Strength: 4
Type: Ranged Unit
Flavor Text: We sail for Jerusalem for gold and glory; Leave faith to the Pope.
Artwork: A Galley of Malta by Lorenzo Castro (1680)
About the card:
The Order of Malta, or the Knights Hospitaller, is a Catholic religious order that traces its roots back to the 11th century, when a group of merchants from Amalfi built a hospital in Jerusalem to care for pilgrims. The hospital was dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and the monks who ran it became known as the Hospitallers of St. John. In 1113, Pope Paschal II recognized the Hospitallers as a sovereign order, granting them the right to elect their own leaders and operate independently from other authorities.
Along with the Knights Templar (see also Crusader), the Knights Hospitallers soon took on a military role as well, defending the Holy Land from Muslim invaders and participating in the Crusades, as well as ferrying pilgrims to the Holy Land. Over the centuries, the Order of Malta moved its headquarters from Jerusalem to Cyprus, Rhodes (see also Assault), and finally Malta, where it ruled as a sovereign state from 1530 to 1798. Chased across the Mediterranean by Islamic expansion, their final foe was France who invaded Malta under Napoleon.
