The Alliance of the Orders of Saint John of Jerusalem is a federation of European (mostly Protestant) chivalric orders that share inheritance of the tradition of the medieval military Knights Hospitaller (Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem).
The Alliance was formed in 1961 to encourage closer collaboration between its member orders in matters of common concern, and comprises:
The Johanniter Orde in Nederland and the Johanniterorden i Sverige were formerly commanderies of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg. They became independent orders under the respective monarchs in 1946.
As John Brooke-Little (when Norroy and Ulster King of Arms) later put into writing,[ citation needed ] the principal impetus for the concordat of 1961 was not ecumenism or brotherhood: it was signed because none of the few remaining legitimate orders of Saint John could effectively shield themselves from the claims of the self-styled orders while the legitimate orders continuously debated among themselves which of them was legitimate. This concordat led to the establishment of the Alliance of the Orders of St. John. [1]
The presidency of the Alliance rotates between the four Orders of Saint John.
The four non-Catholic constituent orders of the Alliance, together with the Roman Catholic Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), form the "Mutually Recognised Orders of Saint John": SMOM is acknowledged as being the senior order, with the other Alliance members stemming from the same root. [2] [3]
This alliance has evolved over time to the point where co-operation between the respective Orders is now ever closer: a representative of the Johanniterorden , for instance, sits on the board of the St John Eye Hospital Group.
None of the five mutually-recognised orders accept the claims of any other so-called Order of Saint John (which SMOM, the Alliance Orders and others describe as "self-styled"), nor their claims to be successors of the medieval Order of Saint John, nor any right to use the name and symbols of that order.
In 1975, the Alliance Orders, together with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, established what is today known as the Committee on the Orders of Saint John, a collaborative body focused on protecting their shared heritage, including names and symbols. [4] For many years the president of the Committee was Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern (1924–2010), and more recently Lt. Col. Peregrine Bertie, brother of the former Grand Master of SMOM, Fra' Andrew Bertie (1929–2008). The current president is Fra' John T. Dunlap.
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, commonly known as the Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of a military, chivalric, and noble nature. Though it possesses no territory, the order is often considered a sovereign entity under international law.
A military order is a Christian religious society of knights. The original military orders were the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller, the Order of Saint James, the Order of Calatrava, and the Teutonic Knights. They arose in the Middle Ages in association with the Crusades, both in the Holy Land, the Baltics, and the Iberian peninsula; their members being dedicated to the protection of pilgrims and Christians, as well as the defence of the Crusader states. They are the predecessors of chivalric orders.
The Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller is a collection of charitable organisations claiming continuity with the Russian Orthodox grand priory of the Order of Saint John. The order emerged when Malta was captured by Napoleon in 1798 during the expedition to Egypt. The Grand Master at the stronghold of Malta, Ferdinand von Hompesch, failed to anticipate or prepare for the threat. The Order continued to exist in a diminished form and negotiated with European governments for a return to power. The Emperor of Russia gave shelter to the largest number of Knights in St Petersburg and this gave rise to the Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller and recognition within the Russian Imperial Orders. In gratitude the Knights declared Ferdinand von Hompesch deposed and Emperor Paul I was elected as the new Grand Master. The continuous Order was also approved by the Papacy, but due to British fear of Russian taking presence in the Mediterranean and because many knights were Orthodox the Order became de facto the traditional Order but de jure not recognised similar or at par with the formation of the 19th-century Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedicated to St John the Baptist.
The Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Chivalric Order of Saint John of the Hospital at Jerusalem, commonly known as the Order of Saint John or the Johanniter Order, is the German Protestant branch of the Knights Hospitaller, the oldest surviving chivalric order, which generally is considered to have been founded at Jerusalem in 1099.
An order of chivalry, order of knighthood, chivalric order, or equestrian order is an order of knights, typically founded during or inspired by the original Catholic military orders of the Crusades and paired with medieval concepts of ideals of chivalry.
St John Ambulance is the name of a number of affiliated organisations in different countries which teach and provide first aid and emergency medical services, and are primarily staffed by volunteers. The associations are overseen by the international Order of St John and its priories.
The Knights of Justice or Professed Knights, form the first of the three classes of members of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta together with the professed conventual chaplains. They make vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. According to the Order's Code, "they are religious in all respects and they comply with the universal and particular norms that concern them."
Order of Saint John or Knights Hospitaller is a chivalric order of the Crusades and early modern period, after 1530 also known as "Knights of Malta"
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller, is a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was founded in the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there until 1291, thereafter being based in Kolossi Castle in Cyprus (1302–1310), the island of Rhodes (1310–1522), Malta (1530–1798), and Saint Petersburg (1799–1801).
Palazzo Malta, officially named as the Magistral Palace, and also known as Palazzo di Malta or Palazzo dell'Ordine di Malta, is the more important of the two headquarters of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a Roman Catholic lay religious order and a sovereign subject of international law. It is located in Via dei Condotti, 68 in Rome, Italy, a few minutes' walk from the Spanish Steps, and has been granted extraterritoriality by the Italian Government. The Palace has been a property of the Order of Malta since 1630.
The Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Oecumenical Knights of Malta is one of the 26 unrecognised (self-styled) orders of St. John active in 2010. The investiture ceremonies of the Ecumenical Knights of Malta have been held at the First Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. Philanthropic activities have included supporting disaster relief, such as raising $600,000 to help victims of the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake.
Wilhelm Karl Adalbert Erich Detloff Prinz von Preussen was the third son of Prince Oskar of Prussia, and the last surviving grandson of Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor. He was the thirty-sixth Master of Knights (Herrenmeister) of the Protestant Order of Saint John, also known as Der Johanniterorden, as his father's successor and his son's predecessor.
Johanniter International (JOIN) is the partnership of the four protestant Orders of St. John and their national charities. Its member organisations, based in Europe and the Middle East, work in close cooperation and are supported by more than 100,000 volunteers. They serve humanity with medical services and first aid, social care, international aid, disaster relief and youth work. The services of JOIN’s member organisations are open to everyone.
The Order of Saint John in Sweden is a Protestant chivalric order. It is a member of the Alliance of the Orders of Saint John of Jerusalem.
The flag and coat of arms of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, or the Jerusalem flag, display a white cross on a red field, ultimately derived from the design worn by the Knights Hospitaller during the Crusades.
The Order of Saint John was organised in a system of commanderies during the high medieval to early modern periods, to some extent surviving as the organisational structure of the several descended orders that formed after the Reformation.
Oskar Michael Hans Karl Prinz von Preussen is a member of the House of Hohenzollern, the former ruling house of Germany. He is the thirty-seventh Herrenmeister of the Order of Saint John.
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