Juan de Homedes, a Spanish knight from Aragon, became Grand Master in 1536 following the Order's humiliating expulsion from Rhodes in 1522 and their eventual settlement on Malta under Charles V. His tenure was marked by chronic financial strain and the need to maintain fortifications against Ottoman pressure — the same pressure that would culminate in the Great Siege of 1565, two decades after his death. Coinage under Homedes served practical military administration more than ceremonial function.
The tari denomination traces to earlier Sicilian and southern Italian monetary tradition absorbed by the Order. Restelli 34 is among the more straightforwardly documented issues of his reign.
Juan de Homedes, a Spanish knight from Aragon, became Grand Master in 1536 following the Order's humiliating expulsion from Rhodes in 1522 and their eventual settlement on Malta under Charles V. His tenure was marked by chronic financial strain and the need to maintain fortifications against Ottoman pressure — the same pressure that would culminate in the Great Siege of 1565, two decades after his death. Coinage under Homedes served practical military administration more than ceremonial function.
The tari denomination traces to earlier Sicilian and southern Italian monetary tradition absorbed by the Order. Restelli 34 is among the more straightforwardly documented issues of his reign.