HUMANITY OF THE KNIGHTS

THE NATIONAL COLLEGE CONSTANTIN BRATESCU

CONSTANTA

HISTORY

In 1530 the emperor Charles V gave To the knights the Maltese archipelago in return for the annual presentation of a falcon to his viceroy of Sicily and the obligation of securing Tripoli in Libya against the Muslims. Their failure to hold Tripoli in 1551 led to Suleiman the Magnificent's attempt to dislodge them from Malta in 1565. The superb leadership of the grand master Jean Parisot de I.a Valette, the sustained heroism of the members of the order, and the endurance of the Maltese population prevented one of the most famous sieges of history from ending in disaster. (see MALTA: History). What was left of the Turkish Navy as a striking force was permanently crippled. In 1571 at the Battle of Lepanto by the combined fleets of Philip II, the Knights of St. John, Venice, Genoa, Savoy, and the pope.

THE HOSPITAL

By the twelfth century, there was a tradition of hospices in Jerusalem for weary Christian pilgrims. These hospices provided a place to rest, to recover, or to die in dignity. In 1113, Pope Paschal II granted a papal bull to Brother Gerard, founder of the Hospital of St. John. This papal recognition marked the beginning of the Knights Hospitallers of the Order of St. John.  Throughout the tumultuous history of the Order, the Knights always maintained a hospital, and hospitaller work continues today as the foremost mission of the modern Knights.

After the victory, the knights proceeded with the building of their new capital, which they named after La Valetta; the hero of the siege (see VALETTA), and with their work on the defenses of both sides .of the grand harbour. The hospital, with its ward 602 ft. in length, attracted many patients from outside Malta.

The Knights in Malta constructed a new hospital, the Sacra Infermeria, after they moved to Valletta.  The new hospital was not completed until 1575, three years after the city was built. These were well cared for, with no more than one to a bed, their food was well planned, and the mentally sick were treated humanely. Surgical and medical cases were kept separate, infectious diseases were isolated, and ophthalmology was a speciality. In 1674 the d master founded a school of anatomy and medicine for the order's physicians. Anatomy was studied with the bodies of deceased knights and patients, at a time when dissection elsewhere tended to be forbidden.

HOSPITAL IN MALTA

  The hospital in Valletta received honors for being one of the best hospitals in all of Europe, possibly because it innovated higher standards of hygiene. Unfortunately, the Sacra Infermeria was terribly damaged during World War II. It has been rebuilt and was reopened in 1979 as the Mediterranean Conference Center.

WORK OF THE KNIGHTS

Today the Knights of Malta continue their long tradition of hospital work.  Their work includes relief efforts for refugees, ambulance services, food relief to the starving, disease control in Africa, and aid to Latin America and elsewhere in the world.