The archives of the Order of Malta at the Bibliotheca of Malta, consisting of over 7,000 documents from 1107 to 1798, and in particular, the Papal Bull of 1113 by which the Order was established, have been nominated for the Memory of the World List of UNESCO. This is a special list for documents or archives that have left an important impact on the history of the world.

The dossier was presented by Ray Bondin, the chairman of the Malta National Commission to UNESCO, and Ugo Leone, the permanent observer of the Order to UNESCO. (The Sovereign Military Order of Malta has only an observer status at UNESCO.)

The nomination dossier has been in preparation for the past three years and was mainly prepared by archivists of the Order together with the assistance of the Bibliotheca in Valletta and the National Commission for UNESCO. The dossier has now to be studied by experts and presented to a special commission.

Bondin presented the dossier to Fackson Banda, head of the Documentary Heritage Unit of UNESCO, who welcomed the nomination of what he described as a vast collection of unique documents that are an important collection of the history of mankind. The Papal Bull by itself is of particular importance and is singled out in the nomination dossier.