The enormous losses left the Knights of Malta nursing a bitter grudge. Thus, two years earlier, when the British and French fleets were locked in battle in the Mediterranean Sea, they had refused to let French warships enter port for supplies and had even taken the initiative to provide the British with intelligence.
After the British Navy withdrew from the Mediterranean Sea, Bruix, commander-in-chief of the Toulon Fleet, sent Marines ashore and arrested more than a hundred members of the order who had dealings with the British—at the time, the Knights of Malta had only a little over four hundred members in total—and declared Malta's harbor a permanently neutral port where no military facilities could be stationed.
Battered by one blow after another, the Knights of Malta had been badly weakened. Then Paul I ascended the throne, and they were instantly overjoyed.
This Tsar had been deeply fascinated by knightly culture since childhood, while the Knights of Malta were the only knightly order in the world currently recognized by the Roman Curia. Thus, decades earlier, they had already established close ties with Russia's Crown Prince.
The Knights of Malta immediately made their decision. Almost the entire order came to Saint Petersburg, clung to the new Tsar's thigh, and even honored Paul I as the order's protector.
Paul I was also exceedingly generous. He directly granted them a palace to serve as their camp and provided five hundred thousand Rubles a year in operating funds. Then Paul completely let himself go. Not only did he establish a Knightly Chapel in the imperial palace and require the nobles to pray there, he also forcibly imposed a complete set of knightly etiquette and rules, including but not limited to:
Kneeling on one knee upon seeing His Majesty the Emperor; wearing a full set