By Philip Pullella
ROME (Reuters) - Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie, the GrandMaster of the Knights of Malta, which was a Christian crusadingmilitary order more than 900 years ago, has died.
The order said on Friday that Bertie, 78, an Englishman whowas elected Grand Master in 1988, died in a hospital onThursday in Rome, where the order has been based since 1834.
The order, whose full formal name is the Sovereign MilitaryHospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and Malta,groups more than 12,500 members and some 93,000 volunteersaround the world.
Today it is involved in humanitarian, medical and charitywork around the world.
It is a sovereign entity with its own passport and hasdiplomatic relations with 99 countries.
A spokesman said its number two, or Grand Commander, wouldrun the order until new elections are held, probably in severalmonths.
Bertie, who was addressed as "His Highness", was the firstEnglishman to be elected to the high post.
Born in 1929, he was educated at Oxford and the Universityof London. He served in the Scots Guards and joined the orderin 1956. He took solemn religious vows in 1981, according to abiography provided by the order.
The order traces its origins to about 1048 when merchantsfrom the rich Marine Republic of Amalfi in Italy financed ahospital run by monks in Jerusalem to offer medical care forpilgrims to the Holy Land and local non-Christian residents.
FIRST CRUSADE
But the order later took on a military role during thefirst crusade and considers its formal founding was in 1099when it was involved in protecting Christian pilgrims at a timewhen the Kingdom of Jerusalem, as it was called, had nostanding army.
After the fall of Acre, the last Christian stronghold inthe Holy Land, the order moved to Cyprus.
A more permanent base was established in Rhodes, but theorder was eventually defeated in a long siege by the Ottomansand the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V offered Malta to theKnights for a yearly rent of one falcon.
The Knights took over the tiny island because itsmagnificent natural harbour offered protection for their fleet.
They built huge ramparts and after beating off the Turkishsiege of 1565, they built Valletta, decorating it with largepalaces and richly decorated churches that are today some ofMalta's most important tourist attractions.
Napoleon forced the Knights to leave Malta in 1798 andsince 1834 their headquarters has been Rome, where they own abuilding near the Spanish Steps and a villa on the AventineHill.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella; editing by Ralph Boulton)
