The grand priory of the Maltese islands of the military & hospitaller order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem

Abstract

The Maltese Jurisdiction of the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem has a relatively recent history. There are no direct references to any links between the Order of Saint Lazarus and the Islands during the Medieval period, though regulations relating to the Order in Sicily would have applied to the Islands as well. During 1268-1272, Charles I of Anjou adopted Pope Clement IV’s bull of August 1265 and ordered that all the leprosaria in his domains were to be placed under the protection and government of the Order of St Lazarus. He further proposed the confinement, by force if necessary, of all lepers in the Lazarite houses, and the donation of all their property to the Order – the latter suggestion was violently resisted by the sufferers’ families. This edict would have extended to the Maltese Islands so that had any lazarettos or land holdings been extant there, these would have fallen under the governance of the Order.