Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM)

The Order of the Knights of Malta is an exclusive, centuries-old Roman Catholic fellowship. In 2017 Francis completed a virtual takeover of the Order when he forced the resignation of the order's grand master, Matthew Festingletter, a 67-year-old Briton. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which defended pilgrims to the Holy Land during the Crusades, is an order of chivalry. And a singular one. Like countries, the Order has sovereignty (its knights having previously ruled Malta). Yet it no longer has territory beyond its headquarters on the fashionable Via Condotti in Rome. From there it dispatches ambassadors and issues stamps, coins and even its own licence plates. The only similar, sovereign entity with little or no territory is the Holy See. So Francis’s putsch is akin to the annexation of one state by another.

Flash back 450 years … in 1565 The Ottoman Empire, the greatest world power of the day, was on the move. Its plan was to conquer Europe. The only remaining obstacle in its path was the little Mediterranean island fortress of the Knights — Malta.

From the shores of the Golden Horn, Suleiman the Magnificent, Emperor of the Ottomans, sent the greatest armada since antiquity to wipe out Islam’s most implacable foe, the Knights of Malta. To the Turks the Knights were known as “The Hounds of Hell”. The Knights called themselves “The Religion”. Under the order’s famous leader, Jean Parisot de La Valette, a French nobleman and 49th Grand Master of the order, the knights defeated the Ottoman Empire at Malta in one of history’s famous battles.

The great sultan attacked with an armada carrying 48,000 troops. La Valette had only 500 knights and 3000 Maltese militia plus 2600 Italian and Spanish reinforcements, totaling 6100. La Valette was 71 years old when the Ottoman Empire attacked his sovereign island fortress of Malta. Hopelessly outnumbered nearly eight to one, he withstood one of history’s greatest sieges.

https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2017/02/07/why-the-pope-has-taken-control-of-the-knights-of-malta

https://nexusnewsfeed.com/article/geopolitics/pope-francis-jesuits-takes-control-of-the-knights-of-malta/

After allowing passage of Obamacare… US Chief Justice heading to Malta. He joked that following the ruling, taking a trip to the “impregnable island fortress” was a “good idea”.

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/After-Obamacare-US-Chief-Justice-heading-to-Malta.426656

Knights of Malta and their Boats

The birth of the Knights Hospitaller dates back to around 1048. Merchants from the ancient Marine Republic of Amalfi obtained from the Caliph of Egypt the authorisation to build a church, convent, and hospital in Jerusalem, to care for pilgrims of any religious faith or race. In 1113, Pope Paschal II approved the foundation of the Hospital and placed it under the aegis of the Holy See, granting it the right to freely elect its superiors without interference from other secular or religious authorities.

As time went on, the order adopted the white, eight-pointed Cross that is still its symbol today. The eight points represent the eight beatitudes that Jesus pronounced in his Sermon on the Mount. Others also think that it refers to the eight medieval nations whose nobles made up the famous Order of St. John.

The order was forced out of Jerusalem in 1291, after the Siege of Acre. In 1310, led by Grand Master Fra' Foulques de Villaret, the knights regrouped on the island of Rhodes. From there, the defense of the Christian world required the organization of a naval force; so the Order built a powerful fleet and sailed the eastern Mediterranean, fighting battles for the sake of Christendom, including Crusades in Syria and Egypt.

From its beginning, independence from other nations granted by pontifical charter and the universally recognised right to maintain and deploy armed forces constituted grounds for the international sovereignty of the Order, which minted its own coins and maintained diplomatic relations with other states.

In the early 14th century, the institutions of the Order and the knights who came to Rhodes from every corner of Europe were grouped according to the languages they spoke. The Order was governed by its Grand Master, the Prince of Rhodes, and its Council.

In 1523, after six months of siege and fierce combat against the fleet and army of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, the Knights were forced to surrender, and left Rhodes with military honours.

Malta

The Order remained without a territory of its own until 1530, when Grand Master Fra' Philippe de Villiers de l'Isle Adam took possession of the island of Malta, granted to the order by Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and his mother Queen Joanna of Castile as monarchs of Sicily, with the approval of Pope Clement VII, for which the order had to honour the conditions of the Tribute of the Maltese Falcon.

https://templar-cross.com/blogs/knights-templar-blog/maltese-cross-meaning#

Maltese Falcon