Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/531

Rh Sixena was formed on a scale of princely magnificence, and resembled a palace rather than a religious house. Sixty noble young ladies of the kingdoms of Aragon and Catalonia were admitted into this institution without dower, and the munificence of its foundress, as well as that of the kings of Aragon, soon raised it to a high position. It was subjected by Pope Celestin III. to the rules of the Augustine Order. The ladies wore a scarlet robe with black mantle, bearing the white eight-pointed Cross, and in honour of their royal foundress they each carried a silver sceptre during T)ivine service. For many years the sisters remained associated with the Order of St. John, acknowledging the Grand-Master as their superior, and the prioress of the convent took her seat at all provincial chapters, next in rank to the castellan of Emposta. Towards the close of the fifteenth century they withdrew their allegiance from the fraternity and placed themselves under the direct authority of the Pope. This secession lasted until the time of de Monte, when, in 1569, Hieronyma d’Olibo, then grand-prioress of the convent, at the request of her nuns, signified their desire to become once more attached to the Order. her demand was acceded to, the schism was healed, and from that date the ladies of Sixena annually presented a silver vase to the convent at Malta in token of fealty.

The vacancy caused by the death of de Monte was filled by the election of John L’Evque de la Cassière, conventual bailiff of the langue of Auvergne, and consequently grand-marshal of the Order. The rule of this Grand-Master was an æra of turbulence and confusion from beginning to end. Although he was a man who, by dauntless courage and many gallant actions, had gained a high reputation amongst his confrères, still, from his arrogant temper and the violence and obstinacy of his character, he proved himself but ill-suited for the dignity to which he was now raised. Ere long he became involved in so many disputes, and had created such a host of enemies, that the island was thrown into a state of the utmost confusion. An altercation which he had with the bishop of Malta touching the extent of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the latter, led to the introduction into the island of an accredited member of the