The Sicilian Priory of Messina and Its Commanderies from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

In the early sixteenth century, the assets of the Order of St John in Sicily consisted of 12 commanderies under the Priory of Messina. Between 1603 and 1644, other 15 commanderies of private patronage (ius patronatus) were established. The commanders and the prior did not respect the timing required by the Order’s statutes for the general survey (cabrei) or inspections (only three visits, as records suggest, were made in 1555, 1603–1604, and 1749). However, the successful results of the commanderies’ administration, which was entrusted to the local procurators, allowed them to bear the costs for worship, pensions for old knights, and taxes supporting the Order’s Common Treasury in Malta (responsioni). Finally, the commanderies enjoyed wide privileges and immunities over their lands. Jurisdictional conflicts with the royal cities were continuous and ended only when, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, all the commanderies and priories’ archives were confiscated by the Sicilian Crown. This chapter illustrates the development of this long-term scenario through an extensive analysis based on Sicilian and Maltese archival sources. These are related to the functioning of central and local institutions of the Order of St John, in particular those that were in charge of its patrimony management.