In 1623 Grand Master A. De Paule decided that the records of the business of State should be kept separately from the records of the internal administration of the Order of St. John. The resulting section covers the external matters handled by the Council and contains information on the political, diplomatic and military history of the Hospitallers, as well as the history of Malta and the Mediterranean.

• Arch. 255-275: Liber conciliorum status (22 mss) 1623-1798
  The deliberations of the Councils of State
• Arch. 276-278: Minutarium conciliorum status (3 mss) 1792-1798
  The minutes of the Councils of State
• Arch. 279: Indice dei Consiglio di Stato (1 ms) 1522-1686
  An index to the Minutes.

Catalogue: Catalogue of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in the Royal Malta Library, vol. 3 (Malta, 1965-1966)
Joseph Galea, A Catalogue of the Manuscript Volumes of the Archives of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem preserved in the Royal Malta Library (Mdina, Malta, 1974)