Chivalry Isn't DEAD —Rome

report Order of Malta 01 Grand chancellor HE Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager Tt 50 02 Coins and stamps produced by the Order 03 Reception room, conspicuously lacking dog-eared magazines chivaLRY isN’T dead —Rome 01 Preface The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is a 1,000-year-old institution that played a role in the Crusades and issues its own passports. Now it is fighting a very different battle: defending its honour 02 as a paragon of Christianity and humanitarian aid. writer David Plaisant photographer Jussi Puikkonen “Having our passport has its advantages but it can be quite problematic,” says Eleonore Habsburg. She is the spritely young Austrian-French desk officer for the Foreign Affairs Department, which is housed in the Palazzo Magistrale on Rome’s Via Condotti. She is referring to one of the 400 diplomatic passports that have been issued by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. “If you are arriving in the right country it can give you incredible access and diplomatic clearance but many people simply don’t know of our existence.” As a sovereign entity the Order issues passports, prints stamps, has diplomatic missions and is recognised by 105 inde- pendent countries. However, it is not in itself a country as it has had no territory since it lost Malta to the French more issue 86 — 043 03 report Order of Malta 01 Coats of arms from the archive 02 The Sala Capitolare used for elections 03 Portraits of previous 01 grand masters 04 The Maltese cross makes its presence known in a state room 05 Monica Lais, curator 02 of the visitors centre than 200 years ago. It also doesn’t have 06 Entrance on Via any of its own citizens – but it does have Tt 50 Condotti extraterritorial jurisdiction over two pal- 07 The Villa Magistrale 08 The Order’s postboxes, aces in Rome (of which more later). popular with tourists As an ancient religious order that Making sure that all our keen on a unique harks back to the time of the Crusades, global associations conform postmark this is an institution that is shrouded in 07 to our branding guidelines Tt 50 mystery. The full title is The Sovereign is a constant struggle gems. It exudes that Roman grandeur Military Hospitaller Order of St John of that fills out so many of the city’s interi- Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta. This ors. Great reception rooms are stuffed interminable name is sometimes short- with a familiar arrangement of rococo ened to the cryptic smom but for internal chairs and coffee tables; those gilded clus- purposes at the Palazzo Magistrale (also ters that crop up in diplomatic circles from known as Palazzo Malta), thankfully Baghdad to Belgravia. Portraits of the “The Order” will suffice. A chivalric grand masters line the halls and oriental order of knights (thought to possibly be porcelain clutters the anterooms. the oldest in existence), the institution Tt 50 The property portfolio continues on now comprises some 13,500 knights and Aventine Hill, where the Order’s Villa dames alongside about 80,000 volunteers Magistrale acts as a venue for receptions, across the world. government elections and the infrequent The Order came into existence about 03 swearing-in of the sovereign, known as 1,000 years ago, opening a hospital for the prince and grand master (he serves pilgrims in Jerusalem in 1048. But over for life). Here, amid landscaping by the following two centuries, as the Piranesi (who is buried in the chapel), a Crusades engulfed the Mediterranean, perfectly clipped tunnel of laurels forms the Order grew, taking on a military role; an optical trick that brings the great “defending the faith” as it reads in the cupola of St Peter’s startlingly close. official literature. It has since gone back 04 Through a keyhole at the Villa’s main to its humanitarian roots: there is no gate a constant flow of tourists line up for longer a military. Instead, from ambu- just a quick peep at this extraordinary lances in Austria to medicine for Syrian private view. refugees, it has devoted itself to main- taining a vast network of aid. Little by little the air of secrecy surround- In its more combative days the Order ing the Order is lifting and the 100 or conquered Rhodes in the 1300s, moving so employees at the Palazzo Magistrale on to Malta in the 1500s and defeating busy themselves with affairs of state.T he the Ottoman army there in 1565. sleek modern corridor that constitutes Napoleon forced it out in 1798 and after the finance ministry could be found in a few nomadic decades it arrived in any European capital. Through another Rome, where it has been ever since. door, an older wing houses several other When it comes to bricks and mortar, ministries and Eugenio Ajroldi di the Order is as regally bestowed as any Robbiate heads up the Rome communi- small European state. The Palazzo cations team. Magistrale on Rome’s high-end Via “Making sure that all our global asso- Condotti (with a large Hermès shop as a ciations conform to our branding guide- neighbour and tenant) has sufficient lines is a constant struggle,” says the baroque bulk to match the city’s dozens official who, as a Roman, emanates the of other diplomatic and governmental bureaucratic class that has always kept 05 06 08 044 — issue 86 issue 86 — 045 Order of the Order Grand chancellor report HE Albrecht Freiherr Order of Malta Prince and 79th von Boeselager grand master The grand chancellor is the HMEH Fra’ Matthew minister of foreign affairs Festing responsible for the foreign The head of the Order. The policy and the diplomatic Englishman is the son of missions of the Order. He Field Marshal Sir Francis was a practising lawyer 01 Antonella Santini, ward Festing, Chief of the until 1990. nurse at the Order’s Imperial General Staff and Grand hospitaller walk-in clinic a descendant of Sir Adrian HE Dominique Prince 05 02 Pinot grigio from the Fortescue, a knight of Malta de la Rochefoucauld- Order of Malta’s winery martyred in 1539. Festing Montbel 03 Historic oats of arms served in the Grenadier This is the minister of health submitted for Guards and has an OBE. knighthood validation 01 02 and social affairs, minister 04 Dominique Prince de la SOVEREIGN COUNCIL for humanitarian action and Rochefoucauld-Montbel (2014-2019) minister for international called by Ban Ki-moon for 2016. “This co-operation. Since 2003 kind of work is vital for us,” says Balfour. 05 Official stationery Tt 50 Grand commander the Frenchman has “It’s the best way we can make the most 06 Cameriere Gabriele HE Fra’ Ludwig Hoffmann Pugliese managed a property of our unique position.” von Rumerstein consultancy. 07 The Order’s chapel Grand commander is the at Villa Magistrale, religious superior of the Receiver of the At the chancellery the grand chancellor, designed by Piranesi Order. Born in Innsbruck, common treasure his excellency Albrecht Freiherr von 06 HE János Count Hoffmann von Rumerstein Boeselager (the Order’s equivalent of for- is one of the founders of Esterházy de Galántha Malteser Hilfedienst in North The German minister of eign minister), is keen to stress that the Tyrol (the Austrian volunteers finance has worked as a discreet high-level style in which foreign Corps of the Order) and partner in an international policy is conducted is far from secretive. Malteser Hospitaldienst law and consultancy firm “I think it’s important to really underline since 2012. Austria (MHDA). that we operate with a very open agenda,” says the German, whose considerable height and steady delivery make him a particularly convincing statesman. “Having an open agenda is the best pro- tection we can provide for our people – especially in areas of conflict.” It is perhaps not surprising that the 03 representative of a publicity-shy, little- this city ticking. “Can you imagine: one known religious order – that also hap- of our Antipodean associations used our pens to be a sovereign entity based in two emblem on blue instead of red!” ornate Roman palaces – might be keen to The emblem in question is the dis- stress how open his organisation is. tinctive Maltese eight-pointed cross that Indeed, the grand chancellor seems forms the basis of the Order’s visual accustomed to countering just such a identity, so iconic that it is something that suspicion. “We are not aligned to a nation many would-be chivalric orders try to or to business interests,” he says. “You imitate. The Palazzo Magistrale contains know, people in conflict have a kind of a whole office to deal with this problem: sixth sense: they know if you come to The commission for Self Styled Orders. assist or otherwise.” It is charged with rooting out the fraudu- In fact, there is much about the Order lent copycats that set up websites, collect that those visiting (a rare occurrence) spurious membership fees and hand out may struggle to put their finger on. On false knighthoods. “It is frustrating,” says one level it seems like something of an Di Robbiate. “But it happens in just anachronism, full of ceremony and about every sector nowadays and we are slightly pompous. However, it is not keen established enough to take it.” to dwell on the pomp, instead promoting The work of Di Robbiate’s depart- itself as a faith-based institution focused ment includes far more pressing duties as on humanitarian aid. It has hosted inter- well. His colleague Marianna Balfour is national conferences and works with fresh from working on the “Religions ngos during times of crisis; it now has Together for Humanitarian Action” sym- operations in 120 countries.

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