The Legitimacy of Orders of St

The legitimacy of Orders of St. John : a historical and legal analysis and case study of a para-religious phenomenon Hoegen Dijkhof, H.J. Citation Hoegen Dijkhof, H. J. (2006, September 27). The legitimacy of Orders of St. John : a historical and legal analysis and case study of a para-religious phenomenon. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/4576 Version: Corrected Publisher’s Version Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the License: Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/4576 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). THE LEGITIMACY OF ORDERS OF ST. JOHN A historical and legal analysis and case study of a para-religious phenomenon PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag van de Rector Magnificus Dr. D.D. Breimer, hoogleraar in de faculteit der Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappen en die der Geneeskunde, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op woensdag 27 september 2006 klokke 16.15 uur door Hendrik Johannes Hoegen Dijkhof geboren te Doetinchem in 1947 Promotiecommissie Promotoren: Prof. Dr. A.W.F.M. van de Sande Prof. Mr. J. E. Spruit (UU) Referent: Dr. A. Koster (VUA) Overige leden: Prof. Dr. E.G.E. van der Wall Prof. Dr. P.S. van Koningsveld Dr. H.L. Murre-van den Berg 2 ‘Iustum et tenacem propositi virum, non civium ardor prava iubentium, non voltus instantis tyranni, mente quatit solida,’ (Horatius, Odes 3.3.1-4) Copyright © 2006 Hans J. Hoegen Dijkhof. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Prevented by a Leyden mos, I regret being unable to thank here all those who put me on track and also provided me with first hand information. Neither can I thank here especially those eminent persons, without whose continuous strong support, expert advice and stern guidance, this study could never have been realised and whom I am proud to count among my friends now. Robert Rakison, solicitor in London, proofread the English version of the manuscript. I am grateful to him for his useful comments. My able secretary, Ms. Sarita Zoomers, streamlined the manuscript and also was a great help in preparing the index. Last, but not least, I thank my beloved wife for putting up with me during the preparation of this study, which took many hours from our family life again. It is therefore to her that I dedicate this study: to Astrid, she who walks in the favour of the Gods. 4 PREFACE The case of the Knights of St. John is so fascinating and the question of the legitimacy so challenging, although perhaps an opus desperatum, that I could not stay away from it. It took me to Cyprus, Malta, Rhodes, St. Petersburg, Jaffa, Jerusalem and I was also on a crusade of my own. An arduous fight for a worthy cause, i.e. to try to find some truth and shed some light. Beltjens 1 said that ‘Coupé de son histoire, l’ordre de Malte 2 perdrait sa spécificité, ne serait plus qu’une societé caritative parmi d’autres.’ Basically, this applies to all Orders of St. John, recognised or not. It is inter alia the aim of this author to investigate in this study the alleged uninterrupted formal and/or material continuity, as well as the alleged continual acts of charity and of defence of the Faith, surrounding all recognised or false, or rather legitimate or illegitimate, regular or irregular Orders of St. John, alleged and claimed by practically all of them. In doing so, I apply a neutral, but critical approach. Hopefully the reader will thereby be better enabled to see the true story of the original Order and later Orders, as well as the different realities and irrealities in the stream of time and to draw his own conclusions. Not only about the legitimacy of The Knights Hospitallers of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta – The Ecumenical Order – , but also about that of any other Orders of St. John. 1 Beltjens, Origines, foreword. 2 By which he meant the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4 PREFACE 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 LIST OF ABBREVIATEDLY CITED LITERATURE 19 I. INTRODUCTION 23 I.1. Bewildering number of Orders of St. John 23 I.2. Trying to find a way 24 I.3 Even more Orders of St. John 26 I.4. Direct and indirect historical roots 27 I.5. Alliance Orders versus self-styled Orders 27 I.6. Purposes and method of this study 28 I.7. Caveats 30 I.8. A law finding exercise 30 I.9. What is legitimacy? 31 I.10. Neutral and normative concepts of legitimacy 31 I.11. Legality and legitimacy 32 I.12. Transcending effect of legitimacy 33 I.13. The role of justice 33 I.14. Is granting legitimacy possible? 34 I.15. The charity aspect 35 I.16. The chivalric aspect 35 I.17. Meaning of Order 36 I.18. Questions confronted 36 I.19. The status quaestionis 38 I.20. How the questions will be dealt with 41 I.21. The self-portrayal of The Ecumenical Order 42 I.22. Historical investigation needed 46 II. A CRITICAL LOOK AT THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS 47 II.1. Various ways to approach the original Order’s history 47 II.2. Difficulties in trying to write the original Order’s history 47 II.3. Distinguishing phases 48 6 III. FIRST PHASE (1050-1291): DEVELOPING FROM A CHARITY INTO A TRUST CONSTRUCTION AND A WELL-OILED MILITARY MACHINE 51 III.1. From Roman times to the First Crusade 51 III.2. The origin and nature of the Order carried by the First Crusade 56 III.3. Alleged recognition by Baldwin I as legal person 57 III.4. The privileged position of the Church 58 III.5. Piae causae and fraternitates 59 III.6. International complications of the spreading Order 60 III.7. The influence of the Investiture Controversy on the Order’s development 61 III.8. The influence of tax exemption on the Order’s development 63 III.9. Brief analysis of the Bull Piae 66 III.10. Similar Bulls 70 III.11. The feudal relationship 72 III.12. The trust aspect revisited 73 III.13. The jus patronatus; the position of hospitals 74 III.14. Motives for bringing in the maneria 76 III.15. The original Order never was a regular religious Order of the Church 77 III.16. Monasticism 78 III.17. The Charity aspect overshadowed by the military aspect 79 III.18. Canon law 80 III.19. The overriding influence of Popedom on medieval government and society 82 III.20. Militarisation continued 83 III.21. Militarisation as logical consequence of earlie developments 86 III.22. Nobility and knighthood and the influence of the Church 87 III.23. Chivalry and the medieval pathos of life 89 III.24. The dream of a noble and heroic life 90 III.25. The Infidels turning the tables 93 III.26. The Crusader conquest of Constantinople 95 III.27. The influence of constant war on the position of the Knights 96 III.28. The feudal system in the Holy Land 98 III.29. Western European expansion and Colonialism 99 III.30. Vital meaning of Christian Holy War concepts 101 III.31. Ultimate effects of the Crusades 102 7 IV. SECOND PHASE (1291-1523): LOOSING THE ORIGINAL OBJECTIVES AND BECOMING A SOVEREIGN POWER ON RHODES 105 IV.1. The Order of St. John on Cyprus 105 IV.2. Reorganising the Order in the aftermath of the loss of the Holy Land 105 IV.3. The collapse of Papal power; the destruction of the Order of the Temple 107 IV.4. The Order of St. John and the Teutonic Order seeking new territories 109 IV.5. The occupation of Rhodes; the sovereignty of the Order there 110 IV.6. Taking over the Templar estates 113 IV.7. The Order in the remainder of the 14th century 114 IV.8. The steady advance of the Turks; the Order’s increased sovereignty 116 IV.9. The role of Venice; Italian versus French colonialism 117 IV.10. Continued Turkish expansion 117 IV.11. The Ghazi’s and the Janissary; the Desvirme 118 IV.12. The influence of Byzantine civilisation and Roman law on the Turkish empire 119 IV.13. Further Turkish advances into the Western direction 120 IV.14. Economic background 120 IV.15. The rise of the Habsburgs 121 IV.16. The Fall of Rhodes 122 V. THIRD PHASE (1530-1798): DEVELOPING INTO AN ECONOMIC HUB ON MALTA AND BECOMING PARTLY ECUMENICAL 124 V.1. Valois versus Habsburgs 124 V.2. The end of a seven year wandering period 124 V.3. Some background on Malta 125 V.4. The local reaction to the arrival of the Knights 126 V.5. Consequences of the Reformation for members of the Order 127 V.6. The role of the Jesuit Order; the Roman Inquistion 128 V.7. The Counter-Reformation 129 V.8. The Four Quarters Rule 130 V.9. The consequences of further religious struggles in Germany and England 133 V.10. The Great Siege 134 8 V.11. The Battle of Lepanto 135 V.12. The Inquisition on Malta 136 V.13. The Prince Grandmaster’s sovereign position 137 V.14.

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