INTRODUCTION
It is difficult to support and love an institution if we don’t know its history. However, to condense the millenarian and glorious history of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem into a few pages is practically impossible, and in general, its history is well known.
At the beginning of the 11th century, the Saracens had already been occupying Jerusalem for about 500 years. In 1020, Caliph Dehara Ladimellah granted permission to a group of Amalfitan sailors to establish in Jerusalem a district provided with commercial quarters, lodgings for travellers, churches, and shelters for sick people and pilgrims, often victims of violence and persecution.
A monastic brotherhood of Hospitallers, which could be considered the initial nucleus of the Order, was created for the purpose of managing the “Domus Hospitalis”, dedicated to Saint John, which gave hospitality to men, and the Hospital of Saint Madeleine, which gave hospitality to women.
In the year 1090, that “Sacra Domus” was administered by Benedictines. Their master was Fra Gerardo de Sasso (1040–1120), born in Provence (France), according to some accounts, or in Amalfi, according to others, who miraculously escaped death. He is recognized as the first historical figure and the first Grand Master of the Order, and was elevated to the honour of the altars among the Blessed Hospitallers.
Shortly after its foundation, the “Domus Hospitalis” became the focal point not only for the traders of Amalfi but also, and especially, for the anonymous and destitute mass of people in pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the holiest place of Christianity.
In 1099, at the end of the First Crusade (1095–1099), Godfrey of Bouillon reconquered Jerusalem, and his brother Baldwin became its first King. The “Sacra Domus” experienced glorious moments and began to develop a supporting action, not only in favour of traders and pilgrims but also to the growing Brotherhood of “frates” which was expanding alongside all the holy places. This Brotherhood, which had acquired its own characteristics and became an institution, began to act in favour of the Crusaders.
After being forced to abandon Jerusalem and Saint Jean d’Acre in 1291 due to the wars with the Mamluks, the Knights of the Order of Saint John temporarily settled in Cyprus. There, they founded a “sister order”—the Order of Cyprus, also known as the “Knights of the Sword and Silence”. These knights served as the elite security corps and bodyguards to the King of Cyprus.
Following their short stay in Cyprus, the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem established a long-term base on the Island of Rhodes, from 1310 to 1522. Years later, after their expulsion from Rhodes, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, the King of Spain, granted the Order the Islands of Malta in 1530, entrusting them with the protection of Mediterranean trade routes. The Order of Saint John remained in Malta until 1798.Meanwhile, across Europe, amid constant warfare and shifting geographic borders, many nobles placed their estates under the protection of the Order. This allowed them to avoid paying heavy tributes to local rulers. These estates became known as the Autonomous Priories of the Order. ________________________________________
THE FEDERATION
I
There is no doubt that the growing importance and glory of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem—also known at that time as the Order of the Hospital or Hospitallers and only much later as the Knights of Malta and as a Sovereign Order, internationally recognized as a State—together with the true vocation inspired by the exemplary life of Fra Gerard, and the international influence and prestige attained by Raymond du Puy, were the main determining factors that, as early as the year 1170, led the King of Poland to authorize the creation of a Commandery of Saint John endowed with a hospital and a chapel.
Always under the protection of the Polish Kings, other Commanderies of the Order emerged in various places such as Svernik-Starolessve (property of the Montmorency de Ligny-Luxembourg family), Ostrog (property of the Ostrogski family), etc., which after 1310 became the Priory of Poland.
In 1609, Prince Janusz Ostrogski, owner and hereditary Commander of the Commandery bearing his name, and the last of the Rurikid dynasty, bequeathed his extensive estate to this Autonomous Priory and Hereditary Commandery.
In 1711, King Stanislaus I and Grand Master Raymond Perellos signed an agreement reaffirming the existence of the Autonomous Priory of Poland.
Particular characteristics of this Priory were that Commanders and Knights were not required to observe celibacy and that foreigners could be received into this Priory suo jure as Knights of the Order.
The invasion of Poland and the subsequent partition of its territory placed a large part of the Priory’s properties under Russian control. To vindicate the rights of the Order, negotiations began at the Russian Imperial Court with Catherine the Great, led by the Minister of the Order, Bailiff Count Julius Renatus Litta.
A sentence dated 17 December 1899, issued by the Civil Tribunal of Saint Petersburg, recognized the hereditary rights of the Commandery of Svernik-Starolessve of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, said of Malta, in the person of H.R. & I.H. Prince Nicholas de Ligny-Luxembourg, as the last scion of the House of Ligny-Luxembourg.
II
On January 1797, the Order was recognized in Russia by a Convention signed in St. Petersburg between Czar Paul I and Grand Master de Rohan. The terms of this Convention were ratified in August 1797, during the magistership of Fra Ferdinand von Hompesch, successor to de Rohan, who conferred upon the Czar the title of Protector of the Order. In December 1797, the Czar accepted this new dignity in a solemn ceremony.
Representatives of the Autonomous Priory of Poland—which had never ceased to exist—together with representatives of other Priories and Hereditary Commanderies in similar circumstances, gathered in the United States of America in 1908. In the presence of the Hereditary Commanders, they decided to organize an assembly of Autonomous Priories. Such assembly took place in 1908 and 1911, and as a result, the World Union of Autonomous Priories and Hereditary Commanders was registered in accordance with American law.
On 6 February 1954, the Grand Council of the Autonomous United Priories elected as their Grand Master the Hereditary Commander of the Commandery of Svernik-Starolessve and of the Commandery of Bean-Toulouse, H.R. & I.H. Prince Nicholas de Ligny-Luxembourg de Lascaris Ventimille.
A ruling by an Italian court in 1955, in response to a petition submitted, recognized H.R. & I.H. Prince Nicholas de Ligny-Luxembourg de Lascaris Ventimille as Royal and Imperial Prince of Cyprus and Jerusalem, Chief of the Dynasty of Ardennes-Lorraine—founders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem—as heir to all sovereign rights of the said Dynasty, and as Protector and Grand Master, Jus Sanguinis, Majestatis et Honorum, of the Autonomous United Priories and Hereditary Commanderies of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, said of Malta, with all the rights. He was also granted the right to confer or delegate the conferral of titles of knighthood of the Order without limitation on their use by the recipients.
In its final sentence of 1955, the Italian Court made a clear distinction between the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) and the World Union of Autonomous United Priories, stating:
“Evidently the Cardinals Tribunal (*) was intending to pronounce sentence only about the New Papal Institution and not about the ancient Order represented by all the Priories, who instead, after said sentence, decided to proceed to the nomination of their new Grand Master, and on the 6th of February, 1954, nominated for said dignity Prince Nicholas de Ligny-Luxembourg di Lascaris Ventimiglia, of the ancient Dynasty Ardennes-Lorena.”
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III
On 25 July 1955, H.R. & I.H. Prince Nicholas signed the Decree of the new Constitution of the Union of the Autonomous Priories.
On 3 August 1962, the Hereditary Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Order of Cyprus, His Excellency Count Michael Paul Pierre de Valitch, pledged allegiance to the Grand Master of the Union of Autonomous United Priories, H.R. & I.H. Prince Nicholas.
On 22 February 1966, the aging Grand Master H.R. & I.H. Prince Nicholas signed the Magisterial Letters Patent regulating the succession process and instituting His Excellency Count Michael Paul Pierre de Valitch as Grand Master Lieutenant General of the Union of Autonomous United Priories, with the right to succeed him.
In 1968, His Eminent Highness Count Michael Paul Pierre de Valitch, in religion Lorenzo, took Holy Orders and was consecrated as Bishop of the American Orthodox Catholic Church, Jurisdiction of New York.
On 3 July 1977, Prince La Chastre, Hereditary Grand Prior of the Priory of the Most Holy Trinity of Villedieu, a prominent member of the Autonomous United Priories, instituted His Eminent Highness Archbishop-Count Lorenzo de Valitch as Hereditary Prior Procurator General of the Grand Priory of Villedieu, which later joined the United Autonomous Priories.
On 18 August 1977, His Eminent Highness Archbishop Count Lorenzo de Valitch signed the transfer and institution of the Magisterial See of the Autonomous United Priories in the City of New York. On 23 August 1977, the Attorney General of the State of New York, Louis J. Lefkowitz, granted Judicial Approval to the Union of Autonomous United Priories of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Priorati Autonomi Reuniti in Italian), under the English-translated title: Federation of Autonomous Priories of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta (KMFAP).
On the same date, His Honour Alfred M. Ascione, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, First Judicial District, approved this act.
On 7 April 1992, His Eminent Highness Archbishop Lorenzo de Valitch, Titular Archbishop of Ephesus, Prince Grand Master of the “Federation of Autonomous Priories of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta”, Hereditary Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Order of Cyprus, and Hereditary Prior Procurator General of the “Priory of the Most Holy Trinity of Villedieu of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta” was declared mentally incompetent by the Supreme Court of New York, due to illness of mental dysfunction, and placed under the care of the Primate Metropolitan See of the American Orthodox Catholic Church, Jurisdiction of New York.
In accordance with the norms established on the Motu Proprio of 7 April 1968, which stipulates that the succession of the Hereditary Grand Chancellorship of the Sovereign Order of Cyprus passes to the Primate Metropolitan See of the American Orthodox Catholic Church, Jurisdiction of New York, His Eminent Highness Archbishop Prince Lorenzo de Valitch was discharged on 1 October 1992 from his Office of Hereditary Grand Chancellor by his rightful successor, His Beatitude Dom Lorenzo, O.S.B., Patriarch and Primate Metropolitan of the American Orthodox Catholic Church, Jurisdiction New York. On 21 January 1994, de Motu Proprio and in accordance with the Constitution of 3 July 1977 by Prince La Chastre, it was established that upon the death or mental impairment of the Hereditary Prior Procurator General of the Priory of the Most Holy Trinity of Villedieu of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, the succession should rest on the Primate Metropolitan See of the American Orthodox Catholic Church, Jurisdiction of New York, Thus, His Eminent Highness Archbishop Prince Lorenzo de Valitch was relieved of His Office by his rightful successor, His Beatitude Dom Lorenzo, O.S.B., Patriarch and Primate Metropolitan of the American Orthodox Catholic Church, Jurisdiction of New York.
On 22 January 1994, in the city of Naxxar, Malta, before a large assembly of Knights of the Federation, His Eminent Highness Archbishop Prince Lorenzo de Valitch was relieved of his office as Prince Grand Master of the Federation of Autonomous Priories of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta, by his rightful successor, His Beatitude Dom Lorenzo, O.S.B., Patriarch and Primate Metropolitan of the American Orthodox Catholic Church, Jurisdiction of New York.
Out of respect and affection for His predecessor, His Eminent Highness and Beatitude Dom Lorenzo, O.S.B., expressed the desire to use pro tempore the title of Regent of the Federation, without renouncing, hindering, diminishing, or affecting any of all his hereditary rights, obligations, privileges, and prerogatives.
On 24 June 1994, during the celebration of the Feast of Saint John, His Eminent Highness and Beatitude the Prince Regent promulgated and signed the decree of commencement of an interregnum during which the political and hospitaller structure of the Order would be reassessed and properly updated according to the needs of the times, to expedite the return of the Order to the standards of its glorious past. On the same date, H.E.H. The Prince Regent signed and proclaimed the new Constitutional Charter of the Federation, to be in force for the duration of the Interregnum.
On 7 December 2002, by a public act during a ceremony in the city of Bologna, Italy, His Eminent Highness and Beatitude Dom Lorenzo made the Lieutenant General of The Federation Count Sir Jose Manuel Costa “Lecca” da Veiga Cosmelli, a Knight of the Grand Collar, and declared him as His Cousin and Hereditary Successor of the Sovereign Order of Cyprus and of the Grand Priory of the Holy Trinity of Villedieu.
On 22 October 2005, a few years after the decease of H.E.H. Archbishop Prince De Valitch, during a ceremony held at the Royal Palace of Gödöllő in Hungary, His Eminent Highness and Beatitude Dom Lorenzo, O.S.B., was proclaimed Prince Grand Master of the Federation. On the same day, and during that ceremony, H.E.H. declared by Magisterial Decree the conclusion of the Interregnum period.
On 14 November 2005, after suffering a sudden stroke, His Eminent Highness and Beatitude Dom Lorenzo, O.S.B., passed away at Saint Vincent's Hospital in New York City. The then Lieutenant General assumed provisional regency of the Federation and provisionally appointed Count Sir George Popper as Lieutenant General of the Order and Prime Minister of the State.
In accordance with the Constitutional Charter of the Federation, on 12 February 2006, during an electoral meeting of the Grand Council held in Lisbon, Portugal, with all members present, His Excellency Count Sir Jose M. Cosmelli, GCC, then Lieutenant General of the Federation, was unanimously elected to succeed H.E.H. Dom Lorenzo, O.S.B., as Prince Regent of the Federation.
The new Regent, His Eminent Highness Prince Jose Cosmelli, GCM, by Magisterial Decree 01/06 of 20 February 2006, confirmed the appointment of Count Sir George Popper, KGCM, as Lieutenant General of the Federation and Prime Minister of the Federation. He also conferred upon him the Grand Collar of the Order of Cyprus. Together, they began a vast process of reorganizing and renewing the government of the Federation as a State and restructuring the Sovereign Order.
On the same day, by Magisterial Decree 01A/06, His Eminent Highness the Regent reactivated the Sovereign Order of Cyprus—also known as the Knights of the Sword and Silence—one of the federated priories of the Federation, restoring the Order’s historical duty and function of contributing to global security in the World, thus continuing in this way the historic military vocation of the Knights of Saint John, also said Knights of Malta. The rank of Executive Grand Chancellor of the Order of Cyprus was conferred upon His Grace Count Sir George Popper, GCC, Lieutenant General of the Federation and Prime Minister of the State. On 16 September 2006, in Hungary, His Eminent Highness the Prince Regent appointed the first members of the new Ecumenical Council, which included representatives of several churches and religions, such as the Roman Catholic Church, the Christian Protestant tradition, and the Jewish faith. Later, representatives of the Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu faiths were also appointed.
On 15 November 2007, in the city of Budapest, Hungary, a new meeting of the Grand Council took place. All members were duly summoned in accordance with the legal statutes, and 93% were present. The Grand Council decided to merge the Grand Council and the Magisterial Council into a single body under the name Grand Magisterial Council, maintaining the same broad composition as the former Grand Council.
By proposal of His Grace, the Lieutenant General, the members of the Grand Council reviewed the results of the past two years of regency. By unanimous vote and with applause, the Grand Council proclaimed His Most Eminent Highness Prince Jose M. Cosmelli, the Regent, as Grand Master and Head of State, thereby ratifying the decisions taken during the electoral meeting of 12 February 2006.
The Constitutional Charter of the Federation, issued on 24 June 1994 to replace the older one, was reviewed, updated, and modified by Magisterial Constitutional Decrees in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and most recently in 2024.
The growing prestige and credibility of the Federation—both as a Sovereign Order and as a State—as well as its active humanitarian work, commitment to development, and support for education and culture, together with valuable health and rescue activities across various parts of the world, have led to the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations with several States, in accordance with the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations. Furthermore, numerous prestigious Orders and institutions have established friendly relations with the Federation or operate under its patronage.
