'Pacto canfraternitas fraternitatis' : the confederation of the Knights of St John and the Knights of St George : an overlooked episode in the history of the Order of Malta

Abstract

The main purpose of the Order of St George -refounded in 1 729 -was to tie the leading members of the Bavarian nobility closer to the House of Wittelsbach and to create a strong esprit de corps. Taking up an older idea of the creation of a Bavarian Priory of the Order of St John there was also intended to provide another platform for military excellence and training for young Bavarian aristocrats. To achieve that was aimed a confraternity with the knights of St John and the employment in the Austrian wars against the Ottomans. To bring this project of the confraternity into gear in early 1731 Max Emanuel von Sandizell was sent to Malta as head of a delegation of knights of St George. Sandizell and his comrades of the Order of St George also should participate in the famous caravans of the Order's navy. The further history of the knights of St John and St George in the 18th century had several parallels. What might have contributed to the keenness of many Bavarian nobles to enroll into the Order was -most likely unconsciously the search to compensate symbolically for lost authority and influence. In this respect, the Orders of Malta and of St George shared an important issue in a period marked by new concepts of state, utility, and nascent nationalism. The political power in the then prevailing times of 'enlightened absolutism' had been long since moved from the nobility into the hands of the princes and the leading representatives of centralized administrations.