Compagnie française des Indes occidentales
In 1651, the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique sold the French part of the island to the Order of Saint John which was sovereign over Malta, at the time a vassal state of the Kingdom of Sicily. The Order's rule lasted for fourteen years, and in 1665 it was sold back to the French West India Company along with the Order's other possessions in the Caribbean.