Fra' Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle (13 April 1531 – 4 May 1595) was the 51st Grand Master of the

Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic Church, Cathol ...

, between 1582 and 1595.

History

He is mainly remembered for the reconstruction of the hunting lodge at Boschetto which was renamed

Verdala Palace Verdala Palace is a palace in the Buskett Gardens, limits of Siġġiewi, Malta. It was built in 1586 during the reign of Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle, and now serves as the official summer residence of the President of Malta. The palace was prev ...

in his honour. The palace is located in the Buskett Gardens, within the limits of

Siġġiewi Siġġiewi ( ), also called by its title Città Ferdinand, is a city and a local council in the Western Region of Malta. It is the third largest council in Malta by surface area, after Rabat and Mellieħa. Siġġiewi is situated on a plateau ...

. He is buried in a sarcophagus in the Crypt of the Co-Cathedral of St. John in

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

. He was made

Cardinal-Deacon A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

of S. Maria in Portico Octaviae by Pope

Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V (; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death, in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order, where h ...

in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

of December 18, 1587. Verdalle owned 230 slaves at the time of his death, and some of them were bequeathed to his relatives and friends.

References

External links

Coins of Grandmaster Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle
Grand masters of the Knights Hospitaller Knights of Malta 1531 births 1595 deaths 16th-century French cardinals Burials at Saint John's Co-Cathedral French slave owners {{Malta-politician-stub