List of Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller

This is a list of Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller, including its continuation as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta after 1798. It also includes unrecognized "anti-Grand Masters" and lieutenants or stewards during vacancies.

Coat of arms of the Order of Saint John. The personal coat of arms of the Grand Master would be shown alongside the order's coat of arms in 14th to 15th centuries. Beginning in the mid-15th century, the Grand Master would quarter the order's coat of arms with his own.

The title "Grand Master" is applied retrospectively; the medieval heads of the order took the title of custos ("guardian") of the hospital. The title magister ("master") is used on coins minted in Rhodes, beginning with Foulques de Villaret. The first to use the title Grandis Magister ("Grand Master") was Jean de Lastic (r. 1437–1454); the title Grandis Magister is found on coins minted by Pierre d'Aubusson (r. 1476–1503).[1] Later Grand Masters in Rhodes used Magnus Magister.After the loss of Rhodes, Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam and his successors went back to using simple Magister, abbreviated M.H.H. for Magister Hospitalis Hierosolymae. Use of Magister Magnus is taken up again in the 17th century, under Antoine de Paule (r. 1623–1636).[2]

The title of Prince and Grand Master (Principe e Gran Maestro del Sovrano Militare Ordine di Malta) is in use from 1880, when Franz Joseph I of Austria granted the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire to the Grand Masters.[3] The title has remained in use after the dissolution of the Austrian Empire in 1919.

Numbered lists of Grand Masters of the Order, with portraits and attributed arms, are published from the early 17th century, with updated editions appearing throughout the 18th century.[4] The numbering of Grand Masters in use by the Order by the early 18th century, published in the 1719 Statutes of the Order, lists the Blessed Gerard as founder without number, counting Raymond du Puy as first Master of the Hospital, Foulques de Villaret as 24th, Riccardo Caracciolo as 32nd, Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam as 43rd and the then-incumbent Ramón Perellós y Rocafull as 63rd.[5]

Knights Hospitaller (Kingdom of Jerusalem)

Nr	Title	Picture	Name	Time in office	Notes
—/1	Founder and Rector of the Hospital		Blessed Gerard	1099/1113–1118/20	Order established in 1099 and given papal recognition in 1113 by Paschal II
1/2	Custos[6]		Raymond du Puy	1118/21/23–1160
2/3	Custos		Auger de Balben	1160–1162/3
3/4			Arnaud de Comps	c. 1162–1163	Historicity uncertain
4/5	Custos		Gilbert d'Aissailly	1163–1169
5/6			Gastone de Murols	c. 1170–1172
6/7	Custos		Jobert of Syria	c. 1169/72–1177	Acted as regent for king Amalric of Jerusalem in 1172. In 1174 opposed Miles of Plancy in favour of Raymond III of Tripoli. Fought in the crusade of Philip I, Count of Flanders of 1176.
7/8	Custos		Roger de Moulins	1177–1187
8/9	Provisor		Armengol de Aspa (Ermengard d'Aps)	1187–1190	Loss of Jerusalem in 1187, headquarters moved to Acre. In the crisis following the loss of Jerusalem, Ermengard was not elected as custos and acted only ad interim. He was nevertheless included into the canonical list of Grand Masters compiled in the early modern period. After the capture of Acre and the consolidation of the order, Ermengard retired with the regular election of Garnier de Nablus as new master.
9/10	Custos		Garnier de Nablus	1190–1192	Battle of Arsuf 1191
10/11	Custos		Geoffroy de Donjon	1193–1202
11/12	Custos		Afonso de Portugal	1202–1206	Fourth Crusade, resigned in 1206
12/13	Custos		Geoffrey le Rat (Gothofredus Mus)	1206–1207	First structured the order by nationality, or langues.
13/14	Custos		Guérin de Montaigu	1207–1228	Fifth Crusade, Siege of Damietta (1218–1219)
14/15	Custos		Bertrand de Thercy	1228–1231	Re-conquest of Jerusalem in 1228/9
15/16	Custos		Guérin Lebrun	1231–1236	Captured in battle, and died in captivity in Egypt
16/17	Custos		Bertrand de Comps	1236–1240	Headquarters moved to Jerusalem
17/18	Custos		Pierre de Vieille-Brioude	1240–1242
18/19	Custos		Guillaume de Chateauneuf	1242–1258	Fall of Jerusalem in 1244, headquarters at Acre, Krak des Chevaliers and Margat
19/20	Custos		Hugues de Revel	1258–1277	Loss of Krak des Chevaliers in 1271
20/21			Nicolas Lorgne	1277–1285	Loss of Margat in 1285
21/22			Jean de Villiers	1285–1294	Siege of Acre (1291)
22/23			Odon de Pins	1294–1296	Headquarters moved to Limisso, Cyprus
23/24			Guillaume de Villaret	1296–1305

Knights of Rhodes

Nr	Title	Picture	Name	Time in office	Notes
24/25	Magister		Foulques de Villaret	1305–1319	Nephew of Guillaume de Villaret. Hospitaller conquest of Rhodes in 1308/9.
	Anti-Grand Master		Maurice de Pagnac (unrecognized)	1317–1319
25/26	Magister		Hélion de Villeneuve	1319–1346
26/27	Magister		Dieudonné de Gozon	1346–1353
27/28	Magister		Pierre de Corneillan	1353–1355
28/29	Magister		Roger de Pins	1355–1365
29/30	Magister		Raymond Berengar	1365–1374
20/31	Magister		Robert de Juilly (de Juliac)	1374–1376
31/32	Magister		Juan Fernández de Heredia	1376–1396
(32/33)	Magister		Riccardo Caracciolo	1383–1395	Rival Grand Master, recognized only by the Langues of Italy and England.[7]
33/34	Magister		Philibert de Naillac	1396–1421
34/35	Magister		Anton Flavian de Ripa	1421–1437
35/36	Grandis Magister		Jean de Lastic	1437–1454	Siege of Rhodes (1444)
36/37	Grandis Magister		Jacques de Milly	1454–1461
37/38	Grandis Magister		Piero Raimondo Zacosta	1461–1467
38/39	Grandis Magister		Giovanni Battista Orsini	1467–1476
39/40	Grandis Magister		Pierre d'Aubusson	1476–1503	Siege of Rhodes (1480)
40/41	Magnus Magister		Emery d'Amboise	1503–1512
41/42	Magnus Magister		Guy de Blanchefort	1512–1513
42/43	Magnus Magister		Fabrizio del Carretto	1513–1521

Knights (Princes) of Malta

Nr	Title	Picture	Name	Time in office	Notes
43/44	Magister		Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam	1521–1534	Siege of Rhodes (1522), headquarters moved to Malta in 1530
44/45	Magister		Piero de Ponte	1534–1535
45/46	Magister		Didier de Saint-Jaille	1535–1536
46/47	Magister		Juan de Homedes	1536–1553	Malta was attacked by an Ottoman fleet in 1551. The attack was repelled, but the Ottomans captured the island of Gozo, and later also the order's stronghold in Tripoli. De Homedes began a program improve the fortifications at Malta
47/48	Magister		Claude de la Sengle	1553–1557	Continued the improvement of fortifications, expanding Fort Saint Michael into a major bastion and completing Fort Saint Elmo.
48/49	Magister		Jean Parisot de Valette	1557–1568	Valette became the Order's most illustrious leader, commanding the resistance against the Ottomans at the Great Siege of Malta in 1565.
49/50	Magister		Pierre de Monte	1568–1572	Continued the construction of the new capital Valletta. Strengthened the order's fleet, and participated in the Battle of Lepanto of 7 October 1571.
50/51	Magister		Jean de la Cassière	1572–1581	Crisis in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. Expulsion of the Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg) in 1581.
	Lieutenant		Mathurin Romegas	1577–1581
	Anti-Grand Master		Mathurin Romegas	1581
51/52	Magister		Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle	1581–1595
52/53	Magister		Martín Garzés	1595–1601
53/54	Magister		Alof de Wignacourt	1601–1622	Constructed the Wignacourt towers and the Wignacourt Aqueduct. Repelled the last serious Ottoman attempt at capturing Malta in 1614.
54/55	Magister		Luís Mendes de Vasconcellos	1622–1623
55/56	Magister Magnus		Antoine de Paule	1623–1636
56/57	Magister Magnus		Giovanni Paolo Lascaris	1636–1657	Caribbean possessions
57/58	Magister Magnus		Martin de Redin	1657–1660
58/59	Magister Magnus		Annet de Clermont-Gessant	1660	Died less than four months after his election, on 2 June 1660.
59/60	Magister Magnus		Rafael Cotoner	1660–1663	Commissioned the Italian Baroque artist Mattia Preti to start painting Saint John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta.
60/61	Magister Magnus		Nicolás Cotoner	1663–1680	Siege of Candia + Mattia Preti's work at St John's Co-Cathedral completed.
61/62	Magister Magnus		Gregorio Carafa	1680–1690	Renovation of Auberge d'Italie in the Baroque style, improvement of Fort Saint Angelo and Fort Saint Elmo. Ottoman attacks were still expected, but there were no longer any notable engagements.
62/63	Magister Magnus		Adrien de Wignacourt	1690–1697	Instituted a widows pension for the widows of those fallen in the Ottoman wars.
63/64	Magister Magnus		Ramón Perellós	1697–1720	Organised the Consulato del Mare (Consulate of the Sea). Established relations with imperial Russia. Fought corruption within the Order. Engagement against Ottoman pirates.
64/65	Magister Magnus		Marc'Antonio Zondadari	1720–1722
65/66	Magister Magnus		António Manoel de Vilhena	1722–1736	Restored the city Mdina, constructed Fort Manoel and significantly improved the fortifications of Malta in general. Built Casa Leoni and Palazzo Parisio, and renovated Verdala Palace. Manoel Theatre (1731). Conducted peace negotiations with the Ottomans, without result. Declared neutrality in the War of the Polish Succession.
66/67	Magister Magnus		Ramón Despuig	1736–1741	Improved the fortifications of Mdina, modernised legislation, renovated the Co-Cathedral of St. John. Naval engagements with Ottoman Algeria.
67/68	Magister Magnus		Manuel Pinto da Fonseca	1741–1773	Expelled the Jesuits from Malta. In 1753 proclaimed the sovereignty of the Order on Malta and a dispute started with the Kingdom of Sicily under King Charles V. Normal relations were resumed the next year, with the Order retaining de facto control over Malta as a sovereign state.[8]
68/69	Magister Magnus		Francisco Ximénez de Tejada	1773–1775	Rising of the Priests (1775), bankruptcy of the order.
69/70	Magister Magnus		Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc	1775–1797	Instituted the Anglo-Bavarian langue and the Russian Grand Priory.
70/71	Magister Magnus		Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim	1797–1799	First German elected to the Office. Abdicated 6 July 1799 following the French invasion of Malta.

Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Coat of arms
Incumbent
Marco Luzzago Lieutenant since 8 November 2020
Details
Style	His Most Eminent Highness
First monarch	Gerard Thom Giovanni Battista Ceschi a Santa Croce
Formation	1099/1879

Nr	Title	Picture	Name	Time in office	Notes
72[9]	Grand Master (partial recognition)		Paul I of Russia	1798–1801	Elected by the Priory of St. Petersburg in September 1798 (before the abdication of von Hompesch). This election resulted in the establishment of the Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller. On Paul's death in 1801, his son Alexander I of Russia decided to end this irregular situation and refused to be Grand Master. The election of a new Grand Master was deferred to pope Pius VII.
			Nikolay Saltykov	1801–1803	De facto Lieutenant in Saint Petersburg
73[9]	Grand Master Gran Maestro		Giovanni Battista Tommasi	1803–1805	Appointed by Pope Pius VII in 1803. Residence in Messina and Catania
	Lieutenant Luogotenente Generale		Innico Maria Guevara-Suardo	1805–1814	Headquarters in Catania. Loss of territories and Protestant branches.
	Lieutenant Luogotenente Generale		Andrea Di Giovanni y Centellés	1814–1821	Headquarters in Catania
	Lieutenant Luogotenente Generale		Antoine Busca	1821–1834	Headquarters in Ferrara. SMOM recognized at the Congress of Verona (1822).
	Lieutenant Luogotenente Generale		Carlo Candida	1834–1845	Headquarters moved to Palazzo Malta, Rome. Restoration of the grand priories of Lombardy-Venetia and of Sicily in 1839/41.
	Lieutenant Luogotenente Generale		Filippo di Colloredo-Mels	1845–1864
	Lieutenant Luogotenente Generale		Alessandro Borgia	1865–1871
	Lieutenant Luogotenente Generale		Giovanni Battista Ceschi a Santa Croce	1871–1879
74[9]	Prince and Grand Master Princeps et Magister Magnus		Giovanni Battista Ceschi a Santa Croce	1879–1905	Restoration of the office of Grand Master after a 75-year interregnum, confirmed by Pope Leo XIII.
75[9]	Prince and Grand Master Princeps et Magister Magnus		Galeas von Thun und Hohenstein	1905–1931
76[9]	Prince and Grand Master Principe e Gran Maestro		Ludovico Chigi Albani della Rovere	1931–1951
	Lieutenant Luogotenente Generale		Antonio Hercolani Fava Simonetti	1951–1955
	Lieutenant Luogotenente Generale		Ernesto Paternò Castello di Carcaci	1955–1962
77[9]	Prince and Grand Master Principe e Gran Maestro		Angelo de Mojana di Cologna	1962–1988
	Lieutenant ad interim Luogotenente Interinale		Jean Charles Pallavicini	1988
78[9]	Prince and Grand Master Principe e Gran Maestro		Andrew Bertie	1988–2008	Partial revision of the constitution (1997, promulgated 1961).[10][11]
	Lieutenant ad interim Luogotenente Interinale		Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto	2008
79[9]	Prince and Grand Master Principe e Gran Maestro		Matthew Festing	2008–2017	First Grand Master elected under the new constitution of 1997. Resigned in 2017 following a dispute with the Vatican.[12]
	Lieutenant ad interim Luogotenente Interinale		Ludwig Hoffmann-Rumerstein	2017
	Lieutenant of the Grand Master Luogotenente di Gran Maestro		Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto	2017–2018
80[9]	Prince and Grand Master Principe e Gran Maestro		Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto	2018–2020
	Lieutenant ad interim Luogotenente Interinale		Ruy Gonçalo do Valle Peixoto de Villas Boas	2020
	Lieutenant of the Grand Master Luogotenente di Gran Maestro		Marco Luzzago	2020–present

See also

• Grand Master (order)
• Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg)#Herrenmeister
• Grand Magistry and Lieutenancies of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
• Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights
• Grand Masters of the Order of Saint Lazarus
• Grand Masters of the Knights Templar
• List of heads of state of Malta

References

1. Morris (1884), 17–19.
2. Morris (1884), p. 33.
3. J. M. de Francisco Olmos in: Francisco Bueno Pimienta et al., La Orden de Malta en España (1113-2013) vol. 2 (2015), p. 851, fn. 123
4. Bibliography: Friedrich von Hellwald, Bibliographie méthodique de l'Ordre souv de St. Jean de Jérusalem (1885), 137f. Examples: Abcontrafeiung aller Großmeister des ritterlichen Johanniter-Ordens, Frankfurt 1611. Chevillard, Jacques-Louis, Les noms, qualités, armes et blasons de leurs Eminences Messieurs les Grands-Maistres de l'Ordre de Saint Jean de Jérusalem, dits de Malte, depuis leur origine jusqu'à présent, — Paris (1697, updated 1741). François Clément, Chronologie historique des grands-maîtres de l'Ordre de St. Jean de Jérusalem in: L'art de vérifier les dates, Paris (1770). Cronologia de i Gran-Maestri dello Spedale del Santo Sepolcro, ec. detti di Malta, dedicated to the then-ruling Grand Master, Ramon Perellos y Roccaful, printed by Domenico de' Rossi in Rome (1709). An updated version of this work was re-published with English translation in 1962. Cronologia De I Gran Maestri Dello Spedale Della Sacra Religione Militare Di S Gio Gerosolimitano E Dell’Ordine Del Santo Sepolcro Oggi Detti Di Malta. (1099 -1962) — Chronology of the Grand Masters of the Hospital of the Sacred Military Religion of St John of Jerusalem and the Order of the Holy Sepulchre now known as the Order of Malta. (1099-1962), translated by Fra John Edward Critien, photography and design by Daniel Cilia, published in collaboration with Heritage Malta (1962), reprinted in 2005, ISBN 9789993270676. Horquet, Karl, Chronologie der Grossmeister des Hospitalordens während der Kreuzzüge, Berlin (1880) The etched portraits used in the list below fictional (with attributed coats of arms) are from a French Histoire des Chevaliers Hospitaliers published in 1726: Monsignor l'Abbe de Vertot, Histoire des Chevaliers Hospitaliers de S. Jean de Jerusalem - appellez depuis les Chevaliers de Rhodes, et aujourd'hui les Chevaliers de Malthe (1726).
5. Volume che contiene gli statuti della Sacra Religione Gerosolimitana, Orden de Malta, per Antonio Scionico, 1719,1–9 (manual continuation of the chronology to Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc as 69th).
6. The Order's Great Seal, or leaden bulla, remained in use, with some modifications, from the 12th century until 1798. Until 1278, when Nicholas de Lorgne introduced a separate conventual bulla, there was no distinction between the seal of the Grand Master and that of the order. The general design of the seal featured, on the obverse, the Grand Master kneeling in prayer before the patriarchal cross. This image was usually accompanied with the sacred letters alpha and omega, which referenced the Second Coming of Christ. The central image was surrounded by a legend with the Master's name followed by the official designation CVSTOS. Barbara Packard, Seals of the Grand Masters, Museum of the Order of St John, 14 October 2015.
7. Morris (1884), p. 61 does not count Caracciolo as numbered Grand Master, giving the number 33 to Philibert de Naillac. A page at orderofmalta.int (as of 2017), the official website of the SMOM, does count Caracciolo as 33rd Grand Master.
8. Zammit, Vincent (1992). Il-Gran Mastri - Ġabra ta' Tagħrif dwar l-Istorja ta' Malta fi Żmienhom - It-Tieni Volum 1680-1798. Valletta, Malta: Valletta Publishing & Promotion Co. Ltd. pp. 405–406.
9. Numbering according to the SMOM (website orderofmalta.int as of 2017) implies the recognition of Riccardo Caracciolo as 33rd Grand Master, and of Paul I of Russia as 72nd Grand Master (r. 1798–1801).
10. Constitutional Charter and Code of the SMOM (1997).
11. The sovereign status of the SMOM had been in question as the previous constitution had implied dependence on the Holy See (which had itself been recognized as sovereign in 1922). Approval of the elected Grand Master by the Pope is no longer explicitly required. Bo J. Theutenberg, The Holy See, the Order of Malta and International Law (2003), ISBN 91-974235-6-4
12. Pullella, Philip (23 June 2016). "Knights of Malta head resigns after dispute with Vatican". Reuters. Retrieved 25 January 2017.

• Robert Morris, Coins of the grand masters of the Order of Malta: or Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem (1884).

External links

• Official site list of Grand Masters
• Official site description of the Lieutenant of the Grand Master