The Knights Hospitaller
in the Napoleonic Era:
At the close of the Eighteenth Century, the armies of the French Republic
took Malta almost unresisted, but the Knights found an unexpected protector
in the Orthodox Russian Czar, who was even made Grand Master in an election
of disputed validity. The murder of the Emperor in 1801, however, destroyed
all hope that the Order would have a new life in the East; for the next 200
years the Hospitallers would be known for their charitable work and their
aristocratic roots, not for their seapower.
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Who was the Emperor Paul I? (Mirror of page
at St. Pachomius Orthodox Library.)
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The Fall of Malta, from
the Memoirs of the Duke of Rovigo: Eyewitness account by one of
Napoleon's generals. (War Times Journal)
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Biographical
Entry on Emperor Paul I
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Documents
Concerning Paul I and the Russian Orthodox Priory (British Orthodox
Hospitallers Page)
-
Historical
Continuity of the Order of Saint John, by Col. T. Pichel. Extremely
polemical letter stating allegedly the Russian Priory's version of
events (as seen by Pichel). (Thomistic Society of Brooklyn)
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From the
Loss of Malta to the Modern Era, by Guy Stair Sainty Represents the
perspective of St. John's Alliance member orders.
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The
Russian Connection, by James J. Algrant: A historical study which
makes some surprising concessions about the survival of the Russian priory,
while still rejecting the claims of all modern groups. At the same site is
a
response
by Rev. Michael Foster, who is in one of the Orthodox Orders. (Caltrap's
Corner)
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Dieudonné
de Dolomieu, by Philip Greenspun: Geologist, knight, and bon vivant
who served with Napoleon and played a controversial role in the Order's
darkest epoch.
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The
Knights Hospitallers in Poland, by Darius von Güttner Sporzynski:
A fairly long historical account.
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Photo of St. George's Roman
Catholic Church, Dzierzoniow, Poland. This church belonged to the Order
from 1338 until the XIX Century. The Polish priory's existence was the immediate
cause of Russian involvement in the Order. For more information on the church,
see the Dzierzoniow
Page.
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Portraits of Paul
I as Tsarevich and
Tsarevna Marya
Fedorovna. (Hello Italy Tours)
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Gatchina Palace:
Paul I's private estate. (Pallas Art)
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The Crown of the Russian
Empire, Russian heraldry page by M. Razumkin (Illustrates the
mediaevalizing tendency in 18th century Russia which Paul exemplified.) (Gone?)
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Sights of St. Petersburg,
by Ilya Grishin. Contains some information on the Vorontsov Palace, Russian
headquarters of the Order.
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The History
of the (Imperial) Russian Navy A full-length book with no author
listed. Includes a discussion of Paul I's Malta interests in the "Mediterranean
Sea Battles" chapter.
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"Revived"
Orders of Chivalry by François R. Velde (Describes founding
of the British Order of St. John after the Napoleonic wars.)
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