The International Academy of the Order of Saint Lazarus organised a two-day academic meeting at the Valletta University Conference facilities to discuss various facets of the history of this Order and other Chivalric Orders.
The meeting was the fifth meeting since the setting up of the Academy, and the first after the Covid-19 pandemic which had put the organisation of such meetings in abeyance.
The speakers included a members of staff from the University of Malta including , , , Dr Raymond Gatt, , , and . Other speakers included Count d'Evora from France, Prof. Michael Ross and David S. Rease from the U.S.A., and Dr. Andreas Rademachers from Germany.
Twelve academic papers focussing on interesting aspects of the Order of St Lazarus were delivered by the researchers. These included religion-related topics addressing the views of the Cappadocian Fathers and medieval mystics on victims of leprosy and on Lazarus of the Parable.
Other topics included subjects directly related to the history of the Order in different regions including Rome, Spain and Palestine. Other papers addressed the genealogical links of Crusaders serving in the Holy Land, the development of the Order鈥檚 heraldry and insignia, and an updated of the order's commemorative medals, the internationalisation of the Order in 1930s, the formamentis of the Order of St John towards the Lazarite Order after Cum Solerti, and the influence of the Hospitaller knights on the European concept of hospitals. These papers will be published in the 6th Edition of the Acta Historiae Sancti Lazaris Ordinis, which is the Academy鈥檚 official journal.
