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 In
1798 following Napoleon's taking of Malta, the Order of Malta (Order of
St John of Jerusalem) was dispersed, but with a large number of refugee
Knights sheltering in St Petersburg, where they elected the Russian Emperor,
Paul I as their Grand Master - a rival Grand Master to Ferdinand Hompesch
then held in disgrace. Hompesch abdicated in 1799 leaving Paul as the only
Grand Master.
As
de-facto Grand Master, Paul I of Russia created a Russian tradition within
the Hospitaller Order - the "Russian Grand Priory" open to all Christians
- which whilst it could not be accepted as a canonical part of the Roman
Catholic Order, it was never-the-less a de-facto part of the ancient Order.
Following
Imperial Decrees of Alexander I of Russia in 1810/1811, a fiscal and legal
separation of the Russian tradition of St John from the main Roman Catholic
HQ was created. The Russian Order was now akin to the German JohanniterOrder,
a Johannine tradition, but legally separate.
This
Russian Hospitaller tradition of St John continued within the Russian Empire,
and then into Exile following the Revolution in 1917. Headquartered at
first in Paris (1928-1976) under the leadership of Grand Duke Alexander
Romanoff, and then in New York (1977 onward) under the elected Grand Prior,
Count Nicholas Bobrinskoy, a direct descendant of Catherine the Great.
The Russian Grand Priory operates under an Incorporation granted in the
USA, with the title of "The Sovereign Order of Orthodox Knights Hospitaller
of Saint John of Jerusalem".
Paul
I had created under Russian Laws Family Commanders of the Russian Grand
Priory with Hereditary Rights. It is the descendants of these Commanders
who have, with the support of members of the Imperial family, continued
that Russian tradition in exile.
There
are many "Orders" who have sought to claim that they are part of this Russian
tradition, but these claims are based on mythical histories with their
origins in a self-styled "Order" created in the USA. by a Charles Pichel
in the mid 1950s. These can be found via the "Self-Styled
Order" Web Page.
 International
Headquarters
and Secretariat
of the Order:
39 Parkway East
Mount Vernon,
New York 10552 USA
  
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