Feudal or sovereign rulers? The Grand Masters of the order of St John in early modern Malta

Abstract

In 1530 the Hospitaller Order of St John accepted Malta and its dependencies as a fief of the Kingdom of Sicily thus freeing Emperor Charles V from direct responsibility of these two southern-most and more exposed of his vast possessions. At first the Grand Master exercised very limited authority and ruled Malta very much as a feudal lord. However within a few decades his power over the Maltese grew so much that the area which remained free of his control was indeed very narrow. Infact, the more intensively the Grand Master dominated the local administration, the more energetically he exercised his power, the more he seemed to rule like a sovereign. This authority was enforced and fully exercised by later Grand Masters who found themselves free to dictate matters on their authority as princes of Malta.