Knights of Saint John

Knights of Saint John (officially, Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem; also known as Hospitallers, Knights of Rhodes, or of Malta), religious order founded by papal charter (1113) to tend sick pilgrims in the Holy Land. It became a military order as well in 1140, and after the fall of Jerusalem was based successively on Cyprus (1291), Rhodes (1309), and Malta (1530) to provide a defense against Muslim seapower. Expelled from Malta by Napoleon in 1798, the Knights have been established at Rome since 1834.

See also: Knighthood, Orders of.