillor Prince
         Beloselsky-Beloozersky.
         February 26th - with Royal Privy Councillor Count Alexander
         Samojlov.
         February 28th - with Katherine Davidova, the wife of the General
         Major.
         February 28th - Royal Chamberlain Baron Alexander Stroganov.
         March 7th - with Privy Councillor Tarbevy on behalf of Princess
         Katherine Borjatinskaja, who was away from St. Petersburg.
         March 23rd - with Chamberlain Nikolaj Demidov.
         March 24th - with Chamberlain Prince Vasily Troubetzkoy.
         March 24th - with Countess Irina Vorontsova.
         April 4th - with the Senior Quartermaster Peter Beketov.
         April 5th - with Royal Privy Councillor Marquis Maryzzi.
         April 5th - with Olga Zherebtsova, the Chamberlain's wife.
         April 5th - with Royal Privy Councillor Matvei Olsyfiev
         April 5th - with Chamberlain Prince Peter Tufiakin, on behalf of
         his mother Princess Maria Tufiakina, who was away from
         St. Petersburg.
         May 24th - retired High-Chamberlain Count Alexander
         Stroganov.
         June 1st - with Royal Privy Councillor Count Sergej Rumjantsev
         June 10th - with Royal Privy Councillor Nikolaj Bytulin
         August 28th - with High-Chamberlain Count Nikolaj
         Sheremetjev.

After the discussions held between Field Marshal Count Nikolaj Ivanovich Saltikov - the Head Bailiff of the Order - and Lieutenant Count Rostopchin, the Convention was signed.
The Convention or Acts set up the foundation, by Field Marshal Saltikov, of the Hereditary Commanderies with the right of inheritance by their future generations depositing family estates giving everlasting profit to the Order and obligation to follow the articles of the Convention.

Year 1798.
During this and the following years some of the declarations, which were made by Emperor Paul the First, became the laws of the Maltese Order:

a) February 28th:
The Russian Priory was given for ever the house in St. Petersburg, which later was called the "Chancellery House". On the same day, the acts of the Hereditary Commanderies of the Order were confirmed by Privy Councillor Prince Sapga, Count Iliynsky and General-Aide-de-camp Prince Lubomirsky in favour of the generations to come.

b) October 4th:
Every year to allot 50,000 rubles, collected from all Commanders, to the pensioners rewarded with the Order of St. Anna.

c) November 29th:
The Statement* about the starting of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, for the noble aristocracy of the Russian Empire (in XXVI articles), was issued. The Statement established a fixed sum of money for the Grand Russian Priory with other expenses of 210,000 rubles every year. The Order should consist of 98 Commanders, who should be paid a yearly salary, from which they were instructed to pay 20% to the Treasury of the Order. Special rules were also established for the new Cavaliers, wishing to join the Order. The persons, who desire to become Cavaliers and Hereditary Commanders, have to contact the Grandmaster's envoy, who should attend all the meetings of the Order.

d) December l6th:
The declaration was published, in which the Russian Emperor Paul the First, with deep regret, made known the fact that the Grandmaster of the Order Ferdinand Hompesh was yielding the island of Malta to the attacking French forces without offering any resistance. This fact brought him eternal disgrace and all the Cavaliers of the Order expressed their disgust and considered Grandmaster Hompesh as an unworthy leader to represent the Order. All the members of the Order expressed their wish that His Highness Emperor Paul the First accept the title of Grandmaster. So, the Russian Emperor proclaimed his solemn acceptance of the title of the Grandmaster of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. He appointed the base for the Order in his Imperial capital.

Emperor Paul the First also confirmed, that all the regulated advantages and Hereditary estates of the Order would be preserved. The Grandmaster's title would be added to His Highness' Imperial title.

e) December 20th:
The Rescript (document) was published appointing the Grandmaster's Ambassador Count Litta with four other persons: Field Marshal Count Nikolaj Saltikov, High-Chamberlain Count Sheremetjev, Royal Privy Councillor Angelgart and General-Prosecutor Lopukhin to regulate and set the rules of joining the Order of St. John of Jerusalem by the Russian nobility.

f) December 28th:
The Decree was published with regulations of the restrictions, dignity, leadership and rules for the members of the Order of the Catholic Russian Grand Priory set up on January 1st, 1797, as the Russian Grand Priory established on November 29th, 1798.

* This published text can be found in the Hall of Treaties (Tractatnaja Palata) under N6.

g) January 8th, 1799:
A Manifesto, which declared that all the persons with any noble rank could also join the Order of St. John of Jerusalem as a Knight in a rank of an officer, were published on the day. These persons, though, would not receive any grade or seniority in the Order and they would be accepted only for the services in the rank of Ensign.

h) February 15th:
The Rules (in XXII articles), which established the fact that the nobility could join the Order of St. John from childhood as well as at an older age, were published. Each new member would pay a sum of money on joining the Order. The younger members would pay 2,000 rubles and the rest the sum of 1,200 rubles when presenting the documents of their noble birth origin.

i) June 15th:
The Ukase, carrying the above date, was published, introducing another 20 Commanders to the Order, which already had 98 Commanders appointed. The new Commanders were appointed as a reward to them for the heroism they showed during the wars. The Ukase established that a sum of money would be submitted from the profits of the Postal Department belonging to the State.

k) July 21st:
On the day, the Rules and Regulations were set up to establish in Russia the Hereditary Commanderies (jus patronatus) in XIV articles, with the right of inheritance for future generations and the obligatory deposit of the estates giving not less than 3,000 rubles of profit annually.

March l2th, 1801:
The Emperor of all the Russias and the Great Grandmaster of the Maltese Order Paul the First, died on this date and Alexander Paulovich was declared as the new Emperor of Russia. Emperor Alexander, in the Decree published on March l6th, proclaimed himself the Protector of the Maltese Order. He promised to keep its rules and respect the privileges and property of the Order. Emperor Alexander ordered the General Field Marshal Bali Count Saltikov to continue his services as Lieutenant of the Grandmaster. He also declared that the Order should stay in the capital city of St. Petersburg, as before, until it could be provided with another convenient location, in accordance with its status and ancient origin.
With regards to these decisions, he declared that all the languages of the Order should be informed.

The Full Treaty of Amiens (1802)

The Full Treaty of Amiens

 

March 25, 1802

Definitive Treaty of Peace between the French Republic, his Majesty the King of Spain and the Indies, and the Batavian Republic (on the one Part); and his Majesty, the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (on the other Part).

The first consul of the French republic, in the name of the French people, and his majesty the king of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, being equally animated with a desire to put an end to the calamities of war, have laid the foundation of peace, by the preliminary articles, which were signed in London the 9th Vendemaire, (or the first of 0ctober 1801).

And as by the 15th article of the preliminaries it has been agreed on, "that plenipotentiaries should named on the part of each government, who should repair to Amiens, and there proceed to arrange a definitive treaty, in concert with the allies of the contracting powers."

The first consul of the French republic, in the name of the French people, has named as plenipotentiary the citizen Joseph Buonaparte, counsellor of state:

His majesty the king of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland has named the marquis Cornwallis, knight of the most noble order of the garter, one of his majesty's privy council, general in his majesty's army, &c. &c.

His majesty the king of Spain and the Indies, and the government of the Batavian republic, have appointed the following plenipotentiaries, to wit, his catholic majesty has named Don Joseph Nicolas d'Azara, his counsellor of state, grand cross of the order of Charles III..ambassador extraordinary of his majesty to the French republic &c. &c. :

And the government of the Batavian republic, Jean Schimmelpennick its ambassador extraordinary to the French republic, &c.:

Which said plenipotentiaries having duly communicated to each other their respective Powers, which are transcribed at the conclusion of the present treaty, have agreed the following articles:

 

  1. There shall be peace, friendship, and good understanding between the French republic, his majesty the king of Spain, his heirs and successors, and the Batavian republic, on the one part, and his majesty the king of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, his heirs and successors, on the other part.

     

    The contracting parties shall use their utmost efforts to preserve a perfect harmony between their respective countries, without permitting any act of hostility whatever by sea or by land, for any cause, or under any pretext.

    They shall carefully avoid every thing which might for the future disturb the happy union now re-established between them, and stall not give any succour or protection, directly or indirectly, to those who wish to injure any of them.

     

  2. All the prisoners made on one side and the other, as well by land as by sea, and the hostages carried off, or delivered up during the war, and up to the present day, shall be restored without ransom in six weeks at the latest, to be reckoned from the day when the ratifications of the present treaty are exchanged, and on paying the debts which they shall have contracted during their captivity. Each of the contracting parties shall respectively discharge the advances which shall have been made by any of the contracting parties, for the support and maintenance of prisoners in the countries where they have been detained. There shall be appointed by mutual consent for this purpose a commission, especially empowered to ascertain and determine the compensation which may be due to any one of the contracting parties...The time and the place shall likewise be fixed, by mutual consent, for the meeting of the commissioners, who shall be entrusted with the execution of this article, and who shall take into account, not only the expenses incurred on account of the prisoners of the respective nations, but likewise on account of the foreign troops, who, before being taken, were in the pay, and at the disposal of one of the contracting parties.

     

     

  3. His Britannic majesty restores to the French republic and its allies, viz. his Catholic majesty and the Batavian republic, all the possessions and colonies which respectively belonged to them, and which have been either occupied or conquered by the British forces, during the course of the present war, with the exception of the island of Trinidad, and of the Dutch possessions on the island of Ceylon.

     

     

  4. His Catholic majesty cedes and guarantees, in full property and sovereignty, the island of Trinidad to his Britannic majesty.

     

     

  5. The Batavian republic cedes and guarantees, in full property and sovereignty, to his Britannic majesty, all the possessions and establishments in the island of Ceylon, which previous to the war belonged to the republic of the united provinces, or to the Dutch East India company.

     

     

  6. The port of the Cape of Good Hope remains to the Batavian republic in full sovereignty, in the same manner as it did previous to the war.

     

    The ships of every kind belonging to the other contracting parties, shall be allowed to enter the said ports, and there to purchase what provisions they may stand in need of heretofore, without being liable to pay any other imposts than such as the Batavian republic compels the ships of its own nation to pay.

     

  7. The territories and possessions of his most Faithful majesty are maintained in their integrity, such as they were antecedent to the war. However the boundaries of French and Portuguese Guiana are fixed by the river Arrowary, which empties itself into the ocean above Cape North, near the islands Nuovo and Penetentia, about a degree and a third of north latitude. These boundaries shall run along the river Arrowary, from its mouth, the most distant from Cape North, to its source, and afterwards on a right line, drawn from that source, to the Rio Brunco, towards the west.

     

    In consequence, the northern bank of the river Arrowary, from its said mouth to its source, and the territories that lie to the north of the line of boundaries laid down as above, shall belong in full sovereignty to the French republic.

    The southern bank of the said river, from the same mouth, and all the territories to the south of the said line, shall belong to her most Faithful majesty.

    The navigation of the river Arrowary, along the whole of its course, shall be common to both nations.

    The arrangements which have been agreed upon between the courts of Madrid and Lisbon, respecting the settlement of their boundaries in Europe, shall nevertheless be adhered to conformably to the stipulations of the treaty of Badajos.

     

  8. The territories, possessions, and rights of the sublime Porte, are maintained in their integrity, as they were before the war.

     

     

  9. The republic of the Seven Islands is recognised.

     

     

  10. The islands of Malta, Gozo, and Comino, shall be restored to the order of St. John of Jerusalem to be held on the same conditions, on which it possessed them before the war, and under the following stipulations.

     

 

  1.  

    1. The knights of the order whose Langues shall continue to subsist after the exchange of the ratification of the present treaty, are invited to return to Malta, as soon as the exchange shall have taken place. They shall there form a general chapter, and proceed to the election of a grand master, chosen from among the natives of those nations which are to preserve their Langues, unless that election has been already made since the exchange of the preliminaries.

       

      It is understood that an election made subsequent to that epoch, shall alone be considered valid, to the exclusion of any other that have taken place at any period prior to that epoch.

       

    2. The governments of the French republic, and of Great Britain, desiring to place the order and island of Malta in a state of entire independence with respect to themselves, agree that there shall not be in future either a French or an English Langue; and that no individual belonging to either the one or to the other of these powers shall be admitted into the order.

       

       

    3. There shall be established a Maltese Langue, which shall be supported by the territorial revenues and commercial duties of the island. This Langue shall have its peculiar dignities, an establishment and a mansion-house. Proofs of nobility shall not be necessary for the admission of knights of the Langue; and they shall be moreover admissible to all offices, and shall enjoy all privileges, in the same manner as the knights of the other Langues. At least half of the municipal, administrative, civil, judicial, and other employments depending on the government, shall be filled by inhabitants of the islands of Malta, Gozo, and Comino.

       

       

    4. The forces of his Britannic majesty shall evacuate the island, and its dependencies, within three months from the exchange of the ratifications, or sooner if possible. At that epoch it shall be given up to the order in its present state, provided the grand master, or commissaries, fully authorized according to the statutes of the order, shall be in the island to take possession, and that the force which is to be provided by his Sicilian majesty, as is hereafter stipulated, shall have arrived there.

       

       

    5. One half of the garrison at least shall always be composed of native Maltese; for the remainder, the order may levy recruits in those countries only which continue to possess the Langues. The Maltese troops shall have Maltese officers. The commandership in chief of the garrison, as well as the nomination of the officers, shall pertain to the grand master, and this right he cannot resign even temporarily, except in favour of a knight, and in concurrence with the advice of the council of the order.

       

       

    6. The independence of the isles Malta, of Gozo, and Comino, as well as the present arrangement, shall be placed under the protection and guarantee of France, Great Britain, Austria, Spain, Russia, and Prussia.

       

       

    7. The neutrality of the order and of the island of Malta, with its dependencies, is hereby proclaimed.

       

       

    8. The ports of Malta shall be opened to the commerce and the navigation of all nations, who shall there pay equal and moderate duties : these duties shall be applied to the maintenance of the Maltese Langue, as specified in paragraph 3, to that of the civil and military establishments of the island, as well as to that of a general lazaret, open to all colours.

       

       

    9. The states of Barbary are excepted from the conditions of the preceding paragraphs, until, by means of an arrangement to be procured by the contracting parties, the system of hostilities, which subsists between the states of Barbary, and the order of St. John, or the powers possessing the Langue, or concurring in the composition of the order, shall have ceased.

       

       

    10. The order shall be governed, both with respect to spirituals and temporals, by the same statutes which were in force when the knights left the isle, as far as the present treaty does not abrogate them.

       

       

    11. The regulations contained in the paragraphs 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10, shall be converted into laws ,and perpetual statutes of the order, in the customary manner; and the grand master, or, if he shall not be in the island, at the time of its restoration to the order, his representative, as well as his successors, shall be bound to take an oath for their punctual observance.

       

       

    12. His Sicilian majesty shall be invited to furnish 2000 men, natives of his states, to serve as a garrison in the different fortresses of the said islands. That force shall remain one year, to bear date from their restitution to the knights; and if, at the expiration of this term, the order should not have raised a force sufficient, in the judgement of the guarantying powers to garrison the island and its dependencies, as is specified in the 5th paragraph, the Neapolitan troops shall continue there until they shall be replaced by a force deemed sufficient by the said powers.

       

       

    13. The different powers designated in the 6th paragraph, to wit, France, Great Britain, Austria, Spain, Russia, and Prussia, shall be invited to accede to the present stipulations.

       

 

 

  1. The French troops shall evacuate the kingdom of Naples and the Roman states; the English forces shall also evacuate Porto Ferrajo, and generally all the ports and islands, that they occupy in the Mediterranean or the Adriatic.

     

     

  2. The evacuations, cessions, and restitutions, stipulated by the present treaty, shall be executed in Europe within a month; on the continent and seas of America and Africa in three months; on the continent and seas of Asia in six months, which shall follow the ratification of the present definitive treaty, except in case of a special reservation.

     

     

  3. In all cases of restitution, agreed upon by the present treaty, the fortifications shall be restored in the condition they were in at the time of signing the preliminiaries; and all the works which shall have been constructed since their occupation shall remain untouched.

     

    It is agreed besides that in all the stipulated cases of cessions, there shall be allowed to the inhabitants, of whatever rank or nation they may be, a term of three years, reckoning from the notification of the present treaty, to dispose of all their properties, whether acquired by them before or during the continuance of the present war; during which term of three years, they shall have free and entire liberty to exercise their religion, and to enjoy their fortunes. The same power is granted in the countries that are hereby restored, to all persons, whether inhabitants or not, who shall have formed any establishments there, during the time that those countries were in the possession of Great Britain.

    As to the inhabitants of the countries restored or ceded, it is hereby agreed, that no person shall, under any pretence, be prosecuted, disturbed, or molested, either in person or property, on account of his political conduct or opinion, or for his attachment to any of the contracting parties, on any account whatever except for debts contracted with individuals, or for acts subsequent to the present treaty.

     

  4. All the sequestrations laid on either side on funds, revenues, and credits, of what nature soever they may be, belonging to any of the contracting powers, or to their citizens or subjects, shall be taken off immediately after the signature of this definitive treaty.

     

    The decision of all chains among the individuals of the respective nations, for debts, property, effects, or rights, of any nature whatsoever, which should, according to received usages, and the law of nations, be preferred at the epoch of the peace shall be referred to the competent tribunals: in all those cases speedy and complete justice shall be done in the countries wherein those claims shall be respectively preferred.

     

  5. The fisheries on the coasts of Newfoundland, and of the adjacent islands, and in the gulf of St. Laurence, are placed on the same footing as they were before the war.

     

    The French fishermen of Newfoundland, and the inhabitants of the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, shall have liberty, to cut such wood as may be necessary for them in the bays of Fortune and Despair during the first year, reckoning from the ratification of the present treaty.

     

  6. To prevent all grounds of complaint and disputes which might arise on account of captures which may have been made at sea subsequent to the signing of the preliminaries, is reciprocally agreed that the ships and property which may have been taken in the channel, and in the north seas, after a space of twelve days, reckoning from the exchange of the ratifications of the preliminary articles, shall be restored on the one side and the other; that the term shall be one month for the space, from the channel and the north seas, as far as the Canary islands inclusively, as well in the ocean as in the Mediterranean; two months from the Canary island to the equator; and, finally five months in all other parts of the world, without any further exceptions or distinction of time or place.

     

     

  7. The ambassadors, ministers, and other agents of the contracting powers, shall enjoy respectively in the states of the said powers the same rank, privileges, prerogative, and immunities, which were enjoyed before the war by agents of the same class.

     

     

  8. The branch of the house of Nassau, which was established in the ci-devant republic of the united provinces, now the Batavian republic, having experienced some losses, as well with respect to private property as by the change of constitution adopted in those countries, an equivalent compensation shall be procured for the losses which it shall be proved to have sustained.

     

     

  9. The present definitive treaty of Peace is declared common to the sublime Ottoman Porte, the ally, of his Britannic majesty; and the sublime Porte shall be invited to transmit its act of accession as soon as possible.

     

     

  10. It is agreed that the contracting parties, upon requisitions made by them respectively, or by their ministers, or officers duly authorized for that purpose, shall be bound to deliver up to justice persons accused of' murder, forgery, or fraudulent bankruptcy, committed within the jurisdiction of the requiring party, provided that this shall only be done in cases in which tile evidence of the crime shall be such, that the laws of the place in which the accused persons shall be discovered, would have authorized the detaining and bringing him to trial, had the offence been committed there. The expenses of the arrest and prosecution shall be defrayed by the party making the requisition; but this article has no sort of reference to crimes of murder, forgery, or fraudulent bankruptcy, committed before the conclusion of this definitive treaty.

     

     

  11. The contracting parties promise to observe sincerely and faithfully all the articles contained in the present treaty, and will not suffer any sort of counteraction, direct or indirect, to be made to it by their citizens, or respective subjects; and the contracting parties guaranty, generally and reciprocally, all the stipulations of the present treaty.

     

     

  12. The present treaty shall be ratified by the contracting parties, as soon as possible, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in due form in Paris.

     

In testimony whereof, we, the undersigned plenipotentiaries, have signed with our hands, and in virtue of our respective full powers, the present definitive treaty, causing it to be sealed with our respective seals.

 

Done at Amiens, the 4th Germinal, in the year 10 (March 25, 1802)

[Signed] Bonaparte.

Cornwallis.

Azara, and

Schimmelpennick.

(A correct copy) J. Bonaparte.

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