List of Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller
Knights of Malta

List of Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller

Section Title: Knights of Malta
Table Section Text: None

Nr	Title	Picture	Name	Time in office	Notes

43/44	Magister	-	Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam	1521–1534	Siege of Rhodes (1522), headquarters moved to Malta in 1530

44/45	Magister	-	Piero de Ponte	1534–1535

45/46	Magister	-	Didier de Saint-Jaille	1535–1536

46/47	Magister	-	Juan de Homedes y Coscon	1536–1553	Malta was attacked by an Ottoman fleet in 1551. The attack was repelled, but the Ottomans captured the island of Gozo, and later also the order's stronghold in Tripoli.

47/48	Magister	-	Claude de la Sengle	1553–1557	Continued the improvement of fortifications, expanding Fort Saint Michael into a major bastion and completing Fort Saint Elmo.

48/49	Magister	-	Jean Parisot de Valette	1557–1568	Valette became the Order's most illustrious leader, commanding the resistance against the Ottomans at the Great Siege of Malta in 1565.

49/50	Magister	-	Pierre de Monte	1568–1572	Continued the construction of the new capital Valletta. Strengthened the order's fleet, and participated in the Battle of Lepanto of 7 October 1571.

50/51	Magister	-	Jean de la Cassière	1572–1581	Crisis in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. Expulsion of the Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg) in 1581.

Lieutenant	Mathurin Romegas	1577–1581

Anti-Grand Master	Mathurin Romegas	1581

51/52	Magister	-	Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle	1581–1595

52/53	Magister	-	Martin Garzez	1595–1601

53/54	Magister	-	Alof de Wignacourt	1601–1622	Constructed the Wignacourt towers and the Wignacourt Aqueduct. Repelled the last serious Ottoman attempt at capturing Malta in 1614.

54/55	Magister	-	Luís Mendes de Vasconcellos	1622–1623

55/56	Magister Magnus	-	Antoine de Paule	1623–1636

56/57	Magister Magnus	-	Giovanni Paolo Lascaris	1636–1657	Caribbean possessions

57/58	Magister Magnus	-	Martin de Redin	1657–1660

58/59	Magister Magnus	-	Annet de Clermont-Gessant	1660	Died less than four months after his election, on 2 June 1660.

59/60	Magister Magnus	-	Raphael Cotoner	1660–1663	Commissioned the Italian Baroque artist Mattia Preti to start painting Saint John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta.

60/61	Magister Magnus	-	Nicolas Cotoner	1663–1680	Siege of Candia + Mattia Preti's work at St John's Co-Cathedral completed.

61/62	Magister Magnus	-	Gregorio Carafa	1680–1690	Renovation of Auberge d'Italie in the Baroque style, improvement of Fort Saint Angelo and Fort Saint Elmo. Ottoman attacks were still expected, but there were no longer any notable engagements.

62/63	Magister Magnus	-	Adrien de Wignacourt	1690–1697	Instituted a widows pension for the widows of those fallen in the Ottoman wars.

63/64	Magister Magnus	-	Ramon Perellos y Roccaful	1697–1720	Organised the Consulato del Mare (Consulate of the Sea). Established relations with imperial Russia.

64/65	Magister Magnus	-	Marc'Antonio Zondadari	1720–1722

65/66	Magister Magnus	-	António Manoel de Vilhena	1722–1736	Restored the city Mdina, constructed Fort Manoel and significantly improved the fortifications of Malta in general. Built Casa Leoni and Palazzo Parisio, and renovated Verdala Palace.

66/67	Magister Magnus	-	Ramon Despuig	1736–1741	Improved the fortifications of Mdina, modernised legislation, renovated the Co-Cathedral of St. John. Naval engagements with Ottoman Algeria.

67/68	Magister Magnus	-	Manuel Pinto da Fonseca	1741–1773	Expelled the Jesuits from Malta. In 1753 proclaimed the sovereignty of the Order on Malta and a dispute started with the Kingdom of Sicily under King Charles V.

68/69	Magister Magnus	-	Francisco Ximenes de Texada	1773–1775	Rising of the Priests (1775), bankruptcy of the order.

69/70	Magister Magnus	-	Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc	1775–1797	Instituted the Anglo-Bavarian langue and the Russian Grand Priory.

70/71	Magister Magnus	-	Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim	1797–1799	First German elected to the Office. Abdicated 6 July 1799 following the French invasion of Malta.

Sentence(s)

Fra' Jean l'Evesque de la Cassière was the 51st Grand Master of the Order of Malta, from 1572 to 1581.

final_sentence: Fra' Jean l'Evesque de la Cassière was the 51st Grand Master of the Order of Malta, from 1572 to 1581.