The First Siege of Rhodes.
The knights were now getting desperate and new moves were made again to try
and negotiate a peace settlement. Once more the Turks demanded tribute and
again the knights dismissed it as totally unacceptable. They were now in dire
straits, the rural areas on Rhodes and the other islands were yielding less and
less and the raids were destroying much of their resources and income, an
invasion was expected at any time.
The dreaded moment came on 23rd May 1480 when a huge fleet of 170 ships
was spotted off the Northwest coast of the Island a short distance from the city.
100,000 Turkish soldiers disembarked onto the island and they immediately
surrounded the walls and put the city under siege. The Turks first task was to
capture the two towers that guarded the entrance to the harbour and their
artillery kept up an unbroken bombardment. The Grand Master himself, Pierre
d'Aubusson, came to the rescue and after a fierce fight repelled the invaders. A
similar assault was tried on the seaward sector of the city which was manned by
a weaker contingent of Italians. The walls were soon showing signs of being
penetrated and again the Grand Master d'Aubusson took control and dug
another ditch the other side of the wall along with a new internal fortification.
When the Turks finally assaulted the wall they were again beaten back by the
knights, it was turning into a very bloody contest.
Twice more the Turks attacked this weakened position and on 27th July
managed to gain a foothold within the town. A massive struggle ensued with
knights running from all corners of the town to aid the Italian sector. The Grand
Master d'Aubusson was wounded in five places, yet still directed the battle and
fought with a lance in the hand to hand combat. After three hours of fighting the
knights gained the upper hand and started to push back the Turks who began a
hasty withdrawal. The knights followed, hacking down anything that moved,
rampaging through the Turkish camp and capturing the holy standard of Islam.
On that day between three and four thousand Turks were slain, the remainder
limping back to their ships, they headed for the harbour of Phicos where they
came from.
During the siege, the city had to endure the destructive effects of over 3,500 balls
during the bombardment by the Turks. A lot of the time, as was seen with the
their initial attack on the twin towers of the harbour, bombardments were not
always as successful as had been hoped. Chronicles sometimes marvel at the
total ineffectiveness of such batteries, although others, as in the case of the
Italian bastion at Rhodes, tell of buildings being demolished, quarters burnt and
large breeches being made in the walls.
We are fortunate in that we know almost all the details of the siege due to the
writings and chronicle of Vice Chancellor Fra' Guillaume Caoursin. He wrote the
Grand Master's dispatches to the Pope and later incorporated them into his book
Obsidionis Rhodie Urbis Descripto, which was first published four months
after the end of the siege and became a best-seller.
The 1481 earthquake
The following year in 1481 the Island of Rhodes suffered a massive earthquake
which destroyed all the walls and fortifications which the Turks hadn't the
previous year. The Island was in big trouble, the rural villages that had survived
were also turned to rubble with crops and livestock in very short supply. Time for
once was on their side, as the death of Mehmed had left the Turks split between
his two sons Djem and Bayazid. Djem lost the struggle for power and fled to
Rhodes where he was greeted by d'Aubusson and signed a peace agreement
which was to keep his brother Bayazid at bay. The Grand Master d'Aubusson
was honoured by the Pope for his victory and was awarded the rank of cardinal
and legate of Asia but died soon after in 1503. Djem had also died in mysterious
circumstances which meant his brother Bayazid was no longer tied and he
started making plans for a large scale attack on Rhodes like his father.
While the city and fortifications were slowly rebuilt, the knights had a couple of
successes which are worthy of mention. In 1507 they captured the largest ship
afloat and pride of the Egyptian fleet the "Morgarbina" as it was taking a cargo of
passengers and supplies from Crete. She was then converted to a warship by
the knights and renamed the 'Santa Maria'. In 1510 the sailor knights also
attacked Alexandretta, capturing ten large and four small galleys, transferring
them back to Rhodes.
In 1512 Bayezid was forced to abdicate by his son, Selim the Grim, who later
had him poisoned. Selim was a ruthless but excellent soldier and he carried on
with the conquests where his grandfather Mehmet had left off. Rhodes was once
again getting worried, and they had every reason. Initially Selim was preoccupied
with his wars in Hungary, Egypt and Persia to worry too much about Rhodes, but
in 1517 he captured Cairo and once again the Island was surrounded. That same
year Selim was preparing a massive armada to attack the Island but suddenly
died, leaving his Kingdon to Suleiman the Magnificent, probably the most
formidable and greatest of all the Turkish emperors. Suleiman had inherited a
battle-hardened army and like Selim had his eyes firmly fixed on the thorn in his
side, the martial monks of Rhodes.
In 1521 the monks election of a new Grand Master was contested between the
leaders of three 'tongues', England, Castile and Auvergne. Prior Phillipe Villiers
de l'Isle Adam of Auvergne was chosen and in his anger, Fra' Andrea d'Amaral of
Castile shouted that "This would be the last Grand Master of Rhodes". Little
did they all realise his outburst was to prove correct.
Soon after, a letter arrived from Suleiman congratulating the new Grand Master
on his appointment, de Villiers I'Isle was furious and replied with a very sarcastic
letter which basically challenged him to attack, as his spies had already informed
that an invasion by Suleiman was imminent. Calls for help across Europe were
ignored , but the knights did managed to secure the services of some Venetian
arbalestiers they recruited from Crete. The fortifications of the town were further
increased and the total strength of the knights was now about 500 with around
1000 men-at-arms, not much bigger than d'Aubusson's army for the 1480 siege.
The Second Siege of Rhodes
On the 26th 1522, two days after the feast of St John, a massive Turkish armada
of 103 galleys and another 300 other vessels was sighted off the coast. We have
a lot of information available on the final siege of Rhodes and contemporaries tell
us that the Sultans forces were commanded by Suleiman's brother-in-law,
Mustafa Pasha, and numbered 120,000 men with a further 60,000 Balkan
peasants who were used for labour.
The Turks tactics were somewhat different to the siege of 1480, they too also
blockaded the harbour, but their artillery barrages were mounted against the
landward fortifications and great walls. On 28th July, Suleiman himself arrived
with more fresh troops and the artillery could now keep up their barrage
throughout the day and night. All through the month of August the Turks
concentrated their attacks against the positions of England, Spain and Provence,
with constant barrages followed by wave after wave of infantry.
On the 4th September, two huge gunpowder mines exploded under the bastion
of England, bringing down twelve yards of wall which filled the moat, it seemed to
the Turks the perfect breach. They immediately assaulted the ramparts and soon
held the gap, but the English brothers under Fra' Nicholas Hussey held an inner
barricade and they were soon joined by the Grand Master Villiers de l'Isle. The
English regrouped and then charged the Turks position, driving them back and
capturing the Turkish standards. Twice more Mustafa repeated his assault on the
badly damaged bastion of England and twice more the English brothers drove
them back, helped by some German brothers who had rushed through the town
to aid them. The Turks lost over two thousand men during these assaults and
Pasha himself had to be dragged away by his own men after all around were
fleeing.
Treachery.
Mustafa Pasha decided to risk everything on a final assault and on 24th
September, watched by Suleiman from a hillock, the four bastions of Spain,
England, Provence and Italy felt the full force of the Turkish artillery and were
pounded mercilessly. Wave after wave of Turkish infantry followed, racing for the
walls and fierce hand to hand fighting followed. Attacks were quickly followed by
counter-attacks and the bastion of Spain changed hands twice, the sea beside
the position of the Italians was said to have turned red with blood. The Grand
Master somehow managed to find 200 fresh troops and the Turks were
eventually called back by Suleiman after loosing 3,000 men. The knights had lost
about 200 men with 150 wounded.
Outraged by the shame, Sulieman paraded his entire army to witness his
brother-in-law Pasha shot to death by arrows, but he spared him only after one of
the elders pleaded for his mercy. Suleiman himself by now had had enough and
was about to pack up and raise the siege when an Albanian deserter was
brought to his tent. He claimed that the knights had lost so many men that they
could not face another assault and the city was almost his. Sulieman appointed a
new commander, Ahmed Pasha, an elderly engineer, and it soon became clear
to the knights what their new tactic would be - blow them out of their stronghold.
The Turks resumed their barrage on the walls, which were by now badly
damaged in many places with nobody left to repair them. The Grand Master
recalled all his troops from the other Islands but the situation was getting
helpless and matters were to get even worse. Some Turkish slaves managed to
escape and started to burn the town, but were soon rounded up and executed. At
the end of September, a servant of the Prior of Castile and Grand Chancellor
d'Amarel, was caught shooting messages into the Turkish camp and after torture
implicated his master. Andrea d'Amaral was solemnly degraded from his vows in
front of the whole order and beheaded for treason.
Truce.
At the end of November the Turks made a further assault on the positions of
Spain and Italy, they were again beaten back with the further loss of three
thousand men. Matters were now getting desperate for the knights, but the Turks
also had their problems with their exhausted army, now much depleted through
the fighting and disease which was spreading through their camps. Their next
move was to appeal to the townsfolk, bypassing the leaders, offering them
peace, their lives and food if they surrendered the city, but threatened to put
them to the sword and under slavery if they were made to enter by force. At first
the Grand Master and knights would hear none of it, but under pressure from the
local people gave in and agreed to accept negotiations.
A three day truce was declared for 11th-13th December, but after the locals
demanded further assurance of their safety and welfare from Suleiman, he got
angry and ordered his forces to begin the bombardment again of the town. On
17th December the bastion of Spain fell and it was only a matter of time before
the whole city capitulated. The ramparts and walls had been virtually destroyed
and to continue seemed like suicide. On 20th December the Grand Master asked
for a fresh truce.
A deputation of Latins and Greeks met again with Suleiman and on 22nd
December they declared their acceptance of the terms he proposed. The knights
were to be given twelve days to leave the Island and could take their weapons
and any valuables or religious icons they desired. Any Islander who also wished
to leave with them could do so right away, or at any time within a three year
period. He also promised that no church would be desecrated or turned into a
mosque and that he would also grant the Island tax exemptions for five years.
Extremely generous terms considering the losses he had endured in gaining his
victory.
After Suleiman had entertained the Grand Master Villiers de I'Isle, he refused a
guard to accompany him on his tour of the fallen city. He was shown the rubble
and barricades which had been the knights only defences and was later to
remark that he was sorry that he was to make 'that fine old man', de Villiers
I'Isle, leave his home.
On the evening of 1st January 1523 a single trumpet blast sounded. To the Turks
amazement, the remaining brethren all marched out of the town in parade order.
They had their banners flying and were wearing full battle armour with the drums
beating a regular tattoo. The 50 ships, which had been made available to them,
were boarded and they sailed off with heavy heads and uncertainty for the Island
of Crete. After 213 years the knights' stay on the Island of Rhodes had finally
come to an end and the last Crusading State had fallen.