1. The consequences of the Sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders
The Sack of Constantinople in 1204 by the armies of the Fourth Crusade was a turning point in the history of Greece and the broader region of the Aegean Sea since the land of the Byzantine Empire was gradually taken over by crusaders. Numerous Latin states were thus founded.
2. The Knights Hospitaller
The religious-military order of the Knights Hospitaller was named after their original duty to take care of pilgrims, while they are also known as the Sovereign Order of Saint John the Baptist. They first appeared in the Byzantine Empire shortly before the Fourth Crusade, but mainly after it. We know that before 1204 they kept a hospital in Constantinople. After the sack though, just like the Knights Templar, they received several dominions as donations in many places of the Latin Empire of Constantinople and the Principality of Achaia. They made a dynamic appearance in the Aegean in the early 14th century (1306-1309/10) conquering Rhodes and the rest of the Dodecanese.
Before conquering the Dodecanese, the Order already had a two-century old history. Its course is difficult to ascertain because of the lack of historical sources and the numerous traditions and legends regarding its founding and action. Its first traces go back to the second half of the 11th century in Palestine at a hospital founded by merchants from Amalfi near the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to provide care for poor and sick pilgrims of the Holy Land. From the early 12th century, the Order assumed its charitable and military character. Their main virtues were allegiance, chastity and penury. Ever since, the Hospitallers became the fiercest defenders of the crusade ideology in the Holy Land or elsewhere (e.g. Cilicia of Asia Minor, Spain). In order to help them achieve their goal, the Holy See ceded to them significant political and economic privileges. At the same time, both in the East and West, they acquired immense landed property, sometimes even entire eparchies.
The rising power of the Arabs though from the 13th century on forced Western Europeans to withdraw from Syria and Palestine. Despite their firm resistance, the Hospitallers lost one after the other the cities and forts they had held for about a century. On May 18 1291, after the capture of Acre, the last stronghold of the crusaders in the East, the Knights sought refuge on Cyprus. There, King Henry II allowed them to settle temporarily at Limassol.
3. The Hospitallers in the Dodecanese
Since powerful king Henry II confined them on Cyprus, the Hospitallers soon began to look for a permanent base. They were given a chance on May 27 1306, when their Grand Master Foulques de Villaret agreed to take over Rhodes with Genoese Vignolo de Vignoli, who held some feuds in the Dodecanese (in the second half of the 13th century and the early 14th, the Dodecanese islands were practically dominated by several Genoese feudatories although still part of the Byzantine Empire). Then, with the support of the Genoese, the Pope and other Western allies Foulques de Villaret ascended on Rhodes and captured two of the island’s most important castles, Filerimos and Faraklos. On August 15, probably 1309, he captured the city of Rhodes and the rest of the Dodecanese islands, save Astypalaia, dominated by the Quirini family of the Duchy of the Archipelagos, as well as Karpathos and Kasos, dominated by the Cornari, Venetian feudatories, who had settled on Crete.
After settling on the islands, the Hospitallers dealt with organizing their state, army and naval force. From the third decade of the 14th century, Rhodes had already turned into a mighty stronghold of Christianity in the Eastern Mediterranean. In order to achieve their goal, they built up a wide network of fortified locations on ten of the Dodecanese islands (“Twelve islands”) comprising their state, either by enhancing and constantly modernizing the ones they had, or by building new forts at strategically significant locations (the castles known on islands ruled by the Knights are about 56, including fortified monasteries). At the same time, in order to gain foothold in Asia Minor, they built strong fortresses on the opposite coasts of Asia Minor. Characteristic examples are those of the castle of Smyrna, where they established a garrison from 1344 up to 1402, or of St. Peter’s castle in the area of ancient Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum), opposite of Kos, which served for controlling the straits between the coasts better.
The Hospitallers’ state was a multinational combination, with its “citizens” organized into seven “tongues” according to where they came from (Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and England). It was organized according to the feudal society model, characterized by strict social hierarchy. By colonizing the islands they conquered, the Knights tried to increase the western population there. In general though they adopted a flexible attitude towards the Christian population and even towards the Church, although a Western archbishop had settled very soon on Rhodes and there was no orthodox bishop probably up to the second quarter of the 15th century. Their attitude towards the Jews of Rhodes though was not the same since they hunted them in the early 16th century. Many of them were forced to change their faith until the Ottomans captured Rhodes in 1522.
The Knights of Rhodes were very interested in boosting trade and small industries and also increasing agricultural production. During the Knights’ Rule, Rhodes became one of the most important ports of the Eastern Mediterranean. Major commercial and banking companies of Western Europe settled on the island. At the same time, small industries developed significantly (e.g. production of sugar and soap, pottery, metalwork).
4. Hospitallers’ operations in the Aegean
Almost immediately after conquering Rhodes, the Hospitallers took part in almost every operation organized by other forces against the rising Ottoman power. Therefore, in 1319, they beat the Ottoman fleet off the shores of Chios along with Genoese Martino Zaccaria, in 1344 with the Venetian, Cyprian and Papal fleet they conquered Smyrna, which was strategically important, in 1347 they beat the Ottoman fleet near Imbros, etc.. They also took part in or conducted similar operations throughout their rule in the Dodecanese, both in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.
The presence of the Knights of Rhodes was intense at the nearby Duchy of the Archipelagos, founded in 1207 by Venetian Marco Sanudo. In the early 14th century they took over Delos, probably after the Duke of Naxos himself suggested it. From a 1452 document, we know that Francesca Crispo, widow of Duke Giovanni, donated them the monastery of St. Anthony the Hermit at Chora of Naxos, the capital of the Duchy. In order to exploit its holdings better, the Order created a separate administration (commandaria), in charge of which were usually people of the Duke. We also know that many members of the Duke’s family of the Duchy of the Archipelagos were accepted into the Order (e.g. Marco, Giovanni). Besides, we also know that the Crispo family helped the Knights’ fleet during the 1522 siege of Rhodes, while there was also an unsuccessful plan of transferring the Order’s base on Naxos, after Rhodes was captured in 1522.
5. The Hospitallers in mainland Greece
We should also mention their plans and ambitions for mainland Greece. They engaged in their activities there with one of the most important Grand Masters of the Order, Juan Fernandez de Heredia (1377-1396). During his operation against the Albanians, who occupied great parts of Epirus back then, he “subleased” the Principality of Achaia from queen Giovvanna of Napoli for five years paying an annual sum of 4000 ducats. After these five years, the Knights left the Peloponnese in 1383, aspiring though still to conquer mainland Greece. They came back few years later, when Despot of Morea Theodore II Palaeologus initially sold them Corinth (1396/7), whereas a little later he was willing to cede them the entire Despotat (1399). Bargains with Theodore though were cut short, and the Knights of Rhodes finally left the Peloponnese in 1404.
6. The Hospitallers leave the Aegean
After Mohammed the Conqueror captured Constantinople in 1453, the island state of the Knights became one of the worst enemies of the Ottoman Empire and consequently one of its next targets. After capturing Lesbos in 1462 (70 Knights of Rhodes actually defended it) and Euboea in 1472, it was only a matter of time before the Ottomans took over Rhodes. In May 1480, they besieged Rhodes for the first time (for 85 days) but were successfully repelled by the Hospitallers.
After a reorganization period, during which the Order tried to repair the damage caused by the 1480 siege and use diplomacy to strengthen its position in the Aegean, the second major siege followed in 1522 by Suleyman the Magnificent. After murderous battles for six months, the Knights had to surrender the city signing a treaty with the Ottomans in December 1522.
On January 1st of the following year, the Knights got on their ships and after wandering for some time they settled on Malta in 1530. From there, they continued their fight against the Ottomans, trying at the same time to maintain their ties with the Aegean. For instance, in 1531 they attempted to take over the castle of Methoni, without succeeding though.