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Origins in 1048
The Sovereign Order of St John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitaller (OSJ) had its origins around the year 1048 and is the oldest surviving international Christian Order of Chivalry. The Order was founded by Brother Gerard, who became the first leader upon the establishment of a hospice in Jerusalem to tend the needs of the Christian pilgrims. The knights - known as chevaliers - originally came as members of the First Crusade. A church in honour of St John the Baptist was erected on his accepted burial site, and became the Conventual Church of the Order. Since then, the Order has been known as the Order of St John of Jerusalem. The Feast of St John the Baptist, the 24th June, is the Religious Feast Day of the Order.

From Jerusalem to Cyprus to Rhodes to Malta
Towards the end of the 13th century, the Order went briefly to Cyprus. In 1310 the Order moved to the Island of Rhodes after the island's capture by the knights. They remained there and prospered for the next 200 years. After having been besieged for many years by the Turks, the Order arranged an honourable withdrawal from Rhodes to the barren rock of Malta, where they stayed until forced to capitulate to Napoleon in 1798. It is at this time that the Order fragmented into many parts, with the bulk of knights moving to St Petersberg.

From Malta to St Petersburg
In 1798, after the fall of Malta, the knights were forced to disperse, with many of them seeking refuge in St Petersburg under the protection of the House of Romanoff. The continuity and integrity of the original Order were thereby substantiated in Russia.
Here we diverge briefly. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) published history Knights of the Order acknowledges Tsar Paul as the 70th Grand Master. However, early in the 19th century, the following took place:

  • stabilisation of Europe, with the defeat of Napoleon
  • assassination of Tsar Paul
  • assassination of Piux VI
  • Piux VII recruited 9 of about 200 knights in St Petersberg and founded the SMOM as a purely Roman Catholic order. It was a French priory of this Order that, during the 1830s provided a seed for the revived British Order, which later evolved into the Anglican Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem. The British Langue of the Order had been exterminated in 1634 by Henry VIII. Hence, there is no continuity from Malta for the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem without the SMOM, Tsar Paul, or the Russian Tradition that flourished in Imperial Russia until the early 1917. (There is an theory that English knights returned to England following the fall of Malta. There were aparently three English knights of St John in Malta at that time, but their allegiance to the Order of St John made them outcasts of Anglican English nobility and it is unlikely that they would have had much influence on their return to England if that is what they indeed did.)
The Encyclopaedia Britannica (14th Edition 1966, pp. 904-906) acknowledges that the Order of St John continued in Russia until the Russian Revolution. In Russia.� On the final partition of Poland in 17 97, the grand priory of Poland, which had formed a part of the Anglo-Bavarian langue, became known as the grand priory of Russia and was taken under the protection, of the emperor Paul I, who, though Orthodox, became grand master of the order (1798), in the face of strong papal disapproval. Paul's successor, Alexander I, declined to be grand master, but the Orthodox grand priory in Russia existed until the Revolution (1917).

As a result of the social upheavals in Russia during the early 20th century, a number of hereditary commanders emigrated and established the Order in other countries.

1911 Charter
A legal charter of the Order was accepted by all the hereditary commanders of Europe and America in 1911, thereby opening up the Order to members of all Christian denominations. The charter was revised in 1963 under the 73rd Grand Master and protector, King Peter II of Yugoslavia. Since then, the Order has expanded with Grand Priories in Europe, England, Malta, the United States, Australia and Cyprus.

In Australia
The Order in Australia was founded in 1969 as a commanderie, which, in 1974 became a priory within the Grand Priory of Malta. In 1977 it achieved independent status as a Grand Priory with priories in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and later South Australia. Commanderies were also formed in Geelong and Darling Downs. Currently, the Australian organisation is structured under an Australian Grand Priory, as follows:

  • Victoria Priory
    • Geelong Commaderie
  • Queensland Priory
    • Darling Downs Commaderie
    • Gold Coast Commaderie
    • Surf Coast Commaderie
    • Brisbane Commaderie
  • South Australia Priory
  • New South Wales Priory
This is an unofficial website and does not represent the Order
Sovereign Order of St John of Jerusalem - Knights Hospitaller
Chartered by King Peter (II) of Yugoslavia
Grand Master: HRH Prince Karl Vladimir Karageorgevitch
Grand Prior of Southern Australia: H.E. Bailiff Victor J Techritz AM GCSJ
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