Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim
Encyclopedia
Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim (November 9, 1744 – May 12, 1805) was the 71st Prince
Prince of the Church
The term Prince of the Church is nowadays used nearly exclusively for Catholic Cardinals. However the term is historically more important as a generic term for clergymen whose offices hold the secular rank and privilege of a prince or are considered its equivalent...

 and Grand Master of the Order of Malta, the first German to be elected to the office.

Hompesch was born in the village of Bolheim, now part of Herbrechtingen
Herbrechtingen
Herbrechtingen is a town in the district of Heidenheim in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated on the river Brenz, 7 km south of Heidenheim, and 28 km northeast of Ulm.-References:...

, Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....

. He received the baptismal names Ferdinand Joseph Antoine Herman Louis. He joined the Order of Saint John at a young age, serving as a page to the Grand Master Manuel Pinto da Fonseca. He spent twenty-five years as the order's ambassador at the court of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 before being made Grand Bailiff of Brandenburg.

On July 17, 1797 Hompesch was elected Grand Master. As Grand Master in Malta he raised the towns of Żabbar
Zabbar
Ħaż-Żabbar is the fourth largest town in Malta, with a population of 17,030 . Originally a part of Żejtun, Ħaż-Żabbar was granted the title of Città Hompesch by the last of the Grandmasters of the Knights of St...

, Żejtun
Zejtun
Żejtun is a medium sized town in the south of Malta. Żejtun holds the title of Città Beland, which was bestowed by Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim, Grandmaster of Knights of Malta in 1797, Beland being his mother's surname....

 and Siġġiewi
Siggiewi
Siġġiewi is a village and a local council in the southwestern part of Malta. It is situated on a plateau, a few kilometres away from Mdina, the ancient capital city of Malta, and 10 kilometres away from Valletta, the contemporary capital...

 to the status of cities.

In 1798 Hompesch was warned that the French fleet which was sailing to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 intended to attack Malta as well. Hompesch disregarded the warning and took no action to reinforce the island's defences. On June 6, 1798, the advance squadron of the French fleet reached Malta. One ship was permitted to enter the harbour for repairs. On June 9 the main fleet arrived. The French commander Napoléon Bonaparte had a force of 29,000 men against Hompesch's 7,000. Bonaparte demanded free entrance to the harbour for the entire fleet with the excuse to get water provisions. Hompesch replied that only two ships at a time could do so. Napoleon saw it as a provocation and ordered the invasion of the Maltese Islands.

On June 10 the French fleet began disembarking. The French forces were supported by a local insurrection of Maltese, many of whom wished to get rid of the Knights. The rules of the Order prohibited fighting against Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

s and many of the French members of the order did not want to fight against the French forces. Hompesch capitulated on June 11. The following day a treaty was signed by which the order handed over sovereignty of the island of Malta to the French Republic. In return the French Republic agreed to "employ all its credit at the congress of Rastadt
Second Congress of Rastatt
The Second Congress of Rastatt, which was opened in December 1797, was intended to rearrange the map of Germany by providing compensation for those princes whose lands on the left bank of the Rhine had been seized by France....

 to procure a principality for the Grand Master, equivalent to the one he gives up". Hompesch was also given an annual pension.


Hompesch left Malta for Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...

 on 18 June. He resigned as Grand Master on July 6, 1799. In 1804 he went to Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....

in France where he died one year later of asthma. He is buried in the Church of Sainte Eulalie in Montpellier.

Further reading

  • Galea, Michael. Ferdinand von Hompesch, a German Grandmaster in Malta: A Monograph. Malta: Deutsche Gemeinde, 1976. There is an expanded version in German by Joseph A. Ebe, entitled Ferdinand Freiherr von Hompesch, 1744-1805: letzter Grossmeister des Johanniterordens/Malteserordens auf Malta (Paderborn: Melitensia, 1985, ISBN 3980107116).
  • Hompesch and Malta: A New Evaluation, edited by Maurice Eminyan. San Gwann, Malta: Enterprises Group, 1999. ISBN 9990902372.
  • Ferdinand von Hompesch, der letzte Grossmeister auf Malta: Ausstellung im Maltesermuseum Mailberg. Mailberg: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Maltesermuseum Mailberg, 1985.

External links

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