NK - Long Article - Knights Hospitaller process through downtown Dec 4

[Bethor2000 at aol.com]

This was posted to a newsgroup I'm on.  The source is probably a newspaper in
the U.K. 
 -  Ain't the internet great!,
 Alton


Electronic Telegraph   4th December 1998

Knights honour their past glories
By John Mizzi in Valletta 

HUNDREDS of knights from the oldest surviving order of chivalry, the
former Knights Hospitaller or Knights of St John, will process through
the Maltese capital today to mark their 900th anniversary.

More than 800 knights and dames have come from all over the world to
Valletta where in 1565 they defied a vastly superior force of Turks.

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta was a religious order
distinguished by a white eight-pointed cross on a black habit. Its
mission was to look after pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land.
However, when the Ottomans conquered Jerusalem in 1187, the order took
on a military role. During the Crusades its knights fought valiantly
but were defeated.

The ceremony will open with a procession in full ceremonial robes
along the main street of Valletta. High Mass will later be celebrated
in the magnificent Cathedral of St John which is a monument to the
order's former grandeur, with sculptures, carvings and paintings by
Caravaggio, among others.

The knights are a powerful but secretive body which this year broke
with tradition and allowed women into their controlling body.

The knights moved to Malta in 1530 on the invitation of Charles V of
Spain after they were ousted from their stronghold in Rhodes by the
Ottoman sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent. In 1565 the Turks attacked
Malta with an overwhelming force, but 500 knights and about 8,500
mainly Maltese soldiers defeated the armada of 180 ships and 38,000
men. The knights, who were recruited from Europe's aristocracy, turned
Malta into a state that negotiated on equal terms with the crowned
heads of Europe. Their magnificent palaces and massive defence works
still stand.

The order has lingered since Napoleon captured Malta in 1798 and today
has its headquarters in Rome.

Fra Andrew Bertie, the 78th grandmaster, is a Scotsman who was elected
in 1988. The order maintains diplomatic relations with several
countries and is represented on the Council of Europe and Unesco. It
even has its own post office.