Rhodes Knights

The Order of the Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly referred to as the Knights Hospitaller, was formed in the early 12th century and began as a religious order whose primary objective was to look after the welfare of the wounded and ailing pilgrims to the Holy Land. It acquired a military character in the 1120s and 1130s, when it began to hire knights that later became Hospitallers. After being recognized as military-religious order, it was charged with the defence of the Holy Land and took part in the Crusades, but after the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the capture of Acre in 1291, it was forced to seek refuge in Cyprus.

Wishing to acquire their own domain, the Knights of Saint John set their sights on Rhodes, which was then part of the Byzantine Empire. Eventually, in 1310, after over four years of campaigning, they took control not only over Rhodes, but also over several neighboring islands, Kastelorizo and the Anatolian port of Halicarnassus.

The members of the order were representatives of all the major European Catholic countries and, after the early 14th century, they were divided into 8 langues or tongues, each corresponding to a specific ethnolinguistic area: Aragon, Castile, Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, England, and the Holy Roman Empire (Germany). Each of the langues was under the command of a Bailiff, while the supreme authority of the order was the Grand Master. The primary languages were Latin and French, and each of the groups had its own exclusive headquarters, which were known as the Inns. The lodgings of many of the tongues can still be seen, lining the Street of the Knights, which leads to the majestic Palace of the Grand Master.

The Order of the Knights of Saint John is credited with the restoration and the building of approximately 30 castles. However, the principal stronghold was the present-day Old Town, which was strategically surrounded by 4-kilometer-long impregnable walls as well as a moat. During any major attack or siege, each one of the groups was allotted a specific section to defend.

During their 200-year rule on the island, the Knights fought off invasions by the Byzantine emperor Andronicus, who sought to regain control of the island, as well as by Barbary pirates and the ascending Ottoman forces. Ultimately, Rhodes was captured by the Turks in 1522, when a fleet of 400 ships led by Suleiman the Magnificent came to the island, deploying over 100,000 men. The siege lasted six months, after which the surviving Knights of Rhodes were granted safe passage. Then, they established their new domain in Malta, where they remained till Napoleon captured the island in 1798.

After settling in Malta, the Knights gradually gave up warfare and turned to territorial administration and medical care. At present, several organizations continue the Hospitaller tradition of compassion for the sick and the ailing around the world.