1 Grano - Hugues Loubenx de Verdala

Hugues Loubenx de Verdala, a French cardinal who served as Grand Master from 1581 until his death in 1595, ruled during a period of significant Ottoman pressure on the Order's hold over Malta. The copper grano was the workhorse denomination of everyday Hospitaller commerce — small transactions, bread, basic goods — handled by Maltese islanders who had little use for the Order's silver. Verdala also commissioned the fortified summer palace outside Rabat that still bears his name, completed around 1588 under the architect Gerolamo Cassar.