Page "Paul I of Russia" Paragraph 19

In accordance with his chivalric ideals, Paul was elected as the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, to whom he gave shelter following their ejection from Malta by Napoleon.

His leadership resulted in the establishment of the Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller ( Order of St John / Maltese Order ) within the Imperial Orders of Russia.

At a great expense, he built three castles in or around the Russian capital.

Much was made of his courtly love affair with Anna Lopukhina, but the relationship seems to have been platonic and was barely more than another detail in his ideal of chivalric manhood.