Hospitaller Malta

Monastic State of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem[a]
1530–1798
Flag Coat of arms
Map of Malta and Gozo in relation to Sicily and Hospitaller Tripoli
Map of the Order's territories in the Caribbean
Status	de jure Vassal state of the Kingdom of Sicily (1530–1753) Sovereignty proclaimed in 1753
Capital	Birgu (1530–1571) Valletta (1571–1798)
Common languages	Italian, Latin (official) Maltese (unofficial)
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Demonym(s)	Maltese
Government	Theocratic elective monarchy
Grand Master
• 1530–1534	Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam (first)
• 1797–1798	Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim (last)
Historical era	Early modern period
• Agreement	24 March 1530
• Established	26 October 1530
• Loss of Tripoli	15 August 1551
• Purchase of Caribbean territories	21 May 1651
• Sale of Caribbean territories	1665
• Proclamation of sovereignty	1753
• Capitulation to the French	12 June 1798
Area
• Total	316 km2 (122 sq mi)
Population
• 1530 (estimate)[1]	33,000
• 1632 (census)[1]	51,750
• 1741 (estimate)[1]	110,000
Currency	Maltese scudo[2] Other currencies Spanish dollars/doubloons Venetian zecchini Livournine Genovine Louis d'or
ISO 3166 code	MT
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Sicily Habsburg Spain Company of the American Islands French occupation of Malta Ottoman Tripolitania French West India Company
Area and population excluding Tripoli and the Caribbean islands

Hospitaller Malta, known in Maltese history as the Knights' Period (Maltese: Żmien il-Kavallieri,^[3][4] lit. 'Time of the Knights'), was a de facto state which existed between 1530 and 1798 when the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Gozo were ruled by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. It was formally a vassal state of the Kingdom of Sicily, and it came into being when Emperor Charles V granted the islands as well as the city of Tripoli in modern Libya to the Order, following the latter's loss of Rhodes in 1522. Hospitaller Tripoli was lost to the Ottoman Empire in 1551, but an Ottoman attempt to take Malta in 1565 failed.

Following the 1565 siege, the Order decided to settle permanently in Malta and began to construct a new capital city, Valletta. For the next two centuries, Malta went through a Golden Age, characterized by a flourishing of the arts, architecture, and an overall improvement in Maltese society.^[5] In the mid-17th century, the Order was the de jure proprietor over some islands in the Caribbean,^[6] making it the smallest state to colonize the Americas.^{[citation needed]}

The Order began to decline in the 1770s, and was severely weakened by the French Revolution in 1792. In 1798, French forces under Napoleon invaded Malta and expelled the Order, resulting in the French occupation of Malta. The Maltese eventually rebelled against the French, and the islands became a British protectorate in 1800. Malta was to be returned to the Order by the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, but the British remained in control and the islands formally became a British colony by the Treaty of Paris in 1814.

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