Talk:Order of the Maltese Knights' Hospitaller/@comment-3300047-20120620181904/@comment-4034967-20120918170112

Malta at this time was known as the Knights of St. John. The Knights of St John were exempt from all authority short of the Pope himself, but were restrained to their little isle and the waters around it. They were an Absolute Monarchy, not a Republic, and had few allies. Their main goal was elminating Islamic/Barbary corsairs/piracy from the western Mediterranean.