IN EXILE

he provisional seat of the Hospitallers in exile was established in Trieste under the protection of the Emperor of Austria. Fra' Ferdinand von Hompesch sent a letter of protest to the great powers of Europe, complaining of the betrayal of Napoleon. The General had openly violated the neutrality of Malta and the Grand Master claimed that his sovereignty over the island, taken from him by using force, was still valid. The King of Naples and Sicily also protested against the abuse of power by the French but nothing changed. The behaviour of the French obliged the people of Malta to rebel and consequently allowed the European powers to intervene. The command of the operations was assumed by the English who finished off by occupying the island and taking possession of it.

In the meantime, as was easy to foresee, the loss of Malta had grave consequences upon the members of the Order. The Knights of the Grand Phory of Russia and those of Poland deposed von Hompesch and on November 6th 1798 elected Tsar Paul I as the new Grand Master. This situation put the Holy See in great difficulties. The Pope could not tolerate that a single Grand Priory could, contrary to any norm in Canon Law, depose from office the head of the Order of St. John without his having abdicated. Besides there was the fact that Paul I was not Catholic and was married. Pope Pius VI refused categorically to recognise the Sovereign as Grand Master even though, under threat from Napoleon, he saw a possible alliance with the Russian Empire.

In the meantime in July 1799 Hompesch abdicated upon the suggestion of the court of Vienna which needed Russia's assistance.

This was very important: Paul I was to become Grand Master "de facto" but not "de iure".

Although Orthodox, the Tsar respected the Catholicism of the Order under all aspects. In the confused and difficult historical moment, caused by the Napoleonic wars, it was he who saved the historical continuity of the Order of St. John. In the night between March 11th and 12th 1801 Tsar Paul I was killed in the castle of Michajlovskij in St. Petersburg. His son, Alexander I, did not claim the Grand Mastership by right of succession for himself although he assured the Order of his protection. For the successor of his father, he suggested that every Langue should choose its own candidate to be submitted to the Pope, who would himself appoint the new Grand Master. In this way Alexander I acknowledged the right of the Supreme Pontiff to nominate the Grand Master. An unusual practice which, under the circumstances of the time, was also accepted by the signatories of the Treaty of Amiens (1802) which, in the meantime, had decreed the restitution of Malta to the Knights.

On February 9th 1803 Pope Pius VII appointed Fra' Giovan Battista Tommasi as Grand Master.

From St. Petersburg the Tsar sent him the insignia that had belonged to his father.

The Grand Master settled in Messina and his first act was to entrust his Lieutenant to establish the procedure for the restitution of the island of Malta with the representatives of the European powers.

The hope of the Knights to return to their old home would very soon reveal itself to be futile. With the Treaty of Paris on May 30th 1814, Malta was assigned definitively to Great Britain and therefore the claims and protests made by the Delegates of the Order at the Congresses of Vienna and Aquisgrana were useless. Attempts made to obtain some other island at the congress of Verona were also in vain.

In 1805, following the transfer of the Convent to Catania, Grand Master Tommasi died. Owing to the war, the representatives of the different Langues were unable to meet and the Pope authorised the Council Complete of State to elect, in accordance with the Constitutional Charter, a Lieutenant of the Grand Magistry.

Difficult years followed with the Order constantly in search of suitable accommodation. Finally, following a short stay in Ferrara, in 1834 the Lieutenant Fra' Carlo Candida chose, as seat, the ancient Palazzo di Malta in Rome, which had been then residence of the representative of the Hospitallers accredited to the Holy Father.

After having wandered far and wide, the Knights finally landed in the capital of Christianity, thereby finding the most logical solution to their problems.

Most of the Priories no longer existed and hundreds of Knights were dispersed throughout various nations with no one to guide them. It was necessary to get re-organised as soon as possible and demonstrate the vitality of an institution which, though no longer having its own territory, continue to be recognised as a Sovereign Entity by the European powers. A long and complex period of reconstruction was awaiting the Knights of the eight-pointed Cross, who would yet again have to face up to years of hard work and commitment. As in Rhodes and Malta, so too, in the Eternal City, the Knights of St. John would be able to hoist the glorious flag of the "Sacra Milizia" and continue on their path in history.

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