Knights of Malta, 1523-1798

Knights of Malta, 1523-1798

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Title: Knights of Malta, 1523-1798
Author: R. Cohen
Release Date: April 15, 2004 [EBook #12034]
Language: English
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KNIGHTS OF MALTA
1523-1798
BY R. COHEN LATE SCHOLAR OF WADHAM COLLEGE,
OXFORD
1920
THE LOTHIAN PRIZE ESSAY FOR 1920 (UNIVERSITY OF
OXFORD)

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
SETTLEMENT AT MALTA, 1523-1565
Departure from Rhodes--Residence in Italy--Settlement in Malta,
1530--Condition of the Mediterranean--The
corsairs--Turkey--Fortification of Malta--Loss of English
"Langue"--Enterprises of the Order--Solyman decides to attack Malta

CHAPTER II
THE SIEGE OF MALTA, 1565
Preparations--Size of opposing forces--Siege of St. Elmo--Arrival of
Dragut--Capture of St. Elmo, June 23--Death of Dragut--Siege of main
fortresses--Great losses on both sides--Arrival of reinforcements from
Sicily--Turks evacuate island

CHAPTER III
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ORDER OF ST. JOHN
Classes in the Order--Langues--Chapter-General--Councils--Grand
Master--Bishop of Malta--Finances--Justice--Criminal Council--Court
of Égard--The Hospital

CHAPTER IV
THE DECLINE, 1565-1789
Decadence of Turkey--Knights become anachronism--Valetta
built--Fortifying the island--Disturbances in the Order--Quarrels with

different Powers--Treatment of the Maltese--Buildings in
Valetta--Papal interference--Naval operations--Independence of the
Order

CHAPTER V
THE FALL, 1789-1798
Attacks on the Order during the French Revolution--French estates
confiscated--Poverty of the Order--Tsar Paul I.--French
schemes--Napoleon appears off Malta--Condition of the island--Its
capture--Dispersion of the Order
APPENDIX I.
APPENDIX II.
BOOKS CONSULTED
NOTE ON THE AUTHORITIES

KNIGHTS OF MALTA

CHAPTER I
SETTLEMENT AT MALTA 1523-1565.
On January 1, 1523, a fleet of fifty vessels put out from the harbour at
Rhodes for an unknown destination in the West. On board were the
shattered remnants of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, accompanied
by 4,000 Rhodians, who preferred the Knights and destitution to
security under the rule of the Sultan Solyman. The little fleet was in a
sad and piteous condition. Many of those on board were wounded;
all--Knights and Rhodians alike--were in a state of extreme poverty.
For six months they had resisted the full might of the Ottoman Empire

under its greatest Sultan, Solyman the Magnificent; Europe had looked
on in amazed admiration, but had not ventured to move to its rescue.
Now they were leaving the home their Order had possessed for 212
years, and were sailing out to beg from Christendom another station
from which to attack the infidel once again.
The Knights of Rhodes--as they were called at the time--were the only
real survivors of the militant Order of Chivalry. Two centuries earlier
their great rivals, the Templars, had been dissolved, and a large part of
their endowments handed over to the Hospitallers. The great secret of
the long and enduring success of the Order of St. John was their
capacity for adapting themselves to the changing needs of the times.
The final expulsion of the Christians from Syria had left the Templars
idle and helpless, and the loss of the outlets for their energy soon
brought corruption and decay with the swift consequence of dissolution.
All through the history of the great Orders we find the Kings of Europe
on the lookout for a chance to seize their possessions: any excuse or
pretext is used, sometimes most shamelessly. An Order of Knighthood
that failed to perform the duties for which it was founded was soon
overtaken by disaster.
The Hospitallers had realised, as early as 1300, that their former rôle of
mounted Knights fighting on land was gone for ever. From their seizure
of Rhodes, in 1310, they became predominantly seamen, whose flag,
with its eight-pointed cross, struck terror into every infidel heart.
Nothing but a combination of Christian monarchs could cope with the
superiority of the Turk on land: by sea he was still vulnerable. The
Knights took up their new part with all their old energy and
determination: it is but typical that henceforward we never hear of the
"Knights" of Malta fighting as cavalry.
After various adventures the fleet found itself united at Messina,
whence it proceeded to Baiae. The election to the papacy of the
Cardinal de' Medici--one of their own Order--as Clement VII., gave the
Knights a powerful protector. He assigned Viterbo as a residence for
the Order till a permanent home had been discovered.
Villiers de L'Isle Adam, Grand Master of the Order, was faced with

many difficulties. Remembering the fate of the Templars, he was afraid
that the Order would disperse, and its present helpless condition was
surely tending to disintegration. At this