Knights of Malta

Hospitaller Malta, officially the Monastic State of the Order of Malta, and known within Maltese history as the Knights' Period, was a polity which existed between 1530 and 1798 when the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Gozo were ruled by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. It was formally a vassal state of the Kingdom of Sicily, and it came into being when Emperor Charles V granted the islands as well as the city of Tripoli in modern Libya to the Order, following the latter's loss of Rhodes in 1522. Hospitaller Tripoli was lost to the Ottoman Empire in 1551, but an Ottoman attempt to take Malta in 1565 failed.

Grand Masters of Malta

Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam
1521–1534
Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam

(1464 – 21 August 1534)

Piero de Ponte
1534–1535
Piero de Ponte

(26 August 1462 – 17 November 1535)

Didier de Saint-Jaille
1535–1536
Didier de Saint-Jaille

(died 26 September 1536)

Juan de Homedes
1536–1553
Juan de Homedes

(c. 1477 – 6 September 1553)

Claude de la Sengle
1553–1557
Claude de la Sengle

(1494 – 18 August 1557)

Jean Parisot de Valette
1557–1568
Jean Parisot de Valette

(c. 4 February 1495 – 21 August 1568)

Pierre de Monte
1568–1572
Pierre de Monte

(1499 − 26 January 1572)

Jean de la Cassière
1572–1581
Jean de la Cassière

(1502 – 21 December 1581)

Mathurin Romegas
1577–1581
Mathurin Romegas

(1525 or 1528 – November 1581)

Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle
1581–1595
Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle

(13 April 1531 – 4 May 1595)

Martín Garzés
1595–1601
Martín Garzés

(1526 − 7 February 1601)

Alof de Wignacourt
1601–1622
Alof de Wignacourt

(1547 – 14 September 1622)

Luís Mendes de Vasconcellos
1622–1623
Luís Mendes de Vasconcellos

(c. 1542 – March 7, 1623)

Antoine de Paule
1623–1636
Antoine de Paule

(c. 1551 – 9 June 1636)

Giovanni Paolo Lascaris
1636–1657
Giovanni Paolo Lascaris

(28 June 1560 – 14 August 1657)

Martin de Redin
1657–1660
Martin de Redin

(1579 – 6 February 1660)

Annet de Clermont-Gessant
1660
Annet de Clermont-Gessant

(1587 – 2 June 1660)

Rafael Cotoner
1660–1663
Rafael Cotoner

(1601 – 20 October 1663)

Nicolás Cotoner
1663–1680
Nicolás Cotoner

(1608 – 29 April 1680)

Gregorio Carafa
1680–1690
Gregorio Carafa

(17 March 1615 – 21 July 1690)

Adrien de Wignacourt
1690–1697
Adrien de Wignacourt

(1618 – 4 February 1697)

Ramon Perellós
1697–1720
Ramon Perellós

(1637 – 10 January 1720)

Marc'Antonio Zondadari
1720–1722
Marc'Antonio Zondadari

(26 November 1658 − 16 June 1722)

António Manoel de Vilhena
1722–1736
António Manoel de Vilhena

(28 May 1663 – 10 December 1736)

Ramón Despuig
1736–1741
Ramón Despuig

(1670 – 15 January 1741)

Manuel Pinto da Fonseca
1741–1773
Manuel Pinto da Fonseca

(24 May 1681 – 23 January 1773)

Francisco Ximénez de Tejada
1773–1775
Francisco Ximénez de Tejada

(13 October 1703 − 9 November 1775)

Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc
1775–1797
Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc

(18 April 1725 – 14 July 1797)

Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim
1797–1799
Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim

(9 November 1744 – 12 May 1805)

French Invasion

The French invasion of Malta was the successful invasion of the islands of Malta and Gozo, then ruled by the Order of St. John, by the French First Republic led by Napoleon Bonaparte in June 1798 as part of the Mediterranean campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars.

Engraving depicting Malta's capitulation to Napoleon
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