The Knights Hospitaller (the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem or Knights of Malta or Knights of Rhodes) is a tradition which began as a Benedictine nursing Order founded in the 11th century based in the Holy Land, but soon became a militant Christian Chivalric Order under its own charter, and was charged with the care and defence of pilgrims. Following the loss of Christian territory in the Holy Land, the Order operated from Rhodes, of which it was sovereign, and later from Malta as a vassal state under the King of Sicily. The mediæval Order can be said to have come to an end following its ejection from Malta by Napoleon.

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta  is the main successor to this tradition.