Malta - A Short History By Sir Knight Michael J. Kastle, REPGC
S
ometime ago, I attended a Com- John arrived and became the Sovereign mandery meeting that had a pro- Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John gram on the Mediterranean Pass. of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta Everything was very straight forward, in 1530. Needless to say, my comments right out of our ritual. Then the com- were not well received. I asked for the ment was made that all crusaders go- citation the Sir Knight used that stated ing to the Levant left from the island of these facts. He said he would get back to Malta and received the Mediterranean me. I am still waiting. This incident leads Pass prior to leaving. I commented that me to think that many of our Sir Knights not all Crusaders went by sea and those do not have a real grasp of history. The fact that we put the Order of that did probably left from Genoa, Venice, Brindisi, and Aigues-Mortes for the Malta before the Order of the Temple is probably confusing. The Knights Temlater Crusades. The island of Malta was not a ma- plar disappeared from history in the very jor seaport until the early 16th Century, early 14th Century (1307-1314), and the when the Knights of the Hospital of St. Knights of Malta did not arrive on the
Fortifications in the harbor on the Island of Malta. Photo by the editor.
knight templar
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