What is Knights Hospitaller?
[[File:Knights hospitaller.JPG|thumb|Hospitaller knights: seated is their Grand Maistre (Grand master) Pierre d’Aubusson]] [[File:20 grani, Order of Malta.JPG|thumb|Knights of Malta had their own coins: this one depicts the head of [[John the Baptist]] on a serving platter (1792)]] The '''Knights Hospitaller''' were a group of military [[Knight|knights]] fighting in [[Jerusalem]]. They are the group that became the '''Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem''' and, eventually, [[St. John Ambulance]]. The Hospitallers are a [[Catholic]] military order founded at Jerusalem in the 11th century. They later became the Sovereign Military Order of [[Malta]]. Today their headquarters are in [[Rome]]. The order continues its humanitarian tasks in most parts of the modern world under several slightly different names. == Knights of Malta == Malta was ruled by the Order of Saint John as a [[vassal]] state of the Kingdom of [[Sicily]] from 1530 to 1798. The islands of Malta and [[Gozo]], as well as the city of [[Tripoli]] in modern [[Libya]], were given to the Order by Spanish [[Emperor Charles V]] in 1530. following the loss of [[Rhodes]]. The [[Ottoman Empire]] managed to capture Tripoli from the Order in 1551, but an attempt to take Malta in 1565 failed. In 1565 [[Suleiman]] sent an invasion force of about 40,000 men to be[[siege]] the 700 knights and 8,000 soldiers. He wanted to get the island as a base. From there he might launch another assault on Europe. A long struggle ended with the Knights undefeated. This is known as the Great Siege of Malta. Resisting the [[Ottoman Empire]] was their great achievement. {{authority control}} [[Category:Middle Ages]] [[Category:Orders of knighthood]]