The Monks of War

by Desmond Seward

  The convent was on good terms with most European sovereigns, who tended to nominate grand priors. Clerkenwell escaped this fate, though the English priory had its troubles: in 1515 the great house of canonesses at Buckland severed its connection with the Order,14 while Cardinal Wolsey prised a lease of their richest manor, Hampton Court, out of Prior Docwra. But on the whole relations with England were excellent. Henry VII was named 'Protector of the Religion' and English grand priors continued to attend parliament and head embassies to Rome or Paris.

  In 1494 Charles VIII of France, who idolized d'Aubusson, invaded Italy with the avowed object of going on to conquer Constantinople and Jerusalem. Next year he was crowned at Naples as Emperor of the East and King of Jerusalem, while Pope Alexander VI organized a Holy League against the Turk with Pierre as generalissimo; it included Emperor Maximilian, and the kings of Spain, Portugal and Hungary, as well as Charles's successor, Louis XII, and the Doge of Venice. The convent made extensive preparations but the crusade never materialized. Fra' Pierre 'died of chagrin' in 1503, eighty years old and worn out by ceaseless vigilance. Rhodes gave him the funeral of a great monarch; a grieving procession marched through the silent city, led by four brethren carrying his personal banners, while two more bore his Red Hat and legate's cross. Greek as well as Latin bishops and clergy walked in the cortège.

  We owe our knowledge of the siege to an eyewitness, the Vice-Chancellor Fra' Guillaume Caoursin, a Frenchman from Douai who was Aubusson's secretary. He wrote the Grand Master's dispatches to the pope and the emperor, then incorporated them in his book Obsidionis Rhodie Urbis Descriptio which (first printed just four months afterwards) became a bestseller. Its popularity is understandable, since Western Europe was terrified of the threat posed by Ottoman expansion. Only a few days after raising the siege of Rhodes, the Turks had captured and sacked Otranto on the Adriatic coast of southern Italy, which they occupied for a whole year – beheading everyone who refused to convert to Islam. The Sultan Mehmet had intended to conquer both Rhodes and the entire Italian peninsula, but the brethren had saved the Italians by decimating his army. They were an inspiration to all Christendom.

  There were never more than a handful of English Knights on the island, perhaps fewer than twelve out of the 550 brethren at Rhodes. In 1514 the Langue of England numbered a mere twenty-eight Knights, and the majority had to stay at home. It was incumbent on the Grand Prior of England, the Prior of Ireland and the Prior of Scotland to do so – like the Grand Prior in England, the latter sat in the Scots Parliament – while most middle-aged and elderly brethren were needed to administer the commanderies. There were also one or two 'Knights of Honour', to whom the Grand Master had given the gold 'cross of devotion'.

  Among these honorary brethren were Thomas Stanley, 2nd Earl of Derby, who was received in 1517, and Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, received at the same time. They never visited the island.

  However, humbler Englishmen, unconnected with the Order, went out to Rhodes. After the fall of Constantinople it had become a refuge for Greek scholars, who attracted students eager to learn their language. One such student was to be the first headmaster of St Paul's School in London, William Lily.

  The Knights themselves included highly educated and even learned men. Caoursin possessed some knowledge of the Classics, while the last Grand Chancellor at Rhodes, Fra' Andrea d'Amaral, was said to know the works of Pliny as well as most men knew their own names. Fra' Sabba da Castiglione, professed at Rhodes in 1505, was a keen antiquarian who spent his spare time scouring the Aegean for classical statuary, which he sent home to Mantua.

  To the conquerors of Rum the very existence of Rhodes was an insult, and in 1503 the corsair Jamali raided the island to terrorize its inhabitants. The brethren, however, placed squadrons of cavalry at strategic points, and the raiders moved on to Leros. This islet-rock had only two knights in its tiny castle – the elderly bedridden commander and a young brother, Paolo Simeoni, eighteen years of age. The latter and their few servants manned the guns, but by the first evening enemy artillery brought part of the walls crashing down. Next morning the infidels were astonished to see a large contingent of brethren waiting for them in the breach and hastily they set sail; Fra' Paolo had dressed the island's entire population, men and women, in the Order's red surcoats.15 In 1506 seven Egyptian 'flutes' – extremely fast and unusually long and narrow galleys with very large sails – attacked Kos. A pair were sent ahead as scouts, but two Rhodian warships suddenly appeared from behind a promontory, cutting them off, whereupon the Mamelukes beached their vessels and fled inland. The brethren put a crew on board the flutes, and they decoyed the remainder of the flotilla into a bay where the Order's galleys lay in wait; all five were captured and the prisoners sold as slaves.16 Even more spectacular was the taking of 'the great carrack of Alexandria' in 1509. Every year this treasure-ship, named 'Queen of the Seas', plied between Tunis and Constantinople with wealthy merchants bringing fabulous luxuries from India. The Mogarbina was a gigantic vessel with seven decks, whose mainmast 'needed the arms of six men to circle it' and, defended by '100 guns and 1,000 soldiers', the traders confidently ventured their richest wares, for the carrack had repulsed the brethren on several occasions. Commander de Gastineau, a wily Limousin, waylaid the leviathan off Crete. Under pretence of parleying, he laid the Order's own great carrack alongside and then mowed down the captain and officers on the poop with one murderous salvo of grapeshot. The leaderless crew struck their colours and the knights boarded to find a staggering consignment of silver and jewellery as well as bales of silk, cashmere and carpets, and quantities of pepper, ginger, cloves and cinnamon. On the way home the brethren captured three smaller cargo ships, and the entire treasure was eventually sold in France, its owners being held to ransom or sent to the slave market.17

  In August 1510 Sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri of Egypt sent his nephew with twenty-five sail to 'Laiazzo' – Ayas near Alexandretta on the coast of Asia Minor – to bring back a badly needed consignment of ship's timber. The Order's spies sent word of the expedition to Rhodes. Suddenly, out of the blue, the brethren appeared before Ayas with four galleys under Fra' Andrea d'Amaral and eighteen armed carracks and feluccas under Fra' Philippe Villiers de l'Isle Adam (a shared command which one day would bear bitter fruit). The Mamelukes rashly sailed out to meet them, in order of battle. After a particularly bloody hull-to-hull fight, the brethren won a glorious victory, capturing four war-galleys and eleven other vessels. It was the greatest of all their Rhodian sea-battles and a triumph for their espionage system. In addition there were political overtones. The timber had been intended for a new Egyptian fleet, which was to have joined the Turkish navy in driving the Portuguese out of the Red Sea – the abortive alliance was the last between Mameluke and Osmanli, who soon turned on each other. In 1516 the Turks defeated and killed Qansuh al-Ghawri, hanging the last Mameluke sultan the year after. Above all, the battle off Ayas had been an uncomfortable" reminder to the Porte that Rhodes was an increasingly formidable sea power.

  The gentle Bayezid was made to abdicate in 1512 and was poisoned by his own son Selim I, 'the Grim', in whom bloodlust and treachery reached manic intensity. He was a brilliant soldier and won many victories, equipping his Janissaries with arquebuses. The convent trembled, but fortunately Selim was occupied with wars in Hungary, Persia and Egypt. Then in 1517 he added Cairo and the caliphate to his possessions; the convent was encircled. However, just as he was about to set out for Rhodes in 1521, Selim died. His successor, Suleiman the Magnificent, most attractive and most formidable of Turkish emperors, inherited a campaign-hardened army accustomed to victory. Anatolia was now the Osmanli heartland, yet only a few miles off its coast lay that hornet's nest of idolatrous pirates, described by the contemporary chronicler Kemal Pashazade as 'this source of sin and gathering place of twisted religion'. Until it was extinguished, Turkey needed all warships for home waters and could never be a great maritime power herself.

  The magistral ele
ction of 1521 was contested by Fra' Thomas Docwra, Prior of England; by the Portuguese Prior of Castile, Fra' Andrea d'Amaral; and by Fra' Philippe Villiers de l'Isle Adam, Prior of Auvergne. The third was chosen, to the noisy dismay of Amaral, who shouted, 'This will be the last Grand Master of Rhodes.' Receiving a letter from the new sultan congratulating him on his election, Fra' Philippe wrote a sardonic reply tantamount to a challenge, for his spies had infiltrated Suleiman's seraglio and he knew that an attack was imminent.18 Europe ignored his appeals for help but a resourceful serving brother managed to hire 500 Cretan arbalestiers, despite their Venetian rulers' prohibition, disguising them as merchants or deckhands.19 Best of all, he recruited Gabriele Tadini de Martinengo, the greatest military engineer of the day, who evaded frenzied attempts to stop him reaching Rhodes. Once there, the devout Martinengo was so impressed that, being unmarried, he asked to join the Order. Delighted, Philippe not only accepted this gifted postulant as a Knight of Grace but also made him a Grand Cross, whereupon the new bailiff enthusiastically set about strengthening defences: ravelins – arrow-shaped double trenches – were dug in front of each bastion and 'fascines and gabions' – wooden bundles and baskets of earth – heaped near any danger point, while every battery, protected by mantelets of wood or rope, was sited to command maximum fire. Philippe's garrison was little bigger than d'Aubusson's – he had 500 brethren, 1,000 men-at-arms and some militia – but his fortifications were stronger and his fire-power immeasurably superior.20

  On 26 June 1522, two days after the feast of St John, a Turkish armada of 103 galleys with 300 other vessels was sighted. Every Rhodian flocked to the conventual church where, 'when the sermon was done a ponthyficall mass was celebrate with all solempnytees', and 'the reverent lorde grete mayster'21 laid the city's keys on the altar, entrusting them to St John. Finally he personally elevated the Host, blessing the island and its garrison. Then in gilt armour he rode through the streets, whilst brethren stood to their posts. He had already allotted sectors, as well as inspecting each langue's contingent in full battle order outside their respective auberges.

  Contemporaries believed that the besiegers numbered 140,000 soldiers and a labour force of 60,000 Balkan peasants.22 Their commander was Suleiman's brother-in-law, Mustafa Pasha, brave but inexperienced – 'plus brave soldat qu'habile général'.23 Even though his chief of staff, Pir Mehmed Pasha, was a seasoned old Aga, veterans of Selim's campaigns had little confidence in this young courtier. Pir wrote to Suleiman, stating that morale was low, that the sultan must come himself if the faithful were to take Rhodes; and on 28 July the Grand Signor arrived with 15,000 troops.

  Throughout August the Turks concentrated on the ramparts between the bastion of Aragon and the sea. Their bombardment was more scientific than that of 1480 and the artillery included mortars for vertical fire. Mines now used gunpowder, besides being dug more quickly – with the greater number of pioneers available – though Martinengo detected many by means of drum parchment seismographs with little bells.24 Methodically, guns demolished carefully selected areas and two huge earth ramps – 'marvellous great hills' – were built as high as the walls, to shoot down into the city. On 4 September two great gunpowder mines exploded under the bastion of England and twelve yards of rampart came crashing down, filling the moat – a perfect breach. The Turks assaulted at once and soon held the gap. Philippe was saying office in a nearby church. Taking its opening words 'Deus in adjutorium meum intende' for inspiration, he seized his half-pike and rushed out to see seven horsetail standards waving from the ruined wall. Mercifully the English brothers under Fra' Nicholas Hussey held an inner barricade, from which Philippe led a counter-charge to such effect that the Turks deserted both breach and standards, though Mustafa slashed with his own sword at those who fled. The magistral standard-bearer, the English Fra' Henry Mansell, was mortally wounded, but the besiegers had lost many men, including three sanjak beys.25

  Twice more Mustafa repeated his assault on the badly damaged bastion of England. Columns of the Children of the Prophet, a thousand deep, came roaring over the barricades, but the Turcopolier Fra' John Buck counter-charged from the rubble. The enemy gave ground, and Mustafa himself rushed to their support. However, the English now had help – German brethren under Christoph von Waldner – while cannon arrived, easily transportable sakers and falconets (six- and three-pounders), to cut bloody swathes at close range. The Pasha fought like a lion until his men dragged him away. The convent's casualties also were high, including Buck and von Waldner with many English and German brothers.26 Mustafa decided to risk everything in a general assault on 24 September, which Sultan Suleiman watched from a convenient hillock. Four bastions, those of Aragon, England, Provence and Italy, were pounded mercilessly, and then through the smoke came the yenicheri, racing for the walls. The Aragonese began to fail – they faced the Aga of the Janissaries – but the Grand Master came up with 200 fresh troops and the Aga was hurled back. Suleiman sounded the retreat; his warriors were about to break. Never had they met men like these, fanatics fiercer than the wildest dervish. Over 2,000 Turkish corpses remained.

  Burning with shame, the sultan paraded the entire army to see his brother-in-law shot to death with arrows, sparing him only after old Pir Mehmed had pleaded for mercy. Suleiman was about to raise the siege when an Albanian deserter claimed that so many brethren had been killed that Rhodes could not face another assault, whereupon he appointed a new commander-in-chief, Ahmed Pasha, an elderly engineer general with great experience. 'Hakmak Bashaw's'* strategy was one of attrition.

  Philippe's powder was running short, and though a makeshift mill was built there was insufficient saltpetre. Steadily Ahmed's guns demolished the walls; every day fewer fighting men were on their feet. Winter storms prevented the priories' contingents from leaving Messina; an English ship carrying the Bailiff of Egle was overtaken by a tempest in the Bay of Biscay and sank with all hands. Then a Turkish girl slave persuaded fellow slaves to fire the city, but they were caught and executed. A Jewish doctor was found shooting messages into the enemy camp. Even more alarming, Andrea d'Amaral's servant was discovered communicating with the Turks by the same means. Under torture he implicated his master, Prior of Castile and Grand Chancellor. 'Put to the question', Amaral denied the charge though he may have attempted to negotiate privately. None the less, if not a turncoat this bitter old man's defeatism had unnerved the whole garrison. He was solemnly degraded from his vows and then beheaded.27

  The Turks, protected by huge wooden shields, had dug trenches up to the walls. During an attack on the bastion of Aragon the invaluable Gabriele Martinengo was shot in the eye – the bullet passing through his head. The Master moved into the crumbling tower, which he did not leave for five weeks, sleeping on a straw mattress amid the rubble. Desperate watchmen scanned the horizon for relief. Finally, Philippe ordered the garrisons of the archipelago and Bodrun to run the blockade in feluccas, with twelve knights and 100 men.28 By the end of November bombardment had so destroyed the bastion of Italy that two churches were demolished to build barricades, while the bastions of England and Aragon had hardly one stone standing on another. When the next general assault came, Martinengo was on his feet again, and he and Philippe were everywhere, urging on their exhausted troops. Fortunately it rained and the Turks' ramps became a sea of mud, their powder useless, with the Janissaries beaten off once more with heavy casualties.

  Vertot, who knew his Order, comments: 'On est bien fort et bien redoutable quand on ne craint point la mort.' Suleiman despaired. He had lost over 50,000 men – so the brethren believed – besides thousands dead from plague and cold. An officer was sent to the walls offering good terms, telling the garrison it was doomed. 'Brethren of St John only do business with their swords,' shouted a commander. The English brother Nicholas Roberts afterwards wrote '. . . Most of our men were slain, we had no powther nor . . . manner of munycone nor vitalles, but all on by brede and water; we wer as men desperat determyned to dye upon them in the felde r
ather than be put upon the stakes, for we doubted he would give us our lyves considering ther wer slain so many of his men . . .'29 Winter set in with howling gales and snowstorms. The Grand Master, although determined to die fighting, summoned the council.

  An eye-witness account of this dramatic meeting survives. It was written by an elderly commander who had been caught in Rhodes by accident, having come there on business, not to fight. 'Frère Jacques, Bastard de Bourbon' as he engagingly styled himself – he was a natural son of the Prince-Bishop of Liège – says that all senior officers reported disastrous losses. Martinengo was particularly blunt. 'Le capitaine frère Gabriel' reported to the very reverend Master and very reverend lords of the council that

  having seen and considered the great pounding the town has suffered, having seen how large the breach is and how the enemy's trenches are inside the town to a depth of 100 feet with a breadth of more than 70 feet, having also seen that they have broken through the wall in two other places, that the greater part of our men-at-arms – both knights and all the others – are dead or wounded and supplies exhausted, that mere workmen are taking their place, it is impossible to resist any longer unless some relief force comes to make the Turk strike camp.

  The Bastard adds that an excited debate followed as to which was better – 'die to the last man or save the people'. Many argued that 'ce fut bien et sainctement fait de mourir pour la foy', though others pointed out that the sultan's terms did not require them to deny Christ.30 Suddenly the Greek bishop and a delegation of weeping citizens appeared, begging the brethren to capitulate. Fra' Philippe 'fell downe allmost ded'.31 Recovering, he and the bailiffs finally agreed 'it would be a thing more agreeable to God to sue for peace and protect and the lives of simple people, of women and children'.