List of grand masters of the Knights Hospitaller facts for kids

The coat of arms of the Order of Saint John. Grand Masters later combined this with their own family symbols.

This article lists the main leaders, called Grand Masters, of the Knights Hospitaller. This ancient group of knights started long ago and continues today as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. This list also includes leaders who were not fully recognized, or those who served temporarily when there was no Grand Master.

The leaders of the Order used different titles over time. In the early days, they were called custos (Guardian) of the hospital. Later, they used the title magister (Master) on coins. The first leader to officially use the title Grandis Magister (Grand Master) was Jean de Lastic in the 1400s.

Over time, the Grand Master gained more importance. In 1607, the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II made the Grand Master a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. This meant they had a special high rank. Also, Pope Paul V gave the Grand Master the special title of His Eminence in 1607, placing them just after cardinals in importance.

Today, the Grand Master is called "Most Eminent Highness" in several languages, like English, Italian, French, German, and Spanish.

The Order has kept track of its leaders for centuries. The first leader, Blessed Gerard, is sometimes listed as the founder without a number. Raymond du Puy is often considered the 1st or 2nd Master. The current numbering system used by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta lists Blessed Gerard as the 1st Master.

Leaders of the Knights Hospitaller in Jerusalem

The Knights Hospitaller began in Jerusalem, helping sick pilgrims. They later became a military force.

Further information: History of the Knights Hospitaller in the Levant

Number	Title	Picture	Name	Time in office	Notes
–/1	Founder and Rector		Blessed Gerard	1099/1113–1118/20	The Order started in 1099 and was recognized by the Pope in 1113.
1/2	Guardian		Raymond du Puy	1118/21/23–1160	He helped turn the Hospitallers into a military group.
2/3	Guardian		Auger de Balben	1160–1162/3
3/4	Guardian		Arnaud de Comps	c. 1162–1163	Some historians question if he truly existed.
4/5	Guardian		Gilbert of Assailly	1163–1169	Supported Amalric of Jerusalem in attacks on Egypt.
5/6	Guardian		Gastone de Murols	c. 1170–1172
6/7	Guardian		Jobert of Syria	c. 1169/72–1177	Served as a temporary ruler for King Amalric.
7/8	Guardian		Roger de Moulins	1177–1187	Died in battle.
8/9	Provisor		Armengol de Aspa	1187–1190	Temporary leader during the loss of Jerusalem.
9/10	Guardian		Garnier de Nablus	1190–1192	Supported Richard I of England in the Third Crusade.
10/11	Guardian		Geoffroy de Donjon	1193–1202
11/12	Guardian		Afonso de Portugal	1202–1206	Resigned from his position.
12/13	Guardian		Geoffroy le Rat	1206–1207	He organized the Order by different nationalities, called Langues.
13/14	Guardian		Guérin de Montaigu	1207–1228	Involved in the Fifth Crusade.
14/15	Guardian		Bertrand de Thessy	1228–1231	Involved in the Sixth Crusade.
15/16	Guardian		Guérin Lebrun	1231–1236
16/17	Guardian		Bertrand de Comps	1236–1240	Headquarters moved to Jerusalem.
17/18	Guardian		Pierre de Vieille-Brioude	1240–1242
18/19	Guardian		Guillaume de Chateauneuf	1242–1258	Jerusalem fell in 1244. He was captured in battle.
19/20	Guardian		Hugues de Revel	1258–1277	The Order lost a major castle, Krak des Chevaliers, in 1271.
20/21	Guardian		Nicolas Lorgne	1277–1285	The Order lost another castle, Margat, in 1285.
21/22	Guardian		Jean de Villiers	1285–1294	Involved in the Siege of Acre.
22/23	Guardian		Odon de Pins	1294–1296	The Order's main base moved to Limisso, Cyprus.
23/24	Guardian		Guillaume de Villaret	1296–1305

Knights of Rhodes: A New Home

After leaving the Holy Land, the Knights moved to the island of Rhodes.

Further information: Hospitaller conquest of Rhodes and Hospitaller Rhodes

Number	Title	Picture	Name	Time in office	Notes
24/25	Master		Foulques de Villaret	1305–1319	He led the conquest of Rhodes.
	Anti-Master		Maurice de Pagnac (unrecognized)	1317–1319
25/26	Master		Hélion de Villeneuve	1319–1346
26/27	Master		Dieudonné de Gozon	1346–1353
27/28	Master		Pierre de Corneillan	1353–1355
28/29	Master		Roger de Pins	1355–1365
29/30	Master		Raymond Berengar	1365–1374
30/31	Master		Robert de Juilly (de Juliac)	1374–1376
31/32	Master		Juan Fernández de Heredia	1376–1396	He was appointed by one Pope but later supported another.
32/33	Master		Riccardo Caracciolo	1383–1395	Appointed by a different Pope during a split in the Church.
33/34	Master		Philibert de Naillac	1396–1421
34/35	Master		Anton Flavian de Ripa	1421–1437
35/36	Grand Master		Jean de Lastic	1437–1454	First to use the title "Grand Master".
36/37	Grand Master		Jacques de Milly	1454–1461
37/38	Grand Master		Piero Raimondo Zacosta	1461–1467
38/39	Grand Master		Giovanni Battista Orsini	1467–1476
39/40	Grand Master		Pierre d'Aubusson	1476–1503	Defended Rhodes during a major siege in 1480.
40/41	Grand Master		Emery d'Amboise	1503–1512
41/42	Grand Master		Guy de Blanchefort	1512–1513
42/43	Grand Master		Fabrizio del Carretto	1513–1521
43/44	Grand Master		Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam	1521–1534	Led the Knights during the final siege of Rhodes in 1522. The Order then moved to Malta in 1530.

Knights of Malta: A New Island Home

The Knights moved to the island of Malta and became known as the Knights of Malta.

Further information: Hospitaller Malta

Number	Title	Picture	Name	Time in office	Notes
43/44	Grand Master		Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam	1521–1534	Moved the Order's headquarters to Malta in 1530.
44/45	Grand Master		Piero de Ponte	1534–1535
45/46	Grand Master		Didier de Saint-Jaille	1535–1536
46/47	Grand Master		Juan de Homedes	1536–1553	He started improving Malta's defenses after attacks.
47/48	Grand Master		Claude de la Sengle	1553–1557	Continued building strong forts on Malta.
48/49	Grand Master		Jean Parisot de Valette	1557–1568	He bravely led the Knights during the Great Siege of Malta in 1565.
49/50	Grand Master		Pierre de Monte	1568–1572	He continued building the new capital city, Valletta.
50/51	Grand Master		Jean de la Cassière	1572–1581
	Lieutenant		Mathurin Romegas	1577–1581
	Anti-Grand Master		Mathurin Romegas	1581
51/52	Grand Master		Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle	1581–1595
52/53	Grand Master		Martín Garzés	1595–1601
53/54	Prince and Grand Master		Alof de Wignacourt	1601–1622	He built towers and an aqueduct on Malta.
54/55	Prince and Grand Master		Luís Mendes de Vasconcellos	1622–1623
55/56	Prince and Grand Master		Antoine de Paule	1623–1636
56/57	Prince and Grand Master		Giovanni Paolo Lascaris	1636–1657	The Order gained control of some islands in the Caribbean.
57/58	Prince and Grand Master		Martin de Redin	1657–1660
58/59	Prince and Grand Master		Annet de Clermont-Gessant	1660	He died soon after being elected.
59/60	Prince and Grand Master		Rafael Cotoner	1660–1663	He started the beautiful paintings in Saint John's Co-Cathedral.
60/61	Prince and Grand Master		Nicolás Cotoner	1663–1680	The paintings in St. John's Co-Cathedral were finished during his time.
61/62	Prince and Grand Master		Gregorio Carafa	1680–1690	He improved the Order's forts.
62/63	Prince and Grand Master		Adrien de Wignacourt	1690–1697	He created a pension for widows of knights who died in battle.
63/64	Prince and Grand Master		Ramón Perellós	1697–1720	He fought against pirates and worked to stop corruption.
64/65	Prince and Grand Master		Marc'Antonio Zondadari	1720–1722
65/66	Prince and Grand Master		António Manoel de Vilhena	1722–1736	He restored the city of Mdina and built many important structures.
66/67	Prince and Grand Master		Ramón Despuig	1736–1741	He improved Malta's defenses and updated laws.
67/68	Prince and Grand Master		Manuel Pinto da Fonseca	1741–1773	He declared the Order's independence on Malta.
68/69	Prince and Grand Master		Francisco Ximénez de Tejada	1773–1775	The Order faced financial difficulties during his rule.
69/70	Prince and Grand Master		Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc	1775–1797	He created new sections of the Order for different regions.
70/71	Prince and Grand Master		[[Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim]]	1797–1799	He was the first German Grand Master. He stepped down after the French invasion of Malta.

Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Modern Era

After losing Malta, the Order continued its work, focusing on humanitarian aid.

Quick facts for kids Prince and Grand Master of Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Coat of arms
Incumbent
John T. Dunlap Prince and Grand Master since 13 June 2022 (2022-06-13)
Details
Style	His Most Eminent Highness
First monarch	Blessed Gerard
Formation	1099

Number	Title	Picture	Name	Time in office	Notes
72	Grand Master de facto		Paul I of Russia	1798–1801	He was elected by a group in Russia, but the Pope did not confirm it.
			Nikolai Saltykov	1801–1803	Temporary leader in Russia.
73	Prince and Grand Master		Giovanni Battista Tommasi	1803–1805	Appointed by the Pope.
	Lieutenant		Innico Maria Guevara-Suardo	1805–1814
	Lieutenant		Andrea Di Giovanni y Centellés	1814–1821
	Lieutenant		Antoine Busca	1821–1834
	Lieutenant		Carlo Candida	1834–1845	The Order's main office moved to Palazzo Malta in Rome.
	Lieutenant		Filippo di Colloredo-Mels	1845–1864
	Lieutenant		Alessandro Borgia	1865–1871
	Lieutenant		[[Giovanni Battista Ceschi a Santa Croce]]	1871–1879
74	Prince and Grand Master		[[Giovanni Battista Ceschi a Santa Croce]]	1879–1905	The role of Grand Master was officially brought back after many years.
75	Prince and Grand Master		[[Galeas von Thun und Hohenstein]]	1905–1931
76	Prince and Grand Master		[[Ludovico Chigi Albani della Rovere]]	1931–1951
	Lieutenant		[[Antonio Hercolani Fava Simonetti]]	1951–1955
	Lieutenant		[[Ernesto Paternò Castello di Carcaci]]	1955–1962	The Order's rules were updated in 1961.
77	Prince and Grand Master		Angelo de Mojana di Cologna	1962–1988
	Lieutenant ad interim		Jean Charles Pallavicini	1988
78	Prince and Grand Master		Andrew Bertie	1988–2008	The Order's rules were revised again in 1997.
	Lieutenant ad interim		Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto	2008
79	Prince and Grand Master		Matthew Festing	2008–2017	He was the first Grand Master elected under the 1997 rules. He resigned in 2017.
	Lieutenant ad interim		Ludwig Hoffmann-Rumerstein	2017
	Lieutenant of the Grand Master		Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto	2017–2018
80	Prince and Grand Master		Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto	2018–2020
	Lieutenant ad interim		Ruy Gonçalo do Valle Peixoto de Villas Boas	2020
	Lieutenant of the Grand Master		Marco Luzzago	2020–2022
	Lieutenant ad interim		Ruy Gonçalo do Valle Peixoto de Villas Boas	2022
	Lieutenant of the Grand Master		John T. Dunlap	2022–2023	Appointed by Pope Francis.
81	Prince and Grand Master		John T. Dunlap	2023–present	The first Grand Master elected under the Order's newest rules from 2022.

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In Spanish: Anexo:Grandes maestres de la Orden de Malta para niños

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