Giovanni Battista Tommasi
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Frà
Giovanni Battista Tommasi (Cortona
, 6 October 1731 – Catania
, 13 June 1805) was an Italian nobleman and 73rd Prince
and Grand Master of the Order of Malta.
and entered the Knights Hospitaller
whilst still young, being sent to Malta
aged 12 as a page of honour to Grand Master Emmanuel Pinto. At the end of his time as a page, he was attached to the 'caravans on the sea', in which he was recognised as one of the Order's best sailors. He was later made commander in chief of the Order's navy. He was also a freemason, being the founder member of a lodge with seven other knights of the Order of Malta (two of those seven were later made Grand Cross of the Order - the count of Litta, Grand Master Rohan's close friend Abel de Loras). Tommasi was decorated with Order's grand cross, entered its grand council and was entrusted with one important administrative role in the order after another. After bailli Mazei's death, in 1784, Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany
made Tommasi minister to the Grand Master.
captured Malta
and grand master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim
abdicated. Tommasi and the other knights were forced to leave the island and were scattered across Europe. An important section of the order regrouped in Russia and chose Paul I of Russia
as Grand Master, but the pope did not recognise this election since he felt that the order could not be led by a married Russian Orthodox man who had never belonged to the order. On Paul's death, his son Alexander I of Russia
decided to end this irregular situation and refused to be Grand Master. In the meantime the British had captured Malta and the Allied nations had agreed to re-establish the order, still dispersed across Europe and Russia and so unable to gather for a general assembly. The election of a new Grand Master was thus (for this instance only) deferred to the pope (then pope Pius VII
), with each priory presenting a candidate to him - Tommasi (then in exile in Messina) was one of these candidates.
In the meantime, in September 1802, Pius had offered the post to bailli Ruspoli (born 1754), a Roman prince who had been general of the order's galleys for four years, but Ruspoli was then in Scotland and declined the post. A second consistory chose Tommasi as Grand Master on 9 February 1803, on the recommendation of Alexander I and the Ferdinand, king of Naples
, and he was appointed on 11 March the same year.
and hand over the government palace in the fort at Valetta. The British governor Alexander Ball
replied on 2 March 1803 that some powers were still not recognising Malta's independence and so Britain was authorised to continue basing troops on the island and that the government palace (occupied by British civil servants) could not be vacated. Ball recognised that the Grand Master would be able to base himself at the Boschetta palace but that until this palace was furnished Tommasi should provisionally base himself on Sicily
. In response Tommasi convoked a general assembly of the order in the order's church at Messina on 27 June 1803.
After reading the assembly the papal bull regarding his own election as Grand Master, Tommasi requested that the Order show unity in order to guarantee its continued existence and its historic statutes. He then set up residence in Catania
on Sicily, where he gathered the Order's chancellery and archives. The Augustinian convent was put at their disposal while Tommasi himself lived in a neighbouring palace, where he died on 13 June 1805 aged 74, after having named bailli Innico Maria Guevara-Suardo
lieutenant of the order in his place. He was buried at Catania Cathedral
and also commemorated at Cortona Cathedral
, with the latter holding a cenotaph
in his memory (several of his possessions are in the museum in Cortona). Suardo's nomination was confirmed by the pope and the Order's holy council and he held it from then until his death on 15 April 1814. The Order was then governed by further lieutenants until a regular election could be approved by the pope in 1879.
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
Giovanni Battista Tommasi (Cortona
Cortona
Cortona is a town and comune in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic center of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo.-History:...
, 6 October 1731 – Catania
Catania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...
, 13 June 1805) was an Italian nobleman and 73rd 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.
1731-1798
He was born in the Kingdom of NaplesKingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
and entered the Knights Hospitaller
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
whilst still young, being sent to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
aged 12 as a page of honour to Grand Master Emmanuel Pinto. At the end of his time as a page, he was attached to the 'caravans on the sea', in which he was recognised as one of the Order's best sailors. He was later made commander in chief of the Order's navy. He was also a freemason, being the founder member of a lodge with seven other knights of the Order of Malta (two of those seven were later made Grand Cross of the Order - the count of Litta, Grand Master Rohan's close friend Abel de Loras). Tommasi was decorated with Order's grand cross, entered its grand council and was entrusted with one important administrative role in the order after another. After bailli Mazei's death, in 1784, Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...
made Tommasi minister to the Grand Master.
1798-1803
In 1798, however, BonaparteNapoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
captured Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
and grand master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim
Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim
Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim was the 71st Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta, the first German to be elected to the office....
abdicated. Tommasi and the other knights were forced to leave the island and were scattered across Europe. An important section of the order regrouped in Russia and chose Paul I of Russia
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
as Grand Master, but the pope did not recognise this election since he felt that the order could not be led by a married Russian Orthodox man who had never belonged to the order. On Paul's death, his son Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
decided to end this irregular situation and refused to be Grand Master. In the meantime the British had captured Malta and the Allied nations had agreed to re-establish the order, still dispersed across Europe and Russia and so unable to gather for a general assembly. The election of a new Grand Master was thus (for this instance only) deferred to the pope (then pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII , born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was a monk, theologian and bishop, who reigned as Pope from 14 March 1800 to 20 August 1823.-Early life:...
), with each priory presenting a candidate to him - Tommasi (then in exile in Messina) was one of these candidates.
In the meantime, in September 1802, Pius had offered the post to bailli Ruspoli (born 1754), a Roman prince who had been general of the order's galleys for four years, but Ruspoli was then in Scotland and declined the post. A second consistory chose Tommasi as Grand Master on 9 February 1803, on the recommendation of Alexander I and the Ferdinand, king of Naples
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
, and he was appointed on 11 March the same year.
1803-1805
Straight after his appointment Tommasi sent the commander de Bussy to Malta to demand the British evacuate the island in line with article 10 of the treaty of AmiensTreaty of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens temporarily ended hostilities between the French Republic and the United Kingdom during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was signed in the city of Amiens on 25 March 1802 , by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquess Cornwallis as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace"...
and hand over the government palace in the fort at Valetta. The British governor Alexander Ball
Alexander Ball
Sir Alexander John Ball, 1st Baronet was a British Admiral and the first British governor of Malta. He was born in Ebworth Park, Sheepscombe, Gloucestershire. He was the fourth son of Robert and Mary Ball....
replied on 2 March 1803 that some powers were still not recognising Malta's independence and so Britain was authorised to continue basing troops on the island and that the government palace (occupied by British civil servants) could not be vacated. Ball recognised that the Grand Master would be able to base himself at the Boschetta palace but that until this palace was furnished Tommasi should provisionally base himself on Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
. In response Tommasi convoked a general assembly of the order in the order's church at Messina on 27 June 1803.
After reading the assembly the papal bull regarding his own election as Grand Master, Tommasi requested that the Order show unity in order to guarantee its continued existence and its historic statutes. He then set up residence in Catania
Catania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...
on Sicily, where he gathered the Order's chancellery and archives. The Augustinian convent was put at their disposal while Tommasi himself lived in a neighbouring palace, where he died on 13 June 1805 aged 74, after having named bailli Innico Maria Guevara-Suardo
Innico Maria Guevara-Suardo
Innico Maria Guevara-Suardo was a member and leader of the Knights Hospitaller .-Life:...
lieutenant of the order in his place. He was buried at Catania Cathedral
Catania Cathedral
The Cathedral of Catania, entitled to St. Agatha, is a church in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy.-History:The church has been destroyed and rebuilt several times due earthquakes and eruptions of the nearby volcano Etna...
and also commemorated at Cortona Cathedral
Cortona Cathedral
Cortona Cathedral is a cathedral in Cortona, Tuscany, central Italy,dedicated to the Virgin Mary.-History:The church was built over the remains of an ancient Roman temple and is mentioned in the 11th century...
, with the latter holding a cenotaph
Cenotaph
A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...
in his memory (several of his possessions are in the museum in Cortona). Suardo's nomination was confirmed by the pope and the Order's holy council and he held it from then until his death on 15 April 1814. The Order was then governed by further lieutenants until a regular election could be approved by the pope in 1879.