For centuries the Knights of Saint John were the most capable statesmen, governors, administrators, engineers and builders in Christendom. They were frequently called upon to manage estates and resolve territorial problems and disputes. People traveled from throughout all of Europe and Asia Minor to be treated at the magnificent Hospital of the Knights. The military academy of the Order, the Corps de Pages, was acknowledged to be the finest in the Western world.

In the early centuries of its existence, the Order of Saint John was primarily a land force occupying walled cities and fortresses in the Holy Land and Asia Minor, from which these knights in armor, on magnificent battle horses, sallied forth to meet the enemy in mortal combat. After the fall of the Order's great island state of Rhodes in 1523, the knights further developed and expanded their already excellent fleet of warships, becoming primarily a maritime power, whose capabilities and exploits were honored and respected worldwide, and feared by all enemies of Christendom. This remarkable navy of the Order of Saint John became a school from which the nations of Europe often drew their captains and admirals. Indeed, the Imperial Russian Navy was reorganized by the Knights of Malta at the request of Empress Catherine II (Catherine the Great, mother of Paul I who would later preserve the Order).

Without question, these "fighting monks" of the Sovereign Order were exceptionally courageous and valiant warriors on land and sea. At the same time they were humble, pious, religious brothers who lived exemplary lives under the solemn vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

The Order's histoy has been full of noble, just, and heroic men, such as Peter d'Aubusson (1476-1503), Philip Villiers de L'Isle Adam (1521-1534), John de La Valette (1557-1568), and Emmanuel de Rohan (1775-1797) the 38th, 42nd, 47th, and 68th Grand Masters respectively; to name only four of the remarkable Grand Masters and none of the thousands of other magnificent men who, as brothers of the Religion, faithfully and fearlessly served the cause of Christ and Christendom.

In addition to those valiant yet pious men under vows, who daily lived, prayed, fought and died entirely within the Order and subject to its religious rule, numerous outstanding members of the Order of Malta have risen to high and eminent positions in the Church, in government and in military command.

Among those distinguished knights can be counted: Pope Clement VII (1523-1534) and Pope Innocent XII (1691-1700); numerous Cardinals, including Peter d'Aubusson, the 38th Grand Master of the Order (1476-1503) and Hugues Loubens de Verdalle, the 50th Grand Master (1581-1595) who accepted the recognition while remaining the head of the Order; several canonized saints such as Saint Sir Thomas More who was the Lord Chancellor of England, as well as other English knights of the Order who were martyred under the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I for refusing to abandon the Church and deny the Papacy, e.g. Saints Sir Adrian Fortesque, Sir Thomas Dingley, Sir Marmaduke Bowes, Sir David Gonson, and numerous others who died in the dungeons, or under torture, or by beheading all the while proclaiming their loyalty to Jesus Christ and upholding the honor of the Religion.

Other saints of the Order include Saint Juliana de Cornillon to whom our Lord made known His desire for the Feast of Corpus Christi (the first Office of that renowned solemnity was then written by a Brother John of the Order), Saint Ubaldesca, Saint Toscana, Saint Fiora and Saint Hugh of Genoa. Among those renowned men who wore the eight-pointed cross of Saint John were the Conquistadors Juan Ponce de Leon, Hernando Cortes, Francisco Coronado and Hernando de Soto; Samuel de Champlain, founder of Quebec and Governor of New France; Admiral Count de Grasse and General Count Rochambeau (who led the French forces in alliance with George Washington in the victory at Yorktown); Admiral Count Charles d'Estaing, commander of a French fleet sent to aid the colonies in 1778 (he was later guillotined in the French Revolution); the French Navy hero, Captain Fra. Pierre Andre' de Suffren, who made himself a terror to the entire British Navy during the American War of Independence; and many others famous in history.

Of the Order of Saint John, Pope Leo XIII wrote in 1879, "No one can be ignorant of the fact that, among the illustrious orders of Knights, that which took the name of the Hospital of Saint John the Baptist of Jerusalem existed and prospered in the first rank, whether it be considered from the point of view of the antiquity of its origin, or the nobility of its members, or the distinguished services it rendered the Church, or the glory of its accomplishments, and its triumphs over our common enemies."

Pope Alexander IV (1254-1261), a distinguished Pontiff who, history records, ruled the spiritual affairs of the Church with dignity and prudence, probably best described the Knights of Saint John when he called them "The elect people of God, a princely race, an earnest body of righteous men, the council and congregation of the King of mighty kings."