Order of Malta: Official Style: 1530-2024

Home Nations Order of MaltaOfficial Style: 1530-2024

Order of Malta: Official Style: 1530-2024
24 Mar 1530	the islands of Malta and Gozo and the city of Tripoli (now in Libya) are ceded as a perpetual fief by the King of Two Sicilies to the Order in accordance with a deed signed on 24 Mar 1530 in Castelfranco (now Castelfranco Emilia in Italy) (Bosio, vol. 3, Book Five, pp. 80-82)
25 Apr 1530	the grant of the fief is accepted by a decree approved by the Council of the Order (Bosio, vol. 3, Book Five, p. 82) [1]
26 Oct 1530	Grand Master and the members of the Council of the Order landed in Malta near the present city of Birgu (Bosio, vol. 3, Book Five, p. 89)
13 Nov 1530	representatives of the Order took formal possession of Malta at a ceremony of enfeoffment at the gates of the city of Mdina (Città Notabile) (Bosio, vol. 3, Book Five, p. 90)
13 Nov 1530 - 9 Feb 1803	Ordo Sacrae Domus Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani [2]
12 Jun 1798	sovereignty over the islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino is renounced by the Order in favour of France in accordance with a convention signed on 12 Jun 1798 aboard the French ship Orient (Moniteur universel, No. 323, 23 Thermidor Year VI (10 Aug 1798), p. 1293; Scicluna, pp. 77-78)
9 Feb 1803 -	Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, detto di Rodi, detto di Malta [3][4]


[1]	The oath of fielty was sworn by the representatives of the Order in Messina on 29 May 1530 (Bosio, vol. 3, Book Five, p. 83)
[2]	This is the full official style of the Order during its tenure of Malta. The style in Latin used in the Apostolic Letters of 1956 and 1961 promulgating the Constitutional Charters is Sacer Ordo Fratrum Militum Hospitalis Sancti Joannis Hierosolymitani.
[3]	The date 9 Feb 1803 notionally corresponds to the re-establishment of the Order after the loss of Malta. Italian was the language of the Constitutinal Charters of the Order promulgated in 1956 and 1961. It was designated as the official language of the Order in the amendended Charter (approved 30 Apr 1997).
[4]	This is the full official style of the Order as recorded in the Constitutional Charters of 1956 and 1961. Both charters provide the official short styles: Ordine di Malta and Ordine.

Last update: 29 Nov 2023