Alof de Wignacourt

Fra Alof de Wignacourt (1547 – 14 September 1622) was a French nobleman who was the 54th Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem from 10 February 1601 to his death in 1622.

Wignacourt joined the Order in 1564, aged seventeen, and distinguished himself at the Great Siege of Malta a year later.

He was patron of Caravaggio following the artist's arrival in Malta in 1607 until his arrest and subsequent expulsion from the Order in 1608.

The Order's cavalry and Maltese civilians, however, managed to overcome the Turks who retreated, without a single Christian dead.

Alof de Wignacourt died of apoplexy while he was out shooting on 14 September 1622 at the age of 75.

Coat of arms of Wignacourt on the reconstructed Wignacourt Arch
1601 grano coin of Wignacourt