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The exploits of the Knights of St. John during the Middle Ages is one of the greatest stories of courage, endurance and focused devotion to a calling since biblical times. Against seemingly impossible odds they took their stand against some of the most powerful armies of Islam and prevailed. Previous to these great, strategic battles, the nations of Europe scorned the Order of St. John as "archaic relics from the past," and denied them supplies or reinforcements. Still they refused to yield, determining rather to die than to yield a single acre of Christian land to the enemies of Christ. Soon the great nations of Europe who had scorned the knights stood in astonishment at their exploits, even acknowledging that they had probably saved them from the conquest of Islam.
Those nations still acknowledge that they would likely have been swept up in the Moslem tide had these bold warriors not kept their faith and taken their stand. Though the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual, there are great and timely lessons in the amazing history of the Order of St. John. The battle they fought is still not over. The tide of spiritual darkness pressing upon the world today is even greater than the conflict between Christendom and Islam, and it will take no less courage, endurance and vision to turn it back than these brave knights displayed.
Their remarkable story began 1080 in Jerusalem with the establishment of the very first hospital, which they founded to serve pilgrims to the holy city. The military branch of the order was established shortly thereafter to protect these pilgrims. Almost by accident in human terms, but obviously by divine strategy, the military branch which never numbered more than a few thousand men, arose to become one of the most important strategic forces to ever march or sail. The epic battles at Rhodes and Malta changed the course of history possibly as much as any battles ever fought.
Shortly after the Crusades had ended the Turkish Ottoman Empire arose to become the most powerful Empire in the world. After conquering the Middle East, much of Africa and Eastern Europe it stood poised to devour the rest of Europe. The remaining Christian nations of Europe were so embroiled in political and religious wars with each other that could not raise a common army to stand against Turks. It appeared that there was nothing that could stop this tidal wave of Islam from completing its subjugation of the world for Allah. The little band of the Knights of St. John were not regarded to be of any real military value. But the whole world stood in awe as the knights took their stand with a tenacity that caused even their enemies to honor them. Quietly claiming "death before dishonor" they attained honor and a respect that continues to this day. Their standard with the famous Maltese Cross was for a time saluted by every nation in the world.
By today's standards the Middle Ages seem barbaric and uncivilized. Even the Christian nations lived by a different theology than has evolved through the Reformation and the exaltation of the Scriptures. Though there are great lessons to be derived from the courage, endurance and devotion to their mission by the Knights of St. John, it must be seen in spite of the bloodshed, cruelty and many perversions of justice that existed on both sides in the struggle between Islam and Christian Europe during this time.
Islam was founded on the theology of Jihad, which is a Holy War to conquer the world by force for Allah. War was glorified in Islam and death in Jihad guaranteed one their place in heaven, regardless of previous sins. The most esteemed men of this religion are those who prevailed in battle. Then, as it is today, when the religious leaders proclaimed a conflict to be a Jihad, the doors of heaven were opened to anyone who gave their life for the cause. Multitudes saw Jihad as their opportunity to gain heaven in spite of their debauchery and actually hoped to die in battle. This made the warriors of Islam some of the most deadly and feared that the world had ever seen.
Even in the Middle Ages, Christendom had a different theology about war and warriors. Peace was holy and both wars and warriors were considered necessary evils, but evils nonetheless. This put the Christian West at a distinct disadvantage in confronting Islam. Then the popes changed the rules and sponsored the Crusades whereby religious adventurers could gain eternal glories for their participation. For almost two centuries, from 1096 to 1291, wave after wave of Christians swept across the Middle East in crusades to recapture the Holy Land from the Moslems. This conflict was not to end with the Crusades but laid the foundation for the conflict in the region that continues to the present time.
Though the Moslems were fearless warriors, they were generally honorable and even generous with their defeated enemies. They had shown a considerable degree of religious tolerance in the lands under their control and had permitted Christians to visit their shrines. The Eastern European Christians had been likewise tolerant of the Moslems, even allowing a Moslem quarter and Mosque in Constantinople, one of the great cities of Christendom at that time. Of course there were many atrocities on both sides, as there always has been when men take the field of battle to kill each other, but a chivalry and code of honor generally prevailed in the conflict until the twelfth century.
As the Crusaders laid siege to Jerusalem in 1099, the Moslem governor showed consideration to his Christian subjects, even allowing them to leave the city to join the Crusaders. On July 15th, when the Christians finally breached the walls and conquered the city, their blood-lust and cruelty was so great that even the most battle hardened who heard of it were appalled. Moslem men, women and children were slaughtered by the thousands, even those who had been promised clemency and stood under the banner of the Christians. The Jews of the city were likewise massacred; hundreds who had fled to the synagogue were burned to death as it was torched. The mosques, including the Dome of the Rock were plundered. Whatever codes of chivalry or honor that had existed in the conflict to that time went up with the smoke of the city.
Nearly twenty years before the conquest of Jerusalem, a Catholic monk named Brother Gerard had founded two hospices for pilgrims in Jerusalem, one for men and one for women. These became the very first hospitals. He dedicated them to St. John the Baptist. Godfrey of Bouillon, the first Christian governor after the conquest of Jerusalem, made a gift of land to the hospices. As the conflict with Islam continued, later rulers of the city made it a custom to give a tenth of their spoil to them, which had by then become hospitals. In 1113 the pope recognized the servants of these hospitals as an independent order giving it even more prestige and power.
As the conflict between Islam and Christendom escalated, the order was soon forced to establish a new branch of service to the pilgrims-a military arm devoted to their protection. Though they were to become forever famous for their military exploits, The Order of St. John never forgot their humble beginnings. They have established and maintained some of the world's finest hospitals and remained faithful to what they considered their first duty-the defence and care of the sick, the poor and the oppressed. Even to this day the knights of the Order of St. John are referred to as "the Hospitallers" and are internationally renowned for their generosity and service.
Until the thirteenth century most of the conflict between Islam and Christendom had been carried out in the Middle East. The Byzantine Empire, headquartered in Constantinople, had provided a formidable shield to any Islamic adventures into Christian Europe. To the consternation of the pope and Christian kings throughout Europe, the fourth Crusade to leave Western Europe turned on Constantinople, sacking and destroying it in 1204. Pope Innocent III condemned the crusaders outright. The attack on Constantinople by the Crusaders proved to be one of the most despicable and foolish acts in history. Not only was the Eastern and Western churches divided, the shield that Constantinople had provided against Islam was destroyed.
The Crusades and Crusaders then continued to fall into such debauchery that even their victories horrified Christendom and lead to further disintegration and disunity. This opened the door even wider for Islam. Those who had chosen to live by the sword were now dying by the sword. Even the Crusader's victories ended up leading to further, more devastating defeats as the fortunes of Christendom began to universally reverse on the battlefields with Islam.
As the Eastern and Western churches divided and fell into constant quarrels within their own camps, Islam was unifying under brilliant and able leaders. The Order of St. John had become wealthy and powerful from the booty of the Crusades, and what they had captured themselves by their constant raiding of the Moslem shipping and caravans. They were not exempt from all of the corruption and the politics of the day, but as Christendom was increasingly distracted by the conflicts within, the Knights of St. John stayed remarkably focused on the enemy without-the Turks and the increasing threat of Islam.
Forced out of Jerusalem, the knights found a home on Rhodes, one of the most beautiful islands in the Aegean Sea. Rhodean seamen had been famous for centuries as some of the most capable and they instructed the knights in nautical excellence. The knights learned well and quickly became some of the most capable mariners in the world. Rhodes was situated precariously but conveniently right in the middle of the Moslem shipping lanes through the Aegean. The knights quickly made themselves odious to the Ottomans with the boldness of their raids. For the next one hundred and fifty years the Knights of St. John were so efficient in their sea war that the Turks and Moslems were discouraged from even trying to become a great sea power.
The knights also continually improved the fortifications at Rhodes. As Christian Europe became increasingly embroiled in their own disputes, the pope's call to arms against Islam fell of deaf ears. As Europe's power continued eroding by the divisions and internal conflicts, one of the most distinguished leaders in Turkish history, Mehmet, was unifying Islam. A brilliant man who was fluent in a half dozen languages and possessed extensive knowledge in literature and science, Mehmet quickly raised the cultural and military excellence of his people to a level which surpassed the great nations of Europe.
Mehmet was also a conqueror at heart who fashioned himself after Alexander the Great. He marched on Constantinople and subdued the great city, after which Europe lay before his army like an open treasure chest. But before he could take the rest of Europe, he had to do something about the annoying knights at Rhodes who continued to plunder his shipping and supply lines. In 1480 Mehmet sent his most able generals and an army of 70,000 men to subdue the 600 knights at Rhodes. The knights assembled another 1,500 to 2,000 local militia. Christian Europe, with apparent good reason, saw no hope for the knights against such odds and would send no reinforcements or even supplies. It appeared to all that the siege of Rhodes would be a short lived event.
After landing his army with little resistance, Mehmet's siege cannons began to batter the walls the knights had spent over a century building. Numerous other cannons hurled projectiles over the walls into the city. The Grand Master of the Order was a Frenchman named D'Aubusson. He was a remarkable leader of men who had with great foresight prepared his knights for the siege he knew would some day come. He had even built shelters for the townspeople so that they could escape the bombardment. Knowing that they could expect little or no help from Europe, D'Aubusson had nevertheless determined that they would not abandon a single acre to Islam as long as they could draw a bow or wield a sword.
After days of bombardment, in early June the first wave of assault troops attacked the Tower of St. Nicholas, an outlying fortification of the city. The Moslems were amazed by the stiff resistance they met and were repulsed with many casualties. They then proceeded with another general bombardment that would hurl over a thousand cannon balls a day at the city continuously for several weeks. The walls soon began to collapse while the Turks snaked closer and closer with their trenches. At night fires burned everywhere from the grenades and incinderaries. Those who were present at Rhodes declared that a scene out of hell itself could be no worse. But still the knights held their ground.
On June 18th, the Turks launched a second major assault by the fearsome Janissaries, renowned as the greatest fighters in the world. Each Janissarie had been chosen from age seven because of their physical potential and trained their entire life for combat. They had been forbidden to marry or engage in any kind of family affections in order to focus all of their emotions and energy on battle. They came under the cover of darkness expecting to find the knights sleeping, but the knights were at their posts waiting for them. Swords, arrows and gunfire soon filled the night. As the sun arose it revealed multitudes of Janissarie bodies filling the moats around the tower of St. Nicholas, and the knights still standing on the battered walls.
The disbelieving Turkish generals had never experienced such a military setback. They then turned to subterfuge to pry the knights from their fortress city. They planted agents in the city by having them pretend to be detectors to the Christians (many of the Sultan's troops were captives from Christian nations). These spies were soon able to do great damage and create serious tactical problems. The weary knights were now being pressed from without and within. Each day seemed to present a new crisis that threatened their very existence. The fortifications were crumbling everywhere, but even more so at the most strategic points. Still they held on. Then the Turks began massing for a final great assault that both sides fully expected to be the end.
The many weeks of constant bombardment had reduced almost the entire city and its defences to rubble. On July 27th the great assault began. The knights and the remaining militia took their positions. The Sultan sent his Bashi-Bazouk troops first. These were mercenaries who were considered expendable, and they were expended as wave after wave were cut down by the defenders. Their bodies soon filled the ditches and streams making human bridges that lead up to the walls, which had in fact been the strategy of the Turkish generals. Then the tired and wounded defenders watched as great waves of the fearsome Jannissaries arose and advanced, even more resolute now because of their previous humiliation.
The Turks quickly overwhelmed the strategic Tower of St. Nicholas, which had taken the brunt of the main assault for nearly two months. The knights still contested every acre of ground, which the Turks paid dearly for as every acre was covered with their slain. D'Aubusson, with an arrow in his thigh, lead a dozen knights and three standard bearers up a ladder and onto the wall. There D'Aubusson received four more wounds before a Janissary "of gigantic structure" buried a spear right through his breastplate, puncturing his lung. He was dragged back out of the fray just as the enemy made a breach in the defences and began to pour into the city by the thousands. It appeared that the end of the Knights of St. John had finally come.
In hand to hand combat, over burning rubble through choking smoke and fire, in possibly the worst hell that men could create for themselves on the earth, the Turks continued to throw themselves against the remaining knights. But the tenacity of the knights and their ability to inflict casualties continued to astonish and dismay even the Janissaries. Then, above the smoke and turmoil of this terrible inferno, on a remaining parapet D'Aubusson's standards suddenly appeared, held by three bearers in shining armor who appeared almost as gods from the hell below. The affect on the Moslems was electrifying. A wave of fear swept through the army. The remaining Bashi began to flee in such a terror that it even overcame the Janissaries. Soon the entire army began to melt away in confusion, retreating at the very moment when total victory was easily within their grasp.
As the Moslems fled Rhodian sharpshooters on the walls poured a deadly fire into them. The knights amazingly found enough strength to counterattack, chasing the pride of the Sultan's troops all the way to their base camp. Within ten days the shattered army that had been the pride of the Ottomans had fled the Island. The whole world was shocked by the outcome. The Order of St. John had not only survived-they had prevailed.
As the Moslems pondered the result of the siege of 1480, the knights were already rebuilding their fortifications for what they fully expected to be an even greater assault. That such a small force could decimate the great army of the seemingly unconquerable Sultan, Mehmet II, was viewed as a military miracle of Biblical proportions. The Order that had been viewed by Europe as "an archaic relic of the past," was elevated to a new prominence, and were now viewed as the saviours of the continent.
Because of this defeat Islam was in check. They could not advance into Europe with the rights holding Rhodes and threatening their lines of supply. As Europe rejoiced, the knights knew that this only made them more odious to the Sultan. They fully expected him to send an even greater force, which is exactly what the angry Sultan planned to do. The knights were exultant over their victory, but they knew that they could not endure another siege. The Lord must have heard their prayers. On his way south through Asia Minor, the Sultan became sick and died. The expedition against Rhodes was cancelled. The knights would be given a little more time to heal their wounds and repair the walls before the next onslaught. Fittingly, even D'Aubusson survived his wounds.
As soon as he had recovered enough to resume command, D'Aubusson began preparations for the next battle with his characteristic resolve. It was as if he knew that the whole world's destiny had been cast upon his shoulders. Now money and munitions poured into the tiny island from Europe and almost all of it was devoted it to the reconstruction of the walls and towers. The army of the Crescent would not return to Rhodes for forty years, but it would take that long for the knights to prepare for what was coming. D'Aubusson died in 1503, but his vision and leadership insured that the knight's fortress would grow even stronger than it had been before the first siege. These efforts were not wasted-an even greater test was yet to come.
In 1520 Suleiman "The Magnificent" ascended to the throne of the Ottoman Empire. He was, like Mehmet II, a man of culture and learning as well as a brilliant general. Under his leadership the empire would rise to its greatest heights. One year later, Phillippe Villiers de Lisle Adam became the Grand Master of the knights. De L'Isle Adam was likewise an educated aristocrat, as well as an experienced seaman and a devout Christian. He would also prove to be a great leader. The main players for another one of history's most strategic conflicts were now in place.
In 1521 the Sultan sent the newly elected Grand Master "A Letter Of Victory" in which he boasted of his recent victories and asked that the Grand Master "rejoice with me over my triumphs." De L'Isle Adam was more direct than diplomatic and he replied that he understood fully the meaning of the letter-that Suleiman intended to make Rhodes his next conquest. In his next letter the Sultan demanded that Rhodes be surrendered to him at once. The Sultan's timing was typically brilliant. Henry VIII of England was in the process of seizing the knight's rich properties in Britain, France and Spain were at war and Italy was already devastated. Again, the knights could expect no help or reinforcements. A few hundred gallant knights would again have to stand alone against the most powerful army on earth.
By June 1522 Suleiman was ready. Historians estimate that the Sultan assembled up to 700 ships and 200,000 men for the assault. Even allowing for natural exaggeration, this was a huge force to come against 500 knights and an estimated 1,500 militia. On July 28th the Sultan himself landed on Rhodes with a grand salute and the battle began.
The Turks brought up their huge siege guns, capable of hurling balls nine feet in circumference, along with a multitude of other cannon and mortars to begin a devastating bombardment. Throughout the month of August they poured thousands of cannon balls into the city and its fortified positions each day. The knights answered with their own artillery, much smaller but devastating on the relatively unprotected Turks.
By the end of August, a number of breeches began to appear in the fortress walls. In early September the first infantry assault came. Typically, the knights contested every meter, but the overwhelming numbers pushed back the defenders until the Turks were able to plant their standards on the wall itself. The knights counter-attacked with the Grand Master himself entering the fray. After a terrible struggle the Turks yielded and began to fall back. Immediately the Sultan sent a second wave, personally led by Mustapha Pasha, the great Ottoman general. For two hours the battle raged on the walls but the knights held. When the Turks finally withdrew the ground was almost completely covered by their dead and wounded. Miraculously the knights had lost only three dead along with an unspecified number of militia.
The disconcerted Sultan then unleashed a continuous bombardment for three straight weeks. On September 24th another great assault was buried against the crumbling fortress walls. The bastion of Aragon, one of the city's main fortifications, fell to a massive assault by the now fanatically brave Janissaries, having born the humiliation from their previous defeats for over forty years. Like Xerxes, Suleiman had a conqueror's throne set on a raised platform so that he could witness his day of triumph. The tide of battle roared all along the walls of the city as wave after wave of Turks poured out of their trenches in what appeared to certainly be an irresistible tide of death.
All day long the battle raged. The knights, gleaming in their armor, always seemed to appear wherever the fighting was the thickest. De L'Isle Adam himself could usually be found with his standard bearer behind him at the most desperate points of conflict. He was the man the Turks most wanted dead and his standard bearer seemed to mark him as the special target. Yet, it was witnessed by the chroniclers of this great battle that there was a special protection around him that the Turks simply could not penetrate. After hours of one of the bloodiest battles the great Turkish army would ever experience, the seemingly invincible attack began to waver and then melt into a wholesale retreat.
The astonished Suleiman came down from his elevated throne humiliated and outraged. He immediately condemned his two most able generals, but later relented after being persuaded that it would only serve the side of the Christians. The losses for the knights had been great, with two hundred killed and an equal number wounded, but the losses for the Turks were staggering-their bodies now laid in heaps ail around the city. Again, the great siege guns were brought up.
This time the Sultan poured his deadly fire into the walls and streets of the city for two solid months. The knights were now few and weary, but they held their positions. It was obvious to all that the Turkish army was still so huge that it would eventually prevail. The gallant knights had stood their ground against the most powerful and determined army on earth for nearly five months without receiving reinforcements or provisions. Even though they knew that they would eventually be overwhelmed, they resolved to die with honor rather than surrender.
As the siege wore on the Sultan's disposition toward the knights gradually began to change. He was a great respecter of honor and courage and he had never witnessed valor like these knights had displayed. On Christmas Eve Suleiman's rising respect for the Order moved him to make an extraordinary offer of peace with honor to the remaining knights. He paid tribute to their courage and endurance. He gave them provisions and his own ships to carry them to the destination of their choice. After meeting with De L'Isle Adam, Suleiman is reported to have said to his Grand Vizir, "It saddens me to be compelled to force this brave old man to leave his home."
Two thousand men had taken their stand against as many as two hundred thousand and had held their ground for over six months. They endured possibly the greatest bombardment and infantry assaults that the world had seen until that time. When hearing the news of the final fall of Rhodes, Charles V of France stated that, "Nothing in the world was ever so well lost as Rhodes." The knights who had already gained the respect of the entire world, were esteemed even more. For a time every nation on earth would salute the standard of the knights, it being the only standard in history to gain such universal respect. Even so, even more exploits were in the future for the Order.
For over two hundred years the knights had lived in Rhodes and now they had no home. They were offered a small, relatively inhospitable island in the middle of the Mediterranean named Malta, which they accepted. Years before, while harbored from a storm on a ship at Malta, lightening had struck the sword of De L'Isle Adam, turning it to ashes. This was to be considered a Providential sign. The knights were destined to fight another one of history's most strategic battles on the little island.
With Rhodes in his possession, the Sultan now seemed free to sweep up the rest of Europe. It must have seemed improbable to anyone living that the battered knights would again bar his path and actually begin the reversal of Moslem conquest. Though the Order of Saint John was severely reduced in both numbers and wealth after their departure from Rhodes, possibly their greatest possession-resolve-was as great as ever.
Christian Europe continued in disarray with its internal struggles. The Reformation had fractured Roman domination of Europe. Centuries of resentment toward Rome boiled over into conflict as Christians took up arms against each other. Almost every nation in Europe was at war to at least some degree with at least one neighbor. The Order of St. John itself was composed of knights from every Christian nation, but they were able to maintain a remarkable unity and stay focused on what they considered to be the real enemy and the greatest threat of all to the faith-the hoards of Islam.
As soon as the knights occupied Malta, they began building fortifications and ships from which they could immediately start to again raid Moslem shipping. The famous Moslem pirate, Barbarossa, had been appointed High Admiral of the Turkish fleet and he raised it to new heights of strength. Great sea battles raged from one end of the Mediterranean to the other. Most of these battles were indecisive but they kept the world on the edge of its seat. In 1546 Barbarossa died and Dragut assumed command of the increasingly powerful Turkish navy. In 1550 the knights were major participants in the defeat of his fleet at Mahdia. For revenge, Dragut attacked and began to lay waste to Malta. Still relatively unfortified, the few defenders put up such a stiff resistance that Dragut abandoned the attack. Even so, both sides knew that the Turks would be back.
In 1557 De L'Isle Adam died and Jean Parisot De La Valette became Grand Master of the Order. Educated and aristocratic, La Valette had once been captured by the Turks and made a galley slave for four years. He was sixty-three when he became Grand Master. He would prove to be as great a leader as both De L'Isle Adam and D'Aubusson had before him. Dragut's raid had been beaten back, but was a sure sign that the knights had again made themselves odious to the Sultan. Suleiman had now stretched his empire to its greatest limits and was massing for what appeared to be a final assault on Europe. But again the knights had to be dealt with they were creating so much havoc with his lines of supply. Even though they were fewer in numbers and further away, they were too much of a threat to leave alone. Dragut's raid had failed but his reconnaissance of the tiny island's defences would prove extremely valuable to the Sultan.
The whole Moslem world was now demanding the destruction of the knights. The Sultan was ambivalent. At times he was enraged at the knights and at times he feared them, knowing that they could not be defeated without a great cost. Public opinion forced his hand and on the 18th of May, 1565, the Turkish fleet was sighted by the watchman in Fort St. Elmo on the edge of Malta. It appeared as if an entire forest of spars were moving across the sea. Not until the great Spanish Armada sailed against England would the world see a more powerful fleet assembled, bringing tens of thousands of the Sultan's finest Janissaries, regulars and over 4,000 Iayalars, religious fanatics who sought death over life. They came to attack 540 knights, 1,000 foot soldiers and a little over 3,000 Maltese militia.
Again the knights faced what appeared to be impossible odds, against and even more determined and implacable enemy. Again the knights did not even have enough men to try to hold the invaders at their beachhead, but unlike Rhodes at which there was only one fortified city, at Malta the knights were spread out over several forts and fortified cities that forced the Turks to diversify their forces. The Order always seemed able to take the maximum advantage of every favorable condition. Almost immediately the Order's calvary was able to attack and harass the Turkish foraging parties to the point of distraction.
Then the Turkish High Command, again led by the brilliant Mustapha Pasha, made a strategic mistake of concentrating its main attack on the Post of Castile, possibly the strongest point of the knight's defenses. This was the result of the bravery of a single knight, a Frenchman named Adrien de la Riviere, who had been captured early in the assault. Under torture, de la Riviere had asserted that Post of Castile was lightly fortified with a small garrison of men and could be easily taken. After a number of assaults were repulsed and mauled by the Post of Castile's defenders, Pasha realized that he had been lied to. He had the Frenchman beaten to death but he had already lost hundreds of his fighters and even more importantly, his troops had already begun to lose their confidence.
Then Pasha redirected the main part of his force to capturing the small star fort, St. Elmo, which overlooked the Grand Harbor. This diversion gave La Valette time to make improvements in his other fortifications, but it was apparent that St. Elmo could not hold out long. The indiscriminate gunfire of the Turk's earlier sieges at Rhodes had now been replaced by mathematical precision and accuracy. Pasha turned his main artillery on the fort with unrelenting intensity both day and night. Soon the little fort was crumbling.
One night while in his counsel chamber in Fort St. Angelo, La Valette was disturbed by an unwelcome delegation. A number of knights had slipped out of St. Elmo and made their way to La Valette to tell him that St. Elmo could no longer hold out. La Valette, a hero at Rhodes, derided the younger knights as unworthy of their fathers. He told the delegation that they need not go back to St. Elmo, but that he would hand pick a delegation to relieve them. Under this scorn the delegation from St. Elmo begged that they be allowed to return to their post, which La Valette finally permitted. As soon as they had departed, the Grand Master told the council that he knew that the little fort was doomed, but they had to buy more time if the rest were to have any chance to survive at Malta.
Smoke and fire was rising from St. Elmo so that it appeared as a volcano rising out of the rock. It seemed incredible that anyone could live in it, but the young knights in it held their ground. Then the famed Dragut arrived with a fresh squadron of ships and hand picked fighting men. This greatly raised the morale of the entire Turkish force. Dragut unofficially assumed personal command of the forces and set even more batteries to pour their deadly fire into the tiny fort, now from three sides, for three straight weeks. Then the Janissaries made their assault, confident of a quick victory, but were repulsed with great losses, to the great consternation of Dragut. He responded with a bombardment so heavy that the entire island shook as if by an earthquake.
The next day Dragut sent a second massive assault against the little fort with the layalars preceding the Janissaries. St. Elmo actually disappeared under the cloud of dust, smoke and fire. Hours later when the smoke finally cleared, the knights on St. Angelo and St. Michaels stood in disbelief as they saw the Cross of St. John still flying above the crumbled ruins. La Valette was so moved he dispatched a relief force of some of his best fighters to the little fort, but the Moslem forces encircling it were too strong and they had to turn back. The brave little garrison at St. Elmo was now abandoned to its own fate.
The next day, if it were possible, Dragut intensified the bombardment of St. Elmo. There were now fewer than 100 knights left in the fort and nearly all of them were wounded. When the bombardment stopped, the Imams were heard calling the faithful to either conquer or die for Islam. Wave after wave of the best fighters in the Sultan's army threw themselves at the demolished little fort. The remaining knights moved into the breach; those who were to weak to stand asked to be carried into the fray so that they could confront the "infidels" one last time. The little fortress that know one believed could hold out more than a day or two had held out for over a month, buying the rest of the Order precious time to strengthen its other defenses. Little St. Elmo also deprived the Sultan of thousands of his best fighting men, many of his leaders, including the master gunner, the Aga of the Janissaries, and most importantly, Dragut himself, felled by a cannon shot.
As the Moslem standard was finally raised over the ruins of St. Elmo, Pasha realized that his whole strategy had been wrong. The price paid for St. Elmo had been too dear. As he looked up at the larger St. Angelo, whose guns were already pouring a deadly fire into his advancing troops, he cried out, "Allah! If so small a son has cost so dear, what price shall we have to pay for so large a father?" The price would be greater than he could afford.
Pasha then had the bodies of the knights who had died so bravely at St. Elmo, decapitated, bound to crosses and floated them out into the harbor in front of St. Angelo. This was a brazen insult to the religion of the defenders. La Valette also understood that there would be no quarter given-this was a fight to the death. In retaliation La Valette had a number 'of the Turkish prisoners executed and their bodies hung on the walls.. Both sides now knew that there could be no turning back-the knights would survive on Malta or they would perish to a man.
The bombardments increased as the knight's fortresses were caught in a deadly crossfire. Intermittently, Pasha would release massive ground assaults at different points of the defenses, seeking just a single breach, but each one was met with a massacre. At one point Pasha maneuvered his forces until they encircled Valette's own headquarters. He then released upon it a bombardment so great that the inhabitants of the islands of Syracuse and Catania, 70 and 100 miles away, heard the roar of the guns. Before the guns had even stopped. Pasha sent a massive assault swarming over the walls. The Turks finally made a breach and poured into it. A mighty struggle raged for six hours until the knights closed the gap and retook the walls. Mortified, Pasha tore his beard and called off the assault. Again, the endurance and tenacity of the knights had been greatly underestimated.
Pasha intensified his bombardment which he continued day and night for seven more days. Then he released another human wave assault. By now the Order was so reduced in numbers and the breach was made quickly. The knights resisted bravely but they were simply too outnumbered to stand against so great a tide of raging humanity. Just when the citadel itself was within reach of the Turks and it appeared once again that the end of the knights had finally come, to the astonishment of both sides, the Moslem trumpets rang out calling for a full scale retreat!
The defenders could only believe that finally the continent had finally sent them relief. What in fact happened was that a small force of the Order's calvary had attacked the Moslem base camp at Marsa. The little detachment had struck with such determination and had raised so much havoc that they had been mistaken for a much larger force. Fearing an attack from the rear. Pasha had been forced to call a retreat. When he finally learned how he had been deceived right at the very moment when victory was within his grasp, his rage knew no bounds. He redoubled again his efforts and released a continuous day and night bombardment under which it seemed most improbable that any living thing could survive.
The council of knights recommended that a withdrawal be made from all of the outposts into the single fortress of St. Angelo. La Valette adamantly refused. He would not willingly surrender an acre to the infidels. Military historians agree that his tenacity in this probably saved the knights as it kept the Turks from massing at a single point. La Valette received a dispatch from Don Garcia of Sicily promising to send a relief force of 16,000 men. La Valette was unimpressed, having received many such promises before, he did not put his trust in princes. He vowed to continue to contest every meter of Christian ground before he would surrender it to the "infidels."
The Turks had not only been pouring their deadly fire into the city over its walls, they had been spending weeks making tunnels under the walls. On August the 18th a mine exploded under the Post of Castile and a great breach was made. The Grand Master himself, now seventy years old, grabbed a light helmet and his sword and rushed out boldly to meet the assault. The knights and the townspeople, encouraged by his example, picked up any weapon chat they could find and flung themselves into the breach with him. La Valette was wounded but refused to retreat. He pointed his sword at the Turkish banners and declared, "Never will I withdraw as long as those banners wave in the wind." Somehow the knights again prevailed and the Turks bitterly retreated.
By now dissensions began to arise within the ranks of the Turkish High Command. The battle that they had projected could take no more than a few days had now lasted months, and there was still no end in sight. Pasha started calculating how he could get enough supplies from Tripoli, Greece or Constantinople to keep up the siege through the winter. Then, on September the 6th, Don Garcia's fleet arrived with 8,000 reinforcements. Even though 8.000 was not a significant number compared to the still large army of the Turks, their impact on the morale of both sides was much greater than their numbers. The Turks were devastated. If the few hundred knights had cost them so dearly; and they had still only captured the tiny fort of St. Elmo, how could they possibly prevail against so many more? The mighty army of the Sultan quickly lifted the siege, struck camp and fled the island.
For a second time the great general Pasha, at the head of one of the most powerful armies in the world, had been defeated at the hands of the little Order of St. John. The Sultan's army returned to the Golden Horn with less than one third of those who had left. Suleiman was disbelieving. He only allowed his fleet to come into the harbor under the cover of darkness so that the people would not see its terrible state. He then remarked, "I now see that it is only in my own hand that my sword is invincible," and he immediately planned to lead another expedition to Malta the following year. Like Mehmct before him, Suleiman would not live to fulfill this vow.
Again the world marveled at the little Sovereign Order of St. John the Baptist. Those "archaic relics from the past" had stood almost entirely alone against the greatest single military threat to Christianity that had ever arisen, and in one of the greatest examples of courage and endurance the world had ever seen, they had prevailed. Only about 250 knights survived at Malta, and almost every one of them was wounded, maimed and crippled for life. But Europe was now free of the Moslem threat that had so recently appeared so invincible.
In England, where Henry VIII had confiscated their property, Queen Elizabeth acknowledged that if Malta had fallen to the Turks, then England itself would have almost certainly fallen to the Moslems. She ordered the Archbishop of Canterbury to appoint a special form of thanksgiving to be read in every church in the land every day for three weeks. The rest of Europe also celebrated, paid their respects and acknowledged their debt to the Order that most had long before written off as having no real value.
While the Christian nations of Europe had turned their armies against each other, the knights of St. John never lost their vision of who the real enemy was. Even though the Order was composed of the noble sons of those Christian nations that were fighting each other, they never allowed the doctrinal or political divisions to enter their own ranks. Because of their unity focused vision and determination never to retreat before the enemies of Christendom, they dramatically turned back what had appeared to be the inevitable course of history. It is almost impossible to imagine what history would have been like without them.
The French Revolution
The revenues of the Order were mainly obtained from vast estates it possessed throughout Europe. particularly in France. As the French Revolution progressed, the Knights had to make one compromise after another but concessions did not prove to be very effective because, in 1792. the Order's possessions in France were confiscated. In fact. it was in the Order's Headquarters in France, known as "The Temple", that the revolutionaries imprisoned King Louis XVI and the Royal Family before sending them to the guillotine.
This was a serious blow to the Order. However, within a few years, a treaty was signed between the Knights and Emperor Paul I of Russia, whereby the Czar was recognized as Protector of the Order. Meanwhile, in 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte, on his way to Egypt, landed in Malta with a massive invading force. After offering token resistance, the Order had to leave the Maltese Islands. It is noteworthy that the Order had never taken arms against a Christian army.
Napoleon left Malta after a few days carrying, aboard his flagship "L 'Orient".. priceless treasures which were seized from the Order's property. The ship was eventually sunk by British forces in Egyptian waters.
As always, the just cause found support and many of the Knights found shelter under the Czar of Russia, who was a great enthusiast in the concept of chivalry. The Czar of Russia had been made "Protector" of the Order during the period of the last Grand Master, von Hompesch, before their departure from Malta.
Eventually, the Czar Paul I was elected Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem and the Order's insignia was officially added to the Imperial Coat-of-Arms. "The Statutes of the Order were reconstructed to meet the requirements of a new age and, to ensure perpetual succession, hereditary knighthood was conferred upon many Knights. Thus, when His Imperial Majesty Czar Paul I of Russia accepted and was elected 70th Grand Master of the Sovereign Order, the Order became ecumenical in character and embraced all Christian denominations and was not any more, simply an Order for Catholics. This is a very important, and most valid, juridical point to remember.
Splinter Orders of St. John
Previous to that, the Order had already experienced a splinter by the English Langue as King Henry VIII had confiscated their property. They were later reformed under the name of the "Venerable Order" in England but are not permitted to bear any title. They operate, amongst other things, the internationally well-known "St. John's Ambulance Brigade" bearing the traditional 8-pointed Maltese Cross of the Order. They do not claim to be direct descendants of the Order and admit to be a splinter Order.
In Germany, another splinter Lutheran Order is known today as the "Johanniter Order".
Whilst in Italy, the Pope under extreme pressure from Italian Knights, himself created another splinter Order, in the year circa 1832, which is known today as the "Sovereign Military Order of Malta", or 'S.M.O.M.". This Order is restricted solely to Catholics.
At the time of the Russian Revolution, Knights assembled in the United States of America and selected the Grand Duke Alexander of Russia who was elected as the 71st Grand Master of the Order in the year 1913. In his acceptance speech, His Imperial Highness praised the Knightly body for preserving and perpetuating the Order as it was promulgated by his ancestor and predecessor the 70th Grand Master, H.M.I.H. Emperor Paul 1. The Grand Duke Alexander of Russia remained Grand Master until his death in 1933.
The 72nd Grand Master was His Most Eminent Highness Prince Crolian Edelen de Burgh. Don Roberto II Patemo Castello di Carcaci Ayerbe-Aragona, Duke of Perpignan, Became the 73rd Grand Master on the 1st October 1976.
On September 10, 1994, official notification was sent to the d.Grand Chancellor and Grand Prior of Malta, H.E. Chev. Louis S. Montaldo, by the Governor of the Royal House of Aragon, Don Salvatore Ruta Crevy, that H.R.H. Prince Don Roberto II had resigned as Grand Master of the Order following the death of the Grand Chancellor Count Thorbjorn Wiklund.
On September 17, 1994. His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Henri Constantine III De Vigo Aleramico Lascaris Paleologue accepted the 74th Grand Mastership of the Order.
H.I. & R.H. Prince Henri Constantine III Paleologo's acceptance as 74th Grand Master came at a very propicious time to lead and to reinforce the Order following a period of uncertainty and inactivity due mainly to the ill-health of the previous Grand Chancellor, Count Wikiund, before his death. Prince Henri immediately appointed H.E. Count Louis Scerri Montaldo de Modon as his Deputy/Lieut. Grand Master and as Grand Chancellor with the task to reform the Supreme Council which is the governing body of the Sovereign Order.
The genealogical roots of the Paleologo's family is traced back to previous to the year 920 AD. The Imperial family history is intricably tied with, amongst others, Constantinople, Greece, Italy and even Russia. It is interesting to note that in 1472, Ivan III (known also as "Ivan the Terrible") Grand Prince of Moscow, married Sophia Paleologos, daughter of Thomas Paleologos (first Emperor in exile). On the basis of this marriage, the Russian Rulers considered themselves (claim later dismissed) as successors to the crown of the Eastern Empire; hence the subsequent adoption of the title of "Tsar" ("Ceasar") and of the double-headed eagle of the Imperial House of the Paleologos.
The modern Governing hierarchy of the Order possesses a Higher Administration composed of the Lieut. Grand Master and Grand Chancellor who presides over the Supreme Council made up of Senior Members of the Order who are appointed by him on a consultative basis.
The Grand Chancellor looks after the running of the Order and after the Grand Priors, Priors, and Ambassadors who have to communicate to him and who are responsible to keep him informed of their activities and of all matters pertaining to internal and external matters. All Investitures must be authorized by the Prince Grand Master and/or by the Lieut. Grand Master.
The Order itself consists of Grand Priories and Priories. Each Priory may, in turn, be composed of Commanderies and other institutions. Grand Priories, Priories and Commanderies and every other institution of the Sovereign Order are established and governed according to their proper Local Rules which must be approved by the Grand Master and/or by the Lieut. Grand Master and which must not go contrary to the existing Constitution and Statutes of the Sovereign Order.
Qualifications for admission into the Sovereign Order are determined by suitable recommendations and Members must possess determined criteria to entitle them to possess their titles of Chivalry.
The male Members of the Order are divided thus: Bailiffs, Knights Grand Cross, Knights Commanders, Knights of Justice (hereditary), Knights of Grace, Esquires, Donats, Pages and Serving Brothers.
Knights who take the three Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, either for life or for a service period, are Professed Knights.
The female Members of the Sovereign Order are: Dames Grand Cross, Dames of Honour and Devotion, Dames of Justice, Dames of Grace and Serving Sisters.
There are also Professed Dames who take the three Vows of Poverty, Chaste and Obedience either for life or for a service period.
O.S.J. (c) 1997
