The Land and the Cross
Properties of the Order of St John between Centre and Periphery (16th-18th centuries)
1st Edition
Published on 14. March 2025
270 pages
978-1-040-31972-7 (ISBN)
Description
'As the sun sees everything, so should the eye': this was the guiding principle expounded in the 1588 Statutes of the Order of St John concerning management and control over its extensive urban and rural properties. In a similar way, this book seeks to provide its readers with the eyes through which to navigate a variegated Hospitaller landscape from Portugal to Italy and from Germany to Malta in the early modern period.
Priories, bailiwicks, foundations, and commanderies formed the power base of the institution, and the Order acted with local leaders and communities in a series of overlapping jurisdictions which led to both fruitful alliances and power struggles. The contributions in this book, by scholars from across diverse disciplinary and geographical borders, shed light on the archival sources and legal procedures, politics and diplomacy, social and financial aspects, as well as the landscape and architectural features of the Hospitaller network of properties. In so doing, they help to recompose a fragmented and often forgotten history forged in multicultural environments.
The Land and the Cross establishes a foundation for future scholarship and stimulates interdisciplinary collaboration to recover and protect a heritage that is today neglected, hidden, or abandoned. The book challenges readers in the field of Hospitaller studies and beyond to explore a wider world through the unique and original lens of the Order of St John.
Priories, bailiwicks, foundations, and commanderies formed the power base of the institution, and the Order acted with local leaders and communities in a series of overlapping jurisdictions which led to both fruitful alliances and power struggles. The contributions in this book, by scholars from across diverse disciplinary and geographical borders, shed light on the archival sources and legal procedures, politics and diplomacy, social and financial aspects, as well as the landscape and architectural features of the Hospitaller network of properties. In so doing, they help to recompose a fragmented and often forgotten history forged in multicultural environments.
The Land and the Cross establishes a foundation for future scholarship and stimulates interdisciplinary collaboration to recover and protect a heritage that is today neglected, hidden, or abandoned. The book challenges readers in the field of Hospitaller studies and beyond to explore a wider world through the unique and original lens of the Order of St John.
Reviews / Votes
'The Order of St. John has a deliciously complex history, its members ruling a tiny insular territory while managing a vast web of land holdings that extended over virtually every part of medieval and early modern Europe. This collection of essays does full justice to the order's rich and multi-faceted past, while at the same time showcasing the ongoing transformation of Hospitaller studies thanks to the troves of new documentary material now being made available by archivists' - Giancarlo Casale, Professor of Early Modern History of the Mediterranean, European University Institute.'This wide-ranging collection is a welcome addition to scholarship on the Order of St John (also known as the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights of Malta) in Europe during the early modern period. Focussing on the Knights' landholdings and relations with Christian rulers, it reveals the Order as a vibrant institution even as its holy war and care for the sick became less significant to Europeans. Exploring extensive archival records -- including the Knights' illustrated inventories of their lands and buildings - these articles illuminate details of the Knights' activities in landholding, politics and diplomacy, administration, and record-keeping' - Helen Nicholson, Emeritus Professor, Cardiff University.
'This book is rich with new insights about the intricate administrative systems that held together the far-reaching network of properties of the Order of Saint John. The role played by individual actors leaps to life from the pages, in a vivid portrait of the tensions between the time-honoured traditions of a venerable institution, and the pragmatic realpolitik that needed to be exercised daily to safeguard the Order's interests. The volume brings together fifteen contributions from a formidable array of scholars, to deliver an interdisciplinary tour-de-force' - Reuben Grima, Associate Professor of Conservation and Built Heritage, University of Malta.
More details
Series
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
2 Line drawings, black and white; 26 Halftones, black and white; 28 Illustrations, black and white
File size
48,94 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-040-31972-7 (9781040319727)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Valentina Burgassi | George Alexander Said-Zammit | Valeria Vanesio
The Land and the Cross
Properties of the Order of St John between Centre and Periphery (16th-18th centuries)
Book
approx. 07/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€57.50
Not yet published
Valentina Burgassi | George Alexander Said-Zammit | Valeria Vanesio
The Land and the Cross
Properties of the Order of St John between Centre and Periphery (16th-18th centuries)
Book
03/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€206.60
Shipment within 10-20 days
Persons
Valentina Burgassi is an assistant professor in the history of early modern architecture at Politecnico di Torino. She holds a joint PhD in Architectural and Landscape Heritage from Politecnico di Torino and in Histoire de l'Art from Ecole Pratiques des Hautes Etudes. She holds a post-MA specialisation in Cultural Heritage and Landscape (2012). She worked as a teaching assistant at Politecnico di Milano (2014-2018) and as a fellow at the Palladio Museum (2020) and the Ecole francaise de Rome (2018). She is part of the executive committee of the Construction History Group (Politecnico di Torino).
George Alexander Said-Zammit holds a PhD from the University of Leiden. He specialises in domestic space in the Maltese Islands and its development within a Mediterranean and European context between 1300 and 1970. He is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Said-Zammit lectures on domestic space and space syntax for the Faculty of the Built Environment of the University of Malta. He has authored various academic publications worldwide and has participated in conferences in Malta and abroad. He is an Ambassador of Malta.
Valeria Vanesio is a lecturer in the Department of Library, Information and Archive Sciences (University of Malta) and an international associate of the Malta Study Center. She holds a PhD from Sapienza University of Rome and two specialist degrees from the State Archives of Rome and the Archivio Apostolico Vaticano. She was a post-doc and an archivist of the Malta Study Center and was responsible for the first three-year project of reorganisation of the historical Magistral Archives of the Order of St John in Rome. Her most recent publication is 'The Order of St John's archival entanglements: cataloguing experiments at the Magistral Archives in Rome' (2023).
George Alexander Said-Zammit holds a PhD from the University of Leiden. He specialises in domestic space in the Maltese Islands and its development within a Mediterranean and European context between 1300 and 1970. He is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Said-Zammit lectures on domestic space and space syntax for the Faculty of the Built Environment of the University of Malta. He has authored various academic publications worldwide and has participated in conferences in Malta and abroad. He is an Ambassador of Malta.
Valeria Vanesio is a lecturer in the Department of Library, Information and Archive Sciences (University of Malta) and an international associate of the Malta Study Center. She holds a PhD from Sapienza University of Rome and two specialist degrees from the State Archives of Rome and the Archivio Apostolico Vaticano. She was a post-doc and an archivist of the Malta Study Center and was responsible for the first three-year project of reorganisation of the historical Magistral Archives of the Order of St John in Rome. Her most recent publication is 'The Order of St John's archival entanglements: cataloguing experiments at the Magistral Archives in Rome' (2023).
Content
1 Introduction: The Religion and the Land
Emanuel Buttigieg & Rakele Fiott
PART 1: POLITICS AND DIPLOMACY
2 Serving the Convent: The commanderies of the Order of St John in the sixteenth century
Anne Brogini
3 European dynasticism and Hospitaller interest: The Grand Priory of Castile and Leon at the end of the reign of Charles II of Habsburg (1679-1700)
Roberto Quiros Rosado
4 The Order of the Knights Hospitaller: Wealthy landowners?
Alain Blondy
5 In the shadows of Secularisation, Church policy and Febronianism. The transfer of the property of the Societas Jesu to the Bavarian Grand Priory of the Order of St John
Thomas Freller
PART 2: ARCHIVES AND INSTITUTIONS
6 'Per la distanza de' luoghi e per la varieta delle Nationi': People, properties and archival procedures of the Order of St John in the early modern period
Valeria Vanesio
7 The Sicilian Priory of Messina and its commanderies from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century
Fabrizio D'Avenia
8 The commanderies de jure patronatus in the Venetian Mainland from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century: Land, control and power
Luigi Robuschi
9 Dispersed archives, authority control and the land surveys of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller
Daniel K. Gullo
PART 3: PATRIMONIAL NETWORKS
10 The Patrimonial network and heritage of the Order of St John in Portugal in the late medieval and early modern period
Paula Maria de Carvalho Pinto Costa
11 Artistic landscape and visual memory: The Order of Saint John in the Crown of Castile
Olga Perez Monzon
12 The Order, its city, and its peripheries: Rural-urban dialectics in early modern Malta
Daniel Borg & Christian Mifsud
13 The cabrei of the Order of St John in Malta as a means of communication to transmit power and material wealth
George A. Said-Zammit
14 Hospitaller commanderies as an international phenomenon: The lens of architectural sources in the early modern Italian States
Valentina Burgassi
Afterword
Victor Mallia-Milanes
Emanuel Buttigieg & Rakele Fiott
PART 1: POLITICS AND DIPLOMACY
2 Serving the Convent: The commanderies of the Order of St John in the sixteenth century
Anne Brogini
3 European dynasticism and Hospitaller interest: The Grand Priory of Castile and Leon at the end of the reign of Charles II of Habsburg (1679-1700)
Roberto Quiros Rosado
4 The Order of the Knights Hospitaller: Wealthy landowners?
Alain Blondy
5 In the shadows of Secularisation, Church policy and Febronianism. The transfer of the property of the Societas Jesu to the Bavarian Grand Priory of the Order of St John
Thomas Freller
PART 2: ARCHIVES AND INSTITUTIONS
6 'Per la distanza de' luoghi e per la varieta delle Nationi': People, properties and archival procedures of the Order of St John in the early modern period
Valeria Vanesio
7 The Sicilian Priory of Messina and its commanderies from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century
Fabrizio D'Avenia
8 The commanderies de jure patronatus in the Venetian Mainland from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century: Land, control and power
Luigi Robuschi
9 Dispersed archives, authority control and the land surveys of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller
Daniel K. Gullo
PART 3: PATRIMONIAL NETWORKS
10 The Patrimonial network and heritage of the Order of St John in Portugal in the late medieval and early modern period
Paula Maria de Carvalho Pinto Costa
11 Artistic landscape and visual memory: The Order of Saint John in the Crown of Castile
Olga Perez Monzon
12 The Order, its city, and its peripheries: Rural-urban dialectics in early modern Malta
Daniel Borg & Christian Mifsud
13 The cabrei of the Order of St John in Malta as a means of communication to transmit power and material wealth
George A. Said-Zammit
14 Hospitaller commanderies as an international phenomenon: The lens of architectural sources in the early modern Italian States
Valentina Burgassi
Afterword
Victor Mallia-Milanes
