Neck Badge of a Knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

The white enamel arms with fleur-de-lis in between, below crown, attached to original black moire silk ribbon, in original fitted case.

• c. XIX century, Silver-Gilt and Enamel
• European maker
• 82 mm long, including crown suspension.
• Provenance: Collection of James C. Russo, Heritage Auctions.

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta takes its origins from the Knights Hospitaller, an organization founded in Jerusalem in 1050 as an Amalfitan hospital to provide care for poor and sick pilgrims to the Holy Land. After the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade, it became a Catholic military order under its own charter. Following the loss of Christian territory to Islamic conquerors of the Holy Land, the Order operated from Rhodes (1310-1523), and later from Malta (1530-1798), over which it was sovereign.
In 1798, following Napoleon's taking of Malta, the Order was dispersed, but with a large number of refugee Knights sheltering in St Petersburg, where they elected the Russian Emperor, Paul I as their Grand Master - a rival Grand Master to Ferdinand Hompesch then held in disgrace. Hompesch abdicated in 1799, under pressure from the Austrian Court, leaving Paul as the De facto Grand Master. As the Order was under the obedience of the Roman Catholic Church, Paul I as an Orthodox Christian and of another obedience could never be accepted as Grand Master under Roman Catholic Canon law. However, Paul I of Russia, was Grand Master from the point of view of International Law, and accepted as so, by the community of nations.
As de facto Grand Master, in addition to the Roman Catholic Grand Priory, Paul I created a Russian tradition within the Hospitaller Order - the "Russian Grand Priory" of no less than 118 Commanderies dwarfing the rest of the Order. The Priory was open to all Christians - which whilst it could not be accepted as a canonical part of the Roman Catholic Order, it was never-the-less a de-facto part of the ancient Order.