The Two Sieges of Rhodes, 1480-1522

Rating:
Summary: Read before you visit Rhodes
Review: Read before you visit the island . As you stroll the medieval walled city you will find yourself thinking of the last Europeans to defend Christendom this close to Asia. It was the Turk who came here in the two sieges described. The Knights of St. John were deposed during the second siege and were allowed to leave, eventually reestablishing the Hospitallers in Malta. Look for evidence of the blood and carnage of the sieges as you walk this stop on the summer cruise route. Hangings, beheadings, Knights of Christ and Ottoman Turks alike displaying the heads of their enemies on dripping pikes;Could all this have really happened here in this jewel in the blue Aegean? Yes it did and the story of it is written for the history buff and traveler alike in this short entertaining book

Rating:
Summary: Doughty Defenders of their Faith
Review: The Knights of St. John of the Hospital were a crusading order who are mentioned in the background of "The Maltese Falcon." But they served as much more than the set up for a Dashiel Hammett mystery. Many historians consider the Knights to be the first practitioners of nursing. They could crack their enemies' skulls and then expertly apply the bandages. Nursing, however, was not their greatest contribution. After the collapse of the Crusading movement, they became Europe's Mediterranean bulwark against Turkish expansion.

When they were expelled from the Holy Land, they set up on the island of Rhodes, and weathered two concerted efforts by the Turks to dislodge them from the island.This, then is the story of those two campaigns, and it describes them in all their gallantry and savagery.

They finally succumbed to the might of the Turkish Empire, but were able to retire from Rhodes in good order. After being dislodged from Rhodes, the Knights moved to Malta, and there withstood another epic seige which served as the prelude to the decisive Battle of Lepanto. Their efforts truly helped to save Europe from Turkish domination. All in all, this is an entertaining and informative history of a pivotal period in European history.

Rating:
Summary: Doughty Defenders of their Faith
Review: The Knights of St. John of the Hospital were a crusading order who are mentioned in the background of "The Maltese Falcon." But they served as much more than the set up for a Dashiel Hammett mystery. Many historians consider the Knights to be the first practitioners of nursing. They could crack their enemies' skulls and then expertly apply the bandages. Nursing, however, was not their greatest contribution. After the collapse of the Crusading movement, they became Europe's Mediterranean bulwark against Turkish expansion.

When they were expelled from the Holy Land, they set up on the island of Rhodes, and weathered two concerted efforts by the Turks to dislodge them from the island.This, then is the story of those two campaigns, and it describes them in all their gallantry and savagery.

They finally succumbed to the might of the Turkish Empire, but were able to retire from Rhodes in good order. After being dislodged from Rhodes, the Knights moved to Malta, and there withstood another epic seige which served as the prelude to the decisive Battle of Lepanto. Their efforts truly helped to save Europe from Turkish domination. All in all, this is an entertaining and informative history of a pivotal period in European history.

Rating:
Summary: One Nice Short Book about Two Nasty Long Sieges
Review: The Knights of St. John were one of the three great crusading orders of Christianity - the others being the Teutonic Knights and the Templars. They were, however, far and away the most diplomatically successful; hence their receipt from the Pope of Rhodes, a prime bit of real estate on which to live, even after the collapse of the Crusades themselves. But as the maps in the inset of Brockman's book reveal, in all too painful detail, Rhodes is perilously close to the Turkish mainland, and it was only a matter of time before one of the Great Sultans decided to make a bid to conquer the Knights.

The first siege of Rhodes, in 1480 is one of the great post-Crusade epics. Brockman captures it well: the story revolves around the great feats of will performed by Pierre D'Aubusson, Grand Master, who built up the fortifications and orchestrated the defense system that saw the Knights survive an assault by 80,000 Turks.

The second siege of 1522 is something of a coda by comparison. Yet the fact remains that the Turks allowed the Knights to retire in good order and take their possessions with them. There can be no greater tribute to the respect that the Knights had earned by their past braveries. A nice little account of both events, with plenty of gory medieval detail about what goes on when a castle is under assault.