The Knights of St. John

by Augusta Theodosia Drane

There can be no doubt that, had succours arrived from Europe, the place would have been saved; for the Turks, who are said to have lost by war and disease no fewer than 90,000 men, were well-nigh in despair, particularly as the weather had become stormy, and threatened the destruction of their fleet. But there was no help from Christendom for its brave defenders: compliments in plenty, and fine words to the ambassadors who were despatched to represent the threatened danger; but whilst the sovereigns of France and Spain were courteous enough to say that Rhodes was the spectacle of the universe, they were too busy in a war of foolish rivalry to send a single galley to its aid. The knights scattered through the various countries of Europe made every effort to reinforce their comrades; but the tempests that raged during many weeks prevented them from arriving in time. The French knights were forced into the ports of Sardinia; a Spanish flotilla which had made its way to the harbour of Rhodes was beaten off by the Turks, and obliged to retire; and lastly, a few English knights, under the gallant veteran Sir Thomas Newport, persisting in the attempt to keep at sea, their vessel foundered in the storm, and every soul on board was drowned.

It was now that Solyman, desirous of getting possession of the city on any terms, and perhaps not unwilling to obtain a reputation for clemency, had recourse to negotiations; and a certain Genoese who was found in the camp was despatched to represent to the besieged the misery which a prolonged resistance would infallibly bring on the unoffending inhabitants when the city should at length be taken, whereas a timely surrender would prevent all the horrors of a storm. L’Isle Adam, however, rejected all overtures with the enemy, as contrary to the statutes of his order, and declared his own firm resolve to be buried under the ruins of Rhodes sooner than consent to yield his trust into the hands of the infidel. Emissaries from the Turkish camp appeared again and again before the walls; the grand master ordered them to be fired upon; the citizens, weary of the contest, threatened to treat for terms on their own account; still he was inflexible. But he was unsupported: not but that his knights were as ready as himself to die, sword in hand fighting against the infidels; but they could not resist the crowd of weeping citizens who stood about the council-door begging them to save their wives and children by a timely compliance with honourable terms; and their voices prevailed; for at length, after long hesitation, L’Isle Adam was forced to yield; and doubtless the concession cost him more than all the suffering and disaster of the last six months of bloodshed. He consented to take advantage of the first overtures that were made to treat for a surrender. The opportunity soon came: on the 10th of December the sultan caused a flag of truce to be hoisted on a neighbouring church outside the walls, and despatched two of his officers with a letter offering to allow the knights and citizens a free embarkation, carrying goods and chattels with them, in case of capitulation; otherwise an indiscriminate massacre of all, without distinction of age or sex, and that instantly; to which was attached his signature in letters of gold. The grand master in return sent two envoys, who begged a three days’ armistice for deliberation; this Solyman refused, and hostilities were renewed. The infidels were again repulsed with great slaughter; but the townspeople, terrified at the peril that impended, came in a body and entreated L’Isle Adam to renew negotiations. He consented; but to gain time, he sent Achmet Pasha the treaty by which Bajazet had, in the most solemn form, guaranteed to the order the free possession of Rhodes. Achmet no sooner cast his eyes on the parchment than, in a fit of rage, he tore it in pieces and trod the fragments under foot; and not content with this, he drove the envoys from his presence, and sent an insulting message to the grand master by the prisoners taken the same day, whose fingers, ears, and nose he inhumanly cut off. At length, however, as no prospect of relief appeared, and all hope of prolonging the defence was gone, L’Isle Adam consented to the terms proposed by Solyman, and the treaty was signed. Terms so honourable to the Christians had never yet been granted: the exercise of the Christian religion was to be free; the churches unprofaned; the children were not to be seized and brought up in the faith of Mahomet; the knights and inhabitants were to be afforded a safe passage out of the port; and the Turks bound themselves even to supply vessels for this purpose should they be required. Moreover, the holy relics and the sacred vases of the church of St. John were to be given up to the Christians, as well as the cannon with which to arm their galleys; the Ottoman army retiring from the walls during the evacuation of the place, and leaving only a guard of 4000 Janizaries.

Two days after the signing of the treaty, L’Isle Adam visited the sultan in his tent, and being admitted to his presence, after being kept waiting for many hours in a pitiless storm of snow, was received with an almost involuntary respect. For indeed there was a majesty in the very look of the grand master which none was ever known to resist; and although Solyman was not prepared to evince much courtesy to his fallen adversary, yet we are told, after the two had gazed at one another for a few moments in silence, the haughtiness of the Ottoman sovereign was forced to yield, and giving his hand to the grand master to kiss, he even attempted to console him under his misfortunes; offering him the highest rank within his power to bestow, if he would embrace the Moslem faith and join his service; to which L’Isle Adam’s reply may be imagined.

Unhappily the fair terms of Solyman’s treaty were but little regarded. A fresh band of Janizaries landing in the island on Christmas Eve, broke into the city, and, armed only with clubs, pillaged the houses of the principal inhabitants, and committed every manner of atrocity. The church of St. John was the principal object of their fury: they defaced the frescoes on the walls, dashed the images to pieces, overturned the altars, flung out ornaments, relics, every thing; dragged the crucifix through the mud, and in their search for hidden treasure broke open and demolished the very tombs of the grand masters. This done, they mounted to the top of the tower, “called the faithful to prayer,” and that same hour turned the sacred building into a mosque. From the church they proceeded to the great hospital, where, as we learn from an eye-witness, they beat the sick in their beds with such violence that many died, and among them one of the knights of the order, who was flung from the corridor and killed. The Christians they met with in the streets they fell upon with their clubs, murdering some on the spot; they robbed the townspeople who were carrying their goods down to the ships, compelling them to carry their own property on their backs, like beasts of burden, to the camp; women and young girls, some mere children, they made the victims of their brutality.

The fault, however, is not to be attributed to Solyman, who hastened to put a stop to these excesses; and entering the city in person, proceeded to return the visit of the grand master in his own palace. Whatever his motive, none can deny that in his transactions with the knights Solyman observed a moderation which was worthy of his title of “Magnificent:” not, perhaps, so loyal and sincere a generosity as that which has often been seen displayed by Christian chivalry, yet presenting a most striking contrast to the ferocious barbarism of his predecessors; and it is said, that during the final interview between him and L’Isle Adam, he was so touched with the resigned and tranquil deportment of the venerable hero, that, turning as he left the palace to one of his generals, he observed, “It is not without regret that I force this brave Christian to leave his home in his old age.”[28]

The Turks entered Rhodes on the morning of Christmas Day. At that same hour Pope Adrian was offering the Holy Sacrifice on the high altar of St. Peter’s: suddenly a stone detached itself from a projecting cornice and fell at his feet, as though to warn the Universal Pastor that one of the outworks of Christendom was lost to the Church.

CHAPTER VII.

Departure from Rhodes—Danger at sea—Rendezvous at Setia—Deplorable state of the Rhodians—Inspection of his followers by the grand master—His arrival with the Rhodians at Missina—Inquiry into the conduct of the Knights, and their acquittal—They proceed to Cività Vecchia, and are granted the city of Viterbo—Journeys of L’Isle Adam to the courts of Europe—Offer of Malta to the order by the emperor—Report of the commissioners.

It was the Feast of our Lord’s Circumcision, 1523. Fifty vessels, crowded with a mixed multitude of citizens and soldiers, were standing out to sea, having among them the grand carrack of the order of St. John and the scanty remnant of the Knights of Rhodes. Alas, that title was now lost for ever! they were literally without a home, beating about on those stormy waters, as Villiers and his five followers had done 200 years before when flying from the walls of Acre. L’Isle Adam never showed himself greater than in misfortune. During the hurry and confusion of embarkation under the eyes of his enemies, he had maintained the same tranquil dignity he had ever displayed; remembering every thing and the needs of every one; not forgetting to send to all the knights of the dependent islands and fortresses, including St. Peter’s of the Freed, bidding them join him in Candia.