Crux Alba has been long in gestation, and the Editorial Board is very glad that we can finally put the first issue in front of readers. While the Order has rarely been short of genealogists and antiquarians, its importance in a wider context has too often been overlooked. Over the last ten years or so, several members and friends of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta have discussed an academic project to provide more information to members about the Order they have joined, and to encourage research into our history and customs by members and non-members alike.

These various strands have come together in the last year with more concrete initiatives, of which this journal is one of the fruits. The history and nature of our Order are the object of substantial interest in the wider world, even among those astonished to find it still in existence. The military orders, the Crusades more broadly, the Mediterranean world, Christian-Muslim relations (whether as a supposed ‘clash of civilisations’ or in the spirit of dialogue), the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, Catholic aristocracy, and lay religiosity: all these and more retain a strong interest among a broad educated public and feature prominently in the Order’s past and present.

This journal has worked in parallel with the other major initiative, the ‘Chapter Room Talks’ — informal evening lectures on subjects connected to the Order. Now in their second year, they take place quarterly in Golden Square, are well attended, and are proving to be beneficial in nurturing this interest.

We are conscious that in recent years we have lost many learned members of our Order who would both have approved of and contributed to Crux Alba. Among these many, those who spring most readily to mind are Fra’ Richard Cheffins, Peter Drummond-Murray of Mastrick, Jonathan Riley-Smith, Cecil Humphrey-Smith, and Desmond Seward. They are all much missed and we dedicate this first issue to them. On the fair assumption that their love for the Order is undiminished in their new abode, we invoke their prayers for our work ahead as we ask our readers to offer a prayer for their eternal souls. May they rest in peace.

We hope that this journal will educate and entertain, but above all that it will also inspire its readers. We are all just passing pilgrims in the near-millennial history of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem — let us make use of our time wisely for the benefit of Our Lords the Poor and of our brethren.