Land, Trade and Revenue in Hospitaller Rhodes and Malta

Between 1310 and 1522, the Order of St John ruled Rhodes and nearby territories; from 1530 until 1798, it governed Malta and Gozo. In both settings, the Order needed to sustain its religious community, fortifications and naval forces while also governing island populations. Land and commerce helped meet those needs, but the balance varied. Rhodes had fertile land and a busy port, while Malta offered a less favorable agricultural base and became closely associated with the Order’s maritime operations. In both places, income from the islands formed only part of a wider system that included support from European priories and outside rulers.

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Landholding and the Order’s wider revenues

Hospitaller authority over land took different forms. On Rhodes, the Order controlled an island territory and, at various times, neighboring islands and coastal possessions. In 1313 it announced that land held by Greek Christians and Muslims on Rhodes and the mainland would be confiscated and granted to Catholic families in return for military service. The announced terms made military service the price of a new grant.

The Order also depended on its network of European priories and commanderies. These were regional and local institutions that administered its properties and were expected to send revenue to the central community. Such remittances could be delayed or withheld, however, and the demands of fortification and military service could exceed the money available. Support from European rulers and the papacy therefore remained important. Island income, institutional remittances and outside assistance were connected parts of the Order’s finances, not interchangeable sources.

Malta came to the Order in 1530 as a fief of the Kingdom of Sicily. The grant carried an annual obligation: the Order was to send a Maltese falcon to the Sicilian viceroy on All Souls’ Day. The tribute acknowledged the grant even as grand masters exercised broad practical autonomy. Sicilian claims remained contentious, as the dispute over an ecclesiastical visitor in 1753–55 showed.

Rhodes: agricultural land, port trade and duties

Rhodes was valued both for its productive land and its position in eastern Mediterranean shipping. Its port regularly received merchant vessels, and the Order took part in trade as well as military activity. Its documented commerce included importing cloth from Europe for onward trade on the coast of Asia Minor, and exporting sugar to Italy and France. These movements show the port’s role in connecting regional and long-distance exchange, connecting the island’s merchants to markets beyond the Aegean.

Control of the harbor also gave the Order a way to raise revenue from commerce. In 1462, amid financial pressure, it imposed a two-percent levy on imported goods, known as the chain tax. The name referred to the chain guarding the harbor entrance, which had to be lowered for ships to enter. The levy linked the practical control of access to the port with the collection of customs revenue. Funds were urgently needed for works including the island’s defenses.

Commerce could also bring political friction. The Hospitallers sought to disrupt trade with Muslim powers, while their naval actions and control of shipping routes brought them into conflict with Christian merchants, especially Genoese and Venetians. The Order’s military priorities therefore did not always align with the interests of the trading communities using the Aegean. Its port could serve as a commercial stopping point and as a base for operations that threatened commerce.

Malta: grain, mills and external supply

Malta presented different pressures. The Order’s initial settlement there followed its expulsion from Rhodes, and the islands were described as having less arable land, freshwater and timber than their former home. The municipal Università arranged grain imports, especially from Sicily, and stored reserves in underground silos. Its grain fund, the Massa Frumentaria, combined procurement with investment and loans, making food supply a public financial responsibility.

In 1553, after the Order declined an offer to take control of Mahdia in present-day Tunisia, the Sicilian viceroy prohibited wheat exports to Malta. Grand Master Claude de la Sengle responded by bringing the engineer Vincenzo Vogo to improve the islands’ mills, with the aim of reducing the danger of hunger. The episode shows that grain security involved more than growing or acquiring wheat: the capacity to mill it mattered too. It also shows how external authorities could use control of exports to put pressure on the Order.

The Order’s relationship with Sicily thus affected both political status and material supply. At the same time, resources for military infrastructure could come from further afield. After a tornado destroyed four of the Order’s galleys in 1555, replacements were financed with help from Spain, the Papal States, France and the Prior of St Giles; the grand master paid for another galley. This assistance illustrates how the island’s ability to support the Order depended on connections beyond Malta as well as on local resources.

Maritime revenue and its costs

At Malta, the Order’s navy served military purposes, but maritime activity could also generate income. The Order authorized corsairing, a form of armed raiding at sea. Captured goods and the enslavement of Muslim captives brought returns to the Order and opportunities for local Maltese participants. The activity also provided employment. It grew especially important from 1660 to 1675, although it remained a feature of the Maltese economy into the early eighteenth century.

These gains depended on ships, crews and harbor facilities. The Order’s fleet included galleys and, at different times, larger sailing vessels. Its naval base and dockyard at Birgu supported the fleet, while the wider harbor area was strengthened to protect ships and other military installations. Maintaining this capacity required money and supplies, so maritime income was not simply a windfall: it was tied to an expensive organization whose ships and defenses also depended on assistance from outside Malta.

Across Rhodes and Malta, land, trade and maritime activity served different but connected purposes. Rhodes combined productive territory, a commercial harbor and duties on imports; Malta’s evidence particularly reveals the vulnerability of grain supply and the importance of corsairing. Neither island’s resources alone explain how the Order sustained its rule. Revenue from ports and raiding, payments connected to land and political authority, and contributions from the Order’s wider network all helped support its communities and military commitments.