L’arte della sopravvivenza. L’Ordine dell’Ospedale di S. Giovanni e il Concilio di Trento. Annales Historiae Conciliorum 51 (2021) Heft 2, 347-366

The Order of Malta took part in the great Council of the modern age, Trent, in a defiladed
manner, but it nevertheless brought the demands of a structure that was almost five centuries
old, the last survivor of a dissolved world, and yet one that was very present to contemporary
sensibilities. Defended by its ancient privileges, the Religion accepted, suffered and
sometimes was able to circumvent the Tridentine provisions, which influenced various aspects
of the life of its peripheral and central structures. Having an idea of how the Order
dialogued with the other ecclesiastical institutions within the Council and understanding
when this dialogue influenced the life of the Knights can help us understand how a regular
family survived the “changing timesö over nine centuries.