From 1798 onwards, the Order lived in the shade of the Russian sceptre, held first by Paul I, then by his son Alexander I.
It is true that, contrary to the successors of Charles V who had the title of Protectors "ex-officio", the Russian Emperors who used that title had actually spread a material and moral protection over the Order.
To take up the terms used by Pius VII a few years later, the Order : "... would have been annihilated, if the most mighty Paul I [...] had not offered a helping hand whilst it was brought down and left almost lifeless, and if he had not given its present prosperity and safety at a time with so many perils. So much so that the existing Order, flourishing again, owes certainly to him its existence." On 6th September 1798, a further step is crossed. All the "Maltese", that is to say the Knights Hospitaller present in St. Petersburg, got together and, constituting themselves as a regular conventual College, depose Hompesch "guilty of the stupidest negligence or accomplice to the perfidies that have betrayed the Order." Paul I declared his taking care of the interests of the Order. Then, on 7th November 1798, he was elected Grand Master by the same electoral College. (Nota bene : the forced abdication of Hompesch, recalcitrant, was imposed on him by the Emperor of Austria on 6th July 1799). For the first time, the Grand Master is stemming from the Knights Grand Cross of Honour. Married, he is Non-Profess and Non-Roman Catholic.
Enthroned in the Magisterium of the Order of Malta by the Apostolic Nuncio, His Lordship Litta, who took upon himself this religious act on 29th November 1798, Paul I added ten moreCommanderies to the Roman Catholic Grand Priory of Russia, by way of thanks.
The Corps des Pages School, located in the Worontzoff Palace, headquarter of the Order, trained, up to 1917, more than 6,000 young officers of the Russian Empire . |
