A Tournament Of Shadows: Knights Of Malta

A Tournament Of Shadows

V. Knights Of Malta

Peter the Great opened the doors of modern Europe to Russia in the eighteenth-century, and by doing so allowed for the introduction of novel ideas. Though her Western counterparts had something of a head start, philosophies ranging from Voltaire to Freemasonry found their place in Russia. It was during the reign of Catherine the Great, in 1779, that Count Cagliostro visited St. Petersburg, introducing new Masonic rites to the capital. As was the case with the West, modernity came at the price of spiritual atrophy and loss of identity. Many educated Russians turned toward esoteric and occult systems, particularly Freemasonry, but Catherine the Great was not one of them. In fact, she opposed occultism and Freemasonry to such an extent, she wrote three anti-Masonic plays in 1786 (The Deceiver, The Deluded One, and The Siberian Shaman.)[1] Masonry was banned in Russia late in her reign, and officially proscribed by her son, Tsar Pavel Petrovich, in 1799.[2] Despite this, a year earlier, in 1798, the Tsar found himself the new Grand Master of the Knights of Malta.[3] This Order, known variously throughout the progress of its history as The Knights Hospitalers, The Knights Of St John Of Jerusalem, The Knights Of Rhodes, and lastly The Knights Of Malta, was one of the most important religious and military orders of knighthood to arise during the Crusades in the early twelfth century.

A depiction of Muhammad receiving his first revelation from the angel Gabriel.[4]

In 610 C.E., the Abrahamic religion of Islam was revealed to the world by the Prophet Muhammad. It would spread rapidly throughout the Levant, Middle East, Asia, and parts of Europe. After Muhammad’s death in 632 C.E., the faithful followers of Islam, the ummah, were led by caliphs (a civil and religious ruler.)^[5] In 638 C.E., Caliph Umar conquered Jerusalem, and with it the site of the Holy Sepulcher (where Christian’s believed Jesus Christ was crucified and entombed.) A Mosque now stood over the great stone that was the Sacrificial Altar of the Second Jewish Temple, and allegedly “the scene of Isaac’s intended sacrifice.” It held a special reverence for Muslims, as they believed that this was the place where their Prophet Muhammed “ascended to heaven.”[6] There was unity in the ummah until 657 C.E., when the legitimacy of Ali, the fourth caliph, and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, was called into question.[7] This started the first civil war among Muslims (ftna) which lasted until 661 C.E. and ended with a sectarian split. Those who supported Ali would become the practitioners of Shi’ite Islam. The faith of the majority, however, their opposition, would be known as Sunni Islam. The two great representatives of those factions during the time of Tsar Pavel Petrovich were the Persians (Shi’ite,) and the Ottomans (Sunni.)

When the Muslim armies conquered Egypt in the seventh century, their scholars encountered an ancient philosophy known as Hermeticism (a Neoplatonic cosmology that fused the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth.) The throughline for this nebulous collection of beliefs, was the figure of Hermes Trismegistus (Thrice Great,) who some regarded as a prophet. These Islamic scholars developed a spiritual practice with this newfound knowledge which they called al-Khemiya (Alchemy,) or the “science of Khem” (Khem being an ancient name for a part of Egypt.) Persia, with its long history of Zoroastrianism, would produce one of the greatest of the Alchemists.[8] Jabir ibn Hayyan, during the course of his scientific pursuit, invented of the alembic still. The airtight covering in this apparatus was said to have come from Hermes Trismegistus himself—and was therefore regarded as the “Hermetic Seal.” Using the alembic, an Alchemist would place a material-soaked solution over a heat source. As the material heated, its “spirit” would be released and transferred through connective tubing to another vessel. Multiple distillations would render a more refined “spirit,” an al-iksir (elixir) with healing properties. Over time, the general expression for Alchemically refined ore, al-kuhul (alcohol,) became the general expression for anything purified or distilled. After successfully distilling pure spirit from coarse matter, the Alchemist proceeded to the final stage of the process, the admixture of the refined elements into a spiritual unity. It was represented in the Hermetic tradition by the marriage of the creative life-giving elemental forces by sulfur (masculine,) and mercury (feminine.) This “Alchemical Wedding” was symbolized in the marriage of Hermes and Aphrodite, Herm-aphrodite. If the re-union (masculine/feminine, spirit/matter) was achieved, the result was the “fifth element” or “quintessence,” also known as the “Philosopher’s Stone.” This was the Alchemical “gold.” This was the “great work” of the Alchemist—the “Magnum Opus.” Jabir recorded his experiments in a coded language that made it nearly impossible for his European counterparts to decipher—a code which the Europeans referred to as “Jabir-ish” (gibberish.)[9]

In 985 C.E., just three years before Prince Vladimir of Kiev converted the Rus to Christianity, a warlord named Seljuk who belonged to a division of Oghuz Confederacy of Tukish tribes, led his clan, the Seljuks, to the banks of the Syr Darya river, where they converted to Islam. Tughril Beg, the grandson of Chief Seljuk, severely crippled the kingdom of Ghaznavid (1040,) and then, turning westwards, conquered all of Persia (of whom they were greatly influenced.) The Seljuks grew in strength, and Tughril Beg captured the eastern province of the Abbasid Empire, and by 1055, also the city of Baghdad. After the Battle of Manzikert against the Byzantine Empire in 1071, they crossed into the predominantly Christian and Greek-speaking Anatolia, which gradually underwent the process of Turkification. That same year they captured Jerusalem from the Fatimids (a Shia dynasty.) The Seljuk conquest disrupted the comparatively peaceful existence of the Christian populations (locals and pilgrims from the West.) Alexios I Komnenos, the Byzantine Emperor, requested military support from the West. Pope Urban II, sympathetic to the plight, urged faithful Christians to undertake an armed pilgrimage, a “Crusade,” to Jerusalem.

The seeds of what would become The Knights Of Malta began at this time. They owed their origin to The Hospitalers Of Jerusalem, a religious and charitable Order that was established in Jerusalem in 1048 by the pious merchants of Amalfi for the succor of poor and distressed (Latin) Christian pilgrims. When the knights of Christendom attempted to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims, The Hospitalers Of Jerusalem received many accessions from the Crusaders, who, putting aside their arms, devoted themselves to the pious avocation of attending the sick. In 1099, Gerard, the Rector of the Hospital, induced the brethren to take vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity, which they did at the hands of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who clothed them in the habit selected for the Order—a plain black robe bearing a white cross of eight points on the left breast. That same year the Crusaders captured Jerusalem, and established a kingdom that would last nearly two hundred years. In 1118 Gerard died and was succeeded by Raymond du Puy. The Order then assumed a military character. Raymond du Puy change in the character into an order devoted to active labors in the field, and the protection of Palestine from the “encroachments of the infidels.” This development was warmly approved by Baldwin II King of Jerusalem who gladly accepted this addition to his forces. The members of the Order took a new oath at the hands of the Patriarch of Jerusalem by which they bound themselves to defend to the last drop of their blood the cause of Christianity in the Holy Land, but on no account to bear arms for any other purpose. Raymond du Puy was now the first Grand Master of The Order Of Knights Hospitalers Of St. John. The history of the Knights from this time until the middle of the sixteenth century is just a chronicle of continuous warfare with the enemies of the Christian faith. During this period, when the Order was losing large numbers of its warriors in its continual battles, Commanderies were established in Europe which served as “nurseries” for the preparation and education of young knights who might be sent to Palestine to reinforce the exhausted ranks of their brethren. When Saladin captured Jerusalem in 1187, the Hospitalers retired to Margat (a town and fortress of Palestine. In 1191 they made Acre (which was re-captured by Christians) their principle place of residence. Eventually Acre fell to Muslim armies, and the Holy Land was abandoned by the Western forces. The Hospitalers found refuge on the island of Cyprus, where they established their convent.

Cathedrals were rising in Europe, due in no small part to the work of the Stonemasons. They were among the many specialized labor forces who formed themselves into guilds. The guild-system which emerged during this period was based upon the notion that the individual master and work man was working as much in the interest of the guild, as for his own advantage. Each guild member was alike under the obligation to labor, and to labor in accordance with the rules laid down by their guild, and at the same time, had equal share of enjoyment with his fellow-guildsmen of all advantages pertaining to the relating branch of industry covered by the guild. The relations between master and apprentices, and master and journeymen, were rigidly fixed down to the smallest detail. Every apprentice, and most of the journeymen, regarded their condition as a period of probation which would end in the glories of mastership.[10] A similar guild-system emerged to create the Western Universities, which traced their origin back to the twelfth-century Cathedral Schools. Christian scholars formed themselves into semi-autonomous, self-governing guilds. In this scholar-guild system, the ranking was bachelor and two higher grades, masters and doctors. Adjudication for mastery was based on an examination system whereby candidates underwent a public trial of their ability. By the early-half of the thirteenth century, these scholar-guilds of learning were sanctioned by the Catholic Church, which recognized them as forming a connected and organized body known as “the university of the masters and scholars.” The pope alone could validate degrees (beyond the confines of conferring universities) and grant them authority throughout Christendom. At the close of the thirteenth century, a social scaffolding emerged that was predicated on the three pillars of fides, sapientia, and militia, (university, papacy, and empire) and mirrored the three-fold office of Christ, (teacher, priest, and king.)[11]

            The Order had been much attenuated by its losses on the battlefield, and its treasury was impoverished. John de Villiers, who was then Grand Master, issued commands to the different Grand Priories of in Europe, and soon large reinforcements of men and money were received. The Fraternity was once again able to reopen their hospital and to recommence their practice of religious duties. No longer capable of supporting their military exploits on land, the knights took to the seas in their galleys. In this endeavor, they were able to protect pilgrims who still flocked to Palestine and gave security to Christian commerce of the Mediterranean. In 1250, the Mamluks led a revolt against the Ayyubid Sultanate (Kingdom) of Egypt, and established their own Islamic sultanate over the land, the Mamluk Sultanate. In 1291, the Mamluks conquered of Acre and massacred most of the Christian and Jewish inhabitants. It was during this period, however, that a new mystical tradition would emerge. During this upheaval in the Holy Land, a mysterious book appeared in Catalonia in Northern Spain, allegedly from Palestine. The work contained Biblical tales and teachings which had never been seen or heard. The work found its way to a man named Moses de Leon. He was a student of Kabbalah, a Jewish mystical tradition which developed in Southern France and Spain beginning in the late twelfth century. Moses studied its history. The ancient book of wisdom was composed by the students of Rabbi Shim’on son of Yohai in second century Palestine. After the death of this rabbi, the book was handed was handed down through the generations from master to student. Moses copied the material and took it upon himself to spread the knowledge he discovered in what he called the Zohar, a work which would become the foundational text for future Kabbalists.[12]

Over time the Hospitaler residence in Cyprus became unpleasant. The king disgusted them with his heavy taxes and rigorous exactions, so they began looking for a new home. They set their sights on nearby island of Rhodes which, under its independent princes, had become a refuge for Turkish corsairs. Fulk de Villaret, the Grand Master of the Hospital, having obtained the approval of Pope Clement (and the assistance of many European States,) made a descent upon the island, and on August 15, 1310, planted the standard of the Order on the walls of the city of Rhodes. They were now known as The Knights Of Rhodes.

The Knights Of Rhodes, installed on the island that was their namesake, acted as an outpost of defense of Christendom from the encroachment of Muslim power. Few years were passed in peace during these two centuries. Other events during this period had an important bearing on the fortunes of the institution. The rival brotherhood of the Templars had been abolished on Friday, October 13, 1307 (from that day forward a day marked as “unlucky,”) by the machinations of Pope Boniface VIII and King Philip of France. Jacques de Molay, their Grand Master, was burned at the stake. The revenues and possessions that could be saved from the spoilation of the Templars was transferred to The Knights Of Rhodes (Hospitalers.) There had always been a bitter rivalry between the two Orders, marked by unhappy contentions, which occasionally, while both were in Palestine, had amounted to actual strife. The Templars never felt kindly feelings toward the Hospitalers; and now this acceptance of an unjust appropriation of their goods in the hour of their disaster, added greatly to their sentiment of ill-will, and the “unhappy children of de Molay” left behind them the bitterest imprecations on the Hospitalers as they passed away from the theatre of Knighthood.

The Order, during its residence at Rhodes, underwent several changes in its organization, by which the simpler system observed in the Holy Land was rendered more perfect (and complicated.) The most notable change was in the character of the European Commanderies. Secure on their island home, with Jerusalem permanently in the possession of the Muslims, there was no longer need for Crusaders, as there was no longer any Crusades. The Knights Of Rhodes, engaged in strengthening their insular possession by erecting fortifications for defense, palaces, and convents for residence, now required large additions to their revenue to defray the expense that this incurred. The Commanders of the Commanderies, once Principals of military schools, became lords of the manor in their respective provinces. Gardens and orchards were cultivated. Livestock was raised. Their arable and meadow lands were rented out, so too were the mills and fisheries appertaining to their estates. All the while, voluntary contributions of their neighbors were graciously accepted. Through the judicial and economical administration of the property entrusted to the Commanders, their income greatly increased. Tributes from this income were sent annually to Rhodes for the recuperation of the always diminishing revenue of the Order.

In the Far East a new threat emerged in the form of the Mongols and their Golden Horde. The descendants of Genghis Khan, rulers of separate khanates (empires,) were conquering Eurasia. A Turkic clan, Osmanli, retreated westward before the all-conquering Mongols in the middle of the thirteenth century. By the end of that century, they entered the service of the Seljuk rulers of Asia Minor, after which time the name Osmanli, or Ottoman, superseded that of Seljuk as the appellative of the Turkish ruling class.[13] In the second half of the fourteenth century, the Ottomans inched their way through the Balkans in pursuit of their ultimate prize, Constantinople. As was the case in Anatolia, the Ottomans radically changed the religious and ethnic demographics in the Balkans during the process of Turkification. A significant Muslim presence took root. Turks from Anatolia and Asia Minor were brought to colonize the Balkans to establish a strong Turkish-Muslim base for further conquests into Europe.[14] In 1453, the Ottoman sultan (king,) Mehmed II, successfully sacked Constantinople.[15] He did not stop there. In the year 1480, Rhodes was unsuccessfully besieged by the Ottoman army of Mehmed II, under the command of Paleologus Pasha. After many contests, the Turks were repulsed with great slaughter. The attack of Sultan (King) Suleiman the Magnificent was another story. In 1520, Suleiman began his reign with military campaigns against Christian powers in Central Europe and the Mediterranean. He captured Belgrade in 1521, and on December 20, 1522, Grand Master L’Isle-Adam surrendered Rhodes to the Ottomans. Suleiman’s terms of capitulation were liberal to the Order, who were permitted to retire with all their personal property. On New Year’s Day, 1523, the fleet containing the knights of the Order, and four thousand inhabitants, sailed for the island of Candia. From Candia, where L’Isle-Adam remained only a short time, he proceeded with his knights to Italy. Seven long years were passed in negotiations with the monarchs of Europe, and in the search for a new home. Emperor Charles V of Germany, vested in the Order the complete and perpetual sovereignty of the islands of Malta and Gozo, and the North African port city of Tripoli. From this time onward, the knights received the designation of “Knights Of Malta,” or the “Maltese Knights.” [16]

SOURCES:

[1] Smith, Douglas. “Freemasonry And The Public In Eighteenth-Century Russia.” Eighteenth-Century Studies. Vol. XXIX, No. 1. (Fall 1995): 25-44.

[2] Leighton, Lauren G. “Freemasonry In Russia: The Grand Lodge Of Astraea (1815-1822.)” The Slavonic And East European Review. Vol. LX, No. 2 (April 1982): 244-261.

[3] Mackey, Albert Gallatin. An Encyclopedia Of Freemasonry And Its Kindred Sciences: Vol. I. The Masonic History Company. New York, New York. (1913): 392-395.

[4] (From the manuscript Jami’ al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, 1307, Ilkhanate period)

[5] Ottoman claims to caliphate were based upon three traditionally recognized principles: divine will, hereditary rights, and political and military power. The justification of divine will dated back to the Umayyads, who had called themselves the Caliphs of God in contrast to their predecessors the first four “Rightly Guided Caliphs.” [Buzpinar, Ş. Tufan. “Opposition to the Ottoman Caliphate in the Early Years of Abdülhamid II: 1877-1882.” Die Welt des Islams. Vol. XXXVI, No. 1 (March 1996): 59-89.]

[6] Johnston, Jas. Bainbridge. “A Pilgrimage To Jerusalem.” The Star. (Guernsey, Guernsey) July 6, 1882.

[7] Holtmann, Philipp. “A Primer To The Sunni-Shia Conflict.” Perspectives On Terrorism. Vol. VIII, No. 1 (February 2014): 142-145.

[8] Stepaniants, Marietta. “The Encounter Of Zoroastrianism With Islam.” Philosophy East And West. Vol. LII, No. 2 (April 2002): 159-172.

[9] Faivre, Antoine. “Renaissance Hermeticism And The Concept Of Western Esotericism.” in Gnosis And Hermeticism From Antiquity To Modern Times. Roel van den Broek and Wouter J. Hanegraaff. State University of New York Press. New York, New York. (1998): 109-123; Magee, Glenn Alexander. Hegel And The Hermetic Tradition. Cornell University Press. Ithaca, New York. (2008): 8; Al-Khalili, Jim. The House Of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge And Gave Us The Renaissance. Penguin Books. London, England. (2012): Chapter 4; Copenhaver, Brian P. Magic In Western Culture: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, England. (2018): 261.

[10] Bax, Ernest Belfort. German Society At The Close Of The Middle Ages. Swan Sonnenschen & Co. (1894): 214-215.

[11] Williams, George Huntston. “An Excursus: Church, Commonwealth, and College: The Religious Sources of the Idea of a University.” In The Harvard Divinity School: Its Place In Harvard University And American Culture. George Huntston Williams. Beacon Press. Boston, Massachusetts (1954): 295-351.

[12] Matt, Daniel Chanan. Zohar, The Book Of Enlightenment. Paulist Press. Mahwah, New Jersey. (1983): 1-10.

[13] Chamber’s Encyclopedia: A Dictionary Of Universal Knowledge. Vol. IX. William & Robert Chambers. London, England. (1892): 307.

[14] Eminov, Ali. “Islam And Muslim In Bulgaria: A Brief History.” Islamic Studies. Vol. XXXVI, No. 2/3, Special Issue: Islam in the Balkans. (Summer/Autumn 1997): 209-241.

[15] Johnston, Charles. “Sanskrit Study In The West Pt. II.” The Theosophist. Vol. X., No. 116. (May 1889): 492-496.

[16] Chamber’s Encyclopedia: A Dictionary Of Universal Knowledge. Vol. IX. William & Robert Chambers. London, England. (1892): 307.