Diplomacy, Knights of St. John, Rhodes and Malta Commonly known as Order of Malta-The Order of Maltas diplomatic representatives were consistently treated as the Representatives of a Sovereign State, before and after the loss of Rhodes in 1523, and before and after the loss of Malta in 1798. Thus it is clear that the ability of the Order to treat equally with other States was unaffected by its autonomous governance of a territory.When in 1653 the Ambassador of the Order presented his credentials at the court of the King of Spain, the Envoy of the Grand Duke of Tuscany disputed the precedence of the Orders Ambassador. The dispute was settled in the Orders favor, it being provided that in future the Orders Envoys would take precedence after those of Kings, but before those of lesser Sovereigns.In 1747 the Order had Ambassadors or Envoys Plenipotentiary accredited to Rome, Vienna, Paris, and Madrid, and each were accorded precedence according to the 1653 settlement. By the end of the century the Order exchanged Ambassadors or Ministers with the Holy Roman Emperor, the Kings of France, Spain, Portugal, Prussia, and Sardinia, and the Emperor of Russia and several other Principalities and lesser Sovereigns.Today, the Order of Malta has diplomatic relations with over 100 countries