Fra' Didier de Saint-Jaille (died 26 September 1536) was the 46th Grand Master of the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

between 1535 and 1536. De Saint-Jaille was a French nobleman who joined the Knights Hospitaller as part of the Langue of France. He was particularly known for his great prudence, and was elected as Grandmaster following

Piero de Ponte Fra' Piero del Ponte (26 August 1462 – 17 November 1535) was the 45th Grand Master of the Order of Saint John between 1534 and 1535. He hailed from Asti, in northern Italy and was a descendant of the ancient family of Casal-Gros and L ...

's death. At the time he was in France, and so made preparations to go to Malta. However, he fell ill at

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

and died before he made it to the island on 26 September 1536. He was the only Grand Master of Malta who did not die and was not buried in Malta, apart from

Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim, O.S.I. (9 November 1744 – 12 May 1805) was the 71st Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, formally the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, by then better known as the Knights of Malta. He was the first Ge ...

, who left the islands with the Order's expulsion in 1798. Coincidentally, both Didier de Saint-Jaille and Hompesch are buried in Montpellier. While he was away from Malta, the knight Jacques Pelliquen acted as Lieutenant Grandmaster, and during his rule Maltese and Calabrian soldiers destroyed El Haid Tower which was close to

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

(then a possession of the Order).

References

Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller Knights of Malta 1536 deaths Year of birth unknown 16th-century French people Burials in Occitania (administrative region) {{Europe-noble-stub