Hospitaller colonization of the Americas

Poincy convinced the Knights to purchase the islands from the bankrupt Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique in 1651 and stayed to govern them until his death in 1660.

During this time, the Order acted as proprietor of the islands, while the King of France continued to hold nominal sovereignty; however, Poincy ruled largely independent of them both.

In 1665, the Hospitallers sold their rights in the islands to the new French West India Company, bringing their colonial project to an end.

[6] He became embroiled in conflict with the Capuchin missionaries, who disapproved of the governor's consorting with local English, Dutch, and Huguenot Protestants, and of his refusal to liberate the children of baptized slaves.

They commissioned Noëlle Patrocles de Thoisy, a gentleman from Burgundy, to replace him, obtaining an order from the king summoning the governor back to France.

At the same time, Cardinal Mazarin, France's chief minister, was busy with the Peace of Westphalia and could not devote his attention to colonization.

[10] The Order's proprietary rights were confirmed in a treaty with France two years later: while the king would remain sovereign, the Knights would have complete temporal and spiritual jurisdiction on their islands.

[11] The only limits to their rule were that they could send only French knights to govern the islands, and upon the accession of each new King of France they were to provide a gold crown worth 1,000 écus.

He built strong and impressive fortifications on Saint Christopher along with churches, roads, a hospital, and his own grand residence, the Château de la Montagne.

Poincy sent a new governor to restore order, build fortifications and a monastery, and begin to clear much of the island's forests for plantation agriculture.

The Order still owed money to France for the initial purchase of the islands, and on Malta the knights debated whether they should sell them back.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert, much more interested in colonization than Mazarin, was now in power in King Louis XIV's court, and he applied pressure to the Knights to sell.

Poincy's rule on St. Kitts is remembered for the spectacle of his large, grand household, the servants all dressed in the emblem of the Knights.

[14] On St. Croix one can find frequent reference to the "seven flags" in the island's history, counting the Knights of Malta together with the United States and five European nations that have ruled it.