This source collection brings for the first time records from foreign archives concerning the Dutch commanderies of the Order of the Hospital of St. John or of Malta and their place within the Order's international organization.
The book presents bulls and letters from and to the Grandmaster and the Prior of Germany; a 14th-century rent-roll of St. Catherine's Convent at Utrecht; visitations and inquiries 1373-1732; and a list of pamphlets concerning the regaining of the Order's confiscated property in the Dutch Republic.
All sources are given in their original language: Latin, French, Italian, German or Dutch. Because of the long period (14th-18th centuries) and the broad variety of subjects they are important for researchers of political as well as economic history from medieval to early modern times.