The group lost a number of its European holdings following the rise of Protestantism but survived on Malta. The property of the English branch was confiscated in 1540. In 1577 the German Bailiwick of Brandenburg became Lutheran, but continued to pay its financial contribution to the Order, until the branch was turned into a merit Order by the King of Prussia in 1812. The "JohanniterOrden" was restored as a Prussian Order of Knights Hospitaller in 1852.
The Knights of Malta had a strong presence within Imperial Russian Navy and the pre-revolutionary French Navy. When De Poincy was appointed Governor of the French colony on St Kitts in 1639, he was a prominent Knight of St. John and dressed his retinue with the emblems of the order. The Order's presence in the Caribbean was eclipsed with his death in 1660. He also bought the island of Saint Croix as his personal estate and deeded it to the Knights of St. John. In 1665 St. Croix was bought by the French West India Company. This marked an end to their exploits in the Caribbean.
Their Mediterranean stronghold of
Malta was captured by
Napoleon in
1798 when he made his expedition to
Egypt. As a ruse, Napoleon asked for safe harbor to resupply his ships, and
then turned against his hosts once safely inside Valetta. Grand Master Ferdinand
von Hompesch failed to anticipate or prepare for this threat, provided no
effective leadership, and readily capitulated to Napoleon. This was a terrible
affront to most of the Knights desiring to defend their stronghold and
sovereignty. The Order continued to exist in a diminished form and negotiated
with European governments for a return to power. The
Emperor of Russia gave the largest number of Knights shelter in St
Petersburg and this gave rise to the
Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller and recognition within the
Russian Imperial Orders. In gratitude the Knights declared Ferdinand von
Hompesch deposed and Emperor
Paul I was elected as the new Grand Master. Following Paul's murder in
1801, in
1803 a Roman Catholic master was restored to the Order in Rome.
By the early 1800s the Order had been severely weakened by the loss of its Priories throughout Europe. Only 10% of the Order's income came from Europe, with the remaining 90% being generated by the Russian Grand Priory until 1810. This was partly reflected in the government of the Order being under Lieutenants, rather than Grand Masters in the period 1805 to 1879, when Pope Leo XIII restored a Grand Master to the Order. This signalled the revival of the Order’s fortunes as a humanitarian and ceremonial organization. In 1834, the revived Order established a new headquarters in Rome. The revived organisation is known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which enjoys a special status, which is discussed further.
The property of the Order in
England was confiscated by
Henry VIII because of a dispute with the Pope over the dissolution of his
marriage to
Catherine of Aragon, which eventually led to the
dissolution of the monasteries. Although not formally suppressed, this
caused the activities of the English Langue to come to an end. A few Scottish
Knights remained in communion with the French Langue of the Order. In
1831 a revived English Order was founded by French Knights and became known
as the Most Venerable
Order of St. John of Jersualem of the British Realm. It received a Royal
Charter from
Queen Victoria in
1888 and spread across the
United Kingdom, the
British Commonwealth and the
United States of America. However, it was only recognized by the Sovereign
Military Order of Malta in 1963. Its best known activities are based around
St. John Ambulance.
Following the Reformation most German chapters of the order declared their continued adherence to the order while accepting protestant theology. As a Balley Brandenburg des Ritterlichen Ordens Sankt Johannis vom Spital zu Jerusalem the order continues until today, gaining increasing independence from its Roman Catholic mother order, The protestant branch spread into several other protestant countries(Sweden, Hungary and Netherlands). These sub-branches are now independent too.
All four branches are together with the British order in the Alliance of Orders of St John of Jerusalem.