The knights of St John

To fully comprehend the ferocious nature of the battles between the forces of Suleiman and his Christian opponents it is necessary to know something of the background of the Knights themselves. There is not the space here to cover all of the history of the Knights but the following sketch may indicate a little of their origins and nature. When the first Crusade of 1099 A.D. culminated in the taking of Jerusalem a number of Crusaders entered into the inner sanctum of the Dome of the Rock. From that time onward, they considered themselves to be an elite force and called themselves the Knights Templar. There had also been for many years a hospital within the walls of Jerusalem ; in latter years it was dedicated to St John the Almsgiver by merchants from Amalfi. The custodian of the hospital during the siege was a French monk named Gerard and he had bombarded the Crusaders with loaves of bread thrown from the ramparts whenever he could do so without being seen. In recognition of his loyalty, a number of Crusaders allied themselves to Gerard and the hospital and dedicated their lives to aiding pilgrims making their way to the Holy Land and they eventually became known as the Hospitallers or the Knights of St John. After a short period of time, the Muslim forces had regrouped and the Christians were on the retreat for much of the time after the first Crusade. The Barons who led the Crusades, when they were not quarreling among themselves, tried to consolidate their foothold in the Holy Land by transplanting European tactics onto an African battlefield ; they built castles, fought in full armour and attempted set-piece battles against an essentially fast-moving, guerrilla cavalry. The resulting war of attrition swayed back and forth and heroes arose and fell upon both sides. The Templars and the Hospitallers became great rivals but they often fought side by side and for the better part of two centuries they took part in most of the battles which took place on the arid land both sides called Holy. Although the Hospitallers were essentially pledged to aid pilgrims they were always at the forefront in battle and it was during these years that the many battles they fought honed them into a formidable force and their fighting qualities became legendary. Allied with a fanatical belief in the Christian religion, they had evolved into a corps d'elite of warrior monks unique to Western society. The years of defending the Holy Land finally ended in 1291 at Acre when a besieging Muslim army finally broke into the city after six weeks of bitter fighting. The Christians suffered a crushing defeat and the legend of the Hospitallers was close to ending there and then when the Muslims on entering the city found a mere 7 Knights still standing. But the tenacity and courage of those who had defended Acre had set a precedent and an example for those brave enough to follow and recruits from all over Europe took up the challenge. The Order rose like a phoenix from the ashes.

The siege of Acre

From a painting by Dominique Louis Papety {1815-49 } housed in the Chateau de Versailles.

After the defeat at Acre it was clear that the Crusader's hold on the Holy Land had become untenable and the Knights retreated to the island of Cyprus where they found time to regroup. Many of the Templars were there also but while the Hospitallers were yet to fulfill their destiny, the Templars would come to an ignominious end in a very short time --but that's another tale. In 1307, they had become strong enough to wrest the island of Rhodes from it's Byzantine governor and they set about installing themselves into their new home with their customary energy and vigour.

On the island of Rhodes, the Knights became more organized than they had ever been before and in time they evolved into a complex hierarchy with The Grand Master at it's head. The Grand Master was acknowledged as supremely powerful, subject only to instructions from the Pope himself. The structure then devolved into various sections comprising a mixture of militaristic and religious elements such as Sergeants, Chaplains, Commanders, Lieutenants and so on and true to their traditions they always maintained a hospital wherever they made their home.

The structure became even more complicated when the order as it was now known divided into nine langues ; Auvergne, France, Italy, Aragon, England, Germany, Castile and Portugal. Each langue had its own auberge where the knights were domiciled in a monastic austerity, designed to promote religious and martial excellence. Their recruits came from the finest families in Europe and within their allotted auberge were subject to the discipline of the Conventual Pilier who endeavoured to ensure that his langue turned out the finest Knights. The resulting force of ascetic and Christian warrior monks, prepared to lay down their lives for their beliefs and their comrades, retained to the letter the tradition of the Knights of St John.

Over the years, the relationship between the Knights and the islanders was one of harmony and a strong bond was eventually formed which was to prove essential to the defence of the island when Suleiman and his army arrived. Working together, Knights and islanders built a fortress which was and still is a self-contained, walled city surrounded by a huge moat. Indefatigable builders, the Knights also made a fortress on the site of an old Greek Temple on the highest point on the island and in complete defiance of Islamic territorial claims they invested Bodrum { ancient Halicarnassus } on the Turkish mainland and built the Castle of St Peter which is in remarkably good condition even now.