Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/752

 7i A History of the Knights of Ma/ta. munificence, granted the privilege to our Order, whose tenor is as follows, namely :— We, Charles V., by the clemency of the Divine favour always Augustus, Emperor of the Itomans; Joanna, his mother, and the same Charles being, by the grace of God, monarchs of Castile, Aragon, of both Sicilies, Jerusalem, Leon, Navarre, Granada, Toledo, Valentia, Gallicia, Majorca, Seville, Sardinia, Cordova, Corsica, Murcia, Algarve, Algeria, Gibraltar, the Canary Islands; also of the islands and continent of India, of the Oceans; archdukes of Austria, dukes of Burgundy and Brabant; counts of Barcelona, Flanders, and Tyrol; lords of Biscay and Molina; dukes of Athens and Neopatria; counts of Rousillon and Catalonia; marquis of La Mancha and Ghent. Whereas, for the restoration and establishment of the convent, Order, and religion of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem; and in order that the very reverend, and venerable, and well beloved, the Grand-Master, the priors, bailiffs, preceptors, and knights of the said Order; who, being expelled from the island of Rhodes by the Turks (who, after a most protracted and violent siege, have occupied that island), have already wandered for several years, should obtain at length a fixed residence, and there should once more return to those duties for the benefit of the Christian community which appertain to their religion; and should diligently exert their strength and their arms against the perfidious enemies of the Christian religion; moved by devotion, and actuated by the same spirit which has allied us to the Order, we have determined upon granting a fixed home to the above-mentioned Grand-Master and Order, that they should no longer be compelled to wander about the world; by the tenor of this our present charter, firmly valid to all future times; through our fixed knowledge, and regal authority, and deliberation; and with special designs for ourselves, our heirs and successors on the throne; we grant, and of our liberality we bountifully bestow upon the aforesaid very reverend the Grand-Master of the religion and Order of St. John of Jerusalem, in feudal perpetuity, noble, free, and uncontrolled, our cities, castles, places, and islands of Tripoli, Malta, and Gozo, with all their cities, castles, places, and insular territories; with pure and mixed jurisdiction, right, and property of useful government; with power of life and death over male and female residing within their limits, and with the laws, constitutions, and rights now existing amongst the inhabitants; together with all other laws and rights, exemptions, privileges, revenues, and other immunities whatsoever; so that they may hereafter hold them in feudal tenure from us, as kings of both Sicilies, and from our successors in the same kingdom, reigning at the time, under the sole acknowledgment of a hawk or falcon; which, every year, on the festival of All Saints, shall be presented by the person or persons duly authorized for that purpose, into the hands of the viceroy or president, who may at that time be administering the government, in sign and recognition of feudal tenure; and, having made that acknowledgment, they shall remain exempt and free from nil other service claimable by