The eight-pointed cross,
or the Maltese Cross, as it came to be known in subsequent centuries, will
be seen upon the armour, engraven on the breastplate, of all the pictures
of the Grand Masters.
In the year 1259 the Pope, Alexander IV., finding that men of noble birth
objected to be habited as were the "serving brothers," ordained that the
knights on a campaign should wear a "sopraveste" of scarlet embroidered
with the cross in white; further, that should any knight abandon the ranks,
and fly from the battle, he should be deprived of his order and his habit.
The form of government was purely aristocratic, all authority being vested
in the Council, of which the Grand Master was the chief, the case of an
equal division of opinion being provided for by giving to the Grand Master
the casting vote. There were in the Order certain aged knights who were
called "Preceptors," who, under authority delegated to them by the Council,
administered the estates and funds accruing, and also paid for the hire of
such soldiers or "seculars" whom the Knights took into their service.
Incidentally, it may be mentioned that the establishment of the Knights of
St. John led to the foundation of the famous Order of the Knights Templars.
In 1118 Hugues de Payens, Geoffrey de St. Aldemar, and seven other French
noblemen, whose hearts were touched by the sufferings which the pilgrims
underwent in their journey to Jerusalem, formed themselves into a society
with the object of the protection of these inoffensive persons on their
transit from the coast inland.
Pages:
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304