<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/df1bd002-5ac3-4ac1-a606-6ad11c732684/86694639-632B-4BE5-B5B4-6D2CF77BA763/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://cathcandy.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/knightsofmalta/" href="http://cathcandy.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/knightsofmalta/" style="font-size: 11px;">cathcandy.wordpress.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://cathcandy.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/knightsofmalta/"><div align="center"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/cathcandy.wordpress.com/img/AC697D3A-14D8-438F-AC5C-6D553AB58B73" alt="" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://cathcandy.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/knightsofmalta/"><P>The Knights of Malta, or The Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem to give their full name, were formed long before their reign on Malta. The Order was originally established in 1085 as a community of monks responsible for looking after the sick at the Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem. They later became a military order, defending crusader territory in the Holy Lands and safeguarding the perilous routes taken by medieval pilgrims. The Knights were drawn exclusively from noble families and the Order acquired vast wealth from those it recruited.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://cathcandy.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/knightsofmalta/"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/cathcandy.wordpress.com/img/8F4E4497-C231-47C5-AAC1-AF33AA71A90F" alt="" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://cathcandy.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/knightsofmalta/"><div align="center"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/cathcandy.wordpress.com/img/CD5F4BC8-538C-47A7-97B7-D1291198FFEE" alt="" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://cathcandy.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/knightsofmalta/"><P>The Order was ruled by a Grand Master who was answerable only to the Pope. Knights were chosen from the aristocratic families of France, Italy, Spain, England and Portugal. On acceptance into the Order they were sworn to celibacy, poverty and obedience.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://cathcandy.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/knightsofmalta/">Today, the Order continues its mission of defending the poor and the sick.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://cathcandy.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/knightsofmalta/"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/cathcandy.wordpress.com/img/B69706E4-3A47-4F0A-90E9-77D467997B6F" alt="" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://cathcandy.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/knightsofmalta/"><div align="center"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/cathcandy.wordpress.com/img/7ECB8F82-D041-4009-94A1-80E0ACF39D72" alt="" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://cathcandy.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/knightsofmalta/"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/cathcandy.wordpress.com/img/138D0561-ABF6-4AE9-8D2A-169BEBD4DD10" alt="" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://cathcandy.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/knightsofmalta/">You can find more history of the Knights of Malta <A href="http://www.knightsofmalta.com/history/history.html">here</A>.</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/86694639-632B-4BE5-B5B4-6D2CF77BA763/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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