Martin Garzes
Martin Garzes also Martinus Garzesius, Martin Garces, Martín Garzés (* 1526 in Aragon ; † February 7, 1601 ) was the 53rd Grand Master of the Order of Malta from May 8, 1595 until his death .
Before the election he was a knight within the tongue of Aragón and from 1577 castellan of Amposta .
On May 8, 1595 he was elected to succeed the deceased Grand Master Hugues Loubenx de Verdale . At the time of his election he was already 70 years old. He was considered mild and impartial and so he managed to peacefully end the years of disputes that had escalated under his predecessor within the order as well as with the Holy See , the Inquisition and the House of Habsburg .
He carried out some reforms, so he allowed the German language of the order to accept young Swiss (cf. Reisläufer ) from respected but non-noble families as knights. Instead of the test of nobility , they were only required to be born in wedlock and brought up as a Catholic, and that their fathers had held military service positions.
When the Turks invaded Hungary in 1597 (see Long Turkish War ), he changed the rules of the order to such an extent that the knights of the order from those coming from mainland Europe were now allowed to do their compulsory military service in Malta and in the order's fleet in Hungary in the fight against the Turks . However, he restricted the pirate trips of the order's fleet.
He had the fortifications on Malta and Gozo expanded considerably, and he did not live to see the construction of the Garzes Tower on Gozo, which he ordered and paid for (1605) .
literature
- Adolf von Winterfeld: History of the knightly order St. Johannis from the hospital in Jerusalem. Martin Berendt, Berlin 1859, pp. 421-423 ( online ).
- Pierre d'Avity , Johann Ludwig Gottfried : Archontologiae Cosmicae. Book III: Origo Ordinum Militarium, tam Regularium. Jennisius, Frankfurt am Main 1628.
Web links
- Martin Garzés at cilialacorte.com
- Martin Garzes at smom-za.org
- The 79 grandmasters at orderofmalta.org
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Hugues Loubenx de Verdale |
Grand Master of the Order of Malta 1595–1601 |
Alof de Wignacourt |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Garzes, Martin |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Garzesius, Martinus; Garces, Martin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Grand Master of the Order of Malta |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1526 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Aragon |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 7, 1601 |