Home / Grand Masters

Malta ยท 58 of 81

Martin de Redin y Cruzat

1657-1660

Explore all Grand Masters
Portrait or historical image of Martin de Redin y Cruzat
Archive image of Martin de Redin y Cruzat

Brief Biography

Martin de Redin governed the Hospitallers on Malta in the late 1650s.

Sources: Order of Malta: The Grand Masters; Wikipedia: Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller.

Archive image of Martin de Redin y Cruzat

Life and service to the Order

The coastal watchtowers erected during his mastership, known as the de Redin towers, extended the island's warning and defence network.

On Malta the Order developed hospitals, fortifications and a maritime presence while governing the islands. Its religious and charitable purposes continued alongside these public responsibilities.

Grand Master Martino de Redin (1657-60) who succeeded Lascaris, died after a reign of only three years, but during his office the island benefited greatly. He formed a regular Maltese corps of 4,000 musketeers, built a number of forts, and garrisoned them with Maltese gunners paid by him. Because of his personal connections with Sicily, as its former viceroy, he managed to obtain food for Malta from that country and improve the conditions of the islanders who were in a miserable state at the time.

Historical context: Order of Malta, The Grand Masters; History of the Order.