What are the Knights of Malta and Niue and why are they called quasi-sovereign states?

The Knights are a military monastic organization established during the Crusades. They combine the traditional knight class of medieval Europe with the discipline and temperance of monks, and are called "new knights". The original purpose of establishing the Order was to protect and care for pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem. With the passage of time, through inheriting inheritances, accepting gifts, and plundering, the Knights organization became more and more powerful and became an important military and political force. The strength of the three most important Knights was almost comparable to that of the kings. As an independent military force, they are not controlled by any country and only accept orders from the Holy See - in fact, the Holy See basically only has nominal leadership over them.

The Knights Hospitaller, commonly known as the Knights of Malta, its full name is the Independent Military Order of St. John's Hospital of Jerusalem, also known as the Independent Military Order of St. John's Hospital of Rhodes and the Knights of Malta.

From his long and difficult-to-pronounce name, which has been changed several times, we can also see a bit of its long history and the territory it has governed in the past years. He was founded by an Italian native. It was founded by the Benedictine monks in a hospice hospital in Jerusalem in 1048 because John the Baptist is the patron saint (every group related to Catholicism has a patron saint, for example, the patron saint of the Chinese church is Jesus) The adoptive father, St. Joseph the Great, is therefore called the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. It usually serves the wounded and sick. In addition to being a member of other religious orders, members must proclaim the three words "obedience, chastity, and poverty of spirit" in front of the Lord's altar. and called for the defense of the Holy Land with iron and blood.

It was changed to a religious order in 1120. Although it is a lay religious order with unique characteristics, it is still recognized as a major order in the Western world after the Benedictines and Augustinians. In the Middle Ages, , its territory was very vast, including Rhodes, Cyprus and Malta at its peak. It was also one of the first religious orders to break away from the jurisdiction of local bishops and be directly subordinate to the Pope. After the fall of the Holy Land in 1189, the headquarters moved to Cyprus and later to Rhodes. Moved to Malta in 1789 and has since been renamed the Knights of Malta.

Finally moved to Rome and changed to its current name. Today, the headquarters of this knighthood is located in Condodi Street, close to Piazza Spagna, in Rome, with its general leader Fra Angelo De Moana. Di Colonia lives in a villa in the Plaza de Chevalier on Avendilla Street. At present, the world's only remaining Knights country has been recognized by more and more countries. The latest statistics show that nearly fifty countries have recognized him.

In the Middle Ages, the focus of the Knights' work was to care for patients. Centuries before Florence Nightingale founded the modern nursing system, the Knights' hospital wards were all decorated with "patients" supreme" slogan. I remember reading a book in the library, which recorded that in the Knights’ hospitals, the wards were well-proportioned, spacious, and ventilated. The beds were covered with fine linen, the patients ate chicken from silver platters, and the knights themselves ate goat meat from pewter plates in a small, slightly fetid room. Although it sounds a bit cowardly, shouldn't saving lives, helping the wounded and sympathizing with the weak be a creed as important to knights as being passionate about martial arts?

The current Knights still influence the world through solid activities. Their activities include building and operating hospitals and various health care centers throughout Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America, providing care and first aid supplies to the wounded from medical centers in various bases in Europe, and conducting relief work for refugees. The supreme leader of the order is the Grand Master, who is responsible for the administration of the entire order with the assistance of a committee. The highest authority of the Order is the regular general meeting.

As a religious order, the Knights of Malta is under the jurisdiction of the Holy See's Ministry of Religious Orders and Societies, but it maintains diplomatic relations with the Papal States as an independent entity. Today, there are about 8,000 members of the Knights, including ordinary believers and priests. The purpose of the Order is to develop the spiritual powers of its members, to serve the Catholic Faith and the Holy See, and to engage in charitable activities.

The Knights of Malta in the Middle Ages had only one level, consisting of legal knights and professional priests who fulfilled the three major oaths. Generally speaking, full-time administrators always emerged from this level. In the 16th century, when the commodity economy developed greatly, a second class was created consisting of chapter knights and righteous donors. They promised to fight endlessly for the perfection of religious beliefs and the dignity of chivalry during their lifetimes.

In recent times, a third class has emerged, consisting of lay believers and lay priests, mainly women. Many of them were people who received medals in the Middle Ages, such as "knights and noble ladies of honor and piety". people,” “knights and ladies of grace and piety,” and so on. Members who are promoted to the knight level must have conclusive evidence that they are of noble origin, and those of civilian origin can only be soldiers. Although the standards have been relaxed to some extent, to date, origin has still been the main basis for grade assessment.

As for the Hospital Order established by Gérault, later renamed the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, it is another ancient but very special order. Under the protection of the Holy See, he devoted himself to the cause of protecting the Holy Land and helped to cultivate The focus of personal loyalty to the Holy See and the Pope himself is different from that of the Knights of Malta.

The earliest of the three major knightly orders was the Knights of St. John, often called the Knights Hospitallers, which continues to this day as the Knights of Malta. The second one to be established was the Knights Templar, which was the most prominent and powerful knightly order during the Crusades, but it also suffered the worst fate. The last one to be established was the Teutonic Knights, whose members were all German nobles. The Teutonic Knights did not have any outstanding performance during their time in Jerusalem, but they later returned to Europe and wrote an important page in the history of German Eastern colonization.