Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/191

Rh incongruity seems to be that it was designed to prevent the jealousies and cabals which would inevitably have sprung up on the occasion of every vacancy. Again, although the Grand-Master did not actually possess the patronage of these offices, still he must have been enabled, from his position, to influence the selection, and as that influence would probably often be exercised in favour of his own countrymen, the result would have been to overthrow the balance of power between the various nationalities. As it was, the preponderance of the French element perpetually led to disagreement. It will be seen, later on, that it was the source of much difficulty at a critical juncture in the Order’s fortunes. The regulation was, therefore, very probably made as a precaution against the monopoly of the all-powerful French langues. It certainly seems the simplest method by which that result could be obtained.

Even, however, granting this reason, it still becomes difficult to account for the particular selection of the offices attached to each langue. The French element being so overpowering, it was natural that the three most important offices should be attached to the heads of their three langues, but as regards the others, no such solution can be given. It may have been that the offices which chanced to have been held by the different langues at the time when their respective apportionment was decreed, were from that moment permanently attached to them. This surmise is somewhat strengthened by the fact that the office of Turcopolier was held by an English knight in the year 1328, and in the year 1331 it was, at the general division of offices, definitively appropriated to that langue. This may have been the case with other nations.

Lieutenants were nominated in the same manner as the bailiffs, whose duty was to act for them, and to occupy their position whenever they were absent from the convent, or when they were incapacitated by sickness from attending to their duties in person. The property held by the Order in the various countries of Europe was, for the convenience of superintendence, divided into estates of moderate extent, which were called commanderies. Several members of the fraternity were attached to each of these