Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/184

158 At the chapter-general, held in 1357, under the Grand-astership of Roger de Pins (referred to in the last chapter), the former of these two subdivisions was abolished, it being then decreed that no member of the class of serving brothers should be eligible for promotion into the rank of knights of justice.

As time wore on, and the advantages of birth were more and more considered, the regulations for admission into the first class gradually increased in stringency. The insignia of the belted knight were no longer deemed a sufficient guarantee for the introduction of the wearer; it was made necessary that he should adduce proofs of the nobility of his descent before he could claim admission as a knight of justice. These proofs were of four kinds—testimonial, literal, local, and secret. The proof testimonial was so called from its being the testimony of four witnesses, themselves gentlemen by birth, who guaranteed the nobility of the candidate; the proof literal was gained from title-deeds or other legal documents; the local proof was obtained through commissioners who were appointed by the Order to proceed to the district where the candidate resided, and there to inform themselves as to his birth. The secret proof was a further investigation carried out by the same commissioners without the knowledge of the postulant. In the various langues these proofs of nobifity differed materially, four quarterings only being required in the English, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese ltvigues; eight in the French; whilst in the German no less than sixteen were called for. The stringency of these regulations was not relaxed until a later period of the Order’s existence. Then an innovation gradually crept in, and knights of grace were appointed to meet the case of wealthy candidates whose parentage was not such as to bear the requisite test. The establishment of the princely mercantile families who formed the mainstay of the Venetian and Genoese republics led originally to this addition.

Over and above this tripartite division we have already seen