Siege of Rhodes (1444)
Siege of Rhodes | |||||||
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A 1450 map of the eastern Mediterranean. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Mamluk Sultanate | Knights Hospitaller | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Aynal Gecut | Jean de Lastic | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
85 ships |
The siege of Rhodes was a military engagement involving the
Background
The Order of the Hospital (
Although the island was a
The Hospitallers then moved their convent and hospital from Cyprus to Rhodes, and resettled the island. Their hold on the island was solidified through the enforcement of a papal ban on trade between Christian states and
In the winter of 1443, Grand Master Jean de Lastic sent a letter to the King of Aragon Alfonso V of Aragon lamenting the hardships faced by the order and requesting that its members residing on his possessions return to Rhodes to protect it. Alfonso acted as a patron of the Order, closely collaborating with the two previous Masters who were both of Catalan origin. The Duke of Burgundy Philip the Good and Pope Eugene IV were among those who provided the Hospitallers with auxiliary ships and supplies on their way back to Rhodes. In the meantime, a Mamluk fleet had already set sail towards the same destination.[6]
Siege
In August 1444, a Mamluk force under Aynal Gecut landed at the Hospitaller held island of
Aftermath
Despite the success of the Hospitallers in the 1480 siege of the island, Rhodes became increasingly isolated from other Christian states. It was ultimately conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1522, forcing the Order to once again relocate their headquarters to Malta.[8]
Footnotes
- ^ Failler 1992, p. 122.
- ^ Luttrell 1975, pp. 280–281.
- ^ Failler 1992, pp. 122–124.
- ^ Luttrell 1975, pp. 282–285.
- ^ Luttrell 1975, pp. 286–289.
- ^ De Riquer 1986, pp. 305–307.
- ^ De Riquer 1986, pp. 307–311.
- ^ Tsirpanlis 1991, pp. 373–383.
References
- De Riquer, Martin (1986). Η Πολιορκία της Ρόδου του 1444: Σε Δυο Καταλανικές Αφηγήσεις [The 1444 Siege of Rhodes Through Two Catalan Narrations]. Dodekanisiaka Chronika (in Greek). 11 (1). Stegi Gramaton kai Technon Dodekanisou: 305–314.
- Failler, Albert (1992). "L'occupation de Rhodes par les Hospitaliers". Revue des études byzantines (in French). 50: 113–135. .
- Luttrell, Anthony (1975). "The Hospitallers at Rhodes, 1306–1421". In Hazard, Harry W. (ed.). A History of the Crusades, Volume III: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 278–313. ISBN 0-299-06670-3.
- Tsirpanlis, Zacharias (1991). Ρόδος και η Ιστορία της [Rhodes and Its History] (PDF). Department of History and Archeology Yearbook (in Greek). University of Ioannina: 373–416. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
Further reading
- Caoursin, Guillelmus (1501). "Guillelmi Caoursin [sic] Rhodiorum Uicecancellarij: obsidionis Rhodie urbis descriptio" [Guillelmi Caoursin [sic] chancellor of Rhodes : a description of the siege of Rhodes] (in Latin) (1). Reger, Johann, active 1486-1499, printer.
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(help) - Hauf i Valls, Albert Guillem (1993). "Una versió valenciana quatrecentista desconeguda de la Obsidionis Rhodie de Guillaume Caoursin" [An unknown fourcentist Valencian version of Obsidionis Rhodie by Guillaume Caoursin] (PDF). Caplletra: Revista Internacional de Filologia (in Latin and Catalan). 15 (1993). UV: 1–37.