Jean de la Cassière

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jean de la Cassière
engraving around 1725
Grandmaster coat of arms of Jean de la Cassière

Jean de la Cassière , called l'Evêque ("the bishop"), ( lat. Ioannes Episcopius Cassertanus , * 1503 in France, † December 12, 1581 in Rome ) was the 51st Grand Master from January 30, 1572 until his death of the Order of Malta . Before being elected Grand Master, he was Grand Prior of the Auvergne Tongue .

He built the chapel of the Sacra Infermeria and the conventual church, today's St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta , where the order's seat was only since 1571. The splendid hostels in Provence, Italy and Aragons were also created in his time.

The early years of his reign as Grand Master were marked by numerous disputes and disputes with the Bishop of Malta over his ecclesiastical jurisdiction. These disputes were unprecedented in the history of the Order. Finally, Pope Gregory XIII sent. a Grand Inquisitor who met with enormous resentment within the Order.

Another major conflict arose with the Republic of Venice in 1575 when the order confiscated the goods of a Jewish merchant on a Venetian galley. Venice was outraged and the Order faced the risk of losing all of its possessions on Venetian territory. Here, too, the Pope intervened and the Order had to pay compensation to end the conflict. This too led to great dissatisfaction among the knights.

The third and most serious cause of discord within the Order during Cassiere's tenure was triggered by King Philip II of Spain, who had succeeded in getting his cousin, 17-year-old Archduke Wenceslaus of Austria (son of Emperor Maximilian II ) appointed To reach the Grand Prior of Castile. Enraged by the king's interference, the Castilian knights of the order openly rebelled against this agreement. The Pope asked the knights to publicly apologize to the Grand Master and the General Chapter for this disobedience. But de la Cassière also got into an argument with the inquisitor Domenico Petrucci .

These events fueled further resentment within the Order against la Cassiere and finally led to the removal of Cassiere by the Order in 1581 and its establishment at Fort St. Angelo . Mathurin Romegas , the former Grand Prior of Toulouse and the order's most famous naval hero, elected lieutenant (deputy) to the Grand Master in 1577, became the de facto Grand Master. The Pope responded by sending his special envoy Gaspare Visconti to investigate the dispute and at the same time to administer the Order. La Cassiere and Romegas both received a summons to Rome to clarify this incident. La Cassiere's arrival in Rome on October 26, 1581, as well as his reception by Pope Gregory XIII, took place in compliance with the ceremonies that a Grand Master was entitled to. In contrast, Romega's reception came with extreme coldness and contempt. Romegas died, alone and with a broken spirit, within a week, on November 4th, 1581. La Cassiere was honorably acquitted of all charges and reinstated in the position of Grand Master. He did not live long enough to enjoy his triumph, but died on December 21, 1581 at the age of 78 in Rome. His body was transferred to Malta and buried in St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta.

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Pierre de Monte Grand Master of the Order of Malta
1572–1581 		Hugues Loubenx de Verdale
personal data
SURNAME Cassière, Jean de la
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Grand Master of the Order of Malta
DATE OF BIRTH 1503
PLACE OF BIRTH France
DATE OF DEATH December 12, 1581
Place of death Rome