The changing times imposed new strategics and in 1775, Fra' Emmanuel de Rohan Polduc, a Frenchman, was elected Grand Master.

He was an attentive administrator and politician as well as a brillant legislator. He was the compiler of a Code which bears his name , which is, still today, a precious and fundamental source of Order of Malta law. Rohan re-organized the fleet and established a Chair of Navigation and Mathematics at the University. For a long time Malta had been the destination of young aristocrats from all over Europe who wanted to become naval officers.

The school of the Knights became a kind of Academy where the best Commanders and future Admirals came from. Above all, France relied on the Knights for the training of her naval officers.

The wind of the Enlightenment and the revolutionary storm that upset France compelled the Hospitallers to give up the neutral policy which had always kept them safe from repercussions arising out of different European events. In 1794 the United States proposed an offer of protection assuring them of new territory in America but it remained just a project. Russia, France and England were all interested in the Island of the Knights, even if the reason for their particular attention was in their own interest. New international balances of power made the island very important from a strategical point of view.

The Government of the Order did not ignore the dangers they could meet by entering into the sphere of influence of a specific nation but a decision had to be taken and Tsar Paul I of Russia entered into secret negotiations with Grand Master Rohan to reach a concordat that would put the Knights and their territory under the protection of Russia. The treaty, signed at St. Petersburg in January 1797, sanctioned a series of connections that had existed for some time: in fact, both Peter the Great and the Catherine the Great had tried to approach the Knights. Following the stipulation of the agreement, the Sovereign expected the creation of a great Russian Priory and this was the price of the alliance which the Grand Master was compelled to pay.

Fra' Ferdinand von Hompesch, a Knight of German origin, succeeded Emmanuel de Rohan in 1797 as Grand Master. His election gave the Order hope of greater protection from Austria but the French began to suspect that there might be Austrian influence on the Order. In the end, neither Russia nor Austria succeeded in saving Malta from Napoleon.

The future French Emperor could not allow other powers to possess a naval base of such importance and decided to seize it by using force. Good fortune was on Napoleon's side. The ship that carried the envelope containing despatches from the Emperor of Russia with the terms of the secret agreement was captured by a French vessel near Ancona and the documents ended up in the hands of the Gencral. He was infuriated by this, accused the Order of connivance with Russia and complained that a coalition was being formed against him.

Determined to take possession of the Island he ordered Admiral Francis Paul de Bruyes, who was leading the requisitioned vessels of the Republic of Venice from Corfu to Toulon, to occupy the port of Valletta, but the Grand Master acted resolutely and prevented the realization of Napoleon's plan. On June 10th the French fleet, on its way to Egypt, appeared in front of Malta. Napoleon asked the Grand Master to be allowed to enter the port in order to supply the ships with fresh water. The answer of Hompesch was immediate. He expected the French to respect the neutrality of the Order and replied that according to the treaty of Utrecht, in time of war among the Christian States, only four ships at a time could enter the port of Malta. Napoleon was not impressed and announced his intentions to his troops. He said, "the Grand Master has refused us the water we need and so tomorrow at dawn the army will land on the coast and take it".

These were dramatic hours for the Knights. On the battlements were one thousand four hundred pieces of artillery and the Grand Master commanded three hundred and thirty two Knights. He also had at his disposal one thousand two hundred men of the Regiment of Malta, three hundred men from the landing force of the galleys, four hundred from the Order's vessels and the Maltese Militia which could place twelve thousand men on the field. A successful defence could be attempted, but it was a decision that was contrary to the rule of the Order to raise arms against other Christians.

It has been said that Grand Master Hompesch was incapable and weak. Some have also hinted that the French Knights who were present on the Island at that moment had betrayed him but it is difficult to express a definite opinion about such a complex situation and there are very few elements to support either hypothesis.

From an optimistic point of view, the appearance of Napoleon Bonaparte on the European scene could be considered as providential. The Sovereign Slilitary Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and Malta, had already exhausted its military mission and, in an age of furious nationalism, disputes and misunderstandings among the members of the different Langues began to appear. The changing times and a certain immobility were already misting the ancient splendour of the Holy Religion. Ferdinand von Hompesch ordered his men not to react and as a result the French soldiers sacked the island.

The destiny of the Order was sealed on the morning of June 12th 1798, the 24th day of Messidor of the sixth year of the French Republic. On board the French vessel "Orient" a committee of seven Knights dealt with the terms of surrender with Napoleon, signing a convention composed of seven items: a document with a few words to end 268 years of history. So many years had passed since that October 26th 1530 when Fra' Philipe de Villiers de l'Isle-Adam had taken possession of the "island of honey". Two and a half centuries during which the Knights had given so many examples of abnegation, helping men and nations, princes and cities and offering a very high tribute of blood for the cause of Christianity. Beyond the formal and useless claims of various governments, nobody appeared worried about what was happening. Europe, ungrateful as ever, was concerned only with establishing who the new owners of that rock, placed in the middle of the Mediterranean, would be.

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