List of grand masters of the Knights Hospitaller

Coat of arms of the Order of Saint John. The personal coat of arms of the Grand Master would be shown next to 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.

This is a list of Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller including their replacement Sovereign Military Order of Malta after 1798.

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[1] Raymond du Puy 1118/21/23–1160
2/3 Custos Auger de Balben 1160–1163
3/4 Arnaud de Comps 1162–1163 Historicity uncertain
4/5 Custos Gilbert d'Aissailly 1163–1169
5/6 Gastone de Murols c. 1169
6/7 Custos Jobert of Syria c. 1169/72–1177 Acted as regent for king Manuel I 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[source?] 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 Guerin 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
20/21 Nicolas Lorgne 1277–1285 Loss of Margat 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

Sovereign Military Order of Malta

No. Title Picture Name Time in office Notes
72[2] 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.
Nikolai Saltykov 1801–1803 De facto Lieutenant in Saint Petersburg
73[2] 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[2] 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[2] Prince and Grand Master
Princeps et Magister Magnus 		Galeas von Thun und
Hohenstein 		1905–1931
76[2] 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 Carta Costituzionale approved by Apostolic Letter of Pope John XXIII, June 24, 1961.
77[2] 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[2] Prince and Grand Master
Principe e Gran Maestro 		Andrew Bertie 1988–2008 Constitutional Charter and Code revised by the Extraordinary Chapter General 28-30 April 1997.[3][4]
Lieutenant ad interim
Luogotenente Interinale 		Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto 2008
79[2] 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.[5]
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[2] 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 2020–2022
Lieutenant ad interim
Luogotenente Interinale 		Ruy Gonçalo do Valle Peixoto de Villas Boas 2022
Lieutenant ad interim
Luogotenente Interinale 		John T. Dunlap 2022-2023
81[2] Prince and Grand Master
Principe e Gran Maestro 		John T. Dunlap 2023–present

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 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).
  3. ↑ Constitutional Charter and Code of the SMOM (1997).
  4. ↑ 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). Papal approval of the election of the Grand Master is no longer explicitly required. Bo J. Theutenberg, The Holy See, the Order of Malta and International Law Archived 2015-11-21 at the Wayback Machine (2003), ISBN 91-974235-6-4
  5. ↑ Pullella, Philip (23 June 2016). "Knights of Malta head resigns after dispute with Vatican". Reuters. Retrieved 25 January 2017.