The Hospitaller Grand Priory of Messina in the Seventeenth Century

Book excerpt: "This book details the origin of the Grand Hospitaller Priory of Messina. It discusses a breadth of themes, such as: the historiography, the Hospitaller's European Commandery and Sicilian Patrimony, its management and organization in the Seventeenth Century, its religious practices, and the Prioral Mansion in Messina. The final chapter includes a detailed account of the 1674 Messina insurrection against the Spanish overlords. This event plunged the Priory into political chaos, fracturing it and pitting members against each other. It also shattered neutrality issues embedded in the statutes of the Religion and ignoring the precepts emanating from the Convent on Malta. The Hospitaller Grand Priory of Messina in the Seventeenth Century will appeal to students and scholars alike interested in the Crusading Orders, the history of the Knights Hospitaller, and the history of Malta"--