Frà Giovanni Battista Tommasi (
Cortona
Cortona (, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic centre of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo.
Toponymy
Cortona is derived from Latin Cortōna, and from Etruscan 𐌂𐌖𐌓 ...
, 6 October 1731 –
Catania
Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...
, 13 June 1805) was an Italian nobleman and 73rd
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
and
Grand Master of the
Order of Malta
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...
.
Life
1731–1798
He was born in the
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...
and entered the
Knights Hospitaller
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 Church, Catholic Military ord ...
whilst still young, being sent to
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
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.
1798–1803
In 1798, however,
Bonaparte captured
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
and grand master
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 ...
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 (russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич ; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination. Officially, he was the only son of Peter III of Russia, Peter III and Catherine the Great, although Catherine hinted that he w ...
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
Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...
man who had never belonged to the order. On Paul's death, his son
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.
The son of ...
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 ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...
), with each priory presenting a candidate to him - Tommasi (then in exile in
Messina
Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
) was one of these candidates.
In the meantime, in September 1802, Pius had offered the post to bailli Bartolomeo 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.
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 Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition
The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on perio ...
and hand over the government palace in the fort at
Valletta
Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...
. The British governor
Alexander Ball
Sir Alexander John Ball, 1st Baronet ( it, Alessandro Giovanni Ball, 22 July 1757 – 25 October 1809) was a Rear-Admiral and Civil Commissioner of Malta. He was born in Ebworth Park, Sheepscombe, Gloucestershire. He was the fourth son of Rober ...
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
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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, demographi ...
. In response Tommasi convoked a general assembly of the order in the order's church at
Messina
Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
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 (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...
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
Catania Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Catania; Cattedrale di Sant'Agata), dedicated to Saint Agatha, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. It was the seat of the Bishops of Catania until 1859, when the diocese was elevate ...
and also commemorated at
Cortona Cathedral
Cortona Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Cortona, ''Concattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta'') is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Cortona, Tuscany, central Italy, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It was the seat of the Bishops of Cortona f ...
, with the latter holding a
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 reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...
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.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tommasi, Giovanni Battista
1731 births
1805 deaths
Italian knights
Princes and Grand Masters of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta