Order of Saint Lazarus

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This article concerns the religious order. For other uses of the name Lazarus, see Lazarus (disambiguation).
Cross of the Order of Saint Lazarus
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Cross of the Order of Saint Lazarus

The Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem originated in a leper hospital run by hospitaller brothers founded in the twelfth century by the crusaders of the Latin Kingdom. It was originally set up to treat virulent diseases such as leprosy.

Today the organisation has been engaged in a major program to restore Christianity in Eastern Europe. Millions of dollars worth of food, clothing, medical equipment and supplies have been distributed in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Croatia. Because of this expertise, the European Community commissioned the Order to transport more than one and a half billion dollars in food to poor, necessitous and thousands starving in Russia, resulting in new laurels for the Lazarus volunteers.

They were also the namesake for a succesful, yet agonizingly annoying, pub trivia trio at O'Shea's Pub in New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 1990s.

Contents

[edit] History

Even before the twelfth century there were leper hospitals in the East, of which the Knights of St. Lazarus claimed to be the continuation, in order to have the appearance of remote antiquity and to pass as the oldest of all orders. But this pretension is apocryphal. These eastern leper hospitals followed the Rule of St. Basil, while that of Jerusalem adopted the hospital Rule of St. Augustine in use in the West. The Order of Saint Lazarus was indeed purely an order of hospitallers from the beginning, as was that of St. John, but without encroaching on the field of the latter. Because of its special aim, it had quite a different organization. The inmates of St. John were merely visitors, and changed constantly; the lepers of St. Lazarus on the contrary were condemned to perpetual seclusion. In return they were regarded as brothers or sisters of the house which sheltered them, and they obeyed the common rule which united them with their religious guardians. In some leper hospitals of the Middle Ages even the master had to be chosen from among the lepers. It is not proved, though it has been asserted, that this was the case at Jerusalem.

The Middle Ages surrounded with a touching pity these the greatest of all unfortunates, these miselli, as they were called. From the time of the crusades, with the spread of leprosy, leper hospitals became very numerous throughout Europe, so that at the death of St. Louis there were eight hundred in France alone.

However, these houses did not form a congregation; each house was autonomous, and supported to a great extent by the lepers themselves, who were obliged when entering to bring with them their belongings, and who at their death willed their goods to the institution if they had no children. Many of these houses bore the name of St. Lazarus, from which, however, no dependence whatever on St. Lazarus of Jerusalem is to be inferred. The most famous, St. Lazarus of Paris, depended solely and directly on the bishop of that city, and was a mere priory when it was given by the archbishop to the missionaries of St Vincent de Paul, who have retained the name of Lazarists (1632).

The Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem is believed to have become a military order in c. 1123. It is known that a contingent of Lazar brethern were present at La Forbie, and in 1253 they were part of the army under St Louis. In 1291 25 brethren were present at Acre, all being killed. It is believed the Order ceased military activities from the early 14th century

The house at Jerusalem owed to the general interest devoted to the holy places in the Middle Ages a rapid and substantial growth in goods and privileges of every kind. It was endowed not only by the sovereigns of the Latin realm, but by all the states of Europe. Louis VII, on his return from the Second Crusade, gave it the Château of Broigny, near Orléans (1154). This example was followed by Henry II of England, and by Emperor Frederick II. This was the origin of the military commanderies whose contributions, called responsions, flowed into Jerusalem, swollen by the collections which the hospital was authorized to make in Europe.

The popes for their part were not sparing of their favours. Alexander IV recognized its existence under the Rule of St. Augustine (1255). Urban IV assured it the same immunities as were granted to the monastic orders (1262). Clement IV obliged the secular clergy to confine all lepers whatsoever, men or women, clerics or laymen, religious or secular, in the houses of this order (1265).

At the time these favours were granted, Jerusalem had fallen again into the hands of the Muslims. St. Lazarus, although still called "of Jerusalem", had been transferred to Acre, where it had been ceded territory by the Templars (1240), and where it received the confirmation of its privileges by Urban IV (1264).

It was at this time also that the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, following the example of the Order of St. John, armed combatants for the defence of the remaining possessions of the Christians in the near east. Their presence is mentioned without further detail at the Battle of La Forbie against the Khwarezmians in 1244, and at the final siege of Acre in 1291.

As a result of this catastrophe the leper hospital of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem disappeared; however, its commanderies in Europe, together with their revenues, continued to exist, but hospitality was no longer practised. The order ceased to be an order of hospitallers and became purely military. The knights who resided in these commanderies had no tasks, and were veritable parasites on the Christian charitable foundations.

Things remained in this condition until the pontificate of Innocent VIII, who suppressed this useless order and transferred its possessions to the Knights of St. John (1490), which transfer was renewed by Pope Julius II (1505). But the Order of St. John never came into possession of this property except in Germany.

In France, Francis I, to whom the Concordat of Leo X (1519) had resigned the nomination to the greater number of ecclesiastical benefices, evaded the Bull of suppression by conferring the commanderies of St. Lazarus on Knights of the Order of St. John. The last named vainly claimed the possession of these goods. Their claim was rejected by the Parliament of Paris (1547).

Leo X himself disregarded the value of this Bull by re-establishing Order of St. Lazarus, (1517).

Pius IV went further; he annulled the Bulls of his predecessors and restored its possessions to the order that he might give the mastership to a favourite, Giovanni de Castiglione (1565). But the latter did not succeed in securing the devolution of the commanderies in France. Pius V codified the statutes and privileges of the order, but reserved to himself the right to confirm the appointment of the Grand Master as well as of the beneficiaries (1567). He made an attempt to restore to the order its hospitaller character, by incorporating with it all the leper hospitals and other houses founded under the patronage of St Lazarus of the Lepers. But this tardy reform was rendered useless by the subsequent gradual disappearance of leprosy in Europe.

Finally, the grand mastership of the order having been rendered vacant in 1572 by the death of Castiglione, Pope Gregory XIII united it in perpetuity with the Crown of Savoy. The reigning duke, Philibert III, hastened to fuse it with the recently founded Savoyan Order of St. Maurice, and thenceforth the title of Grand Master of the Order of Sts. Maurice and Lazarus was hereditary in that house. The pope gave him authority over the vacant commanderies everywhere, except in the states of the King of Spain, which included the greater part of Italy. In England and Germany these commanderies had been suppressed by Protestantism. France remained, but it was refractory to the claims of the Duke of Savoy. Some years later King Henry IV, having founded with the approbation of Paul V (1609) the Order of Notre-Dame du Mont-Carmel, hastened in turn to unite to it the Knights of St. Lazarus obedient to French mastership, and such is the origin of the title of "Knight of the Royal Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Knight of the Military and Hospitaller Order St. Lazarus of Jerusalem", which carried with it the enjoyment of a benefice. The King of France was the sovereign head and protector and chose the Grand Master (Concordat 1519). During the reign of Louis XVI the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, not the combined orders, was awarded only to the top three students of the Royal Military School. The orders were separate though they shared the same Grand Master. Although the Order enjoyed a unique relationship with the French Royal House and was officially under the protection of the King of France, it was never a Royal Order.

Louis XVIII with St. Lazarus' Star - Oil painting, 1817
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Louis XVIII with St. Lazarus' Star - Oil painting, 1817

The King's titles as Sovereign, Founder and Protector meant that he was Sovereign and Founder of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Protector of Saint Lazarus. During the French Revolution. a decree of 30 July 1791 suppressed all royal and knightly orders. Another decree the following year confiscated all the Order's properties (the Château de Boigny, the Military Academy, the commanderies and hospitals). Louis, Count of Provence, Grand Master of the Order, who later became Louis XVIII, continued to function in exile and awarded the Order, though sparingly. While in exile in the Polish province of Mitawa he awarded the Order to Tsars Paul I and Alexander I of Russia, Grand Duke Constantine of Russia, Count Rostopchine and General de Fersen. When the Count of Provence returned to France from exile to reign as Louis XVIII, he gave up the magistracy of the Order and became Protector, as had his predecessors, but appointed no grand master. The Grand Chancery of the Legion of Honour issued a statement in 1824 to the effect that “..of the united Orders of Saint Lazarus and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the latter has not been awarded since 1788 and is allowed to extinguish itself”.

King Henri V of France was the last de jure royal Protector of that branch of the Order. The Order did not enjoy the protection of the new king and from 1830 the Order was governed by a Council of Officers. In 1831 the government of Louis-Philippe suppressed United Orders of Saint Lazarus and Our Lady of Mount Carmel among others. The King could not ‘abolish’ the Order (anymore than could the National Assembly earlier), but under canon law it could only become extinct through lack of canonical admissions.

[edit] Revival

In 1841, the Council of Officers of the St. Lazarus Order requested the protection of the Greek Melchite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, Maximos III Mazlûm, and petitioned he become their Spiritual Protector; he accepted, both for himself and his successors. (There is no enough documentation of this event, because of its destruction during I World War. Although that had been oficially confirmed by each succeeding Patriarchs, including present one.) Eastern Patriarchs, whether autonomous or in union with the Roman Church, always refer to their patriarchate or religious jurisdiction as ‘a nation’. Arab Sovereigns and Princes accord to them the status of a Head of State, though this must be seen in the light of political expediency, as an Turkisch and Islamic ruler cannot accord any honour to the leader of another nation of Christian religion. In 1910, the Patriarch asked the almoner of the Order, a Polish chaplain Rev. Jan Tanski, to revive the Order's chancellery in Europe. Whilst remaining under the spiritual protection of the Greek Melchite Catholic Patriarch, in 1935 the Chapter General of the Order elected as the new Grand Master Don Francisco de Bórbon y de la Torre, 3rd Duke of Seville.

To return to the dukes of Savoy: Clement VIII granted them the right to exact from ecclesiastical benefices pensions to the sum of four hundred crowns for the benefit of knights of the order, dispensing them from celibacy on condition that they should observe the statutes of the order and consecrate their arms to the defence of the Faith. Besides their commanderies the order had two houses where the knights might live in common, one of which, at Turin, was to contribute to combats on land, while the other, at Nice, had to provide galleys to fight the Turks at sea. But when thus reduced to the states of the Duke of Savoy, the order merely vegetated until the French Revolution, which suppressed it. In 1816 the King of Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel I, re-established the titles of Knight and Commander of Sts. Maurice and Lazarus, as simple decorations, accessible without conditions of birth to both civilians and military men.

[edit] Recent years

Don Francisco de Borbon y Escasany, 5th Duke of Seville and Grandee of Spain is present Grand Master and His Beatitude Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham of Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch and all the East is Spiritual Protector of the Order of St Lazarus.

The Breast Star of the Knights of St. Lazarus (Bohemian and Polish Priories)
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The Breast Star of the Knights of St. Lazarus (Bohemian and Polish Priories)

In recent years the expansion of the Order and its humanitarian activities have taken a new direction. Aid to the handicapped, the sick and to the aged has been added to the Order's pursuit of its traditional mission in the field of leprosy. The primary purpose and activity of the Order is, and always has been, charity. Primarily, St. Lazarus has been world renown as a Hospitaller Order in that its works have always been associated with medical care, primarily through the operation of medical facilities such as hospitals and clinics.

With the personal encouragement of Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Macharski of Krakow, the Grand Priory of Austria, under Archduke Leopold of Austria and Dr. Heinz Peter Baron von Slatin, and their Referendary Prof. Franz Josef Federsel, had constructed the first Polish Hospice for the terminally ill in Poland, the St. Lazarus Hospice, in Nowa Huta the American Grand Priory providing substantial financial assistance to this project. The Grand Priory of France and the European Humanitarian Grand Priory (Lazarus-Hilfswerk)supported by the Grand Priory America were particularly active in initiating the relief programmes of the Order in Croatia. The Order strongly backed the relief missions of the Grand Hospitaller throughout Eastern Europe. The trucks, trailers, field kitchens and jeeps that were provided by the Order for service in Croatia. They have continued to be used by the Order’s members and the charitable arm of the church for humanitarian purposes only, and they remain the property of the Order. During the Winter of 1991/92, the European Community in Brussels earmarked US$ 125,000,000.00 worth of aid for food for the starving population in Russia. Transport and distribution were to be provided by organisations chosen by the European Community. Apart from the humanitarian aspects, it is a fact that this aid programme also prevented large scale social unrest and political instability in urban centres. Of this sum the European Community allocated half to the International Red Cross, and half to the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem as represented by the Lazarus-Hilfswerk. For this purpose the Order set up three centres, in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Novgorad from which they operated their distribution system. A letter from H.I.R.H. Archduke Dr. Otto von Habsburg, signed in his capacity as a Member of the European Parliament and addressed to the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem testifies to the high esteem in which the St. Lazarus and his work are held by the European Parliament.

Arms of the St. Lazarus Order
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Arms of the St. Lazarus Order

These jurisdictions have also spent substantial amounts of their own money on charitable works and projects close to the heart of Pope John Paul II, the Polish and other Eastern European members of the College of Cardinals and the Polish and Eastern European Episcopate, as well as in other areas of activity. For example, the Canadian Grand Priory works extensively in the field of Hansen’s Disease (leprosy), both in the areas of research and of support services. In this and other fields, the Canadian Grand Priory has worked closely with the Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem, and many of the officers of the Grand Priory of the Order of St. Lazarus are also officers in the St. John Order. Similarly, Grand Priories in New Zealand and Australia have been providing support for the victims of Hansen's Disease in their own countries and the islands of Oceania. When faced with the task of assessing meritorious, chivalrous work on a vast scale instead of simply writing about a Catholic-founded Order of Knighthood in the context of other Orders, there is a danger of compiling an activity report rather than keeping strictly to the criteria upon which the book is based. However, very rarely something catches one’s attention which seems to be so small, but in reality symbolises all that chivalry is about. It's been learned incidentally that part of the contribution several Commanderies of the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem expect their members to make are twelve full days a year given free of charge to work in hospitals and institutions which cater for the mentally or physically sick, the hungry and the needy, or do social work that benefits those who need help. I was particularly impressed by the activities of the nine members of the Order in Liechtenstein: they set up in 1990 an emergency telephone helpline for the children of the Principality, ‘Sorgen-Telefon für Kinder in Liechtenstein’. They give their time freely, answering calls in rotation twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, throughout the year. Posters about this service are displayed in schools, and stickers are displayed in telephone booths and public places throughout the Principality. The members have been professionally trained as counsellors for this particular task, and they receive well over 300 calls from children every year out of a population of 30,000. Other jurisdictions of the Order in Europe, South America and Africa are active in charitable activities, and the work of the Order in such countries as South Africa and Zimbabwe is remarkable, and some European Grand Priories still work as hospitallers in the way that members of the Order did in the early years of its existence, much of their work still concerned with fighting leprosy Others, such as France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Bohemia, assist the Grand Hospitaller in relief work for the hungry and needy in several Eastern European countries. In New Zealand the Order is directly involved in Pacific-area programs against leprosy and donates medical supplies to various island leprosaria. The Grand Priory of Finland operates a Special Volunteer Ambulance Corps for young drug addicts and directly supports a medical and religious mission in Mugaea, Kenya. The Grand Bailiwick of Austria also operates a Volunteer Ambulance Corps which is officially recognised by the government as an alternative to compulsory military service. Support for disabled people, the sick and the aged as well as for refugees is provided. The Grand Priory of Alsace supports various dispensaries in Cameroon as well as a leprosarium. The Hungary Priory supports people without lodging and earnings. The Grand Bailiwick of England is raising funds in support of research into the early diagnosis of malignant melanoma, leprosaria in Kenya, and currently the Kosovo Appeal. The Grand Bailiwick of the United States is donating health professions scholarships (physician's assistant and nursing), supporting leprosaria (Mexico, Kenya) and an ambulance/children's hospital program in Romania, assisting the American Organ and Tissue Donation Program and giving financial assistance to Christian churches of various denominations. The German Commandery of Berlin-Brandenburg gives medical aid for the population of Benin, Croatia, Hungary, Russia and Slovenia and relief for people without lodging in Berlin. Maltese members are supporting charities around Malta, also leprosaria (Kenya, Tanzania) and a medical clinic (Bethlehem, Holy Land). The Commandery of New Caledonia is giving material and moral support to persons in need and collecting drugs and other medical items, in particular for hospitals and dispensaries of underprivileged Pacific islands. This is an impressive list of charitable activities, and equally impressive are the official acknowledgements of gratitude from governments and especially the Headquarters of the European Community in Brussels.

For a number of years, these jurisdictions have been at the forefront of charitable and humanitarian projects supported by Pope John Paul II, and they were specifically singled out by him for their praiseworthy chivalric activities. As the Supreme Pontiff, John Paul II, joined by members of the College of Cardinals, has on more than one occasion invited a group of people collectively as members of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem to his private apartments in the Vatican, has celebrated Holy Mass with them in his private chapel, and continues to encourage them to undertake charitable projects which he monitors personally. Among the members ones could be mentioned: King Juan Carlos of Spain, King Charles II of Romania, Former King Michael I of Romania, Former King and Prime Minister Simeon II of Bulgaria, King Kigeli V of Rwanda, Royal Prince Oscar of Prussia, Imperial Prince Wladimire of Russia, Royal Prince Franz of Lippe, Royal Prince of Thurn und Taxis, infant Philip of Spain; Royal Princes Families of Borbon: Spain, Siciles, Parma, France; Royal Princes of Lichtenstein, of Mecklemburg; Imperial Princes of Habsburg, of Romanow, of Bagration, of Hohenzollern; Princes of Orlean, Aleçon, Vendôme, Nemours, Brissac, Westminster, Richmond, Gordon, Santona, Gaeta, Gandia y de Osuna, Medina de Rioseco, Seo de Urgal, San Fernando Luis, Dato, Maille, Bauffremont, Polignac, Fezensac, Luynes, Clermont-Tonnere, Chevrese, Levis-Mirepoix, Gille de Maille de La Tour Landry, Gandolfino, Audiffret-Pasquier, Desmond, Aremberg, Neufchâtel, Vallengin, Thurn und Taxis, Metternich-Winneburg, Radziwill, Hofberg von Pless, Rohan-Rohan, Argoutinsky-Dolgoruki, Schwarzenberg, Capenedolo, Brembilla, Monte-Arara, Santona, Cantacuzino, Odescalchi; Lords of Mowbray, Stourton, Dunsany Kinross, Bossom of Maidstone, Mackenzi-Stuart etc. Members of St. Lazarus Order becomes also "Princes of Church": Patriarchs Antiochia, Jerusalem, Aleksandria; Cardinal Oddi; Cardinal Fagiolo; Cardinal Cerejeira, Patriarch of Lisbon; Ernesto Cardinal Corripio y Ahumada of Mexico; Cardinal Aponte Martinez of Puerto Rico; Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago; Cardinal Gonzales Martin, Primate of Spain; Cardinal Ernesto y Taracón, next Primate opf Spain; Cardinal Patrick Hayes of New York; Francis Cardinal Spellman, of New York; George Cardinal Mundelein of Chicago; Cardinal Mindszenthy, Primate of Hungary; László Cardinal Paskai, Primate of Hungary; George Cardinal Pell of Sydney; Archbishop Sheen of Newport; Archbishop Hannan, of New Orlean; Basil Cardinal Hume of Westminster; Dennis Joseph Dougherty of Philadelphia, Cardinal William Henry O'Connell of Boston; Cardinal Lienart of Lille; Cardinal Winning of Glasgow; Archbishop Perrado y Garcia of Valencia; Archbishop Bobadilla of Santo Domingo; Archbishop Magnoni; Archbishop Picha of Hradec Kralove; next Archbishop Otcenasek of Hradec Kralove, Archbishop Pasquier of Garua; Archbishop Fischer of Strasburg; etc. Saint Lazarus knights becamed also states presidents of: Portugal, Mexico, Brazile, Argentina, Cuba, Peru, Honduras, Gwatemala, Dominicana and regent of Spain; president of European Tribunal of Justice, many Prime-ministers, Senators of US.

[edit] Protections

Today the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem is split into three main brances. There is the branch that enjoys the Temporal Protection by the Spanish House of Borbon Crown of Spain and the Spiritual Protection by the east-catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem Gregory III, also the 172nd Patriarch of Antioch since Saint Peter. There is the branch that has aligned itself with the French House of Bourbon Crown of France in the person of Henri, Comte de Paris, Duc de France Head of the Royal House of France. Finally there is a branch - termed the United Grand Priories of the Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem - that has no royal allegiance and is run by a Master General.

[edit] Grand masters/Administrators

Master Generals in the Holy Land - Jerusalem & Acre

  • Blessed Gerard de Martigues (108? - 1098)
  • Buoyant Roger (1120 - 1131)
  • Jean (... 1131 ...)
  • Barthélémy (... 1153 ...)
  • Itier (... 1154 ...)
  • Hugues de Saint-Pol (... 1155 ...)
  • Blessed Raymond du Puy (1157 - 1159)
  • Rainier (... 1164 ...)
  • Raymond (... 1168 ...)
  • Gérard de Monclar (... 1169 ...)
  • Bernard (1185 - 1186)
  • Gautier de Neufchâtel ou de Châteneuf (... 1228 ...) - Master-General
  • Raynaud de Flory (1234 - 1254)
  • Miles (..1256..)
  • Jean de Meaux (... 1267 ...) - General-Preceptor
  • Thomas de Sainville (1277 - 1281) - Master-General

Master-Generals in Boigny, France

  • Thomas de Sainville (1281 - 1312) - Master-General
  • Adam de Veau (... 1314 ...)
  • Jean de Paris (1342 - 1349)
  • Jean de Coaraze (... 1354 ...)
  • Jean le Conte (... 1355 ...)
  • Jacques de Besnes alias de Baynes (1368 - 1384)
  • Pierre des Ruaux (1413 - 1454)
  • Guillaume des Mares (... 1460 ...)
  • Jean le Cornu (1469 - 1493)
  • François d'Amboise (1493 - 1500)
  • Agnan de Mareuil (1500 - 1519)
  • François de Bourbon, comte de Saint-Pol (1519 - 1521) - Commander de Boigny
  • Claude de Mareuil (1521 - 1524)
  • Jean Conti (1524 - 1557)
  • Jean de Levis (1557 - 1564)

Master Generals in Capua, Italy

  • Angelus de Raimo (?) (...1226...) - Master
  • Alfonso de Azzia (...1327...) - Master
  • Simon de Aqua Mundula (...1329...) - Master
  • Santiago de Azzia (...1347...) - Master
  • Guillermo (...1366...) - Master
  • Santiago de Benuto (1426-1440) - Master
  • Giacomo del Balzo (...1460...) - Master
  • Santiago de Azzia (1468-1498) - Master
  • Santiago Antonio de Azzia (1498-1522) - Master
  • Alfonso de Azzia (1522-1548) - Master
  • Muzzio d’Azzia (1548-1564) - Master
  • Giannotto Castiglione (1565-1572) - Master-General
  • Philibert Emmanuel, duc of Savoy (1572) - united Italian branch of the Order to his dynastic Order of St. Maurice, then created new Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus

Grand Masters in Boigny, France under protection of French Crown

  • Michel de Seure (1564 - 1578)
  • François Salvati (1578 - 1586)
  • Michel de Seure (1586 - 1593)
  • Armand de Clermont de Chastes (1593 - 1603)
  • Hughes Catelan de Castelmore (..1603..)
  • Charles de Gayand de Monterolles (1603 - 1604)
  • Philibert marquis de Nérestang (1604 - 1620)
  • Claude marquis de Nérestang (1620 - 1639)
  • Charles marquis de Nérestang (1639 - 1644)
  • Charles-Achille marquis de Nérestang (1645 - 1673)
  • François-Michel le Tellier, marquis de Louvois (Vicar General 1673 - 1691)
  • Philippe de Courcillon, marquis de Dangeau (1693 - 1720)
  • Louis d’Orleans, duc de Chartres, puis d’Orleans (1720 - 1752)
  • Louis de France, duc de Berry (1757 - 1773)
  • Louis Stanislas Xavier de France, comte de Provence (1773 - 1814)

Interregnum

  • Claud Louis, prince de La Châtre - (General-Administrator 1814 - 1824)
  • Jean-Louis de Beaumont, Marquis d'Autichamp (President of the Council of Officers 1824 - 1831)
  • Council of Officers (1831 - 1841) - Father Picot; Joseph-Bon, Baron de Dacier 1831-1833; Auguste-Francois, Baron de Silvestre

Revival French and Spanish obediences, under protection and administration of Greek Catholic Patriarchs

  • Patriarch Maximos III. Mazloum (General-Administrator 1841 - 1855)
  • Patriarch Gregorios I. Youssef (General-Administrator 1864 - 1897)
  • Patriarch Peter IV. Geraigiri (General-Administrator 1898 - 1902)
  • Patriarch Ciril VIII. Ghea (General-Administrator 1902 - 1910)
  • Council of Officers under the protectorate of Patriarch Ciril VIII (1910 - 1926), and Patriarch Ciril IX (1926 - 1930)
  • Francisco de Paula de Bourbon y de la Torre, duc de Seville, Grand d’Espagne (1930-1952)
  • Francisco Henri de Bourbon y de Bourbon, duc de Seville, Grand d’Espagne (1952-1967)

French obedience

  • Charles Philippe de Bourbon Orléans, duc d’Alençon, Vendôme et Nemours, Premier Prince du Sang (1967-1969)

Malta obedience - under the royal temporal protection: H.M. King of Spain

  • Francisco Henri de Bourbon y de Bourbon, duc de Seville, Grand d’Espagne (1972-1995)
  • Don Francisco de Paula de Bourbon y Escasany, duc de Seville, Grand d’Espagne (1995-2004)

Paris obedience

  • Pierre de Cossé, duc de Brissac (1969-1986)
  • François de Cossé, marquis and duc de Brissac (1986-2004)

Malta and Paris obediences - Spanish Allegiance branch - under the royal temporal protection: H.M. King Juan Carlos of Spain, and spiritual protection of Patriarch Gregory III Laham of Jerusalem

  • Don Francisco de Paula de Bourbon y Escasany, duc de Seville, Grand d’Espagne (Grandmaster Elect 2004 - ...) and François de Cossé, marquis and duc de Brissac (Acting Grandmaster 2004 - ...)

Malta and Boigny obediences - French Allegiance branch - under the temporal protection of H.R.H. Henri, Comte de Paris, Duc de France, Henri VII as the Orleanist to the throne of France

  • Charles Philippe d'Orléans, Prince de Bourbon-Orléans, orleanist Duc d'Anjou (Grandmaster Boigny Obedience; Titular Head Malta Obedience 2004 - ...)

The United Grand Priories of the Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem

  • Fra John von Hoff (1995 - ...)

[edit] Bibliography

  • Gautier de Sibert, History of The Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, Paris, 1772
  • M. Ellul, The Green Eight Pointed Cross, Malta, 2004
  • Algrant y Cañete, James J. / Beaugourdon, Jean de St. Vincent de, Armorial of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, Delft, 1983
  • Bander van Duren, Peter, Orders of Knighthood and of Merit-The Pontifical, Religious and Secularised Catholic-founded Orders and their relationship to the Apostolic See, Buckinghamshire, 1995, p. 495 - 513, XLV - XLVII
  • Belloy, Pierre de, De l'origine et institution des divers ordres de chevalerie tant ecclésiastiques que prophanes, Paris, 1604, 2nd edition Toulouse, 1622
  • Montilla Zavalía, Félix Alberto, Las Órdenes de Caballería y las Órdenes Honoríficas Católicas en la actualidad (Una visión histórico-jurídica y política) introduced by Dr. Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Argentinian Lieutenant of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, Editorial Dunken, Buenos Aires, 2001, p. 16
  • Morris of Balgonie, Stuart H., Ygr., The Insignia and Decorations of the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, Perthshire, 1986
  • Charles Savona-Ventura, The Knight Hospitallers of Saint Lazarus, Malta, 2006

[edit] External links

Order's Official Websites

Websites belonging to various jurisdictions