Lestev A.E. The Moral Imperatives of the Knights of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Abstract: The objects of research are the moral imperatives of the Knights of Malta. In his article Lestev in details described the basic concepts of the knight identity: honor, loyalty, justice, mercy and obedience in terms of the formation of a special system of military-religious order. Despite the universal nature of these concepts, their semantic content as well as localization are different  in a variety of military communities and cultures. This determines the importance of examining the spiritual aspirations, spiritual quest of man, his moral imperatives in the study of a particular culture. In addition to the general historical research methods, the author also used socio-psychological and comparative (comparative cultural studies) methods to describe the development of the system of moral imperatives of knights of the spiritual Order and to compare them with similar concepts of secular knights. As the main result of this study, Lestev shows the transition made by members of the Order of Malta from feudal thinking to thinking about whole Christian world, generally good-Christian, which was the forerunner of modern humanistic ideas and international organizations providing humanitarian assistance in all parts of the world. It was the first time the knights of religious orders were able to counter and implement the idea of the common good opposing to the idea of profit and personal advantage. 

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