Knights of . . . St. John, Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta!

Naming the Knights of Malta

The official name of the Order of Malta is the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta. Abbreviations of the name - Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Sovereign Order of Malta, or Order of Malta - are often used for legal, diplomatic or communication purposes.

The knights were initially called the Knights Hospitaller (or Hospitallers) to describe their mission. But they were also called the Knights of St John because of the Order’s patron saint, St. John Baptist, and also of Jerusalem because of their presence in the Holy Land. Also used in the past was the term The Religion to emphasise the characteristic of religious confraternity.

Read The St. Croix Ark.

An Old St. Croix, Virgin Islands Map

When looking at old maps of St. Croix, it is apparent that Christianity certainly took a hold of the island early on – and perhaps these plots of land and early names date back to the Malta era: Sion Farm and Jerusalem become subdistricts of the island; all in close proximity to the Slat River Bay area.

Nearly 150 years after Columbus’s discovery, the Knights of Malta began exploring the Caribbean. Why? Perhaps they were getting weary of the rising Islamic forces that surrounded the small islands - the Great Siege of Malta occurred in 1565, in which the Knights claimed victory, but the threat of takeover was clearly becoming a possibility and if they really had the Ark, the secret sect would certainly want it moved. But, where was the question.

Read The St. Croix Ark.