Tongue ( Knights Hospitaller ) Tongues or langues were the geographic - cultural subgroupings of the members of the Knights of Rhodes / Maltese Knights from the 14th to the 18th century . Functionally they corresponded roughly to the " Provinces " of other religious orders . The organization of the Order into " tongues " emerged in the early 14th century when the Knights Hospitaller took possession of Rhodes and was based on a decision of the Order ' s Chapter - General in 1301 . The initial seven tongues were : Provence , Auvergne , France , Italy , Aragon ( with Navarre ) , England ( with Scotland and Ireland ) and Germany . In 1462 Castile and Portugal split off from Aragon and formed a tongue of their own . For a brief period in the 18th century there also was a separate tongue of Bavaria . In the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation , some of the tongues , notably the English and German ones , were substantially weakened and could no longer adequately meet their obligations . This led a reorganization and a reduction in the number of tongues . Despite the seeming link to language , this organization was not strictly aligned with linguistic boundaries , but tended to combine the Order ' s knights and possessions in several nations or states . The German tongue , for instance , included Scandinavia , Hungary , Poland and Bohemia . Each tongue covered at least one Grand Priory . The Grand Prior and the Chapter , which comprised representatives of all bailiwick s and commanderies , administered the individual tongues — including the Order ' s possessions , its charitable activities ( hospitals etc . ) , parishes incorporated into the Order , and the financial contributions for the defence of Rhodes and later Malta and for the maintenance of the Order ' s naval forces in the Mediterranean . At the centre , each tongue was represented in the Chapter - General by at least one knight , typically the Bailli who commanded the tongue ' s knights at the headquarters in Rhodes / Malta and administered its " auberge " ( hostel ) where the local members lodged and took their meals . Each tongue was responsible for the maintenance and defence of a specific portion of the fortress defences and had to man it with sufficient numbers of knights and soldiers . Military Order . Militarily each tongue was headed by a Pilier ( also known as Bailliffs or Baillis ) , who would also hold one of the high offices of the order , the Grand Commander , Marshal , Hospitallier , Admiral , Turcoplier , Drapier . Only the Treasurer was independent of the Tongues . The Piliers were answerable only to the Grand Master , the office each tongue was seeking to gain for one of its own . In effect the tongues were also knightly brotherhoods built around the residences or Auberges that the tongues maintained . These brotherhoods were also political units within the Order , with langes competing over many matters , from the purity of the ancestry required to attain membership to more mundane matters such as the luxury of the Tongue ' s Auberge . The Auberge ' s of several tongues still exist , and are notable buildings in Valletta , and in the knights older capital at Birgu . The division even extended to manning and command of the Knights fortifications , with each tongue responsible for the maintenance and defence of a specific portion of the fortress defences and responsible for manning it with sufficient numbers of knights and soldiers . Administrative Organisation . Supporting the tongue as a military unit was an administrative organisation , made up of priories , which in turn were made up of commanderies , the estates and houses that provided the people and funds that supported the Orders activities . Each tongue covered at least one Grand Priory . The Grand Prior and the Chapter , which comprised representatives of all bailiwicks and commanderies , administered the individual tongues — including the Order ' s possessions , its charitable activities ( hospitals etc . ) and parishes incorporated into the Order . The tongues were expected to provide a number of knights to the Orders military headquarters , and financial contributions for the defence of Rhodes and later Malta and for the maintenance of the Order ' s naval forces in the Mediterranean . By the time of the siege of Malta the tongue of England had been reduced to a single knight . Henry VIII ' s dissolution of the monasteries having also abolished the Langue in England and annexed the tongue of England ' s commanderies . St John ' s Co - Cathedral . In 1604 , each Tongue was given a chapel in the conventual church of St . John , Malta and the arms of the Langue appear in the decoration on the walls and ceiling :