Fra' Piero del Ponte (26 August 1462 – 17 November 1535) was the 45th
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 1534 and 1535.
He hailed from
Asti, in northern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and was a descendant of the ancient family of
Casal-Gros and
Lombriax. He became a
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 ...
and was the Order's governor of the island of
Lango when
Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
fell to the
Ottomans on New Year's Day 1523, and was still there in 1534 when he received the news of his election to the office of
Grand Master of the Order, to succeed
Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam
Fra' Philippe de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam (1464 – 21 August 1534) was a prominent member of the Knights Hospitaller at Rhodes and later Malta. Having risen to the position of Prior of the ''Langue of Auvergne'', he was elected 44th Grand ...
at
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 ...
. After he was elected he spent two months in
Calabria
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, and arrived in Malta on 10 November 1534.
The first coins of the Order to be minted in Malta were stuck during del Ponte's reign. In June 1535 the Grandmaster sent the Order's navy to fight in the victorious
conquest of Tunis.
Del Ponte died on 18 November 1535, 15 months after his election. He was buried in the
Chapel of St Anne in
Fort St. Angelo
Fort St. Angelo ( mt, Forti Sant'Anġlu or ''Fortizza Sant'Anġlu'') is a bastioned fort in Birgu, Malta, located at the centre of the Grand Harbour. It was originally built in the medieval period as a castle called the ''Castrum Maris'' ( en, C ...
,
Birgu
Birgu ( mt, Il-Birgu , it, Vittoriosa), also known by its title Città Vittoriosa ("''Victorious City''"), is an old fortified city on the south side of the Grand Harbour in the South Eastern Region of Malta. The city occupies a promontory of ...
, Malta. Eventually his remains were interred in the crypt of
St. John's Co-Cathedral in
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 ...
.
References
External links
Coins of Grandmaster Piero de Ponte
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponte, Piero De
1462 births
1535 deaths
People from Asti
Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller
16th-century Italian military personnel
Burials at Saint John's Co-Cathedral