The Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Extraordinary Resilience Meets Chance

Abstract

There exists an actor. At the fringe: physically and in imagination too. Many would be flummoxed once they learned that the entity — most commonly referred to as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta — has been one of the oldest human institutions. The outer tier of protection of the Christian Civilization. An extant institution. Purposely established and still serving its original purpose: Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum, or defense of the faith and assistance to the poor. Much has happened in and around the SMOM in the meantime. Nearly a full millennium has passed since its establishment. It gained and lost territory, repeatedly. SMOM’s survival — of an organization and its form — cannot be explained without considerations of historical contingency. Contingency understood as conjunctures of environments, structures and practices.