Secularization as an Institutional Challenge – the General Chapter of the Order of St. John in Viterbo (1527)

Abstract

Secularization as an institutional challenge – The General Chapter of the Order of St. John in Viterbo (1527) The Order of St John decided to establish its new sovereign power over Malta during the Chapter General of Viterbo 1527. On closer examination it can be observed, that the Habsburg-French antagonism deeply devided the Order and almost prevented an agreement regarding Malta. The dissolution of the Order seemed to be a real possibility, because the French knights did not want to recognise Charles V as protector of the Order. In the end, the chapter voted for Malta but only if all Christian monarchs accepted this. This meant that the Order more or less remitted the decision to Charles V and Francis I. It was not the Chapter General but the final compromise between the two rulers that paved the way towards Malta.