Knights of St John

The Knights Hospitaller, also known as the Knights of St John, Order of St John, and currently The
Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta. The Hospitallers
group was dedicated to St John the Baptist and was founded around 1023 by Blessed Gerard Thom to
provide care for poor, sick or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land.
Knights have been in Malta since 1530 when Charles V of Spain, as King of Sicily, gave them this land. In
1607 the Grand Master of the Hospitallers was granted the status of Reichsfürst.