“The present is the sum of many small events and traditions – including death – which are found in the past, and not a result of great wars and revolutions,” said Catherine Tabone during a talk held last week at the Valletta local council.

Titled “Tales from the Grave”, Ms Tabone spoke about the different funeral rites of the Knights of the Order of St John, the clergy and common people in the 18th century.

The Knights had a totally different attitude to death, explained Ms Tabone. Death was a celebration – a chance to show the common people the glory of the Order and their supremacy.

“When a Grand Master died, a lavish funeral ceremony was organised to show the people that the Order’s power had not diminished, but simply that a new person was in charge,” she said.

When a knight or archbishop died, the body was embalmed and taken to lie in state at St John’s Cathedral. The suit of armour belonging to the deceased was placed on one side of the coffin, a sign of the military power of the Order.

A black velvet bag was placed next to the Grand Master’s body. This bag, explained Ms Tabone, was filled with money for the poor and symbolised the charitable aspect of the Order. “In this way, the people were reminded that the Order was not only a military one, but also helped those in need.”

After the funeral, it was the responsibility of the caretaker of St John to distribute the money to the poor and needy. “Although there are records of this money distributed to its rightful owners, it is not certain that it was always distributed accordingly.”

Ms Tabone said high-ranking knights and Grand Masters would request to have a small and humble funeral when they died. “However, this was a formality because with a lavish funeral ceremony, the Order could awe the people with their wealth and strength.”

When the Grand Master died, all the knights and members of the Order attended his funeral dressed in black. Bells all over the country would toll, and bands, with their instruments purposely out of tune, would participate in the procession. The result was one of chaos and noise, done to attract as much attention as possible.

People followed carrying candles, and the procession would finally end at St John’s Cathedral. No ships were allowed to leave Grand Harbour until the funeral took place.

During the funeral of certain Grand Masters, the cappella ardente – an imposing structure made out of wood, skulls and candles with an hourglass – was placed in the middle of St John’s. It was used when people of high rank died, like the Pope or Grand Master.

At the beginning of the ceremony, a person would call out “The Grand Master is dead” for three times, break his ceremonial staff in two and throw it over the body to symbolise the end of his rule.

In order to save their souls, and spend less time in purgatory, the Grand Masters would leave sums of money for Masses and to the poor. “It was very common for Grand Masters to commission between 6,000 and 18,000 Masses to be said after their death to save their souls,” said Ms Tabone. “On the other hand, Grand Master De Vilhena only left enough money for three Masses to be said – either he lead a simple life, or was very confident that his Christian lifestyle was beyond reproach.”

During their lifetime most Grand Masters would have commissioned a monument with a tomb to be buried in. “However, the monument usually arrived after the Grand Master died, so they were buried in the crypt under St John’s for one year after which their remains were transferred to the monument,” said Ms Tabone.

Some Grand Masters had their internal organs removed and buried separately from the body.

The organs were carried to their burial place with the same pomp and ceremony as the body. “It is said that De Rohan’s heart is buried somewhere in St Paul’s Church in Valletta but it is difficult to know where,” she added.

When a priest or nun died, the funeral rites were different, Ms Tabone explained. When a cloistered nun from the convent of St Peter’s in Mdina died, the bells of her village tolled for the villagers to pray for her, to help the nun’s soul on her way to heaven.

When a nun from St Peter’s died, there was an agreement with the Mdina clergy to pray for her, and when a priest died, the nuns from St Peter’s would pray for him.

When a priest died, the clergy were obliged to pray for him, and make the funeral arrangements, especially if he had no family. The priest’s house would be filled with messages of praise describing all the good deeds he had done during his lifetime.

On the other hand, when a common person died, a simple ceremony was held. A small quiet procession made up of six or 12 people holding candles would follow the coffin to the church.

While a Grand Master’s will included slaves, property, valuables, money and works of art among other things, all that a common person bequeathed to his heirs was some livestock and poultry.