Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/361

Rh laws thus laid down, and even in this comparatively subordinate duty he was not permitted to act alone, but was associated with a council. Without the concurrence and sanction of that body none of his decrees had any legal effect, and he himself was rendered practically powerless.

The councils of the Order in its chef-lieu were of four kinds, viz., the complete, the ordinary, the secret, and the criminal. The latter was sometimes also called the council of state. The composition of the complete council differed from that of the other three, which were similar to one another.

The complete council consisted of the Grand-Master or his lieutenant, the archbishop of Rhodes, the prior of the church of St. John, the eight conventual bailiffs or their lieutenants acting for them, the grand-treasurer or his lieutenant, and any grand-cross who might chance to be present at the convent on the occasion. To these were added two members from each langue, who were bound to be knights of justice and resident in Rhodes for at least eight years. The seniors of each langue below the rank of grand-cross were usually elected to this office, the nomination resting with the langues themselves. The time for the assembly of the court lay at the discretion of the Grand-Master, but the place of meeting was invariably in the council-chamber of the magisterial palace. In this it differed from the other three councils, which might be convened wherever the Grand-Master thought fit. Before the complete council were brought all appeals against the decisions and sentences of the ordinary and criminal councils, the ultimate appeal being with the chapter-general or in its absence with the papal court.

The following was the order of procedure on the occasion. The Grand-Master having fixed the hour at which the council was to meet, his master of the horse gave due notice to that effect to all the members authorized to be present. The great bell of St. John’s church tolled for the half-hour previous to the appointed time, during which interval the councillors assembled within their hall. When the bell ceased the Grand-Master took his seat under the canopy which marked his place as president, and the business of the council commenced. Should