Langue (Knights Hospitaller)

A langue or tongue (Italian: lingua) was an administrative division of the Knights Hospitaller (also known as the Order of St. John of Jerusalem) between 1319 and 1798.

The term referred to a rough ethno-linguistic division of the geographical distribution of the Order's members and possessions.

[1] The Knights Hospitaller began to take the features of a state following its acquisition of Rhodes and nearby islands in the early 14th century.

For the purposes of administration of the Order's possessions in Europe, the langues were divided into grand priories, some of which were further divided into priories or bailiwicks, and at the lowest level into commandries dealing with regional or local administration.

St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, which was built as the Order's conventual church, contains chapels for each of the langues.