ADDING TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE ORDER OF MALTA
Did You Know...
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Scott Samson KMG explores the Order’s Ancient Langues: a unique administrative structure
n the early 14th century, following the loss of the Holy Land and decline of the crusading ideal, the Order of St John took possession of the island of Rhodes and the many smaller islands of the Dodecanese archipelago. It was in Rhodes that the Order took on the features of a Sovereign State. Governed by the Grand Master and the Council, the Order minted its own money and maintained diplomatic relations with other States. New knights came to Rhodes from all over Europe. It was natural for them to associate with those who spoke their language and shared their traditions. Whereas in Acre – the last major stronghold of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which fell to the Mamluk Sultanate in 1291 – members of the Order had lodged together in a single Auberge. With the move first to Cyprus and later to Rhodes, no such building awaited them, and for the first time, the practice of living in smaller national residences was introduced to the Order. A capitular decree of 1301 and a subsequent meeting in 1319 of the Order’s Chapter General in Montpellier resolved to officially group the Order’s membership according to national-linguistic identities. This was the beginning of the so-called “langues” or tongues of the Order, with
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each Langue including Priories or Grand Priories, Bailiwicks and Commanderies within a national-linguistic group. When the system of the langues was established, there were seven langues. The Gallic sphere was divided into the langues of Auvergne, France and Provence. The Iberian-Romance area was designated as the Langue of Aragon and the ItaloRomance area was designated as the Langue of Italy. Germanic Europe was designated as the Langue of Germany, and it included all of the Holy Roman Empire, its Slavic-speaking parts, as well as Scandinavia, Hungary, and Poland. While the British Isles were designated as the Langue of England, there were some exceptions since the Poles and Slavs came under the Langue of Germany, albeit not speaking German. In 1462, the Langue of Castile, Léon and Portugal split from Aragon and constituted the eighth Langue. This internal reorganisation of the Order was more or less complete by the mid-15th century, and it continued unaltered up to the end of the 19th century. Each Langue had its own head, known as a Pilier or Bailiff, who later on took one of the Order’s high offices. This included Grand Commander (Provence), Marshal (Auvergne), Grand Hospitaller (France),
Conservator/Drapier (Aragon), Admiral (Italy), and Grand Turcopolier (England). Germany did not originally have an office, but by the 16th century the head of the German Langue occupied the position of Grand Bailiff with responsibility for the Order’s fortifications. Meanwhile, the Piler of Castille held the office of Chancellor. The Piliers, together with the Knights Grand Cross, the bishop, the Bailiffs of the convents, and the Prior of the Conventual Church, sat on the Grand Council of the Order. Each Langue, first on Rhodes and then later on Malta, possessed an “auberge” or “inn”, used for accommodation, meetings, and for meals. That, at least in the beginning, had to be communal. The loss of the island of Malta in 1798 brought about the end of the ancient division into langues. The Order began to reorganise itself and the current system of national associations came into being after the Grand Magistry was established in Rome in 1834. The Germans were the first to found an association in 1859, followed by the British in 1875, and the Italians in 1877. The Order of Malta’s members are now grouped into six Grand Priories and 48 National Associations in the five continents. all heirs to the tradition of the historic langues.
2018 Australian Hospitaller
