undermin'd But the most part of those Mines prov'd ineffectual because of the Counter-mnies which were continually made round about There was one that was perceiv'd in the midst of the Trench of Provence But Martinengo immediately enter'd the Trench open'd the Mine and casting in barrels of Powder and other combustible stuff burnt and stifled all the Turks within Another Mine the Turks made under the Bulwark of England which play'd the fourth of September and blew up above seven times nine foot of the wall and fill'd the Moat so full of rubbish that the Turks that they might easily mount the wall and come on furiously to the Assault with their accustom'd cries gain'd the top of the Bastion immediately and set up seven of their Colours and had made themselves masters of it but for an Intrenchment which Martinengo had made the day before which stood entire about four foot from the Ruins of the wall That Intrenchment stopt the Enemy and thither the Knights ran and came to a close fight with Pike and Sword while others did great mischief to the Enemy with hand-Granadoes and other Artificial fires and there it was that Martinengo and the Chevelier de Bidoux did wonders becoming men of Extraordinary valour and courage Here they came to Sword and Dagger and even to coller one another the Turks perceiving that if they could but get the victory here they might easily get into the City And indeed that small handful of Christians that sustain'd the weight of such a multitude could not have bin able to have held out had not the Grand Master upon the noise of the blowing up of the Mine hasted to their Relief and with the Knights of the reserve and the Souldiers of his guard rush'd into the midst of his Enemies and charg'd them so furiously that in a small time a good part of them were cut to pieces and the rest so smartly repuls'd that they quitted the fight and fled in confusion and disorder'd and astonish'd those that were coming to their assistance so that neither the threats nor Exhortations of the Captains could stop them Which the General Mustapha seeing flew out of the Trenches in great indignation crying to the fugitives aloud that if they would not return to the Assault he would go on without them and having so said boldly march'd toward the breach His countenance and Language inspir'd the fugitives with new vigour so that they rally'd and return'd with their Basha more resolutely then before to the Assault and maintain'd the fight for above two hours At length the Christians redoubling their courage and animated by the presence and Example of the Grand Master fell upon the Turks with that fury that being no longer able to resist they turn'd their backs besides the Rhodian Canoneers had planted certain pieces against the bottom of the breach which play'd upon the Turks retiring so successfully that they kill'd more then were slain in the Assault Two thousand of the Turks were slain that day of the Rhodians twelve or fifteen slain out-right and fifteen or twenty wounded In the midst of these encounters the Chevalier Didier de Puy Governour of Ferracta gave notice to the Grand Master that he had taken certain Turks who confess'd that there were in Rhodes certain Persons of Quality who sent the Enemy Intelligence of what was deliberated concluded in Council and of all that was done in the City and that the Turks were digging a large Mine nere St. John's de Collaccio This was no small trouble to the Grand Master so much the more because he was forc'd to conceal his resentments by reason that no persons were nam'd However he promis'd a large reward to those that could discover the Mine But it was not long before it discover'd it self under the Bastion of England by seven a clock in the morning upon the ninth of September overthrowing about nine yards of the wall next to the Mine before-mention'd and came to the very barricado's before they met with any resistance But when the Dread and terrour was once over the Knights resuming their wented courage put the Turks to a shameful retreat till forc'd by the swords and scimitars of their Commanders even of their General himself they return'd again with more vigour and renew'd a bloody fight but the Grand Master coming to the relief of his own with his reserve sought them with so much fury for three hours that the Turks no longer able to abide so powerful a defence quitted the fight and retir'd into their Trenches leaving one of their Ensignes behind them This Assault cost the Great Turk three thousand of his men and three Sangiacs of the Christians about 30 were slain and some of the Knights wounded The Turkes repuls'd with so much loss in two assaults began again to murmur and discommend the enterprize as rash and impossible Which Solyman perceiving began to despair and to be offended against Mustapha The mean time Peri Basha to preserve himself in the good Opinion and favours of the Grand Signiour press'd him continually to make a furious battery of 17 Canons against the Italian Post But the besieged still repair'd with so much speed and diligence whatever the Enemies Artillery ruin'd and play'd their great and small shot with so much success that the Turks durst hardly peep out of their Trenches The Beglerbeg of Natolia did the same against the Post of Provence and fell to mining very industriously being advis'd thereto by a treacherous Greek who under pretence of trade had well observ'd the strength of the City But the most remarkable accident was the killing of the Governour of Negropont and Solyman's Favorite who riding by the Italian Post richly clad with a red Battoon in his hand was hit by a musket-bullet from the Italian Post and fell down dead immediately to the great grief of Solyman Peri enrag'd against the Italians resolv'd to make a most terrible assault upon their Platform which he did so unexpectedly and with so much speed that the sentinels that stood without the Entrenchment were kill'd before they could be succour'd But the Italians taking the Alarum and being well seconded by the Grand Master and his usual guard in an hours time the Bastion was well soak'd with the Blood of the Turks Peri finding such a stout resistance here and believing that other places were left naked gave immediate order for other forces to assail the New Bastion of the Grand Master Carretta but there the Chevalier Angelot Captain of the Bastion so behav'd himself having a good number of Souldiers and Citizens with him that the most part of the Turks were either kill'd or wounded and the Flanking Artillery of other Bastions made such havock among the thick multitudes of the Turks that at length quite dismay'd they began to retire Peri thereupon seeing the Souldiers would no longer abide the heat of such a terrible encounter sounded a general Retreat though with the loss of more men then in
of Poland and Cardinal Cesarini the Popes Legate had been flead alive by those Barbarians But it was joyful news to him that the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem had obtain'd several advantages against the Saracens and that the Soldan of Aegypt had a little before rais'd his seige from before Rhodes In the midst of these thoughts he took a resolution to fight against the Infidels and to the end he might be indispensably engag'd thereto he fram'd a design at the same time to embrace the military order of St. John of Jerusalem Heaven that inspir'd him with these high thoughts gave him the power to execute them with speed He departed for Rhodes not all the Charms of the Court being able to detain him The multitude of French Gentlemen that daily throng'd to Rhodes to be made Knights had oblig'd the grand-Grand-master to make an Order that none would be receiv'd until the Treasury exhausted by the late Wars were somewhat replenish'd Nevertheless Aubusson was admitted whether it were that they saw in his person somewhat extraordinary that spake in his behalf or that it were a peculiar favour in respect to Lewis D'Aubusson his Uncle one of the most famous Knights of Rhodes and known in History by the name of the Commander of Charroux Or whether it were that the grand-Grand-master were inspir'd to exceed his own Rules in favour of a Person who was afterwards to be the support of the Order Our new Knight had no great difficulty to undergo the usual Examinations though at that time they were much more strict than afterwards For all things that render a Family Illustrious were to be found with advantage in his For as to the antiquity of it the original of the House of Aubusson is unknown and uncertain as of most Families in the world But that which may be certainly averr'd is this that in the time of Charlemaine the Ancestors of Pierre D'Aubusson were very famous in France For the Kings of the second race having settl'd Counts to govern every Province and these Lords alwayes choosing the greatest Lords of their Province for their Lieutenants Jeffrey first Count of Marche chose his Lieutenant out of the House of Aubusson about the year 860. This Lieutenant to the Lord whose name we know not was call'd Vicount D'Aubusson from the name of the principal Place which he possess'd Turpin who was elected Bishop of Limoges in the year 898 and whom Aymar of Chabanois extolls no less for the splendor of his Birth then for the holiness of his Life was the Son of the first Vicount of Aubusson and Brother of Reginald the first who was Vicount under his Father under Sulpicius the second Earl of Marche Son of Jefferey The dignity of Vicount remain'd above four hundred years in that Family of Aubusson successively from Father to Son till that Raymund the first having no Children sold it to Hugues Earl of March to the prejudice of his Brother Ranulphus D'Aubusson who continu'd the Posterity Piety and Liberality which in those times highly distinguish'd the great Lords from those of mean extraction were hereditary vertues in this Family For not to speak any thing of Bishop Turpin so magnificent in all that concern'd the worship of the Altar the Vicounts D'Aubusson were alwaies very Religious and gave considerable Donations to several Churches and Abbeys These Lords and their Descendants signaliz'd themselves upon several Occasions where the interest of France was concern'd Witness Guy D'Aubusson who performed so many noble Acts in the War with the English under Charles the fifth who having receiv'd many wounds in the defence of his Castle of Monteil was tak'n Prisoner with his Wife and Children by the Enemy Witness also John D'Aubusson Lord of Borne Anthony D'Aubusson Lord of Villeneare and Anthony D'Aubusson Lord of Monteil who made their fidelity and their zeal for the service of Charles the seventh appear whose Chamberlaines they were at such a time when all the Kings Officers were Peers of high quality Lastly that which infinitely advances the House of Aubusson and perhaps distinguishes it from all others is this that being so ancient it was never mix'd but has still in the same County preserv'd the same Estate so that Francis D'Aubusson Duke and Peer Marshal of France and Collonel of the French Guards possesses at this day the Signiory of Fueillade which has been time out of mind in the possession of the Vicounts D'Aubusson his Ancestors But to return to our History Aubusson was no sooner arriv'd at Rhodes but he understood that there was a peace going to be made with Amurat and that it was almost concluded by the Soldan of Egypt In regard he had an extream passion to fight with the enemies of Christ this news was not overwelcome to him only he was in hopes that it would soon be brok'n In the mean time he set himself to study the duty of a true Knight Presently he understood that the Knights of Rhodes were to joyn together in Valour and Piety that a cowardly Knight or a Libertine was something monstrous that for them to live according to the intent of their Calling there was a necessity for them exactly to follow the maxims of the Gospel and that they were not to draw their Swords but in the defence of the Church or for the relief of the Faithful that for that reason they wore their Cross upon their Habit and that their Impresse was For the Faith He oft'n revolv'd in his mind the vertues and the exploits of those ancient Knights that first made themselves Masters of Rhodes and afterwards so couragiously withstood Ottoman the first King of the Turks But notwithstanding the peace because it did not hinder the roving of Turkish Pyrates he several times put forth to Sea and so well acquitted himself upon all occasions that presented that he obtain'd the commandery of Salins in the first years of his service John de Lustic who at that time govern'd the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and who was the first to whom the publick vogue gave the title of Grand-master soon conceiv'd a high Opinion of Monsieur D'Aubusson as well as James de Milli who was Grand Prior of Auvergne and who succeeded John de Lustic in the charge of Grand-master The affairs of Rhodes were calm enough when the death of Amurath or rather the ambition of Mahomet his successor rais'd strange troubles over all Christendom Mahomet the second is so often mention'd in the story that I am to write that it will not be amiss to describe him before I go any farther He was one of those extraordinary personages who are not only endow'd with great Vertues and great Vices but one also freight with qualities altogether opposite Never was there a Prince more wise or more led away more valiant nor more effeminate more a Master nor more a Slave to his passions then he Though he had a Countenance somewhat wild and something of terrible in his eyes
Mahomet thought he had done for the best Of so great importance it is for the success of Negotiations and Embassies to employ persons of Integrity and honour or at least such as have the reputation of being so Nevertheless the Grand Master dissembl'd his distrust and judging how advantageous a suspension of Arms would be till such time as all the warlike Provision which he expected every day were arrived together with the Knights which had been summon'd he did not utterly reject Propositions of Demetrius neither did he absolutely accept it and whatever Artifice the cunning Fox could use to draw from him a precise answer all his reply was that the Knights of Rhodes could not treat with Mahomet without the permision of the Pope that questionless his Holiness would not oppose the peace provided that his Master would harken to those Conditions which had formerly been concluded with Amurath that is to say without any mention of Tribute That in expectation of the Popes answer it would do well if so it pleas'd the Ottoman Princes that there should be a Cessation of Arms and liberty of Commerce between the Christians and the Turks The Renegado who well understood how nice the Knights were in point of Tribute and thought of nothing more then a positive refusal at first contented himself that he had set the business a foot And the better to bring it to a happy conclusion promised of his own accord in the names of Zizim and Shelebi what the Grand Master had desir'd and departed very well satisfy'd that he was not flatly deny'd The Grand Master wrote a very civil Letter to the two Princes he thanked them for their kind endeavours and highly applauded their good intentions but he declar'd at the same time without so much as mentioning the Tribute that he could not come to any conclusion till he knew the Popes resolution and how the Christian Princes stood affected to it who made the affairs of Rhodes their own business Demetrius had no sooner given an accompt of his Negotiation but the Princes sent him back with order not to speak a word more of the Tribute and to demand only some small present to cover with a specious Title that submission which Mahomet exacted from the Knights But their answer was still the same that they could make no engagement till they had heard news from Rome All that they could farther say was that those Presents which were exacted yearly did very much resemble presents and that the Knights of Rhodes were not overforward to make any kind of Presents to the Grand Signior Demetrius understood well enough what they meant However he was yet in hopes that the Grand Master might at length be brought to relent and to engage him thereto by his Interest he promis'd him again a suspention of Arms with liberty of Trade Nevertheless the Grand Master did not fail to prepare for War as if their had not been so much as any discourse of peace and that Mahomet should not be inform'd of any thing he order'd that no Vessel should stir out of the Port. He soon perceiv'd that the Infidels were not very curious in observing Truces and the advice which was brought him that the Turkish Brigantines had taken certain Vessels belonging to the Order near the Islands of Calamo and Episcopia confirm'd him more and more in the thoughts which he had that all this Treaty was but an Artifice and he rather believ'd that the Turks were so much the more ready to beseige Rome by how much they seem'd to be farthest from any such design So that he renew'd all the Orders which he had given out for the security of the City he also sent to Naples the Knight D'Albalat of Aragon to buy Corn and besides that as he was resolv'd that the Barbarians should not carry by famine what they could not win by force he sent into Aegypt and Syria for plenty of all sorts of Provisions In the mean time the Knights arriv'd at Rhodes from all parts of Christendom And in regard the assembly which was to be held the first of May was put off by the Popes Bull and deferr'd to the 28th of October by an order of Council they appear'd almost all at a time The Grand Master at the opening the Assembly made a speech that made no small Impression upon their Spirits After the usual ceremonies and Formalities the sixteen who were elected for the Government of all things laid new Taxes upon all the Commanderies and earnestly desir'd the Grand Master to take upon him the administration of the Revenue Though he had other weighty business enough to do and that this alone was sufficient to take up a mans whole time he readily accepted it but the easiness wherewith he acquitted himself of a charge so burthensome oblig'd the Knights to qualify the hardness of the Labour by the entire confidence which they manifestly let him see they had in him They gave him full power to employ to what uses and after what manner he should think good all the money that should be brought into the Treasury They also order'd that all the Ammunition and Warlike provisions should be put into his hands to distribute as he should see cause Moreover that he should have power to create the Receiver General of Avignon and all the other Receivers by one Warrant alone sign'd by his hand that without having regard to the priority of Languages nor the antiquity of the Knights he might make the Castellane of Rhodes the Judges and Baily of Commerce the Captain of the Castle St. Peter and all the Captains of the Galleys That he might also choose the Captains of the three Towers and the Gates of the City that in case the Grand Commandery of Cyprus the Bayliage of Lango and the Office of Procurator General at the Court at Rome came to be vacant during his administration it should be free for him to dispose thereof at his pleasure But to the end he might not be thwarted in the exercise of his charge they forbid the Bayliffs the Priors and all the rest of the Knights to meddle in any manner whatsoever with the treasury They also gave him the liberty to retain next his person or to send to what place he pleas'd seven of the Grand Crosses which they nam'd and to choose others by his own particular authority if any one happen to miscarry Lastly because the revenue of the Grand Master was very much impair'd because of their extraordinary expences for the Fortifications of the Island or for the aid of the Subjects of the Order they permitted him to keep in his hands during his life three of those Commanderies which he had the priviledg to dispose of himself as Grand Master Hardly were the affairs of the Chapter at an end when news was brought that the Infidels had shewn themselves before the Castle of St. Peter under pretence of parlying upon an accommodation but in truth to surprize the
first ascended fell upon the Turks with such a fury that they forc'd them to retire But the Turks being presently reinforc'd both parties disputed a long time for the Wall they on both sides with great heat and courage But when the Combat grew hot and that the victory seem'd to encline to the Infidels the Count of Monteil came into the assistance of the Christians but notwithstanding all the effects of their valour they could not drive back their Enemies whom the presence of the Basha made undaunted and not being able to withstand so great a number as fell upon them In the mean time the report which was spread that the Enemy had carry'd the Jews Quarter struck terror and confusion every where But so soon as the Grand Master saw this beginning of a Rout with a half pike in his hand he mounted the Wall having already kill'd some that were got down and considering that the loss of all depended upon this post he resolv'd to hazard all or regain it The old Commanders and young Knights that were near to his person mounted after at what time the Grand Master breaking into a thick Battalion of the Turks with an astonishing fury charg'd them so rudely that they were soon clear'd off No sooner was it known to what danger the Grand Master had expos'd himself but the Burgesses of the Town ran with all speed to disingage him or to dye with him The women also who were for the most part habited in mens apparel appear'd upon the Ramparts to terrify the Assailants follow'd their husbands and pouring down scalding Oil Flints and old Iron upon the Turks while others were so hardy as to throw Wild fire and others to take up the Arms of the Slain and fight in their steads they did very good service On the other side the Archers which the Grand Master had plac'd in such parts of the Wall which the Cannon had a little spar'd shot continually upon those that came with fresh recruits The Barbarians fell in great heaps every where yet dearly selling their lives but more especially making a great slaughter about the Grand Master But the present Image of death redoubl'd his zeal and no way diminish'd his valour Let us dye my dear Brethren said he rather then retire 't is for the faith 't is for heaven that we fight our death shall be honour'd among men and precious in the sight of God His example and his words so encourag'd the Souldiers that mauger the obstinate resistance of the enemy they regain'd the Field and made themselves absolute Masters of it after a dispute of two hours The Knight de Montholon being the first that tore up the Ottoman Banners and flung them to the ground As much affrighted as the Barbarians seem'd and as much wearied as they were indeed shame or honour caus'd them to return to the Charge and the Basha drew out a Body of old Janizaries to second the assault Now in regard the Grand Master was known by his gilded Arms and the throng of remarkable persons that environ'd him the Basha commanded that they should pick him out particularly These fresh men threw themselves like beasts of prey upon the Christians having forc'd their way through the Pikes and Swords were making directly to the Grand Master if the Vicount of Monteil who saw them coming had not put a stop to them who flew upon them with the most valiant of the Auvernian Post In the mean time ten or twelve of the boldest of the Turks joyning with those that were at handy-strokes with the Grand Master they laid at him with several blows so that his arms being broken he receiv'd five wounds however he fought still very valiantly But the Knights perceiving he was wounded fell on so furiously that the enemy first began to give ground and lastly to betake them to their heels As for the Turks who were got upon the Posts of the other Languages where they found equal resistance so soon as they saw the Jews Wall forsaken they quitted their attaques and fled in the greatest disorder in the World except three hunder'd of the stoutest who staid upon the Walls and being no longer able to defend themselves fell half dead into the City where they were massacred by the people At the same time the Rhodians issu'd out after them in throngs and pursu'd them to their very Camp making a most fatal slaughter among them The Turks also kill'd one another to make room for themselves so much they dreaded to fall into the hands of the Christians The Basha did all he could by threats and promises to stay their flight their fear would not let them take notice of either and he was at length constrain'd to fly to the shore that he might be near his Galleys Khodgia Afendy who has wrote in the Turkish Language the Siege of Rhodes attributes the rout of the Infidels to the avarice of their General For he says that the Souldiers more covetous of booty then blood being ready to enter the Town and preparing themselves to plunder where they hop'd to find great riches the Basha to preserve the whole for himself caus'd proclamation to be made that the treasure of Rhodes was the demeans of the Ottoman Court and that the generous Mussulmen were to seek nothing more in fight then the honour of serving the Emperor however he would not sail to recompence those that should do their duty as he would punish those that should take the least rag The Historian adds that this Proclamation so cool'd the courage of the Souldiers that they thought of nothing after that but how to save their lives But we may easily conjecture by the examination of his words that he does not speak truth according to the manner of the Turks who make no scruple of lying when it is either to excuse and cover the cowardice or dishonour of their Nation For it has been the custom of the Ottoman Emperors and their Basha's always to abandon such Towns as were taken by assault to the plunder of the Souldiers So that it is not likely that Paleologus who us'd all the means he could to make himself Master of the place and who was naturally magnificent should of a sudden take to a course so contrary to his design and humour In the mean time the Grand Master who felt himself very much weaken'd by his wounds return'd into the City all bloody after whom follow'd the victorious Knights with the Imperial Standard which they had tak'n from before the Pavilion of the Basha but the condition of their Prince put them into such a consternation that they could not rejoyce for their Victory One of his wounds was accounted mortal and the second day they began to despair of his life So soon as the Basha had recover'd the Sea-shore with the remains of his Army he never stood to consult whether he should raise the Siege or no. Whatever confidence he had had till then in
to set forth the most puissant Army that ever march'd out of Egypt His Holiness was so sensible of these high services of the Grand Master that to manifest to all the world how much he was satisfi'd and to bestow upon him in particular the solid marks of his favour he granted him an axtraordinary priviledg so much the more considerable because he parted from his own right in granting it The Popes in possession were to provide for several benefices of the Order of Rhodes and they claim'd that right by the authority which they have in general over all Religious Orders and in particular over that of St. John of Jerusalem This right did Innocent renounce by a consistorial Bull sign'd by all the Cardinals depriving the See of ever conferring any commandery of the Order though the benefice should happen to be vacant in the Court of Rome and declaring withal by the same Bull that the disposal of all commanderies absolutely belong'd to the Grand Master without being compriz'd under such benefices as the Popes had reserv'd or might hereafter reserve He also granted to the Grand Master the power absolutely to dispose of the benefices and military Revenus of the Holy Sepulcher and St. Lazarus uniting those Orders again to that of St. John of Jerusalem by an express Bull wherein his Holiness himself made a particular Elogium upon the Grand Master and the Knights The Grand Master who now began to intitle himself Cardinal Grand Master was exstremely sensible of all these favours which he never requested and believ'd to be above his merit accompting as nothing what he had done and daily accusing himself that he had not fulfill'd the duties of his calling and his trust He solemnly receiv'd the Cap in the Church of St. John Baptist upon St. Peter and Pauls day and he was at the same time proclaim'd Universal Legat of the See in Asia These favours and new dignities put the Grand Master upon new cares and assiduities And in regard the revenues of the Order were very much encreas'd by the addition of the Orders of the Holy Sepulcher and St. Lazarus he appli'd himself presently to the settlement of the treasury and he made very wise laws for the good goverment of the publick revenue as may be seen in the Book of the statutes of the Order He made other laws touching elections and Sentences which are observ'd to this day full of prudence and Justice But the peaceable state of affairs together with new accessions of wealth and plenty gave the Master opportunity to rebuild the ruin'd Churches and among others that of St. Anthony which was the burying place for the Knights and which he himself had caus'd to be pull'd down for the safety of the City It was built in another place much more magnificent then before Some years ere that he had founded a Chappel under the Name of the Holy Virgin in the Church of Monteil-au Viconte the place of his birth but understanding that the building remain'd unfinish'd he assign'd a certain stock of mony to go on with the work and perfect it He also founded several others in the Island of Rhodes and one in the Church of Mount Palermus to increase the devotion of the people But these were not the principal Employments of the Cardinal Grand Master for when he saw himself cloth'd with the Purple Robe he thought himself more than ever oblig'd to serve the Holy See as he had suddenly several important occasions to do It is impossible to imagine what was the extreme surprize and disconsolation of Bajazet when he understood that his Brother was at Rome He had understood before that such a design was in hand and because there was nothing that he feared more to fend off that blow he made great offers to Charls the 8th Besides that he promised him all the Relicks that his Father had found in Constantinople and in other Cities of Europe and Asia he engaged to send him all his Forces for the recovery of the Holy Land which was under the Dominion of the Soldan of Egypt and to pay him what-ever he demanded for the maintenance of Zizim But these propositions took no effect for Zizim was not in France when the Ambassodors arrived The Grand Seignior's vexation redoubled when he understood what Confederacies the Pope and the Soldan had made together He loudly complained of the Conduct of the Grand Master and by an express Ambassador he bloodily reproached even to threaten him that he would never observe any Laws of Civility with men that did not keep their word As fierce as the Grand Master was he did not always give way to his Passion for when affairs required moderation there was no person more tractable nor more condescending than he Therefore to appease Bajazet at a time when it was not for the good of Christendom to exasperate him he gave him to understand That the removal of Zizim did not at all injure the Treaty of Peace the Tenor of which was in respect of the Sultan That the Knights should be answerable for his Person and should do their utmost that he should not fall into the hands of any Prince He assur'd him that Zizim was in Italy under the Guard of the Knights of Rhodes as he was in France and that no Prince could call himself Master of his Person He added also That the change of his Residence was by the absolute order of those whom the Knights were bound to obey Besides that this change if rightly consider'd had nothing in it but what was advantageous to the Port That Charles the Eighth a Person of great designs might have taken Zizim out of the Commanderie of Bourgneuf when-ever he had had occasion to make use of him whereas being in the Pope's power he could make no advantage of him In regard that not having a power sufficient of himself it was absolutely necessary for him to joyn with other Princes if he intended to carry a War out of Italy That an Union was a difficult affair and such a one as required long time as being oftentimes crossed by the jealousies of Princes and at this time impossible because of their divisions The Grand Master declared moreover That Bajazet had nothing to fear while he kept himself quiet but the least motion against Italy would awake all the Princes of Christendom and enforce them to an Union against him That now the best course he could take was to manage his business in Italy to break the Correspondencies of the Soldan That an Ambassador of the Port would be well received at Rome and that he was onely there to seek for the success of his affairs The Grand Seignior who was not then in a condition to be revenged for the breach of word which he pretended and found probability enough in the Grand Master's Reasons never stood long to consider what he had to do He resolved to be quiet and to follow the counsel which had been given him
which would be in two days at farthest with his good leave The Letter from Pesaro was larger and more rational the effect whereof was That whereas Ravestein had undertaken the Siege without advising with the Venetians he had also rais'd it of his own head That it was no wonder that an Enterprise so ill manag'd should have no better success That the French preparing for home there was no likelihood that the Venetians should stay at Meteline That they were making to Scio and that if it were his pleasure they should joyn with the Knights they were ready to do what he should think best for the good of Christendom Pesaro added that there was no heed to be given to the Popes Promise for that his Fifteen Gallies were onely in Idea That the Spanish Fleet was about Taranto and that the Portugal Fleet having gain'd Corfu was return'd home notwithstanding all the intreaties of the Venetians pretending they could not stay long out in bad weather in those Seas The Grand Master was more perplex'd at the ill success of the Enterprize of Meteline then surpriz'd at it But believing that the return of the French Fleet would do more harm to the Affairs of the League then the raising of the Siege he dispatch'd away a Foist to Naxi by which the French were to pass desiring Ravestein not to return till they had discours'd together He sent another to Scio to desire the Venetians to meet him at Naxi and to let them know that he had made great Preparations for their assistance that he had left Rhodes in a bad Season and almost contrary to the advice of his Council That the misfortune of Meteline was not past recovery and that they might return to the Siege with more success provided the French had not lost their courage He desired Pesaro to stay Ravenstein at what rate soever if they were yet together or earnestly to write to him if they were parted The Rhodian Fleet set sail from Lango presently after the Foists and in spight of contrary Winds arriv'd at length before Naxi But Ravensteins impatience to quit the Levant would not permit him to stay for the Knights He set sail precisely two days after he had wrote to the Grand Master according to the purport of his Letter the Prayers of the Venetians the Honour of France nor his own being able to stop him The Grand Master had not been so well appeas'd at the departure of the French had he not met the Venetians in sight of the Island After mutual Salutes of both Fleets Pesaro came aboard the Grand Master where after some deliberation upon the present state of Affairs they concluded together to write to all the Princes of the Croisade to engage them to let their Fleets be ready against the Spring They also agreed that the true way to ruine the Turk was not to make any attempts upon the Islands of the Archipelago the loss of which would do him but little harm but to force the Dardanels and besiege Gallipoli with a potent Army then to make up directly to Constantinople and fire the Fleet that usually rode in the Sea of Marmora which the Grand Master would undertake to do provided that Ladislaus perform'd his part upon Hungary side This being the condition of Affairs at that time the Grand Master took his leave of Pesaro and set sail for Rhodes three of the Venetian Galleys attending him out of respect The Rhodians who did not expect his Return so soon were pleasingly surpriz'd at it yet easily brookt the misfortune that restor'd them their Grand Master No sooner was he arriv'd but he had intelligence that several Turky Merchants Ships very richly laden were in the Seas of Syria and Egypt homeward bound The Council was of opinion that such a Booty was not to be let slip but that they should take this opportunity absolutely to break with the Port. Thereupon the Grand Master commanded out seven Gallies and some Boats to way-lay them The Knight Diomede de Villaragut Castellan of Emposta was nam'd Admiral of the Squadron He put to Sea and took the Ships so that the Prize almost recompenc'd the Expences which the Knights had been at But for all this small success the Master was not a little troubled at the slowness of the Princes He was sensibly afflicted to see the League half-broken and therefore to renew it again he sent Ambassadors to all the Christian Courts Who were no sooner departed but Ambassadors arriv'd from Ladislaus King of Hungary who after they had congratulated the Grand Master as General of the League assur'd him that the Hungarian Army was in readiness and therefore desir'd him to engage the Grand Caraman the Soldan of Egypt but above all the King of Persia to take up Arms against the Turk The Resolutions of Ladislaus extremely rejoyc'd the Grand Master but the Revolutions then hapning in Persia somewhat qualifi'd his joy Jacup the Son of Vssum Cassan succeeding his Father in the Kingdom of Persia was affraid lest Arduel his Cousin should one day usurp the Crown and his fear was upon good grounds Arduel publickly gave out that Ali was the true Interpreter of the Law and thereby he almost overthrew Mahumetism The People who are always dispos'd to receive Novelties and are easily govern'd by them that know how to tickle their fancies with Religion declar'd themselves for the Doctrine of Arduel Thereupon Jacup thought the favour of the People to be a sufficient crime for which to put him to death and rid himself of him without any noise And a little while after he gave the same order for Ishmael the Son of Arduel That order of the King of Persia was not so secret but Ishmael had notice of it Upon which he fled towards the Caspian Sea to a Prince that was one of his Friends and there immediately made a publick Profession of what his Father had taught him His comely Presence and his Eloquence soon begat him a high esteem among those Barbarous Nations even to be regarded as a kind of Deity for which reason they gave him the name of Sophi or Wise He dextrously kept up so fair a Reputation and believing it lawful for him to do any thing to obtain a Crown he got the King of Persia to be put to death by the very means of the Queen her self who hated her Husband and lov'd Ishmael After the death of Jacup Ishmael return'd into Persia with a great number of his followers who lookt upon him as a Prophet sent by God The most part of the Persians took his part so that having got together a good Army he march'd against Alvant who had tak'n possession of the Throne as being the eldest Son of Jacup The new King was driv'n first from his City then defeated in a great Battel and slain by Ishmael's own hand This fatal news quite dampt the courage of Alvant's Brother whose name was Maracatam and lay at Babylon with a numerous Army
So that in stead of marching against Ishmael he fled to the Mountains and abandon'd the Throne that belong'd to him to save his life Thus the Usurper became the Master and though all the Kingdom had not yet submitted to his Scepter he caus'd himself to be call'd King of Persia These Revolutions appear'd no way favourable to the King of Hungary nor to the intentions of the Grand Master There was no probability that Ishmael Sophi would engage in the Affairs of the League while Persia was not yet at Peace within it self and all those accidents were still to be fear'd that might ruine a new Dominion unjust and unsetl'd besides that the Successes of Ishmael naturally bred suspitions in the King of Caramania's breast Which reasons would not permit him to enterprize against the Turks when he had enough to do to secure himself at home Nor was the Soldan of Egypt in a better condition to favour the Princes of the Croisade for besides that he was embroil'd in the Domestick Dissentions of his own Court he fear'd the victorious Arms of Ishmael who by the advice giv'n him by Attula Turcoman threaten'd to begin his Conquests with those of Syria and Egypt when he had setl'd himself in Persia Nevertheless when the Grand Master better consider'd he bethought himself that the Troubles of Persia would be no way disadvantagious to the Enterprize of the Christians for that the Turk alarm'd with the Success of his Victorious Neighbour and Enemy would be oblig'd to keep very numerous Armies upon the Fronteers of Turky and that being thereby much weaken'd he might be the easier vanquish'd at home The noise of the League no less perplex'd Bajazet then the Revolutions of Persia Understanding therefote that the Grand Master was the Head and Soul of the Enterprize he be thought himself of dealing with him by the means of Sultan Corcut the best belov'd of all his Sons to whom he had giv'n the Government of Anatolia Corcut being well instructed by the Ministers of the Port what part he was to act sent very rich Presents to the Grand Master with a most obliging Letter wherein he requested his friendship and conjur'd him after a thousand offers of his services that they might live together in Amity and good Correspondence and that there might be a freedom of Trade between each others Subjects He added that his Father had given him all power in reference to a peace and that he was ready to do what ever the Knights desir'd But these fair words could not dazle the Grand Master He knew by the Turks themselves who were his Spies that the famous Pirate Camali who had fitted out several Vessels at Gallipoli for the service of Bajazet was just ready to set Sail out of the Straits with above fifty men of War to attack the Isles that belong'd to the Order So that without entring into any further Negotiation he frankly declar'd That being nominated General of the League by the Pope he could not forsake the Common Cause nor could hearken to any Peace which the Grand Seignior would not make with all the Princes of Christendom as well as with the Knights of Rhodes The Grand Master declar'd himself upon this point so much the more boldly because he knew that seven of the Popes Galleys were joyn'd to the Venetian Armado at the Island of Cerigo and that his Holiness was setting out thirteen more the care of which he had given to the Knight Fabricio de Caretta who was then at Genoa This news was brought to Rhodes by an Envoy of the Bishop of Baffo under whose Conduct the Galleys set Sail and who had also in Charge a Brief from the Pope to be deliver'd to the Grand Master This Brief contain'd many Applauses of the Grand Masters Actions and many Excuses of the Popes Neglect That he had the most sincere intentions in the world but that the misfortunes of the times would not suffer him to keep his word that he would repair what was past with advantage and send Twenty Galleys instead of Fifteen But to return to the Sophi He had no sooner establish'd his Throne partly by fair partly by foul means but he resolv'd to extend his Conquests Instead of advancing against Egypt as he intended he fell into Armenia with fourscore thousand fighting men drawn thither by the Neighbourhood and the hatred which he bore the Turks In this Expedition Ishmael soon mastered Armenia after he had cut in pieces above twenty thousand men Bajazet alarm'd by the Success of the Conqueror gather'd all his Forces together to defend himself but he could not believe himself able to resist so potent an Enemy while he was at odds with the Christians For that reason he made Propositions of Peace to the Grand Master and the Republick of Venice The Grand Master who had intelligence of every thing and in particular knew the Consternation of the Grand Signior fail'd not to give notice of it to the Pope that never a fairer opportunity offer'd it self to ruine the Common Enemy That Bajazet was oblig'd to go in Person against the Persian for want of a Basha experienc'd in Military Affairs in whom he could absolutely confide That the Sophi a liberal and affable Prince drew to his Party the Militia of the Grand Signior That there was no likelihood of any accord between Persia and Turky in regard a Conqueror hates nothing more then Peace Therefore he besought his Holiness not to neglect the opportunity that Providence presented But the Commotions in Italy render'd all these Remonstrances void For while the Turks and Persians make War one against another the French and Spaniards break the Peace which they had made They had contracted an Alliance against Frederick of Naples who succeeded Ferdinand his Nephew and had got possession of his Dominions by force of Arms. But Ambition soon divided them which it had united Lewis the XII and Ferdinand King of Castile became jealous each of other neither could endure a Competitor nor a Companion both of them claim the whole Kingdom which they had parted betwixt them And the differences of their Ministers touching the limits of their common Conquests serving for a pretence occasion'd a most bloody War that fill'd all Italy with horrour and confusion The Bishop of Baffo who had joyn'd himself with the Fleet of the Venetians had intelligence of the Rupture between the two Crowns at what time the Naval Army of the Venetians had taken the Island of Santa Maura from the Turk with the assistance of a Squadron of Knights which the Grand Master sent them and some Galleys of a French Captain call'd Pre' Jan de Bidoux a very understanding Seaman and a very stout Souldier Presently the Bishop gave a shrewd guess at the ill success of the League by the state of affairs in Italy and according to his Instructions he gave notice to the Grand Master That new divisions hinder'd his Holiness from being exact to his word
Additions to C. Ciaconius says That all was great in him his Wit his Courage and his Piety That being invested with the Sacred Purple he was never the more remiss in Military Duties and that he had perform'd at one time Actions worthy of a Holy Cardinal and a Generous Souldier The same Author adds That the Magnanimous D'Aubusson in all the Conduct of his Life had no other aim then onely the Glory of God and Honour of his Order That he govern'd his Subjects with as much Lenity as Justice and that his Paternal Goodness was principally eminent towards the Poor The Ecclesiastical History speaks of him as of a most admirable Person and one that merited all manner of Applause In short the History of the Knights of St. John extolls him above all the Grand Masters equals him to the Hero's of Antient times and propounds him as a Model to all the Princes of Christendom A CONTINUATION Of the HISTORY OF Rhodes Under the Government of Philip de Villiers Lisle Adam Containing the Siege of Solyman the Magnificent no less famous â—â—â—n that Mahomet the II. UPon the death of Peter D'Aubusson Emery D'Amboise Prior of France then absent was chosen in his place in whose time though Bajazet swore to besiege Rhodes with a puissant Army yet he attempted nothing He was a Prince vertuous valiant charitable and successful in his Enterpizes so that under his Government the Knights perform'd several notable Exploits to the honour of the Order and won among the rest that famous Victory at Sea from the Soldan of Egypt signaliz'd by the death of the Soldan's Nephew who commanded the Fleet. To Emery D'Amboise succeeded by a fair Election Guy de Blancefort Prior of Auvergne In his time Sultan Selim having caus'd his Father Bajazet to be strangl'd and put to death Achmac and Corcutt his two Brothers with their Wives and Children possess'd himself of the Empire wherein he was â—o sooner settl d but he design'd to lay siege to Rhodes The Report whereof alarum'd the Grand Master to make preparations for his defence wherein he proceeded as far as could be expected considering the short time of his Government for in less then a year he dy'd and left his place to be supply'd by the Admiral de Carretta who the first thing he did made a League with Ishmael Sophi the King of Persia against Selim. For understanding that the Turk still continu'd his vast preparations for War he thought it was but a piece of common Providence to provide for himself But the Storm fell upon the Soldan of Egypt who being overthrown in Battel lost all Syria together with his life in the first place and soon after his Successor having twice unfortunately fought Selim himself and being by him at length taken and hang'd upon one of the Gates of Caire lost all Egypt of which Selim made himself absolute Master But whether Selim intended any mischief against Rhodes or no his death hasten'd the fate of Rhodes for upon that the Empire fell to his Son Solymon the Magnificent the shock of whose fury and puissance upon the death of the Admiral Caretta Philip de Villiers Lisle Adam Prior of France was chosen to withstand being elected Grand Master the 22d of January 1521. whose deportment in so Grand a Siege would he too unkindly left out where D' Aubusson's Fame is so honourably expanded it being certain that never two Courages were better mated in story Never was a City more valiantly defended nor more valiantly lost And it is a question undetermin'd whether of the two got most Amurach by rising from it or Solyman by taking it while the one prudently sav'd the other became a meer prodigal of blood Philip de Villiers was absent at the time of his being elected and therefore Gabriel de Pomerols was chosen his Lieutenant till his arrival Which dignity while he executed he thought fit to send to the Pope a Model of the City of Rhodes that he might see how it was fortifi'd But that which might have prov'd of higher concern was the arrival of another Embassador from the Grand Sophi to continue that private correspondence which was begun with Carretta Unluckily he finds Carretta dead so that his Commission being at an end he went to visit Amurath the Son of Sultan Zelim in the behalf of the Sophi That young Prince was entertain'd by the Order at their own Expences in the Castle of Ferracla whither the Knights sent several Presents to the young Sultan that he might be able to gratifie the Embassador who soon after return'd home to his own Prince not so much as mentioning any thing of the business for which he was sent The Grand Master being in France at the time of his Election made all the haste he could to his charge departing from Marseilles in the Carrack of Rhodes together with four other hir'd Vessels But his Voyage seem'd to be somewhat inauspicious For one of the Vessels was split by the way and the great Carrack it self had like to have been burnt being all on fire through the carelesness of the Cook but was happily quench'd again through the industry and authority of the Grand Master More then this having past by Nice and Corsica a flash of lightning shot it self into the main Cabin of the Carrack and melted his Sword without hurting the Scabbard Which little accidents were by some interpreted as ill omens of the success of the Siege of the Rhodes that soon after happen'd Cortogoli also the Grand Turkish Pirate laid way to intercept the Grand Master with a great number of Gallys and Galeots partly out of hopes of booty partly to revenge the death of his Brothers which the Knights of Rhodes had slain and to set the third at liberty being then a slave in Rhodes However the Grand Master contrary to the advice and entreaties of the Knights and great Personages that attended him with full sails made the Cape of St. Angelo and in the might time pass'd the place where the Turks lay in wait for him and arriv'd safe in Rhodes Cortogoli mad that he had so miss'd his prey some time after enters into the Channel of Rhodes hoping by his unlookt for coming to find some opportunity to do mischief But being discover'd the Grand Master sent forth the Rhodian Fleet against him the sight whereof not only put him to flight but made him forsake a Vessel of Candia which he had almost taken While things were thus transacted at Rhodes Solyman being come to the Empire contrary to the Opinion of all men that he would be a peaceable Prince soon after displaying the inordinate Ambition of his Predecessors with a vast power of men besieg'd Belgrade in Hungary and took it This Victory swell'd him up so that burning with a desire to conquer Rhodes yet willing to conceal his design that he might the better make his preparations he sent an Embassador to the Grand Master to whom he deliver'd a
THE LIFE Of the Renowned Peter D'Aubusson Grand Master of RHODES Containing Those Two Remarkable Sieges of Rhodes by Mahomet the Great and Solyman the Magnificent being lately added to compleat the Story adorn'd with the choicest Occurrences in the Turkish Empire at that Time LONDON Printed for Geo. Wells and Sam. Cair Book-sellers in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1679. To the READER MEN of Active Spirits and designing Fame and honour hereafter can no where better benefit themselves then by reading the lives of such Persons as have trod the same steps before them For in the lives of great Personages they find those Examples of Conduct which they are either to follow or avoid Since that by celebrating the deeds of good men they that come after are incited to deserve well of mankind To this purpose the Author of this short story chose to revive the memory of Peter D'Aubusson Grand Master of Rhodes a Person for courage and piety not inferiour to any of his time For the truth of what he writes He informes ye where he had it from an ancient Manuscript written by William Caoursin Chancellour of the Order who wrote nothing but what he was an eye-witness off As also from several other original Papers which he found in Malta it self Nor did he refuse the help of Khodgia Afendy a Turk who living at the same time wrote a Relation of the Siege with a great deal of Justice to the high merits of the Grand Master Thus then the vigorous fury of Mahomet the zealous and fortunate resistance of D'Aubusson the misfortunes of Zizim a pleasing yet melancholy variety though inseparable from the story being the Subjects of this Relation 't is something probable that they that seek either for instruction or divertisement cannot fail of their expectation However it is wholly left to them to be either severe or Candid Judges as they find most Reason The loss of Rhodes is added not only to compleat the story but to revive the renown of the Great and Famous Villerius who sustain'd the whole power of the manificent Solyman till his Pride was quite tyr'd out Insomuch that had not Treachery within put a fatal period to the flourishing Estate of Rhodes Solyman might have waited long enough upon Palermos for the conquest of that City In short they that read to the end of these few Pages will find variety sufficient for so small a volume and a recital of such actions as rather deserv'd the Grandeur of a Heroick Poem then the ordinary dress of Prose THE HISTORY OF Peter D'Aubusson Great Master of RHODES PEter D'Aubusson whose History I have undertaken to write was by providence chosen out among the French about two hundred years since to set bounds to the Conquests of the Infidels And He it was that sav'd Rome from the destiny of Constantinople defending Rhodes against all the force of Mahomet the second Emperour of the Turks He was the Son of Reginald D'Aubusson Lord of Monteil-au-Viconte in Marche and Margaret of Comborn both of the most Ancient and Illustrious Houses in the Kingdom He receiv'd from nature together with a Noble Birth a strong and proportionable body fit for great undertakings a quick wit and vertuous inclinations As he was born valiant and that the fiery constitution of his body could not away with an idle life he took upon him the profession of Arms so soon as he was of Age to handle a sword The Truce which had been concluded between France and England by the address of Cardinal Sainte Croix Legate to Pope Eugenius the fourth and the Peace which follow'd oblig'd him to seek for Employment and Honour in Germany The Emperour Sigismund had potent enemies both at home and abroad The Hussites made war against him in Bohemia and though they seem'd inclinable to a submission after the bloody Battel of Pragne where they lost above twenty thousand men yet Rebellion was all they had in their thoughts They were also so much the more to be fear'd by how much they were highly inrag'd at their defeat and that rage redoubl'd in some measure the zeal which serv'd for the pretence of their Revolt But the greatest mischief was in Hungary where the Turks made horrible havocks Sigismund who was at that time tak'n up with the affairs of the Council of Basle not being able to oppose himself against the Torrent which threatned to overflow all Germany sent away with all speed Albert Duke of Austria his Son-in-law to repel the Barbarians Aubusson by chance or rather by a particular Providence of Heaven got a Command in this Army For providence having design'd him to a Profession and a Trust that concern'd the Defence of Christendom so order'd it that he should perform his first feats of Arms against the enemies thereof The Prince march'd with all the hast he could and though far inferiour in number he no sooner discover'd the Ottoman Army but he fell on with out any farther deliberation The beginning of the Combat favor'd the Imperialists They overturn'd at first whatever Resistance oppos'd them and made a very great slaughter Aubusson who felt his courage kindl'd upon sight of the Infidels flew a great many with his own hand and fought alwaies in the formost Ranks But when the Victory seemd to have been assuredly on Alberts side the Turkish Cavalry surrounded that of the Christians and fell upon them so impetuously that they made them give way and broke them upon the first charge The disorder was not long Aubusson rally'd all the Troops about him and renew'd the fight under the conduct of a Hungarian whose name is not recorded in Histories though his valor deserves to live eternally in the memory of men This brave person remarkable for his tall size of body and his undaunted Air together with Aubusson sustain'd almost without other Assistance all the whole power of the Enemy and with his battle-axe in his hand after he had beat down several made his way through the rest Which Action so Resolute as it terrifi'd the Turks so it reincourag'd the Christians All Alberts Troopes follow'd this new Leader who seemd to be sent to them from Heaven and as if they had at the same time been inspir'd with fresh Vigour they charg'd the Barbarians so rudely that eighteen thousand lay dead upon the place the rest thought of nothing but Flight While the Arms of Sigismund had this happy success in Hungary his affairs prosper'd no less in other places The Hussites weak'nd by their Losses and either terrifi'd by the Threats or gain'd by the Promises of Emperor at length return'd to their duty The Treaty of Prague put an end to all the Troubles of Bohemia and upon a sudden the Imperial Authority was re-establish'd All things being thus calm'd and Albert having disbanded his Troops Aubusson attended the Nobility that went to the Emperour's Court. There he was receiv'd as one that contributed highly to the Victory in Hungary and that which was related
he could put on a mild and engaging Aire when he pleas'd His Serraglio follow'd him every where and he gave himself up to his pleasures in the midst of the toyles of war but he was melancholy and cruel in the height of his pleasures killing sometimes with his own hand his Favourites and his Mistresses in the heat of his debauchery so soon he alter'd from love to choler and fury He also committed these cruelties sometimes in cold blood more out of Policy then transportation And it is reported of him that when he reproach'd the Souldiers for effeminacie and slackness in discipline certain among them taking the boldness to hit him in the teeth with a young Grecian whom he passionately lov'd he caus'd her to be brought forth and to be by them beheld at leisure whereupon when the Souldiers dazl'd with her beauty agreed that the Emperors passion was not without good reason Mahomet immediately striking off her dead with his Scimitar laid her head at their feet to let them understand that Pleasure was not his Master and that whatever proneness he had to it he lov'd nothing beyond his duty He was brought up by his Mother in the principles of Christianity instructed by Maximus Patriarch of the Greeks However he only made profession of the Mahometan Religion or ratherhe had no Religion at all laughing at his Prophet and regarding less the Alcaron then the Gospel He freely confess'd that the Christian Law was an admirable Law but he so much abhorr'd the Christians that when he met with one he was alwaies wont to wash his hands and mouth as if the very sight of a Christian had defil'd him He thought all things lawful to obtain his ends and never kept his word but when it stood with the conveniencie of his affairs For he pretended that he ow'd no respect to any one and treated all men like slaves not considering that he ow'd to himself the fulfilling of the word which he had giv'n to others and that the laws of fidelity oblige the Masters as well as the Slaves Yet was he just to his Subjects and administer'd justice equally to all his people He thought much spoke little neglected nothing inform'd himself of all things and disguis'd himself often to see what pass'd in his Serraglio and in his Army He understood several Languages and several Sciences amongst the rest Astrology which he study'd very much He was a lover of learned men and excellent Artists of any Nation whatever Magnificent toward the one and the other Observing no moderation in reward no more then he did in punishment Indefatigable he was in war a contemner of danger resolute in bad fortune insolent or moderate in prosperitie as occasion requir'd cunning to conceal his enterprises and discover those of his enemies Artificial in his management making use of the vilest means to compass his ends but ambitious to excess accounting all his conquests as nothing and still every day proposing new to himself So predominant was the love of honour in him and Alexander the great so much his model that he read his life continually which he caused on purpose to be translated into Arabic and he did him the honour to imitate him even in his vices When Mahomet had taken possession of the Ottoman Empire after the death of Amurath his Father he was presently for an universal Monarchy and first he undertook to subdue the Empire of the Greeks He began his military expeditions with the seige of the Capital notwithstanding the peace which he had made with Constantine Paleologus Emperor of Constantinople or rather it was under the protection of a peace solemnly sworn that the Barbarian turn'd his armes upon that side In regard Constantine had made no provision against an attempt which he did not mistrust and for that the succour which he receiv'd from the King of Arragon the Pope and the Republick of Venice came too late he could not sustain the force of so great an Army so that the City was carri'd by assault by the Infidels notwithstanding the resistance of the Christians Never was seen a more tragical spectacle than that which was then beheld They made a most horrible slaughter every where nothing escap'd the fury of the Souldiers Women Virgins of qualitie were publickly defil'd and afterwards inhumanly massacred The Images reliques of the Saints were cut to pieces The Resemblances of Christ thrown to the dogs and the great Crucifix dragg'd about the streets with most dreadful acclamations and imprecations Constantine rather chose to dye in the defence of his Crown and faith then to fall alive into the hands of the Barbarians His head was carried upon a Lance round about the City and that there might not any footstep remain of the family of the Paleologi Mahomet caus'd the Princes and Princesses of the Blood-Royal to be slain in the midst of a magnificent Banquet whereat he treated the Principal Officers of his Army The taking of Constantinople cast a terror upon all the East and oblig'd the Despote of Servia the King of Cyprus and the Emperour of Trebizond to sue for the friendship of the Turk Which they could not obtain but upon paying a certain Tribute as the Islands of Scio and Meteline did The Knights of Rhodes would not stoop to any such dishonourable condition and though Mahomets Ambassador threatn'd the Knights with all that could be expected from a Potent and Victorious Prince if they refus'd to pay him 2000. Duccats a year the grand-Grand-Master answer'd with a generous Christianity That the Order of Rhodes acknowledg'd none but the Apostolick See which knew not what it was to pay Tribute and that for his part he was resolv'd rather to dye a thousand deaths then to suffer in his time that the Government which he had receiv'd free should become tributary and that if Mahomet made war against the faith of Treaties he hop'd that God who is the revenger of injuries and impieties would defend his own Worship against all the Ottoman Power In regard the Knights were fearful least so fierce an Answer might provoke Mahomet they made it their business to provide against so formidable an enemy But because the Society was then poor and not able to maintain a long war of it self they thought it their best way to engage the Christian Princes to their side especially the King of France upon whom they lookt upon as the best friend of their Order The Commander D'Aubusson was chosen for this Embassage out of all the Commanders of the French Nation Not only because he had a particular knowledge and dexterity in managing affairs but because he was known to the Court of France He departed from Rhodes at the time that James de Milli succeeded John de Lustic Grand-Master of the Order and arriv'd in France a little after the Cardinal d'Avignon whom the Pope had sent thither to encite the French against the Turk The Embassador of Rhodes was entertain'd
and excus'd himself for not having done more at the present juncture frankly engag'd himself to give them farther assistance and assur'd them of his friendship in very civil and affectionate language which Kings were not wont to make use of But whatever obligation the Order had to Charles the seventh the Spanish Knights could not forbear to deal very rudely with the French Knights at a general Chapter held a little after the return of the Embassador and which was no less famous for the attempts of Hostile Nations or enemies of France then for the number of famous Commanders that were present So soon as the Chapter war open'd the Knight de Linian Procurator of the Spanish tongue stood up and said aloud that they ought not to proceed any farther without decreeing one Article which he ought to propose and which was very important the publick tranquility To which purpose he requir'd that all the dignities of the Order should be equal and that there should be no distinction of Languages nor of precedency nor in any other marks of Honour He was seconded in his proposal by the Knight de Rivalta Procurator of the Italian tongue and the Procurators all England and Germany But the French who had alwayes match'd before other Nations oppos'd with all their might the Proposal of Linian and above all the Commander D'Aubusson who held a considerable degree in the Assembly by vertue of his title of Constable of Rhodes and Procurator of the Grand-Master The zeal which he had for the Honour of his Country made him speak louder and more earnest then the rest To shew how unjust the Proposition of the Spaniards was he declar'd in few words that the French being the first Founders of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem deserv'd such honour as should distinguish them from other Languages that were associated with them and which they had adopted That those particular honours being the recompence of their vertue it would be injustice to deprive them of them That their Predecessors had peaceably enjoy'd them without being ever molested or oppos'd That antiquity of Possession was a good Title for precedencie And that in a well regulated Constitution all Innovations were of dangerous consequence After all that it was not a time then to dispute of such matters and that they would incur the malediction of the Church according to the Popes Breif touching the celebration of the Chapter if they discours'd of any other matters then what concern'd the general good of Christendom The Spaniards and their accomplices often interrupted Aubusson and endeavour'd to carry by force what they could not obtain by justice But finding at length that the French party was the strongest and that they were not all hearkn'd to they flung out of the Assembly and afterwards departed the Town notwithstanding the prohibition of the Grand-Master so that this Affair which as the Spaniards pretended so much imported the publick tranquility was but a trick to divide and break up the Assembly But the Commander D'Aubusson had another occasion to stand up for the honour of France while he defended his own The news being brought to the Grand-Master that Mahomet was equipping out a great Fleet and that the Turks might attacque the Island of Rhodes the Knight Villemarin a Spaniard and a person of merit but ambitious and naturally turbulent propos'd in Council with much heat that he might immediately give order for all things necessary for the defence of the City and made a large recital of what was needful with all the marks of a sedulous care Aubusson who was Castellaine of the City and who besides that exercis'd the Command of Captain General in the absence of the Marshal of the Order fearing least Villamarin whose haughty and daring humour he knew should usurp the charge of Captain General answer'd him sternly that there was no want of power that he might set himself at rest for that and that he had nothing to do to intrude himself upon those duties that did not belong to him That it was the Captain General who was to take care for the security of the City That that employment anciently belong'd to the Auvergnon Tongue and that the Spanish Language bad nothing to do with it Villemarin made a semblance of submitting to his reasons and gave no reply at that time either to conceal his design or to give himself time to consider what he had to do But the next day having consulted the Knights of his own Nation which were return'd to Rhodes whose behaviour the Grand-Master had also pardon'd he appear'd at the head of them in Council and with an affected Air of modesty said that the Spanish Language did not pretend to the charge of Captain General but that he and all the rest of the Nation desir'd that they might have the opportunity to perform their duties to the utmost of their power as well as the French Aubusson who saw that this manner of proceeding was only a meer fetch and that the Spaniards under pretence of demanding the exercise of their duty had a design upon the Command it self repli'd with more sternness and vigour then before that the charge of Captain General was annexed to the dignity of Marshal of the Order that only belong'd to the Auvergnian Language of whom the Marshal was the chief to do the duties of it and that Spain had nothing to do to meddle with France as to that particular The Council adjudg'd that Villemarin's wariness was without any ground and the Affair was decreed in favour of the French to the disgrace of the Spaniards who in vain protested against all that was done in regard that their Protests could not be Register'd Notwithstanding the advantage which France had in these Contests that hinder'd not but that Peter Raymund Zacosta a Castillian was chosen grand-Grand-Master in the room of James de Milli who dy'd at that time the Spaniards were also divided into two Languages the one Arragonian the other Castillian in favour of the latter of which there was a new Dignity created under the of Chancellor of the Order Yet neither the credit which the Spaniards had with the new Grand-Master nor the animosities which they had conceiv'd against the French could hinder but that the Commander Aubusson had alwaies his share in the management of Affairs and was highly honour'd by the Chapter General which was held at Rome To understand this part of the History it is convenient to relate the reason which oblig'd the grand-Grand-Master to pass into Italy with the principal Knights at a time when it was thought that they ought not to have been absent The Negotiation of the Embassador which Mahomet sent to Rome to treat of peace or rather to lull the Knights asleep while his Arms were employ'd in other places having not taken effect the Grand-Master thought it convenient to lay up a bank for the War and began to levy the Tax which had been impos'd upon
all the Estates of the Order The most part of the absent Commanders who lead lives irregular enough and for whom great Revenues were not large enough to maintain their luxury refus'd to pay that which was their due However to excuse themselves in some measure they cry'd out that the Tax was too high that Zacosta sought only to ruine them and enrich himself and that his Government grew every day more and more tyrannical They also did him ill offices to the Princes which they found enclin'd to hear them The Italians and French did all they could to animate against him the Duke of Venice and the King of Naples but the Spaniards render'd him altogether odious to the King of Arragon already provok'd for that the Council of Rhodes had tak'n from an Arragonois the Commandery of Emposta to put Zacosta in his room That Prince who was one of the Greatest of his time and who wanted not for credit at Rome inform'd the Pope of all and advis'd him to send for the Grand Master and to examine how he had carry'd himself The Pope believ'd the King of Arragon but to save in some measure the honour of the party accus'd he order'd the General Chapter which should have been held at Rhodes to be held at Rome where the affairs of the Order might be better consulted then in any other place Zacosta who was ignorant of the evil designs of his enemies blindly obeys the Orders of the Pope and his innocency seem'd to afford him strength to undergo the toil of a Voyage in the extremity of old age In this famous Assembly it was wherein Paul the second presided in Person that the Commander D'Aubusson was highly preferr'd For besides that at the opening of the Chapter he was chosen for one of the Procurators of the Treasury he was one of the sixteen Knights that were afterwards elected and who according to the Statutes of the Order had a joint power to look after the most important affairs But his principal business was to justifie the innocence of the Grand Master Zacosta to which purpose he ply'd Cardinal Vrsini and the Arch-Bishop of Milan who were brought into the Chapter by the Popes order being persons in whom the Pope had a great confidence After he had well inform'd them of the loose life of the Knights who refus'd to pay the Tax he easily made them understand that the Complaints which they made against the Grand Master had no other foundation then the dissoluteness of his Enemies But to remove out of the Popes thoughts all apprehensions of any tyrannical Government exercis'd by the Grand Master he engag'd several of the most sober and prudent Knights to give testimony to the Pope of the conduct and management of Zacosta The Pope was asham'd that he so easily believ'd the accusers of Zacosta and to make him some kind of publick satisfaction he caress'd him and shew'd him more then ordinary favours before all the world But as his Holiness had been inform'd by Cardinal Vrsini and the Arch-Bishop of Milan of the debauchery of the disobedient Knights he consulted with the Grand Master how to reduce them to their duty He also made a speech in Latin to the Knights that were assembled upon the obligation that lay upon them all together to lead a life not only vertuous and regular but holy and irreproachable The zeal of the Pope rais'd up that of the Chapter They seriously fell to consider what way to take to remedy the disorders that were crept into the Order and made Laws for the Reformation of Manners which after they had been examin'd by the sixteen Knights and some of the Cardinals were approv'd and confirm'd by the Pope himself Aubusson was extreamly rejoic'd that he had not labour'd in vain but he had not the satisfaction to see the Grand Master himself put the Laws in execution Zacosta dy'd as soon as the Assembly was broke up The Pope was so much the more aggriev'd at it because he lookt upon himself to be in some sort the cause of his death for it was the general report that this journey to Rome had shorten'd the days of that venerable old man He was buried with a magnificence extraordinary in the Church of St. Peter before the Chappel of St. Gregory The Marble that was laid over him sufficiently testifies him to have been illustrious in piety in charity and in wisdom and his Epitaph might have serv'd him for an Apology had he had any need of it after his death Baptista Vrsini Prior of Rome was elected Grand Master before the Knights were separated He departed for Rhodes presently after his election upon information that his presence was absolutely necessary there When he came there he found the Treasury wasted the Fortifications decay'd good part of the Ammunition spent and all the Inhabitants of the Island alarm'd at Mahomets preparations The Barbarian puft up with his former Conquests advanc'd every day like a surious Torrent that finds no resistance or which becomes more impetuous and rapid by the resistance which it meets with The death of the generous Scanderbeg made him more insolent then ever insomuch that when he heard the news he said that he would now be soon Master of Christendom since she had lost her Sword and Buckler The first step which the Grand Master made to remedy these disorders was to recall all the Knights which the journey to Rome had scatter'd or which the pleasures of Italy or the affairs of the Order hinder'd from returning The Commander Aubusson who was recall'd by name came to Rhodes at the same time that two Gallies were preparing to succour the Island of Negropont into which Mahomet was enter'd by land with an Army of two hundred thousand men by the help of wooden Bridges built upon great Barks in the Streight of Saint Mark while Basha Mahomet his Favourite assail'd it by Sea with a Navy of two hundred Sail. The impatience which Aubusson had to fight the Infidels made him eager for employment upon this occasion The Grand Master had already nam'd the Knight Cardona to command the Gallies so that all he could do for Aubusson was to give him the Command of a Troop of stout men that were order'd to be the Companions of Cardona's Fortune When the Gallies were ready they set sail and join'd with the Venetian Fleet which the Republick sent to the relief of Negropont The Fleet appear'd in view of the Isle when the Barbarians were ready for the assault and Mahomet who saw them coming was not a little troubled But all that preparation came to nothing and the Knights were forc'd to lye still and behold the City taken before their faces through the cowardice or imprudence of the Venetians who having the Wind and Tide favourable instead of making use of the opportunity stopt short and fell to consultation when it was time to act The Grand Signior was so enrag'd at the succour which the Order had given
all things before the marriage of the Princess Charlota and was afterwards in little esteem reveng'd the Queen's and her own disgrace by poysoning the Duke of Conimbria She had a Son whom she passionately lov'd and whom during her grandeur she had made a kind of absolute Minister of State The death of the Prince restor'd to the Mother and the Son the authority which they had lost But as persons of mean Birth usually forget themselves when rais'd above themselves the insolence of the one and the other was so excessive that they us'd the Dutchess most contemptuously Charlota deeply resented both the death of her Husband and the scorns put upon her when she was a Widow She complain'd to her Brother James de Lusignan and her Complaints were not in vain for this natural Son of the King equally cruel and ambitious kill'd with his own hand the Nurses Son not so much to satisfie his Sister as to govern in his room and to open to himself by that means a way to the Throne The Queen who tenderly lov'd her Nurse could not be brought to pardon James whom she mortally hated besides so that to avoid the anger of a Woman a Queen and a Mother-in-Law he was forc'd to conceal himself in the Venetian Consuls House and at length to quit the Kingdom In the mean while the Dutchess of Conimbria who was in the flower of her age and in the full splendor of her beauty was remarried with Lewis Son to the Duke of Savoy Soon after this marriage the King and the Queen dy'd The King by his Will declar'd Charlota his only Heir But the natural Son whom ambition blinded had no regard either to the Laws of Nature or the last words of a dying Prince He made War upon his Sister and his Brother-in-Law by the assistance of the Soldan of Egypt who rather chose to have a Grecian Prince his Tributary then any other Marc Cornaro a Gentleman of Venice who liv'd at Nicossa and was very rich did not a little help the Bastard to make himself Master of the Isle and usurp the Crown The Usurper therefore to acknowledge his services and to fix the Venetians at the same time to his interests espoused Katharine the Daughter of Carnaro after the Commonwealth had adopted her But this new Dominion was too unjust to endure long or happy The Uncles of Katharine who shar'd in the Government poyson'd the King of Cyprus with a design to raign themselves And it was in favour of his Widow that Michael Salamon came to Rhodes on the behalf of General Loredano who was gone to Cyprus to restore Katharine to the possession of her Kingdom The Venetian Ambassadors deliver'd a Letter to the Grand Master from the Duke of Venice full of reproaching and menacing Language Afterwards he himself declar'd with much haughtiness that since the Common-wealth had adopted Katharine Cornara that it was an injury done to the Venetians to favour Rebels that caball'd against a Daughter of St. Mark and their lawful Queen So proud and surly an Embassy no way pleas'd the Grand Master however he thought it not convenient to provoke the Venetians by too severe an answer at a time when the order had their hands full Nor could he stoop to qualify them with an answer too much beneath himself And therefore he answer'd with a Gentility and sowreness mix'd both together that the Knights of St. John neither meddl'd with the differences in the Kingdom of Cyprus nor would they suffer any Traitors in Rhodes but that the Island being a free Island they denied admittance to no Christians who desir'd to live among them like Christians Salamon was not satisfy'd with the Grand Masters answer and Loredano less He thought his own presence would do more then his Embassador for which reason he hastens away to Rhodes When his Gallies enter'd the Port the Master sent four of the Grand Crosses to congratulate his arrival and to present him with all sorts of fresh Victuals but being informed of the occasion of his coming he sent to tell him plainly that he could make him no other answer then what he had already given him That concise Declaration caus'd the General to understand that his Voyage was lost so that without considering any farther with himself or so much as setting foot ashore he return'd with all the choler that could inspire a fierce and daring person for having tak'n so much pains so little to the purpose The haughtiness of the Venetians was not the only cause of the ill success of their Embassie The kindness which the Grand Master had for Charlota de Lusignan had a deep share therein Though the Knights of St. John had never openly declar'd for Katherine Cornara nor were willing to contest with the Venetians about their affair certain it is that in their hearts they were all for Charlota de Lusignan whether it were that they were satisfy'd in the Justice of her cause or that the compassion which they took upon her misfortunes caus'd them to embrace her interests or whether it were that the most of them were taken with the Charms of her beauty They had seen her several times at Rhodes she was as yet young enough for her misfortunes had not defac'd her beauty nor depriv'd her of her natural gayity of humour She spoke very pleasingly and readily according to the natural Genius of the Greeks she drest her self after the French mode and her disposition her air and manners plainly shewed her to be of Royal Extraction The Grand Master had always admir'd in the person of Charlota besides the graces of her body and mind a prudence that exceeded age and a constancy above all her sex But the chiefest motive was that she had put her self under the protection of the Knights and for that she had already receiv'd all the assisting kindnesses that she could in reason expect Her acknowledgment also oblig'd them to shew her new marks of their esteem and affection For she publickly declared that she had been more oblig'd to the Knights of Rhodes then to all her nearest Relations and because the Commonwealth had adopted her Enemy she was wont pleasently to say that if Katharine Cornara were the Daughter of St. Mark of Venice Charlota de Lusignan was the Daughter of St. John of Jerusalem But perhaps the great esteem they had for Lewis of Savoy her husband contributed more then any other reason to make the Grand Master and Knights favourable to her interests They were all perswaded that the order of St. John were beholding for their preservation to the house of Savoy and it was a common opinion among them that Amadeus the fifth surnam'd the Great coming to the relief of Rhodes and having constrain'd Ottoman to raise his Seige took for his impress these four Letters F. E. R. T. that is Fortitudo ejus Rhodum tenuit his Fortitude kept Rhodes And that in his arms he chang'd the Eagle of Savoy into the
Cross of the Order to let all the World know his devotion to the service of the Knights immortalizing the memory of an action that had been so serviceable to them Nevertheless the whole Story is but a Fable without foundation or probability For the devise Lewis of Savoy Baron de Vaud who dy'd in the year 1301 stamp'd it upon his money ten years before the Seige of Rhodes And in the Cathedral Church of Agosta upon the Sepulcher of Thomas de Savoy the second of that name there is still to be seen a Dog lying at his feet with this word engraven upon his collar FERT in Gotthick Letters without any points or separation of Letters As for the Cross the predecessors of Amadeus the fifth carryed it instead of the Eagle either as Earls of Piemont the Arms whereof were the Eagle Or in imitation of Amadeus the third Earl of Savoy who took the Cross upon him in the year 1147 and kept it at his return from Palestine as a testimony of his expedition beyond the Seas Amadeus the great also wore it himself in the year 1304. when he appear'd at the Treaty which he made with Stephen Coligny Lord of Andelot But though the Story of Amadeus be false in all the circumstances it pass'd for Currant at Rhodes as well as in other places And therefore it is no wonder if the Grand Master led by the Popular error respected Amadeus in Lewis Charlota's Husband beyond either Katharina Cornara or the Venetians The Proposal which the sub-Basha of Pizzonne Governour of Lycia made to the Grand Master was heard more favourably then that of the Duke of Venice There were at that time several Knights and many subjects of the order Slaves to the Turks These Barbarians in whom sometimes covetousness serves as a Counterpoise to cruelty had a desire to get Mony and the Sub-Basha sent to Rhodes a Merchant call'd Cachim Brahim to traffick for the delivery of the Slaves The Grand Master who stood in need of Men and sought nothing more then the liberty of so many unfortunate Persons was soon perswaded to treat with the Turkish Merchant and he agreed also according to the Sub-Basha's command that there should be a Truce for a Month between the Order and the Turks that they might treat without interruption During this Negotiation there happen'd one thing very remarkable one of the Turks that belong'd to Cochim Brahim one day offer'd his service to the Grand Master to bring him an accompt from Constantinople of the designs and readiness of the Ottoman Army of which they had no certain news for a good while He promis'd to make all possible hast and after he had confirm'd his words by most terrible Oaths he said that he could not resist that inward Motion that compell'd him to serve the Knights against his Law and his Prince Though the Grand Master did not much rely upon the faith of a person who had all the looks of a Traitor yet he thought it not convenient to refuse an offer which if it fail'd could do no harm So without confiding in the Turk or making any semblance to defy him he gave him a pasport for his return and out of hopes that God would be pleas'd to overthrow the designs of Mahomet by the means of a Mahometan he suffer'd the voluntary spy to go where-ever the Spirit which he spake of conducted him But if Heaven on the one side seem favourable to the Order of St. John on the other side it seem'd no less incens'd against it For a prodigious Tempest arose all of a sudden when the Sky seem'd to be very serene The Rain in an instant made an Inundation over all the Countrey and the wind threw down several houses in the City among the rest the Archbishops Palace That which was most deplorable was that the violence of the Storm shook the old Wall of the City and overturn'd a good part of the new Had the Enemy then come Rhodes had been lost so far had he been from finding resistance there that he had only come to view the Image of a City tak'n and sack'd The publick Consternation made the mischief more lamentable The People that are presently alarum'd by any thing that appears extraordinary took such a horrible Tempest as a certain presage of their ruin and the greatness of the danger had certainly cast them into a general despair had not the constancy of the Grand Master supported them Scarce was the Tempest over when a Contest which the Greeks and Latins had about I cannot tell what point of Doctrine rais'd a Popular Tumult Of a single despute by degrees they made a real quarrel which came to blows And as in quarrels about Religion every one is apt to call his particular transportment a piece of merit their Animosity and fury one against another wax'd so hot that several had been kill'd upon the place had not the Grand Master made use of all his policy and authority to appease the Tumult He did not content himself to make both parties lay down their Arms and to punish the most culpable to keep the rest within the bounds of their duty but he resolv'd to pull up the Root of the Sedition and because the difference was about Religion he engag'd the Arch-Bishop of Rhodes and the Metropolitan of the Greeks to make a Reconciliation A pacification being thus made and the walls of the City being almost repair'd he made a visitation through the Island to view himself and to give order for the Fortification of those places that had need of defence Having spent a whole month in this Visitation at his return he found the Greek Spy who inform'd him that the Infidels made very great preparations that their Fleet was to set sale with the first Wind from the streight of Gallipoll and that it was certainly confirm'd at Constantinople that the great Turk would set upon the Knights of St. John The Grand Master well know that it was one of the maximes of the Turkish policy to give out false reports the better to conceal the true design That it was their custom to keep an Enemy in suspence for several years to the end he might exhaust himself with continual and needless preparations that they came upon their Enemies when they were weary of expecting them and thought no more of them But on the other side he was not ignorant that they did not always observe the same rules nor the same method in War but that it was one of their Stratagems to divulge the expedition which they intended that people should not believe it or that it was design'd at a distance and in the mean time to use all diligence imaginable to prevent the resistance and provision of the Enemy And therefore he thought it the securest way to neglect nothing and to provide against a siege as if the intelligence of the Spy had been unquestionable After he had taken upon him the charge of Captain General
of Rhodes which the Council besought him to accept he chose out for the defence of the City four Captains of assistance as they were then call'd and assign'd to every one their duty and their Post Besides the Knights which he had already sent to Lango he sent with the Title of Captain of assistance the Knight Grimaldi with the same Commission for the Castle of St. Peter which the Lieutenant of the Baily of Germany was to visit by his order In the mean time Intelligence came that the Fleet of the Barbarians had set sail out of the Streight to the number of two hundred Gallies that they were then at the Island of Scio and would soon be at Rhodes This News made the Grand Master give order that all the Country people should retire into the Forts and that no person should stir forth till the Light-Horse appointed for the Guard of the Island had visited the Coasts and and all places where the Turks could lye in Ambuscado He order'd also that all Strangers and Vagabonds that were in Rhodes should be all enroll'd and that the Knight Friqueroly should command them That all Vessels that were in port should be stay'd and that they should be furnish'd with all things necessary for their subsistance He sent at the same time a Brigantine to Scio to observe the Enemies Fleet and he understood that the Infidels had in vain attempted the taking of Stalimene where they had put all to fire and Sword that from thence they sayl'd to Scio where they had had no better success but had made the same havock that from thence they were fall'n into Lango From whence after they had wasted the whole Countrey they were gone to Patmos with a design upon the Castle of St. Peter and thence to return to Rhodes but understanding that the grand Master had put those Forts into a good condition they had steer'd another course and after they had comitted some spoil at Naxi they were return'd at length to Constantinople This Intelligence somewhat enliven'd the Rhodians however it did nothing slak'n the Industry and Vigilance of the Grand Master He knew the tricks of the Infidels and it was one of his Maximes that it was equally dangerous to be lull'd asleep upon good news as to be alarum'd at bad Moreover he was advertiz'd by his Spies that the Turk was absolutely resolv'd to besiege Rhodes that that expedition was deferr'd till the next year and that Mahomet would command in Person How untrue soever this intelligence might be the Grand Master made his best advantage of it As the hope of relief inspires both consolation and courage during a Siege he order'd the Knight Cardona Baily of Marjorca who was gone into Catalonia and Arragon to put in execution the orders of the last Chapter touching the new Taxes to levy men and to buy all sorts of Ammunition and provisions to send them away with all speed and to agree with the Masters so that they should be oblig'd to enter the Port though the City should be besieg'd But because that many of the Knights were abroad and that the Council was resolv'd to hold a General Chapter to provide for the present necessities the Grand Master wrote to all the Priors a Circularory Letter the Original whereof is still preserv'd among the Records of Malta wherein he laid before them the great necessity of their assembling altogether the near approach of the Enemy his power the goodness of his Souldiers and his determin'd resolution to ruin the Order of St. John Then he besought them to lay those things to heart and consider the dangers that environ'd them and that it concern'd their safety and their honour not to prefer the pleasures of this world before the defence of all Christendom After he had sent away this Letter he represented very earnestly to the Council that for the preservation of the people of Rhodes it was necessary to repair and regularly to fortify the Castle of Caravia which fell to ruin He gave them to understand that the Countrey where this Castle was built wanted Inhabitants because the Countrey people were forc'd to retire to the most remote places and that it would in time be quite dispeopl'd though that part were the most pleasant and fertile of all He added that that Countrey was not to be quitted nor left desert but that the whole Island would suffer very much and that to avoid those Inconveniencies he thought it very necessary to reinforce that place so that it might be defended and serve as a Retreat for the Countrey people like the other Fortresses The proposal of the Grand Master was approv'd by all the Council and for the more speedy putting it in execution it was resolv'd at the same time that a years revenue of the Office of the Grand Mastery vacant by the death of the Grand Master Baptista Vrsini which was put into the Treasury should be employed upon that necessary use And in regard the last Chapter had order'd the making new Walls and Bastions about the Castle of Rhodes the Grand Master caus'd some of the Money that came from France to be paid out for that purpose Lewis the Eleventh who succeeded his Father Charles the Seventh and who when he was only Dolphin had honour'd the Grand Master with his particular favours forgot him not when he came to the Crown He was inform'd in general of the condition of the affairs of the Levant by the Knight D'Ambrose who was sent to receive the Money in the Priories of France and Champaign which was due to the Order But he was fully inform'd by the Chevalier Blanchfort who came a little while after to present to his Majesty a Leopard and two Falcons of a rare breed The affection which he bore to the Grand Master made him take those courses for the relief of the Knights which perhaps he would not have done through any motion of zeal That Prince requested of Pope Sixtus the Fourth a Jubilee for all those persons in his Kingdom that would assist the Rhodians He obtain'd that which he demanded provided that all the Money that should be collected from the charity of the faithful should be employ'd for no other use then for the defence of Rhodes nor can it be said how much this Jubilee advantag'd the Order The affairs of Rhodes being thus settl'd at home he began to rekindle the feud which was between Turks and Saracens and having brok'n with the one he omitted nothing with the Pope's permission to league himself with the other His management was so successful that the Saracens themselves further'd it as much as in them lay The Soldan of Egypt who fearing the Arms of Mahomet sent to Rhodes his Favourite Dovan Diodar to renew the Peace with the Knights After some conferences between the Saracens and the Grand Master the Ratification was made and the principal Articles of the Treaty were that the Order should not set forth any Ships or
after the Venetians had rais'd the siege of Rhodes in the year 1464 the Grand Master Zacosta considering of what great advantage a Fort built upon those Rocks would be for the defence of the City began that very year to build the Tower of St. Nicholas and that Philip Duke of Burgundy gave twelve thousand Crowns in Gold to finish it which engag'd the Knights to set the Arms of the Duke of Burgundy and the Provinces under his subjection upon the Tower This was the condition of the City of Rhodes when it was besieg'd by the Army of Mahomet The Fleet came to an Anchor just against St. Steven's Mount and mauger all that the Knights could do to hinder their landing the Turks got footing and lodg'd themselves immediately upon the Mount and in the neighbouring plains At the same time they brought a-shore all their Artillery also and their Engines of War The Basha had in his Army which consisted at least of a hunder'd thousand men all the best Squadrons of Anatolia the choice of the Spahi's and Janizaries above four thousand Voluntiers several Beys of Romania and other Governments and lastly several Companies compos'd of the Veteran Bands that had follow'd Mahomet in all his military Expeditions No sooner were they encamp'd but a Troop of Voluntiers came briskly up to the walls of the City to brave the Rhodians whether the first heat with which they landed were not yet allaid or whether they thought that some bold and irregular action could do no harm at the beginning of the Siege But their precipitation cost them dear for a party of the Knights fallying out upon them charg'd them so vigorously that after they had flain a great number of them they put the rest to flight The Knights were no sooner re-enter'd but the Barbarians return'd in better order and far more numerous to observe the condition of the Town The Renegado Demetrius was in the head of them in whom the Basha most confided since the death of Meligale Thereupon the Knights made a second sally commanded by Antony D'Aubusson Vicount of Monteil the Grand Master's Brother He arriv'd at Rhodes but some days before with an Equipage and a Train answerable to his Quality He came to Rhodes not only with an intention to go to Jerusalem and to visit the holy Sepulcher according to the custom of those times but also to assist the Grand Master his Brother and to serve the Church finding himself in a Siege with which the Knights were menac'd every moment He was a person of great Honour and Generosity very skilful in the art of War and one that profoundly understood the world He was made Captain General of the Rhodians upon his arrival the Heads of the Council who knew his worth making choice of him with one consent He had brought along with him several Gentlemen of Marche that were his Tenants or else his Friends not to speak of other Souldiers that accompani'd him of which the chief were Lewis of Chaon of one of the most noble Houses of Anjou William Gomare of Xaintonge Matthew Brangelier of Perigord Claudian Colombe of Bourdeaux Charles le Roy of Dijon and Lewis Sanguin of Paris The Vicount of Monteil staid not till the enemy came up to him but march'd to them with his Sword in his hand and charg'd them vigorously with his Troop The Turks sustain'd the first charge without stirring and Demetrius encourag'd them so by his words and his example that they at length made the Christians give ground They had perhaps put them to disorder if the Vicount of Montel had not impetuously spurr'd his Horse upon the chief of the Barbarians who seem'd to him to be the most resolv'd and couragious The Knights followed the Vicount and behav'd themselves so valiantly that the enemies were presently cut to pieces mauger all the resistance they made Demetrius defended himself with all the courage that honour and fury could inspire into him But his Horse being kill'd under him he was himself thrown to the ground and trampl'd over by the Horses Insomuch that he who had abjur'd the Faith and conspir'd the destruction of Rhodes advanc'd the design of the Infidels no more than his friend Meligalus over whom he had only this advantage to dye with his Arms in his hands and signalizing his valour a death too noble for a Renegado and a Traytor The Rhodians in this encounter only lost the Knight de Murat of the Auvernian Language and one of the bravest persons of the Order He was encompast by a Body of Spahi's being in the pursuit of some that ran away and run through in a thousand places while he was disarming Demetrius The Turks put his head upon the end of a Lance and to comfort themselves for their misfortune carri'd it into their Camp with most hideous yellings and shouts of derision The body was recover'd out of their hands by Knights and the Grand Master caus'd him to be enterr'd with all the pomp and honour that so renown'd an action deserv'd These first attempts not having succeeded with the Infidels the Dutch Engineer advis'd the battering of St. Nicholas Tower believing that if they could master that the City would soon surrender or at least that they should thereby hinder any Vessel from getting into the Port. The Basha believ'd the Engineer and the Turks carri'd three great pieces of Artillery into the Gardens adjoyning to St. Anthony's Church which commanded the Tower They presently cut down the trees and after they had plac'd their Gabions to secure themselves they shot without ceasing The Grand Master immediately rais'd a Counter Battery with three pieces in the Garden of the Auvernian lodgings Now in regard the noise of the Cannon that never lay still all day long alarm'd the inhabitants he walk'd his rounds about the City accompani'd by the principal Knights confirming the courage of the people by his presence He also visited all the Posts the same night encouraging the Souldiers and exhorting them to fight couragiously for the Faith No sooner the day began to peep but the German Engineer appear'd upon the brink of the City Moat humbly desiring the Guards to open the Gates for him but the Souldiers had certainly shot him had not some of the more prudent Knights prevented them Thereupon by the command of the Grand Master he was set in and conducted to the Castle He was a person of a very good presence and tall in stature he had a crafty wit quite contrary to the character of his Nation bold enough and one that knew how to use his tongue He was known at Rhodes and was accompted one of the most skilful Artists of his time Being examin'd what reason had brought him thither he answer'd that he came to defend Rhodes That he could no longer endure the reproaches of his own conscience for having employ'd his art against the faithful that preferring his Salvation before his Fortune he did absolutely renounce the advancement
Capitulation yet not willing to hazard the Assault took a strange resolution to put an end to the Seige He consider'd that the person of the Grand Master was the main obstacle that hinder'd his taking the Town and that the Knights would never surrender so long as they had such a valiant and expert Commander so that he thought the best and safest way was to make sure of him This design of his he communicated to two Renegado's who coming to the Turks Camp at the beginning of the Siege had abjur'd the Christian faith and made a shew of much zeal for the Mahumetan Sect. The one was a Dalmatian the other of Albania They had both of them acquaintance in Rhodes and the Albanese who was a crafty and intelligent person was very well known to one of the Secretaries to the Grand Master an Italian whose name was Philelpho The Renegado's themselves immediately offer'd to do the business either by stab or poison Though the Execution were both difficult and dangerous but a wicked man may do any thing when he fears nothing At the time when the two Assassinates were preparing to leave the Camp Aly Basha arriv'd there from Constantinople Mahomet who began to be disturb'd at the Siege had sent him expresly to advertize Paleologus that he would come himself with a reinsorcement of a hundred thousand men and fifteen hundred Cannon of a prodigious bigness Whether the advice were true or false the Infidels receiv'd it as an Oracle which assur'd them of the victory For the very name of Mahomet fill'd the Camp with joy and inspir'd new heat into the Souldiers This produc'd an effect quite contrary in the City The Renegado's who got into the City one after another that they might not seem to have any acquaintance one with another were receiv'd as persons ransom'd out of Captivity having given out that they unfortunately fell into the hands of the Barbarians in the second Sally At their first admittance they reported that Mahomet was coming with a formidable Army and that all was lost if they did not come to a Capitulation before his arrival Some of the Italian Knights who guarded the post on that side and questionless were not the bravest of their Nation were affrighted at the news Some Spanish Knights also who took the Alarum upon the same noise joining with the Italians caball'd together and had private Conferences in the night time the result whereof was that since they could not save Rhodes they should at least save the honour of the Rhodians by making an advantageous Composition The Italians who were the Captains of the Cabal discover'd their design to Philelpho in whom the Grand Master repos'd a great trust and after they had made him of their party they engag'd him to represent to the Grand Master the necessity of yeilding to save the Island from the utmost miseries of War Philelphus was a person of Hononour and Sincerity but one that lov'd his Nation and had too great an esteem for his Countrey-men to think them guilty of any treachery And therefore believing that the Italians meant well and that acting with the Spaniards they could not take any wrong or injurious courses he not only undertook to speak but acquitted himself of his promise So soon as the Grand Master understood by his Secretary what had past he sent for the most factious before him and dissembling at first his indignation he told them in somewhat bitter language that if they so much fear'd Mahomet they should do well to get out of the way that he gave them free liberty to be gone and that they should have Galleys for their convenience But then again changing his tone with a stern countenance But if you will stay with us added he never mention composition and be assur'd that if you continue your Cabals I will hang ye up every Mothers Son These words pronounc'd with so much authority were like a thunder-stroke to the guilty They acknowledg'd their fault and seem'd so asham'd and sorry for it that the Grand Master thought them severely enough punish'd and thus mixing mildness with severity and contented with their submissive penitence he pardon'd them upon the spot But the Knights whom the goodness of the Grand Master had absolutely confounded adjudging themselves unworthy of pardon after so unworthy an action besought him not to pardon their fault till they had wash'd it away with the blood of their enemies and their own All this while the two Traytors laid their plots and sought all means to execute their design the Albanoise who knew that Philelphus who was no more entrusted with the knowledg of affairs since the Cabal of the Italians fail'd not to insinuate to him that he had now nothing more to hope for in Rhodes that credit with great men once lost was seldom regain'd That usually they to whom they had imparted their secrets became hateful when once suspected that the hatred of those who could revenge themselves unpunish'd is always to be fear'd and that the safest way was to suffer himself to be forestall'd There needed no more to a person so quick-witted as Philelpho to divine what was aim'd at He had always look'd upon the Albanese as a fellow of no Religion or conscience and this unexpected return did but augment the bad opinion which he had conceiv'd of him For which reason he made no question but that this wicked wretch had been gain'd by the Infidels and that he was return'd to Rhodes out of a design to do some mischief However the better to inform himself he made semblance of giving ear to his arguments and withal hinted to him that he would be very ready to prevent his enemies provided he might be well seconded The Assassinate catching at this bait frankly disclos'd himself he declar'd the whole business to Philelpho and having shew'd him the Basha's Letter to hasten the execution he promis'd him as much as could tempt the ambition or interest of a man How great a dread soever Philelpho had of so horrible a crime he consented to it in outward appearance But so soon as he had taken his leave of him he went and gave the Grand Master an account of what he had understood Immediately the Albanese was seiz'd upon who was already applauding himself for the success of his enterprise He deny'd all at first with that boldness and confidence which is usual with Criminals But soon after he confest all touch'd either with remorse of conscience or forc'd by the violence of his torments The Dalmatian who was introduc'd into the Grand Master's Palace by another means and who had already corrupted one of the Officers of his Kitchen was at the same time apprehended upon the confession of the Albanese They were both executed at a time and by the people cut in pieces in abomination of the crime Thus the Conspiracy fell upon the head of the Conspirators by a secret conduct of Divine Justice which oftentimes makes
continually from side to side so that there was a great slaughter in a short time In the mean time the Galleys being come up close to the Rock and the Wood'n bridg being fix'd to the point of the Rock by the assistance of the Barks a multitude almost innumerable of the Turks gave the assault on that sight where the Gross of the Wall was fall'n down The discharges that were made so thick upon them brake their first effort and threw headlong a good number of them that were already got up The rest were repuls'd by the Knights that defended that part and there it was to be seen how sometimes valour might prevail against number The Grand Master who was every where encourag'd the Knights and confidently assur'd them of victory provided they themselves would but do their best to overcome While the heat of the Combat encreas'd the Batteries which the Grand Master had planted against the bridg took that effect as was expected For the Bridg was cut in pieces at the same time when a reinforcement of Souldiers was upon it who all perish'd miserably being neither to be reliev'd by the Barks nor able to save themselves by swimming under a Shower of Stones and Arrows that follow'd the discharges of the Artillery The Enemies Galleys ceas'd not to batter the Tower of St. Nicholas and to tire the Knights But they resum'd new vigour when they perceiv'd that the Bridg was broken and that the Assailents could no longer be that way reliev'd and that which more encreas'd their resolution was that the Artillery of the Tower had sunk four Galleys with several Ships of War and that the Fire-Ships sent against the rest had dismay'd and disorder'd the whole Fleet. This However did not hinder the Infidels from being obstinate in their assault for despair sometimes instead of abating raises courage Both sides fell on again without remorse and the Combat which had already dilasted three hours began again with more violence then ever The day which soon after appear'd did but serve to irretate the Combatants while it discover'd the Massacre in the Night The sight of so many Bodies stretch'd upon the Earth or floting upon the Sea with the ruines of the Bridg and Gallies incited the Infidels to repair their Honour and the Christians to maintain their advantages Both sides perform'd as much as men of Bravery could act upon such occasions the loss was great upon the Turks side and their most considerable Commanders lay dead upon the place among the rest Mahomets Son-in-law a young Prince very valiant and very dear to the Grand Signior He stood a long time firm upon the ruins of the Tower and kill'd severalKnights with his own hand fortifying himself with heaps of dead bodies But having receiv'd several wounds he fell as he was making a blow with his Scimitar and expir'd in a moment after The death of Ibrahim allay'd the heat of the Barbarians they gave ground mauger all the resolution of their Geneneral who exhorted them to revenge the death of the Grand Signior and with his own hand kill'd some of those that recoil'd But the Knights repell'd and forc'd them at length to retire This dishonourable retreat put Paleologus into a profound fit of sadness When he was return'd to his Camp he shut him self up and there kept himself three whole days together without giving audience to any person either to conceal his grief or to meditate at leisure what farther course to take Now in regard the Turks had lost above two thousand five hundred men in these assaults because the dead bodies which either cover'd the Earth or else were wash'd upon the Shoar by the Sea were enough to corrupt the Air the Grand Master caus'd all the shoar to be cleans'd with a particular care of his own Souldiers And after he had caus'd the Bodies to be enterr'd with all the honour that the present state of affairs would permit He himself look'd after the dressing of the Wounded he visited them every foot and distributed among them with his own hands the rich spoils of the slain And indeed the lying still of the Enemy while their General lock'd himself up gave the Grand Master leisure to attend these particular duties of a Great Commander At length the Basha appear'd abroad and forgetting in some measure the dishonour which had occasion'd his recess he resum'd his usual heat and fury However he laid aside all thonghts of attempting any thing upon St. Nicholas Tower which now he began to think impregnable bending his whole design to reduce the City by dividing the Forces of the besieged believing he should accomplish his work by assayling it in several quarters at once He perswaded himself that when the Walls should be ruin'd in other places as they were in the Jews quarter and the Italian Post that by a general assault he should not fail to enter the place and that the besieged would be constrain'd to surrender when they were no longer able to resist Moreover he made no question but that the German Engineer upon whom he still depended would at length find a way to serve him wherein lay the chiefest of his hopes Thereupon by his order the best Pieces of Artillery were planted round about the City and while they thunder'd upon the Walls the Turks animated by the presence of their General on the one side set themselves to undermine their way through the Earth to make themselves Trenches cover'd with Planks and Bavins to bring their men securely into the Moat Then they rais'd Plat-forms supported with Hurdles and Boughs of Trees and pallisado'd round upon which they planted Culverins and other small shot equal with the VValls and Bastions of the City which fire without ceasing But in regard they design'd to give the assault principally upon the Jews VVall where the Batteries had done most mischeif after they got into the Moat by such passages as they had min'd under ground they endeavour'd by means of the noise and smoak which hinder'd the besieged from hearing or seeing them to fill up the Moat with the Rubbish which the Cannon had loosen'd from the Wall which being thrown together by hazard made a kind of a slope ascent In this they labour'd with so much vigor and success that notwithstanding all the firing from the City that in a short time the Moat was fill'd up almost as high as the Ravelin or Bastion of the Jews so that they might easily get up to the Wall The Grand Master who husbanded his men against the Assault finding that the principal Batteries of the City did little good and that the Enemies advanc'd every day without receiving any great dammage caus'd an extraordinary Engine to play which was made to cast Stones of great weight at a great distance which Engine was call'd the Tribute because it was made in the time that Mahomet demanded a Tribute from the Knights This Engine plac'd just opposite to the Turks place of working wrought
the fortune of Mahomet and his own he despair'd to take the place after so many vain assults and understanding that he had lost above nine thousand men slain out-right and above fifteen thousand wounded which were not in the fight he took care of nothing more then how to save the rest by retiring While the Turks were embarquing their Engines of War and all their Baggage there appear'd two great Ships which Ferdinand King of Spain had sent to the relief of Rhodes Paleologus who saw them making to the Port with full sail considering what a shame it would be to let them enter the Port shot at them with such pieces of Artillery as were not embarqu'd not being able to assault them with his Galleys because the winds were contrary The shot brought one of the Masts of one of the Ships by the board but did the other no harm But the wind changeing and the Sea growing rough of a sudden they both came to an Anch or just against the Port till the tempest forc'd them to make all the sail they could to get in The Ship whose Mast was broken was the more fortunate and steer'd so well that she got in The other being carri'd off by storm fell back into the road so that she was the next day very near the Infidels Fleet. The Basha unwilling to let go a prize that he thought in his hands sent out twenty Galleys to seize her and commanded the Captain of the Galleys to go himself The Christians prepare themselves for fight The twenty Galleys surround the Vessel and thunder upon her on every side and by an incredible kindness of divine protection did them much more mischief then she receiv'd herself However some that were best mann'd fetch'd her up by the strength of their oars and having grappl'd her a whole throng of Barbarians endeavour'd to enter upon all her quarters But the Spaniards and Italians kept their ground with so much resolution that after a bloody Fight of three hours the Turks were constrain'd to give way and the death of the General of the Galleys so abated their courage that they wholly forsook the Vessel Then it was that Misach Paleologus being out of all hope and fearing all the worst of fortune gave order to weigh Anchor and be gone And that which hasted his departure was that he understood by his Spies that the Christians expected a very considerable relief and that the Vessels of Ferdinand were but the fore-runners of the Christian Prince's Fleet. So that the Ottoman Fleet put out to Sea the 18th of August and steer'd toward the Port of Fisco where having set the Army a shore they continu'd their course toward Constantinople The Victorious Ship enter'd the Port of Rhodes almost at the same that the Ottoman Fleet set sail And now it is no difficult thing to apprehend the joy of the Rhodians to see themselves so well deliver'd after a siege of sixty days The whole Port resounded with shouts of gladness and the noise of the Bells mix'd with that of the Trumpets made a pleasing harmony which proclaim'd the raising of the Siege to all the people of the Island But that which most contributes to the publick rejoycing was that the Grand Master began to recover whether the Chirurgeons were deceiv'd in their judgments or that the wound which they deem'd to be mortal were not so indeed or whether there were something divine and miraculous in the cure However in that languishing estate wherein as yet he continu'd he commanded solemn Processions to be made for three days and that Masses should be said in all the Churches of the City for the souls of the Knights and Souldiers that had been slain during the Siege So soon as he was cur'd of his wounds and that he had strength enough to walk he went himself to return thanks to God at the feet of the Altars And because he was perswaded that the protection of the Virgin had sav'd Rhodes he made a Vow to build a magnificent Church by the name of St. Maries of the Victory neer the Jews Wall where the Turks were put to the rout Nor did he delay the execution of his vows for being somewhat better settl'd in his health he caus'd himself to be carri'd to the place and order'd the foundations to be laid in his presence They labour'd might and main at this great work so soon as the fortifications of the Town were repair'd And because the Victory was won upon the day wherein the Greeks solemnize the Festival of St. Pantaleon the Grand Master built a sumptuous Chappel for the exercise of the Grecian Ceremonies in honour of that holy Martyr to the end that the Latins and the Greeks celebrating at the same time the holy Mysteries they might return thanks both together in both Churches for so renown'd a Victory Nor was his devotion enclos'd within the Walls of Rhodes He founded a perpetual Mass every week at the great Altar of St. John of Jerusalem to preserve until the end of time the memory of so happy a success and in some measure to make an immortal acknowledgment thereof in the same place where the Order of St. John had its first Institution But because that having implor'd the aid of St. John Baptist when he fally'd to the Combat he found in his Souldiers and in himself a new courage which could not spring but from above he resolv'd to build a Church in Italy in Honour of the happy Precursor whose body Julian the Apostate caus'd to be burnt and whose precious ashes lye in the Cathedral Church of St. Lawrence at Genoa This Structure time brought to perfection and it was built neer to the Chappel where those holy Reliques are expos'd to the veneration of the people To which that he might do the greater Honour he also built a Convent neer to the said Chappel for twelve religious persons of the Order to sing Divine Service to say Masses for the propagation of the Faith for the Benefactors of the Order and the Souls of the Grand Masters deceas'd to which end he employ'd the Revenue of several Commanderies and his own according to the power which he had receiv'd from the See of Rome He wrote at the same time to the Princes of Christendom to give them advice of the Victory and to engage them to send him relief in case the Turks should make any new attempts and that the Knights should be constrain'd to hold out another Siege But because that Ferdinand's Ships had brought him a Brief from Sixtus which Brief contain'd such expressions as testifi'd how much the Pope did interest himself in the affairs of Rhodes he sent to Rome the Prior of Capua and the Commander of Aliaga with the Title of Embassadors Extraordinary He charg'd them also in their way to wait upon the King of Naples and to tell him how much the Knights were oblig'd to him for his aid That in his own particular he highly
acknowledg'd his Favour and as long as he liv'd should seek all occasions to testify his gratitude Nor was the Grand Master thus contented to declare his obligations to Ferdinand he also gave substantial marks of it to Lewis Palafox a Gentleman of Aragon and Captain of the Ship which had so valiantly defended the Tower of St. Nicholas and the Jews Wall For besides that he presented him with a Diamond of a very great price and made his natural Son a Knight as being a young Gentleman of great hopes and merit He permitted him to carry in chief above the Arms of his Family the Arms of the Order as an authentick proof of the Services which he and his had done during the Siege He also granted other considerable Favours both to the Knights and Souldiers which had most signaliz'd themselves And because the Countrey was utterly laid wast and for that the miseries of the people were not ended with the War he caus'd Corn to be distributed to the Islanders in great plenty and discharg'd them for several years of all sorts of Taxes THE HISTORY OF Peter D'Aubusson Grand Master of RHODES Book Fourth THE Ottoman Fleet carri'd the news of their own misfortune home themselves to Constantinople And Mahomet was as deeply sensible of this misfortune as a wise and ambitious Prince possibly could be who had not prosper'd in an honourable Enterprize which he undertook not but upon great consideration Though he were a great Master of himself and one that could dissemble his particular anguish of mind yet upon the sight of the principal Captains of the Army and in that transportment he was about to have put them all to death The Basha Misach Paleogo his favourite presum'd to tell him with that freedom which his favour allow'd him that they had nothing to accuse him either for his conduct or his courage and that the Mussul-men had done as much as men could do He was glad to tell him withal that the Knights of Rhodes were men of an extraordinary valour and that there appear'd in the Air a bright-shining Troop whose blows neither the Turks could shun nor abide their looks But all these reasons gave the Grand Signior no satisfaction He drove his Favourite out of his sight and was so far from giving him the Vest of Honour which he was wont to bestow upon his Generals and Visiers at their returns from military Expeditions that he commanded him to retire to the Sangiacatship of Gallipoli Nor indeed had Mahomet any other way to cheer up himself for this misfortune but by believing that the conquest of Rhodes was reserv'd to him alone and that it belong'd only to him to tame the Knights and their Grand Master They were soon inform'd at Rhodes of the preparations which were made at Constantinople for a new Expedition nor was the Grand Master idle in preparing to receive them But while the Rhodians were repairing the defences of their City there happen'd extraordinary accidents which chang'd the whole course of their proceedings A little while after the Fleet of the Turks was departed there was heard over the whole Isle a kind of subterraneal noise like to that of thunder that begins to grumble in a cloud This was a prognostication of those Earthquakes with which the Island was terrifi'd for many months The most firm foundations of the City were shak'n by the first shogs and almost over-turn'd by the second shakings which happen'd one after another and which many times did not give over but only to begin again with greater force The half of the Fort of St. Nicholas rumbl'd down one night and the ruines of the Tower overwhelm'd most part of the Souldiers in the Tower As the exhalation that caus'd these motions grew to be more and more enrag'd by the attempts which it made to get loose out of the caverns wherein it was enclos'd the Earth quake encreas'd every day The Earth rear'd it self up and violently bounded forward in some places it cleft and open'd in others Nothing but ruine and abysses appear'd every where nothing was heard but the cries of affrighted people that run up and down to save themselves and yet no where sound security In short it seem'd that the Island of Rhodes which some believ'd was produc'd out of the Sea to make the Earth tremble was now just ready to perish by the same accident for which it was created To add to their affliction these tremblings of the Earth were accompani'd with such prodigious and impetuous showers of rain as if a second deluge had been come to overflow the World Besides all this the Sea swell'd ten foot high and having surpast its bounds over-run the â—â—ty with such an impetuosity and noise as if it came to swallow it up The Rhodians believ'd themselves lost when they beheld how the very Elements conspir'd their ruine at a time as they were threaten'd again with the whole force of the Turks Nay the Grand Master himself would have had much ado perhaps to have sustain'd himself with his natural constancy had not his confidence in God fortifi'd him against so many calamities Upon this Christian confidence it was that he was often heard to say like Moses and David The God of Battel is our fortress when I walk in the midd'st of the shadow of death I will fear none ill because thou Lord art with me He exhorted all the people to take heart but all his exhortations signifi'd little for the people sensible of what they felt abandon'd themselves to those impressions which such sort of calamities produce And that which encreas'd the publick consternation was that about that time Mahomet was set out of Constantinople at the head of three hunder'd thousand men resolv'd to conquer Italy or Egypt so soon as he had conquer'd Rhodes He cross'd the Thracian Bosphorus and took his way for Bithynia with a design to cross all Asia the less and to come to the Port of Lycia before the Knights should know of his march But Heaven is pleas'd sometimes at one blow to bring down the pride of the Grandees of the Earth This proud Prince who thought upon nothing but new conquests was taken away by a violent Cholick in the midd'st of his Army neer to Nicomedia He was three and fifty years old so vigorous that he endur'd all the travels and labours of War without any detriment to his health the anguish that perplex'd him for raising the Seige of Rhodes did not a little contribute to his death He always appear'd melancholly after that misfortune and upon the very naming the word Grand Master he fell into such dull fits as made him insupportable to himself William Caoursin who liv'd at that time and was Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes makes him to dye after a very strange manner For he reports in his memoires that Mahomet passing thorough a Forrest of Bithynia a young Man clad in white of a shape something more then Human presented himself before him with
a visage burning with anger and a flaming Sword in his hand who after he had beheld him with a fiery and menacing eye Most impious among men said he I will run thee thorough with this Sword At which words Mahomet fell trembling from his Horse as if he had been struck with a Thunder-bolt That at the same time he suffer'd most bitter torments which caus'd him to cry out most dreadfully and that soon after he died blaspheming the name of Jesus and cursing the Rhodians Whether the Apparition were true or no certain it is that this Enemy of the Cross dy'd the same day that the Church celebrates the festival of the finding the Holy Cross and that as he was expiring he several times utter'd the word Rhodes and commanded in the extremity of his pangs that this Inscription should be written over his Tomb. My design was to have taken Rhodes and subdued Italy The death of the Ottoman Emperor was the safety of Christendome and particularly of the Rhodian Territories So that when the Grand Master heard the news he gave thanks in publick to Heaven that the Order was deliver'd from so powerful an adversary But that which more encreas'd the joy of the Knights was this that the City of Otrantum was retaken from the Turks in Puglia so soon as the death of Mahomet was known Achmat Basha one of the greatest men of the Empire had made himself Master of this City the year before and had left a strong Garrison therein and settl'd it in a condition not to be assaulted The taking of Otrantum made all Italy shake And the vigorous holding out of the Turks against the Neapolitans that besieg'd it began to make Rome sensible of her danger but when the besieged understood the death of the Grand Signior their courages fail'd them and they surrendred to the Duke of Calabria Son to the King of Naples not staying for the succour of five and twenty thousand men which Achmat was bringing himself These Tydings were acceptable to the Church and then it was that the Rhodians began to take breath after such a series of misfortunes The Earth grew steady and the Sea retir'd so that they had the liberty to repair all the ruins of the City But as the corruption of manners usually proceeds from the disorders of War the Grand Master undertook a reformation of the Knights and people To that end he made severe Laws against those vices that wound Christian Piety and civil society upon which accompt he forbad all manner of unlawful Games These Laws were publickly proclaimed and what was thought almost incredible as readily obey'd but a Soveraign finds no great trouble to make his Subjects obey him when he commands nothing but what he practises himself While all things were calm at Rhodes the two parties that strove to succeed in the Ottoman Empire put all Turky into a confusion Mahomet at his death left two Sons behind him Bajazet and Zi-zim for Mustapha their elder brother was put to death by the command of his Father That young Sultan who who was both stout and valiant and had not long before won a very signal victory from Vssum Cassan King of Persia coming to the Ottoman Court about the particular affairs of his government of Amasia fell so deeply in love with the wife of Achmat that famous Basha that took Otrantum that one day in the hight of his passion he offer'd her violence as she was going into the Bath Achmat complain'd to Mahomet and tore his Turbant and his Vest to express his grief What is that you complain of haughtily answer'd the Grand Signior to the Basha My Son has done nothing but abus'd the Wife of one of my Slaves However to give Achmat satisfaction he gave immediate order that Mustapha should be strangl'd at the same time acting the part of a cruel Father and a just King Thus Bajazet and Zizim remained the only Heirs of the Crown The first govern'd Paphlagonia and resided not far from the Black Sea The Second had the Government of Liconia in Asia the less so that they were both at a great distance from their father when he dy'd They had ever been kept a sunder the one from the other and had never seen one another but once out of a piece of policy of Mahomet for fear least jealousy should divide themselves or a strickt amity unite them both against him They were of a different Character and dispositions resembling in nothing but the passion which they had to raign Bajazet to whom the Turks gave the name of Lightning or Thunder by no means made his Title good as being of a spirit altogether poor and mean and one that minded nothing less then War Zizim whose name signifies love on the contrary had a lively Wit a noble Soul and was most generously enclin'd He was not so handsome as Bajazet but there appear'd in his Person and in his Countenance such a mixture of Grandeur sweetness and haughtiness mix'd together that surpass'd beauty it self He delighted extreamly in hunting and all Military exercises And yet he had no less a love for learning then he had for Arms. He understood Languages among the rest the Greek and Italian he spent some part of his time in reading of Histories and he was then writing the Story of his Fathers Life when the news came to him of his death He was very zealous for the Mahumetan Religion yet not with that head-strong passion but that he had a great kindness for the Knights of Rhodes whom his Father mortally hated Besides all that he had a particular affection for the Grand Master from the very time that the first overtures of peace were made and he had always a design to make as strict a league with him as the law of the Mussel-men would permit And indeed there is such a coherence between the Story of the Grand Master and Zizim that I cannot forbear to relate what happne'd to the two Brothers before the Knights did interest themselves altogether in the quarrel So soon as Bajazet and Zizim understood of the death of the Emperor They both of them minded nothing else but how to get into possession of the Empire But before they took the Field the partakers of each side at Constantinople had taken Arms and declar'd some for the One and some for the Other The heads of each party made out the best they could the right of both Princes They that took Bajazets part cry'd out that nature spake in his behalf for that being the eldest he could not in justice be depriv'd of the Crown The Friends of Zizim pretended that a lazy slothful Prince as Bajazet that gave not his mind to business but led a dissolute life did not deserve to succeed to the great Mahomet They maintain'd that Zizim being endowed from Heaven with all the qualities that made a Prince worthy of an Empire ought to be preferr'd in the succession to his Father And as
to the right of Eldership they added that Bajazet indeed was born before Zizim but that for that very reason he had no right to the Imperial Crown For said they the first is only the Son of Bajazet the other is the Son of the Emperor Bajazet was born while Amurath liv'd and before Bajazet bare the Scepter But Zizim came into the World when his Father was in possession of all the Turkish dominions and after he had conquer'd the Empire of the Greeks so that it might be truly said that this young Prince was born upon the Throne and that Nature as well as Fortune had design'd him for the Empire Both parties thus heated fell at length from disputes to blows the people taking part according as they were seduc'd and inveagl'd by the Janizaries and Basha's insomuch that they plunder'd one part of the Palace and the Imperial Treasure and one of the Grandees of the Court was slain in a popular insurrection wherein there was much blood spilt While this was the condition of affairs at Constantinople and that the two Princes were preparing to make good their claims by force of Arms the Grand Master thought it very convenient to take the advantage of Mahomet's death and of the division of the Princes and to make an attempt upon the Island of Meteline It was then one of the richest Islands in the Archipelago and the most commodious for Knights being seated directly against the mouth of the Straight of Gallipoli The broyls of Turkey made the enterprize easy For there was no likelihood of any relief by Sea from the Infidels when their Forces were all employ'd in a Domestick War These considerations encourag'd the Grand Master to make ready with all speed the Ships of the Order and to spare for nothing that might procure the success of such an important design The Commander de Jales who at that time kept cruzing the Archipelago with two Galleys had order to attend the Fleet. When it was ready it set Sail under the Conduct of the Commander de Carmandin Baily of Lango But sickness happening in the Fleet unseasonable weather and contrary winds disappointed a design the success whereof seem'd to be infallible But that which the Grand Master contriv'd to revenge himself upon the Soldan of Egypt better succeeded For that same treacherous Prince having no regard to the Peace according to the custom and genius of the Mahumetans had sent certain Pyrats to take the Vessels and plunder the Ships belonging to the Order as if open War had been declar'd Thereupon the Grand Master order'd his Galleys to cruize along the coasts of Syria and Egypt and to make all the havock they could upon a faithless Barbarian Which was so effectually perform'd that Caerbei the Soldan soon repented him of his perjury In the mean while Bajazet's party grew strong For while the two Sultans were upon their march to dispute for the Crown by force of Arms Achmat who return'd to Constantinople when the Turks had forsaken Otrantum and who was a person of great authority in the Empire absolutely declar'd for Bajazet whether it were that he was convinc'd of the justice of his cause or that he hop'd to have the Government in his own hands under a weak Prince As he was a man prudent and bold equally skill'd in Politicks as War after he had partly threaten'd partly caress'd the more factious sort he appeas'd the Sedition by setting upon the Throne one of Bajazett's Sons of about thirteen years of age whose name was Sultan Corcut and proclaiming Emperor the Father of the young Prince Bajazett who had already tak'n shipping soon came to Constantinople by the black Sea Achmat receiv'd him at the head of the Basha's and Janizaries that he had gain'd who having all of them saluted him Emperor they conducted him to the Imperial Palace surrounded with the shouts and acclamations of the people who acknowledg'd him the lawful Heir of Mahomet Zizim's Adherents were vex'd to the very hearts to see his enemy upon the Throne but the absolute power that Achmat had gain'd forc'd them to dissemble their resentment and to comply with the advancement of Bajazett However they held private Caballs together and invited the young Sultan to make all the haste he could Zizim who had not the convenience of the Sea but was to march through Bithynia did not understand till he was upon the road of the Coronation of his Brother This unwelcome news did nothing abate the courage of the young Prince He believ'd the people whose inclinations are prone to change and often contrary to themselves would turn of his side so soon as he should appear at Constantinople and he believ'd it so much the more because that Bajazet had been always less belov'd then he With these hopes he march'd in all haste towards Prusia the ancient residence of the Ottoman Emperors and made himself Master of the City with those few Troops which he had brought with him out of Lycaonia This first success seem'd to promise more And therefore that he might not be wanting to his own good fortune he labours by means of his friends to draw to his party the Lords and Grandees of the Port and to regain the affection of the Janizaries got what Money he could together and reinforc'd his Army from day to day Bajazet in whom desire of rule had augmented both his wit and his courage spar'd for nothing on his side to stop the progress of the Sultan his Brother And fearing lest Zizim should make himself Master of all Asia he sent Achmat against him with a numerous Army and made up of the old Souldiers of the Army The Basha who desir'd nothing more then to finish what he had begun makes all possible haste and encamps not far from Prusia in a woody plain resolv'd to carry the place and to get the Prince into his power who was the only obstacle to the repose of the new Emperor Zizim who had not time to fortify the City and wanted provisions to hold out a Siege rather chose to take the field then to be shut up in a weak and unprovided place Thereupon out he marches at the head of his Cavalry and having discover'd Achmat's Troops which he did not think so nigh at hand he resolv'd to give Battel immediately Thus resolving to venture all for a Crown he marches directly toward the enemy telling his Souldiers that there was no other way but either to conquer or dye Achmat stood him with a wonderful resolution and after he had born the fury of the first shock he charg'd him so rudely that the Asiaticks were soon put to the rout The most part of them were raw Souldiers ill disciplin'd effeminate and more accustom'd to repose and luxury then to the noise of arms and labour The Prince return'd to the charge with some of the choice of his Army but they perish'd almost all by his side and he himself had either been slain or
the Ottoman magnificence Had those offers been as sincere as they were made in craft they would not have contented Zizim whose ambition was not to be satisfi'd but with a Crown He rejected them with disdain But knowing that Achmat did but only seek to ensnare him that he might get his person into his power while he kept him in play with fair words he at length was perswaded to retreat The advice which he had of their close pursuit advis'd him to save himself through Forrests and Deserts in the most difficult Streights of Mount Taurus The Caraman follow'd him presently after with his Forces very much tir'd Zizim had formerly secur'd himself in this place from the persecution of an enemy that was not his Brother but judging well that a Brother so unnatural as his would never be at rest till he had establish'd his Throne by the death of him that had the only right to pretend to it after he had made several reflections upon the present and the future he resolv'd to seek the Alliance and protection of the Grand Master whose generosity he was well acquainted with and who was also a friend of the Grand Caraman To that purpose he wrote to Rhodes by one of his most faithful servants but that Messenger was tak'n by the Turks who possess'd all the passes of the Countrey and carri'd to Bajazet who put him immediately to death When Zizim understood that and that Achmat sought for him in all places he left Mount Taurus and took the way of Lycia toward the Sea with the Grand Caraman who was himself his guide Who no sooner were they got clear of the Streights of the Mountain but their Troops who were posted there and were preparing to follow them were surrounded and cut in pieces by Achmat. These new misfortunes put the young Prince upon sending to the Grand Master two prudent and faithful persons the one of which was nam'd Duan and the other Solyman And there happen'd to be at that time a Galiot of the Order that carri'd the Embassadors of Zizim to Rhodes Duan and Solyman fully inform'd the Grand Master of the adventures of their Prince And afterwards they told him that it belong'd to none but the most Illustrious Knights of the World to protect an opprest Innocent and that it was less an honour to humble the proud then to assist the miserable That Zizim requir'd neither money nor men being resolv'd to submit a while to his bad fortune that he did not covet to rule but only sought an Asylum where he might live in safety and quiet They added that in his youth he had had a manifest affection for the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and that he hop'd that the Mahumetan Law wherein he had been bred would not hinder them from taking pity upon a young Prince expos'd to the most cruel persecution that ever was To conclude they told him that nothing would render the Knights of Rhodes more formidable to Bajazett then their having his Brother in their power nor more considerable either in Europe or in Asia then to be Master of the Destiny of a Prince who was Mahomet's Heir These reasons were too sound not to move the Grand Master who understood besides how profitable such an accident would be to all Christendom It was therefore resolv'd in Council to entertain Zizim and the grand Vessel of the Treasury was forthwith commanded together with a Galley a Caravel and other Vessels to go and fetch him They also made ready at the same time a safe Conduct after the same form which the Embassador desir'd The Grand Master made choice of Don Alvare of Zuinga Prior of Castile for so honourable a Command and gave him his Orders how he should behave himself toward the Prince Bajazett on the other side finding by a Letter intercepted and by the advices which he had that Zizim had bent his course toward the Coast of Lycia to pass from thence by Sea to Rhodes sent after him a body of Horse with orders to take him dead or alive Zizim who had intelligence thereof presently retir'd to the Sea side where the great Caraman had prepar'd a Ship ready in case the Prince should be pursu'd The Spahi's however made so must haste that they miss'd him but a moment they appear'd at the very time when he was but just got into the Barque and he was no sooner put off from the shoar but taking a Bow in sight of his Brothers souldiers he let fly an Arrow to the point whereof was fasten'd a Letter the Contents of which were as follow King ZIZIM To King Bajazett his cruel Brother IF I commit a crime in flying for Refuge to the Christians especially to the Knights of Rhodes the mortal enemies of our Illustrious Family 't is thou who art the only cause of it both before God and Men. Thou art not only content to have depriv'd me of the Empire contrary to all Laws Divine and Humane thou enforcest me to seek an ignominious sanctuary to save my life Had Mahomet foreseen that thou wouldst one day have in such a manner disgrac'd the honour of the Name of Mussulman and the Ottoman Race he would have been thy executioner himself But I hope that Heaven will revenge me of thy Tyranny and it is my prayer to our great Prophet to hasten the punishment which thou deservest When the Horsemen saw that the Bark was out of their reach they return'd enrag'd that they had miss'd their prey and carri'd the Letter to Bajazett The Barbarian could not refrain from tears when he read it And it is reported that he was seiz'd with a terrour when he had consider'd it and fell into a deep fit of malancholly So great a power have the conceptions of Nature and Religion at certain times upon minds the most cruel and impious In the mean time Zizim who had heard no tidings of his Embassadors not knowing what course to steer nor were to land in safety wander'd at the mercy of the waves and winds along the Coast of Lycia at what time he discover'd certain Vessels that with all the sail they could seem'd to make toward him Now as it is natural to the unfortunate to be afraid of every thing the Prince imagin'd them to be either Pirates or such as had a design upon his life being in pursuit of him by his Brothers order upon which he commanded the Pilot to gain the first landing-place But the event prov'd to him that he had had a false alarum For they whom he took for Pirates and Enemies were the Ships of Rhodes that were sent to seek him out When the Vessels were within sight of Lycia Don Alvarez according to his Instructions sent Zizim's Embassadors and a Knight along with him to give notice of his Arrival No sooner were they landed but perceiving a Bark not far from the place where they went ashore they found there Zizim himself whom they thought to have been at the
Court of the Grand Caraman The Embassadors gave him an accompt of the favourable Inclinations of the Grand Master and the Knight told him that Don Alvare a kinsman of the Kings of Castile Captain General of the Armies of the Order and the Grand Masters Lieutenant was come on purpose to conduct him safely to Rhodes The Prince who found something that was very acceptable in so strange an Adventure and who perhaps out of pride would not at first confess his flight and his fear to an unknown person smartly reply'd that not questioning the generosity of the Grand Master he thought it convenient rather to come and expect him upon the Coast then to put him to the trouble of searching after him After which the Knight returning to the Brigantine and coming up with the Vessels at Sea Don Alvarez made to the Prince himself to salute him in his own Galley He presented him the Grand Masters safe conduct and Letter and then carry'd him into the great Ship with a loud noise of Trumpets and the Thunder of the Canon The Prior of Castile was one of those Spaniards who being rarely bred perfectly understood the world being no less polite then dextrous in his behaviour and therefore he faild not to pay Zizim all those respects and offices which were due to an unfortunate and afflicted Prince For though ill fortune had not abated the courage of the young Sultan it had however somewhat encreas'd his natural melancholy The Procedure of Don Alvare affected Zizim in such a manner that he testified at first how sensible he was of his kind offices and gentle services Generous Knight said he in loosing a Throne I have not lost those thoughts which Nature bequeaths to the most barbarous And if fortune do not altogether destine me to misery you shall find that I was not born ungrateful But I see your generosity is altogether pure and that in treating an Vnfortunate so worthily you only seek the honour of doing good Yet I cannot wonder enough added he that so much civility should be shewn to the Son of the most implacable enemy Your Order ever had and I must confess that therein I admire your ingenuity Great Prince Repli'd the Knight Reason commands that we should give honour to persons of high birth and real merit whatever their condition be and they are but mean souls that rather follow the Fortunes then the persons of Kings You are forc'd to fly ill intreated by your subjects and depriv'd of your Dominious but you are still a King you are still Sultan Zizim We receive you as a Prince whose virtue and misfortune render him worthy the esteem of Christians and not as an enemy Nor are you to wonder that the Grand Master entertains in this manner the Son of an Emperour who mortally hated us Mahomet your Father did all he could to ruine us we have done all we could to withstand his triumphant Arms and by the mercy of God we obtain'd a signal Victory against him the remembrance of which After-Ages will preserve The Knights of Rhodes know how to vanquish those that assail them but they know how to relieve with humanity those that cast themselves into their Protection nor are there any Injuries which they do not forget when their enemies are no longer able to do them harm The Answer of Don Alvares convinc'd Zizim of the generosity of the Knights and entirely gain'd his confidence The Grand Master had commanded that he should be treated like the Son of an Emperour and a King To which purpose the Officers that first serv'd him at his Table made an Essay of the meat according to the custom of the Courts of Europe Zizim seem'd to be surpriz'd because that Ceremony is not in fashion among the Turks but it was told him it was the usual practice at the Tables of the European Princes and that it was an Assurance against poison Oh! said he I am not afraid of being poisoned by such generous Knights as you I have put my life and fortune into your hands and I hold my self secure Besides I had rather you should treat me as a friend then a Prince Concluding those words he took something out of every dish of which no Essay had been made and putting all the meat into one plate he began to eat to let the Knights know how much he confided in them After that he began to be more gay and pleasant while the good entertainment that he receiv'd had almost made him forget his past misfortunes Nevertheless when the Ships were under sail and that the Coasts of Lycia began to disappear he then began to be apprehensive that nothing could be more worthy of composition then a fugitive and wandring King driven to seek an Asylum in the territories of strangers and of enemies So that the sad thoughts which seiz'd him all of a sudden caus'd him to be profoundly sad for some hours so that all his courage was but little enough to bring him to his former humour For the mean while the Ship kept on their course and they had so fortunate a passage that they came in a small time within view of Rhodes Don Alvarez speeded before in a Brigantine to give the Grand Master notice of the Prince's arrival All things were already order'd for his Entry and among the rest of the preparations there was a bridge of wood which reach'd from the gate of the Port above ten paces into the Sea to the very place where the Ship that carri'd Zizim was to lye The most ancient Commanders which the Grand Master sent before to meet the Prince receiv'd him with all the respect which was due to the Son of their Emperour Mahomet So that while the Artillery play'd from all parts he pass'd over the Bridge which was cover'd with cloth of Gold in the midst of the Acclamations of the people whom curiosity had drawn to the shoar From whence after he had mounted a Spanish Courser richly harnessed he rode forward to the Great Piazza with the sound of fifes and Trumpets conducted by Don Alvarez who did him the Office of a Squire The Streets were all strew'd with herbs flowers and an infinite number of people fill'd the plat-forms and windows Zizim entring into the City was smitten with the beauty which appear'd there very rich in habit as well to see as to be seen and with a loud voice he spoke it that it was not for nothing that the Rhodian women were accounted the fairest of all Asia At the same time that the Ship which carry'd Zizim entred the Port the Grand Master march'd out of the Castle with a pompous train and in very good order He was attended by a troop of young Knights very richly habited and mounted upon horses of high price The Officers of the Order follow'd them every one wearing about their necks a Chain of Gold going two and two with countenances wherein there was both haughtiness and modesty mixed together
The Grand Master appear'd at last apparell'd in Tissue of Gold embroider'd with precious stones mounted upon a Neopolitan Steed whose harness was all embroider'd with Gold and Silver The Squires and Pages that follow'd him were no less remarkable for the splendour of their habits and furniture then for their goodly presences and dexterity in the management of their Horses But there appear'd an Air so noble and something so majestick in the person of the Grand Master that he was easily distinguish'd from the rest of the company A great body of Horse clos'd up the Rear of the Retinue The Grand Master stopp'd before the Church of St. Sebastian and put his men in order in the Piaz expecting the approach of the Sultan So soon as Zizim perceiv'd the Grand Master who was shew'd him by Don Alvarez though he were remarkable enough in many other respects he saluted him according to the manner of the Turks by putting his finger three times upon his mouth The Grand Master on his part making a low obeysance advanc'd toward him and making a second bow gave him a very civil complement in Italian which was answer'd by the Prince with a good grace and in expressions full of good sense After that they gave their hands each to other and having repeated some few more words of friendship and kindness they march'd together to the French Lodgings which were prepar'd for the Prince The Grand Master when they began to set forward gave him the upper hand but Zizim making some reflexions upon it would not permit it at first I am your Captive said he and it becomes not a Captive to take the place of honour Sir answer'd the Grand Master Captives of your condition preserve their dignity in all places and I would to God you had as much power in Constantinople as you have in Rhodes As to the rest Zizim appear'd neither merry nor sad during the whole Calvacade He carry'd the look of a person who had the proof both at one time of good and bad fortune or like one that believ'd himself worthy of the honours which were done him He seem'd however to be highly pleas'd with the behaviour of the Knights and when he alighted from his Horse he embrac'd the Grand Master with a very tender affection calling him several times his Protector and Father That day and for some daies following they had several particular discourses upon the present condition of Affairs but all that time abstain'd from particular conferences However there was nothing omitted for the divertisement of the young Sultan so that there was nothing to be seen at Rhodes but Hunting-matches Runing at the Ring Shews and magnificent Feasts But all these divertisements did not compleat the repose of the Prince's mind For though he were not afraid of the Knights he could not think himself in safety in a place full of Greeks and so neer the Turks and what was more the proceedings of the Port daily encreas'd his disquiet and his fears At the beginning of those divisions which turmoil'd the Ottoman Empire after the death of Mahomet Bajazett was afraid that it would not go well with his affairs so long as he was not in friendship with the Grand Master however he could not condescend to demand peace himself There to save his reputation he dealt in private with the Sub-Basha De Pizzona who was come over to his Party and was Governour of Lycia The Sub-Basha sent an Embassador to Rhodes with instructions not to speak of Bajazett but only to manage a truce between the people of Lycia and the Rhodians believing that a Peace would easily follow a Truce But the Embassy not having that success which was expected Bajazett made use of Achmat to carry on his design The Basha as jealous of the honour of the Sultan as the Governour of Lycia wrote as from his Supream a very yielding Letter to engage the Grand Master to an accommodation and entrusted Lasim Brahim for his Agent with the Letter The Grand Master thought himself obliged to hear the Propositions of Achmat as well for the love of his people who stood in need of rest after the toils of so long a war as for the honour of the Order to whom a Treaty could not be but advantageous that mention'd nothing of Tribute The Reception of Zizim made Bajazet impatient of a conclusion of peace Upon which Achmat urg'd it more and more by his Minister Lasim Brahim He offer'd also that the Grand Signior should sign whatever the Knights desir'd and for a pledge of his real intentions he restor'd all the Vessels of the Order which had been taken since the Truce by the Pyrates of Lycia All these condescentions of the Port so different from the Ottoman Haughtiness more then ever alarum'd Prince Zizim He imagin'd with himself that his Brother was not so desirous of peace but only that he might have an occasion to destroy him and that when Trade should be free between the Rhodians Turks he should be in daily fear of either being stabb'd or poison'd and that the runagate Greeks so accustom'd to treachery and murther would omit nothing to serve Bajazett to good purpose In the midst of these thoughts he resolv'd to seek a Sanctuary elsewhere to preserve himself from a violent death to which purpose he open'd his mind to the Grand Master in whom he put an entire confidence The Grand Master found that Zizim offer'd nothing but reason yet because the affair was of great impotance he resolv'd to have the advice of his Council before he gave the Prince a positive answer Among them Opinions were different while some affirm'd that it was for the interest and honour of the Order to keep the Prince that Bajazett durst not refuse the Knights any thing or make any attempt upon them while Zizim remain'd at Rhodes that when he was out of their power they could expect nothing but a cruel war or a very disadvantageous peace That by all the rules of prudence they were to lay hold upon so fair an occasion or at least before the retreat of the Sultan they were to make an honourable agreement with the Port. As for the safety of the Prince they might easily secure it by affording him a sufficient Guard there being very few Assassinates that would atattempt the persons of great men at the hazard of their own lives The more disinterested and the wiser sort were of a contrary judgment that a removal was the only way to preserve Sultan Zizim from the misfortunes that threatned him that war did no way secure him that after a refusal of Peace with the Turks they had no way to secure him from poison or assassination while treason enters every where and the fidelity of servants and guards is not proof against any large sum of money That while Bajazet sought to get him into his power by all the waies imaginable they could neither surrender him without betraying their faith given nor
keep him without drawing upon themselves the indignation of the Sultan Zizim who saw that his affairs would spin out too much time unless he determin'd something speedily and well enough understood the danger of delay press'd the Grand Master to give him his liberty to be gone and conjur'd him to permit him that he might go to the King of France as being the person most capable to protect him against the Tyranny of his Brother For besides that he guess'd at the French Humour by the behaviour of the Grand Master he had heard frequent discourses of their generosity nor did he question but that the successors of Clovis and Charlemaigne whose famous deeds he had read would take delight in restoring a Prince to his Throne The Grand Master could not withstand neither the reasons nor the powerful instances of Zizim He approv'd his determination touching his retreat into France But that which made him approve it the more was that he thought that Zizim ran no hazard in a Countrey which produc'd no Monsters and where poison was unknown So that the safety of a poor Prince who had thrown himself into the Arms of the Knights made the Grand Master in some measure forget his own Interests and those of his people for not troubling himself about the ill consequences that so hasty a Retreat might draw after it he gave all orders necessary for the Voyage into France He redoubl'd at the same time his civilties to the Sultan and the eeve before his departure made him a most magnicent Feast Zizim admir'd more then once the variety and dressing of the meat and the order of the service confessing that the magnificence of the Ottoman Emperours had nothing so sumptuous During the feast there was a noble consort of musick and among the rest of the Musicians an English man who sung rarely and plaid upon a certain unusual Instrument compos'd of four Pipes joyn'd together charming all the company except the Prince whose ears were not accustom'd to such sweet musick Whereupon the Grand Master who perceiv'd it and sate alone at the Table with him sent for a Turkish Slave whom he thought would better please him This Slave singing a Turkish Air and playing upon I know not what sort of Instrument making faces and using ridiculous postures delighted Zizim so well that he caus'd him to laugh heartily He eat plentifully and as strict as he was in the observation of his Law he drank wine sometimes mix'd with Aromatick juices and sometimes neat without any composition The Feast was in the Grand Master's Palace where they sate upon two Chairs with a Table before them after the fashion of Europe but that posture was uneasie to the Sultan who was wont to eat cross-legg'd so that he cast his eyes up and down to see if no body observ'd his disturbance But after all these lesser observations Zizim was extraordinarily satisfi'd with the marks of friendship which he receiv'd from the Grand Master during his stay at Rhodes he return'd him thanks several times and as a testimony of his gratitude he caus'd three Authentick Acts to be forthwith made ready which he put into the Grand Master's hands The first was an absolute power for him to conclude a Peace with the Port as he should see good The second was a kind of a Manifesto for the discharge of the Knights by which the Prince declar'd that he had earnestly desir'd to go out of Rhodes and to be conducted into France which is alone enough to justifie the Grand Master whom some ill-meaning or ill-inform'd people have blam'd for letting the Prince go The third Act was a perpetual confederation of the Prince with the Order in case he should ever come to be restor'd to the Dominions and Territories of his Ancestors This last Act is so much for the honour of the Grand Master and so highly manifests the acknowledgment of Zizim that I thought it might not be troublesom to the Reader to see it Let all the world know that King Zizim of the Race of the Ottomans Son of the invincible Mahomet King of Kings and Soveraign Emperour of Greece and Asia is infinitely beholding to the thrice generous and thrice illustrious the Lord Peter D'Aubusson Grand Master of Rhodes Let all the world also know that for the kind Offices he hath shewn me in the most perilous adventures of my life and to testifie my acknowledgment as far as the present condition of my fortune will give me leave I promise solemnly to God and our Great Prophet that if I ever recover either absolutely or in part the Imperial Crown of my Father I promise I say and swear to hold a perpetual friendship and inviolable peace with the Grand Master and his successours according to the Articles following In the first place I engage my self my children and the children of my children to have an eternal kindness for the order of St. John of Jerusalem so that neither I nor my children shall do them any injury either by Sea or Land That we will be so far from stopping the Vessels or disturbing the commerce of the Merchants of Rhodes or of any other Ilands appertaining to the Order that our ports shall be free to them in all the Provinces under our obedience as if they themselves were our subjects or rather we will entertain them as our friends permitting them to buy sell or transport what Merchandize they please without paying any custom or duty Besides this I consent that the Grand Master shall every year take out of my Territories three hundred Christians of both sexes and at what age he pleases to put into the Islands of the order or to do with them what he thinkes best And in some measure to make satisfaction for the expences which the Grand Master has bin at and every day so liberally allows for my sake I oblige my self to pay in ready mony a hundred and fifty thousand Crowns in Gold Lastly I promise upon oath to restore him all the Isles all the Lands and all the Fortresses which the Ottoman Emperours have taken from the order And for a testimony that this is my will I have sign'd with my hand and seald with my seal this present Act given at Rhodes in the palace of the French Apartiment the fift of the month Regeb the year of the Hegira 887. The 31. Of August in the Year of grace 1482. The third of September which was the day that the Prince took shipping he was attended to the Sea with the same Pomp and the same ceremonie with which he was receiv'd He took his leave of the principal Knights after a most obliging manner wherin there appear'd nothing of Barbarism He also laid aside all his haughtiness when he gave the Grand Master his last farewel For it is reported that he threw himself at his feet and kiss'd his hand with a profound respect The Grand Master tenderly embrac'd him and wept for some time over him either
through compassion or through some secret dictate that he should never see him again The Knight de Blanchefort who was return'd to Rhodes since the raising of the seige the Knight de Rochechenard had order to conduct the Sultan into France not to mention the Knights who were nam'd to accompany him and to serve him as a convoy but they enter'd all together with Zizim into the great ship of the order and set saile the same day with a favourable wind The Grand Master who had already given advice to the Pope of the arrival of the Ottoman Prince gave him also notice of his departure by this opportunity and sent him word in particular that Zizim of his own accord had made choice of France for the security of his life that he had good ground for his fears in regard that for the forty dayes that he had stay'd in Rhodes he was certainly enformd that the Grand signiour had us'd all his endeavours either to take or murder him The departure of the Prince did not work that ill effect which some were afraid of For though Bajazet was soon inform'd of what had pass'd yet he desir'd peace with the same earnestness as before because he always lookt upon the Grand Master as the Arbiter of the Sultan his Brothers fortune So that the Embassadours that departed for Constantinople the next day after Prince Zizim was gon were honourably receiv'd by the Grand Signiour and the peace had bin presently concluded had not the pride of Achmat put a stop to it This Basha equally proud cuning who in his letters had given a blank paper to the Grand Master could not endure that the first proposition which the Embassadours made should be that no mention should be made of Tribute He brake forth upon that subject with a haughtiness which made him almost forget the respect to the sacred Persons of the Ministers of Soveraign Princes The Knight Guy de Mont Amaud who was one of the Embassadours and who in his instructions had express order to bear up briskly against the Basha took him up short and spoke to him with that sharpness that had absolutely broke off the Negotiation if Misach Paleologus who was at the conference had not allay'd their passions After the death of Mahomet he was returned to the port and had gain'd the favour of Bajazet by espousing his Interest He well acquainted with the humour of the Knights and having prov'd to his cost the constancy of the Grand Master knew it was in vain for Achmat to contend so obstinately upon the point of tribute and told him his reasons breifly though in the Turkish language that the Embassadours might not understand him The Knight Leonard Duprat who was the other Embassadour and understood Turkish understanding the Basha's discourse and repeating it in French to the Knight de Mont Amaud was the occasion that both standing stifly to their principles Achmats heat began to cool so that of himself he began to give way to their demands Bajazet promised not only to live in good amity with the Knights of Rhodes but not to trouble the rest of the Christians The Grand Master undertook for his part to keep Zizim always in the power of the Knigths and to endeavour all he could that the Sultan should not fall into the hands of any Prince either Christian or Infidel Upon this the peace was concluded according to the Articles which the Embassadours propos'd and it may be said that never was any Accommodation made with the Port either more honourable or more profitable to Christendom That which was most remarkable and extraordinary was that Bajazet engag'd himself either through weakness or Policie to pay the Grand Master a kind of Tribute To this purpose he sent to Rhodes Cagritaim his principal favourite and the two Knights bestirrd themselves so well that they carry'd him along with them upon their return Cagritaim declar'd in full councel that the Port would pay to the order thirty five thousand Duckets money of Venice for the subsistence of Zizim and besides that the Grand Signiour would pay every year to the Grand Master in particular ten thousand Duckets to make him amends in some measure for the excessive charges he had bin at in the last war Achmat who was the proudest person in the world and one that mortally hated the Christians especially the Grand Master and the Knights could not brook this condesciention in the Grand Signor He accus'd him of lowness of Spirit and cowardice he murmur'd in publick and made sharpe scoffs upon it Bajazet who for some time before began to grow jealous of the Basha as of a person that did not love any thing more then war and was therefore likely to take Zizims part took these murmuors and rebukes for the symptomes of a revolt And believ'd that only the death of such a dangerous enemy could break his designs True it is that he owd to him for the Crown but usually great benefits are look'd upon as crimes weak Princes often find their safety in the destruction of those that rais'd them and are able to pull them down again So soon as the peace was concluded between the Knights and the Turkes the Grand Signiour put to death this famous Basha at a Magnificent feast where were all the grandees of the Port and where Bajazet was present himself The discourse of the table falling upon the Peace and Zizim Bajazet to provoke Achmat and to engage him to speak somthing to be layd hold on publickly declar'd that he would lessen the Souldiers pay and deprive the Grandees of the port of their emploiments that were not loyal to their lawful Prince The Basha who well understood that those words concern'd him presently took fire and went so high in the heat of the debauchery as to tell the Grand Signor that it was but an ill way to establish a throne to provoke the Souldiery and that the Ottom in Monarcks were not assur'd of their Empires so long as they had Brothers alive He had no sooner spoke the words but a mute instructed before gave him six stabs with a poignard Others say that after the feast was over Bajazet who loved wine kept Achmat to drink with him alone under pretence of friendship and that seeing him half drunk he commanded two Eunuches to strangle him However it were Cagritaim succeeded at the Port in his place though he had neither the merit nor experience but he knew perfectly how to humour Bajazet who only minded â—ase In the mean while the Grand Master who made little accompt of the friendship of the Infidels of whose perfidiousness he had a thousand times experienc'd and for that the person of Zizim seem very proper for him to make use of in case of a rupture he apply'd himself wholly to make a league between the Christian Princes against the common enemy He wrought several Letters to them he sent them perticular Agents to let them
submissions of Ferdinand or whether he were jealous of the Progress of the Republick However it were Sixtus agrees with the Father and Son in Law He also threaten'd the Venetians with the indignation and Anathema's of the Church if they continu'd the war of Ferrara The Republick incens'd at so strange a proceeding and foreseeing that this change would cause a great disorder in affaires implor'd the aid of the Turk to sustain themselves and to revenge the injury done them Bajazet who was unwilling to displease the Venetians forgot that he had promis'd not to disturb the Christians or rather violated his word in that respect and prepares a considerable Fleet to invade Italy The news presently spread it self over all Europe At Rome the alarum was taken as if the enemy had been already at the Gates and the Pope foreseeing the danger of the Church if the Turks should enter Italy during the discords of the Christian Princes and knew himself to be guilty of the discontent of the Republick made it his whole business to divert the storme The King of Naples whom the danger more nerely concern'd follow'd the Popes steps and by common consent had recourse to the Grand Master to whom they both wrote and sent to him the Knight Carraffa But never was Embassie more to less purpose for the care of the Grand Master had prevented the requests of Ferdinand and the Pope He understanding sooner then they the preparations that were made at Constantinople and likewise knowing the private motives to that Engagement labour'd incessantly to divert the storme before it began to break forth The Publick good and the particular Interest of the Church excited his diligence to keep the common enemy out of Italy And his obligations to the King of Naples made him more Solicitous to omit nothing that might preserve the Kingdom of his Benefactour and freind from the invasion of the Barbarians Therefore not to loose time he dispatch'd away to the Grand Signior a Rhodian whose name was Mosco Perpiano a man 't is true of low birth but of an exalted genius and capable of great affaires and besides that very proper to negotiate with the Turks as being one who had lived long in Turky and perfectly understood their humour and language And this was he that treated with the Sub-Basha of Pizzona about the truce and first discover'd the cunning of Achmats Letters Mosco after he had made known to the Grand Signiour with whom he had a private audience the Interest of his Highness to live in friendship with the Grand Master gave him to understand by degrees that the Venetians were about to engage him in a bad designe To that intent ne represented to him that this great preparation was the ready way to bring upon him all the forces of Europe That the most divided of the Christian Princes would not saile to reunite for the defence of their Religion and Crowns That France who glory'd in assisting the Popes and the Holy See would infallibly join with Italy upon such an occasion and lay aside for a time their pretences to Naples That whatever care the Knights could take that they should not make use of the person of Zizim against the Ottoman Empire it would not be any longer in their power to keep him That the King of France would force him out of their hands in spite of all their strength and put him at the head of an Army and then nothing was more to be fear'd then a Popular rising at Constantinople which might happen to be attended with a total revolution Mosco added according to his Instructions that the Grand Master being of that accompt as he was among the Christian Princes he could not possibly prevent his being engag'd in the Quarrel how great so ever his desire might be to keep a good Correspondence with the Court. That if the preparations which the Turks made against Italy should infringe the accommodation which had been made upon Zizim's score he had no reason to blame the Knights who are ready punctually to observe all the articles of the treaty Mosco then gave the Grand Signiour to understand that Rhodes was not in a condition to fear him the ruins being repaird and new fortifications daily added by the Grand Master This discourse of the Rhodian took singular effect Bajazet was so mov'd at it that he stood a good while without making any answer casting frightful looks here and there which shew'd the agitation and disturbance of his mind At length rows'd out of a deep contemplation and looking somewhat more calmely he told Mosco that in respect to the Grand Master whom he honoured as his Father he had abandon'd the design which he had in hand Then calling for Basha Misach Paleologus and two other of his Ministers he declar'd that he would not send his Fleet into the Mediterranean Sea and commanded them at the same time to surcease all their preparations for war wherein they labour'd with an excessive earnestness And that he might testify more of his freindship and do him more honour he wrote him a very obliging Letter which he deliver'd to Mosco the copy whereof follows Bajazet King of Asia Emperour of the Turks To the thrice happy Prince Peter D'Aubusson Grand Master of RHODES WE have understood from the mouth of your Embassadour what it is you request at our hands In truth you desire great things and which are of extream consequence to our Empire For a considerable Fleet is not to be set forth without great expence nor is such an enterprize to be quitted without some kind of disgrace But however as I refer my self wholly to your Counsel and for that I can refuse you nothing for your sake I forget all my advantages I surcease any further preparations and engage to you upon my word that my Navy shall not stir forth of the Streights of Gallipoly I do this willingly out of the desire I have that you should alwaies be my friend as you ought to be since that for your sake I renounce both my interest and my honour From Constantinople the fifth of the month of Rabi el Evel in the year of the Hegira 889. April 13. in the year of grace 1484. Mosco return'd to Rhodes almost at the same time that the Knight Caraffa arriv'd there That new Embassador of the Pope and the King of of Naples was surpriz'd to see that with all his haste he was come too late So that finding his work done he return'd as he came at least that he might be the first that should bring the tydings carrying along with him to the Pope and King Ferdinand the Copy of the Letter of the Grand Signior A resolution so sudden and so happy extreamly rejoyc'd all Italy and the Pope was so satisfi'd with the Grand Master that speaking of him to the Knight Quendal Procurator of the Order at Rome he call'd him several times The Buckler of the Church and The Preserver of
he exhorted him to maintain generously the interest of the holy See to shew himself an example to Christian Princes and at last assur'd him of his favour The Order said the Pope in his Brief of which you are the Chief is more dear to me then ever and if God favour our designs you shall alwaies find me ready to oblige you in whatever concerns yours or the honour of the Order The Grand Master receiv'd this Letter like a true Son of the Church and presently sent his Embassadors to Rome to tender his obedience to the new Pope Edward de Carmandin Bayly of Lango and Will Caoursin Vice Chancellour of the Order were the chief of the Embassy who made their entry into Rome with an extraordinary Pomp and five days after had audience of the Pope in the presence of all the Princes Embassadours and a great number of prelates Caouersin in that renowned assembly made a speech full of piety and eloquence He first acknowledg'd the authority of the holy See and Innocent for the Vicar of Christ and Peters successour Then in particular he declar'd the Grand Master's joy for the election of his Holiness and the hopes which the Rhodians had to see Christnanism flourish under the pontificat of a Pope so zealous for the Christian faith After that he recounted the victories which the Knights had obtain'd against the infidels particularly in the last siege of Rhodes And lastly he offer'd his Holiness the service of the Knigths assuring him that they should esteem themselves happy to spend their blood to the last drop in the defence of the Holy See The Pope return'd an answer himself to Caoursin's speech Wherein after he had in general terms extold the valour and zeal of the Knights he dilated upon the merits of the Grand Master and confess'd that the Church was infinitely oblig'd to him The next week the Embassadours had a particular conference with the Pope at what time they presented to him a precious stone of an extraordinary figure and colour several exquisite perfumes and a rich Vase full of pure Indian Balsom But the Pope who desir'd nothing more then to restore peace to Italy and who sear'd nothing more then an invasion of the Infidels turn'd his discourse upon Zizim and told the Embassadours that for the good of Christendom it seemd very necessary that he should be brought to Rome or to some other City of the Ecclesiastick estate The Embassadours not having any commission in that particular they could return no answer only that they would signify his Holiness's pleasure to the Grand Master However they receiv'd several favours before their departure had the honour to carry his Canopy upon the purification of the Virgin with the Embassadours of Naples Milan and Florence But as a particular grace to the Order he granted to the Prior of the Church of Rhodes a power to remit all sins which are reserv'd to the Holy See to alter vows to absolve from oaths from Irregularity and Simony He gave them liberty also to have a portative Altar to say Mass either by Sea or Land as also before day and in places forbidden by Ecclesiastical censure In the mean time the King of Naples who after the death of Sixtus was terribly afraid lest the Venetians should molest his dominions and that the Turk should come to revenge their quarrel desir'd more earnestly then ever to have Zizim in his possession To which purpose he wrote new Letters to Rhodes which he deliver'd to the Embassadours who pass'd through Naples in their return home But while Innocent and Ferdinand demanded Zizim from the Grand Master the Soldau of Egypt urg'd the same request Caerbei had in relligence that the Great Turk was about to enter Caramania with a powerful Army to punish Caraman So that he was afraid lest the Turks should soon after carry their arms into Syria and he knew no other expedient to stop Bajazet then to oppose Zizim against him But the arrival of the Baily of Lango and the Vice Chancellour of the order drew him out of that perplexity whereinto the Embassadour from Egypt had plung'd him for when he understood the Popes Intentions as to what concern'd Zizim he gave the Soldan's Embassadour to understand that the Soveraign Priest of Christendom having a designe to send for the Ottoman Prince to Rome the Knights could not dispose of his person not determine any thing without the consent of the Holy See to which the order of St. John was particularly subject In the same manner he excus'd himself to King Ferdinand accompanying his excuse with many civilities not being willing to displease a Prince whom he could not gratisy yet desir'd to serve But in regard he knew the Pope was not able with his forces alone to undertake any considerable enterprize and believing withal that should he send Zizim into the Ecclesiastical state he should put an obstacle to the Holy league through the jealousies which the Christian Princes would be subjest to apprehend he represented to his Holiness withal the earnestness and respect that might be that he could not let go Zizim without exposing Christendom to manifest misfortunes That such a change would give suspition to Bajazet and enforce him perhaps to put to Sea and land in Italy He added also that the Invasion of the Infidels was very much to be fear'd before all Europe was first united against them However that he would submit the affair to his Holiness whose prudence and justice he very well understood It was about this time that the Grand Master did a very eminent piece of service for the Genoeses in protecting for them the Island of Scio which was under their subjection by the gift of Andronicus Paleologus after they had restor'd him to his throne For Francis de Medicis scourd all the Levant Seas with a well arm'd Galliot and had taken considerable prizes from the Turks near the Island of Scio. The parties concern'd complain'd to the Cady of Tire who was a person of great credit in the Ottoman Port and orderd their business so well either by presents or false testimonies that the Mahomet Judge condemn'd the people of the Island to make good all the losses which the Turks had sustain'd as if the Islanders had shar'd with the Galliot because the Captain had taken in fresh provisions in the Island The Grand Signior also confirms the Cadi's sentence But to chastize the Island the more severely which at Constantinople was accompted a Receptacle for Theives and Pirates he laid upon them a most enormous tax and threatn'd the Islanders with ruin if they did not speedily pay it down The inhabitants resolv'd to justify themselves at the Port and to represent humbly to the Grand Signior their inability to pay such great sums But the Barbarian would hearken neither to their reasons not their prayers and commanded his Vassels to go and sack Scio. The Islanders had bin lost without hope if the
wisest of the Company had not adviz'd them to have recourse to the Grand Master There upon they earnestly besought him to be their protectour at such a time of calamity wherein only his authority could save them The Grand Master hated too much injustice and violence to suffer the oppression of a poor people that were altogether Innocent and were not in a condition to defend themselves Thereupon he wrote to the Port and did it so effectually that Bajazet cancell'd the Judgment and remitted the Tax which himself had impos'd Cardinal Paul Fregosa Duke of Genoa immediately return'd thanks to the Grand Master in a very civil Letter But the Lords Monesi who were the chief in Scio and happen'd to be at Genoa at the same time deputed Signior Lanfranco Patera a person of quality and merit to carry him a testimony of their Gratitude It was a Bason and Eure of Gold of exquisite workmanship on which these Latine words were graven Dominorum Chii Reverendissimo Petro D'Aubusson MAGNO MAGISTRO RHODI DE SE OPTIME MERITO DONVM Much about the same time the Grand Master receiv'd Intelligence of the death of Charlota de Lusignan Queen of Cyprus and Armenia This unfortunate Princess was constrain'd to quit Rhodes and travel to Rome as I have already said in the beginning of this History Pope Sixus the fourth receiv'd her magnificently and undertook her interest very zealously so that he perswaded the chief of the Island more then once to acknowledg her for their Soveraign Queen The Letters from his Holiness were read publickly at Nicosia before the Church of Santa Sophia and made so deep an Impression upon their spirits that the people took Arms ran in throngs to the Pallace and massacr'd the Uncles of Katherine Cornara who were accused to have poyson'd James of Lusignan her husband But the Venetians by whose authority Katherine raign'd or rather who rul'd under the name of Katherine appeas'd the sedition and quickly master'd it Charlota seeing that all the sollicitations of the Pope produc'd no good for her went to Lewis her husband in Piemont The Lord of Montjeu whom the Duke of Burgundy sent Embassadour to Venice gave a visit to Lewis and Charlota at Montcalier where they liv'd and promis'd them according to the Instructions he had receiv'd from his Master to represent their rights to the Senate But all his Remonstrances proving ineffectual the Princess return'd to Rome and there settl'd herself after the death of Lewis who piously ended his days in a kind of solitude whither he was retir'd She superviv'd him some years and during her widowhood she gave the Kingdom of Cyprus to Charles Duke of Savoy her Nephew to whom it otherwise belong'd by the articles of marriage between Charlota and Lewis This Donation was solemnly made to the procuratours of Charles of the number of which was the Admiral of Rhodes and by vertue of this Act it is that the Dukes of Savoy take upon them the Title of Kings and pretend to the Kingdom of Cyprus The news of her death sensibly greiv'd the Grand Master who had always lookt upon her as one of the most accomplish'd Princesses of the world In the mean time the Emperour of the Turks having rais'd a numerous Army and made himself Master almost without any trouble of those Provinces that were left the Grand Caraman he turn'd his Arms against Syria and Egypt incens'd at the Soldan for that he had with disdain deny'd him the wife and children of Zizim For how false soever he were in other respects he was faithful in that out of I know not what fantastick piece of honesty which shews us that men are sometimes contrary to themselves and that the wicked like mad men have their lucid Intervals Now though the preparations all over Turky seem'd only to bend against the Dominions of Cairbei yet the King of Hungary took the Alarum And as thunder when at first it begins to grumble in the clouds seems to threaten most they that hear it nearest this Prince probably thought the Tempest would fall upon him if he took not care in time to divert it Yet as great a Souldier and as a Potent as Matthias was he thought that the Grand Master would be a necessary assistance to him for which purpose he sent to him Pauli de Rhetas his Secretary and his favourite Rhetas declar'd at the first Audience which he had at Rhodes that the King of Hungary was resolv'd to make War against the Turks and in prosecution thereof neither to spare his treasure nor his life and therefore desir'd to joyn his Arms with those of the Knights of St. John but above all to follow the Counsels of the Grand Master in an enterprize of so much hazard and difficulty The Hungarian Embassadour likewise added that his Master had private correspondence with the Grandees of the Port that several Basha's had resolv'd to forsake Bajazet's Party so soon as Zizim should appear upon the Confines of Hungary and at the head of the Hungarian Troops That the interest of Christendom requir'd that he should send the Ottoman Prince in all haste and that it was a favour which a King illustrious for his piety and his valour requested from the most generous Knights in the world The Proposal of Rhetas seem'd rational to the Grand Master and his Council But there are certain nice conjunctures wherein the wifest of men cannot follow sometimes neither the common Rules of Prudence not their own particular Judgments Though to all outward appearances and upon a serious consideration of the bottom of things it had been but reason to have trusted Zizim with the King of Hungary yet the engagement which oblig'd the Grand Master to keep the Prince by vertue of the Treaty of Peace made with the Port according to the Prince's own desire and the fear of offending his Holiness were the cause that the Hungarian Embassadour could obtain no other answer then a handsom denial However the Grand Master wrote to the King and after he had insisted a while in particular upon the Advantage which Christendom might receive from the person of Zizim in case that Bajazet should make any attempt against the Treaty he told him that it being impossible for any War to be carried on against the Turk without a firm league between the Christian Princes it belonged to the common Pastor of the Church to assemble them together That such sort of enterprises seldom prosper'd unless upheld by the Authority of the Church and lastly that if the Ottoman Prince were to leave France he could be no where better then at Rome where he would be in the view of all Christendom neither too far off nor too near the Estates of the Grand Signior The Conquest which Bajazet had made of Caria and of other Provinces of the Grand Caraman made the Soldan to believe that after he had refus'd to Bajazet the Wife and Children of Zizim that he was certainly to expect
touching an Embassie to Rome But that he might know more exactly what he had to say to the Pope and after what manner he should proceed sent another Ambassador to the Grand Master This Negotiation continued several moneths in which time there were nothing but continual Voyages from Constantinople to Rhodes The Grand Master however put no confidence in these Embassies but expected a Rupture so soon as Bajazet should have an opportunity to display his secret hatred against the Knights and therefore that the Pope might have time to make a League between the Christian Princes he spun out affairs as much as he could either by creating difficulties which perplexed the Grand Seignior or by giving ambiguous Answers which were unsatisfactory While things thus passed between the Knights and the Turks one of the Popes Legates had like to have spoiled all by his imprudence Philip de Canova whom the Pope sent to the Soldan being arrived at Caire publickly declared very idly and without any ground That the Knights of Rhodes had no power in the affair of Zizim He spoke this so openly and upon so many occasions that the report thereof came to the Port. This news cool'd the Grand Seignior as to any further Negotiation with Rhodes now growing jealous that the Knights did but abuse him and it had come to an open War had not the Grand Master dextrously reconcil'd what the Legat had spoil'd He declar'd so loudly the contrary and by the Popes Letters themselves so well over-turn'd the falsity that Canova had averr'd that in a short time he regain'd the former confidence which Bajazet had in him The Negotiation was renew'd and it was on both sides agreed that the Grand Prior Blanchefort who was come to Rhodes to be present at the General Chapter and was to return to Zizim should conduct the Ambassador of the Port that was to go to Rome An act so dextrous and so successful soon made a noise over Europe and very much advanc'd the Reputation of the Grand Master He was the discourse of all the Courts of Europe and his name was so famous in that of Castile that a young Lady of eminent Quality having forsaken the World admiring what she had heard of the prudence and virtue of Cardinal D'Aubusson resolv'd to found a Nunnery according to his Model of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem To which purpose she requested leave of the Cardinal who over-joy'd to see such pious and virtuous inclinations in a young Lady readily condescended Thereupon the Lady whose name was Isabella di Leon descended from one of the most antlent Families in Andalousia founded a House of Religious Virgins of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and the Founder was named Princess by the Grand Master the Nuns are to be all of Noble Race and to be approved as the Knights are and they are particularly to pray for the Knights and as much as in them lies to forward the ruine of Mahumetism and the exaltation of the Faith Isabella Fernandes founded also another House of Nuns in Evora a City of Portugal in the time of Villerius Grand Master But to return to Bajazet Chamisbuerch his Capigi Basha his Ambassador to the Pope arrived at Rome and was presented to his Holiness by the Grand Prior Blanchefort who accompani'd him to the City The Grand Master when he counselled the Embassie advised the Grand Seignior to make a Present to the Pope and above all things to send him the Head of the Lance that pierced the side of Christ which Mahumet laid up in in his Treasury among the rich Spoils which he found in the Churches of Constantinople The Relick was suspected at first but upon the testimony of the Grand Master the Infidels were believed who testifi'd that he had had it from very credible persons that the Venetians had offered Mahomet 15000 Crowns in Gold to retrieve it out of his hands after the taking of Constantinople But in regard it was the intention of the Grand Seignior wholly to gain the Pope he added to his Present very obliging Letters wherein after he had given him an account of an Expedition which he had made against the Rebels of Macedonia he swore an inviolable friendship with him and besought him that his Brother Zizim might always remain under the Guard of the Knights of Rhodes according to the Articles he had made with them These submissions of Bajazet very much pleased the Pope and were no small honour to the Grand Master He had a thousand Applauses in Italy and received the Complements of all the Christian Princes But an unhappy accident did not long permit him quietly to enjoy this Honour for a young Gentleman of a good House who was then in the service of the Knight Puis Bayliff of the Morea and Captain of the Castle of St. Peter stealing away from his Masters House and having renounced his Religion in Turkey the Peace was just upon the point of being broken between the Christians and the Turks For the Bayliff of the Morea touched to the quick at what had befall'n his Page took a strange resolution to recover him he Sallies out of the Castle with some Soldiers and entring into Lycia he takes by way of Reprisal two young Turks Sons of the most considerable person in the Countrey notwithstanding the resistance made by their Father whom he slew with his own hand So violent an act seemed to the Barbarians a visible breach of the Peace They take Arms and march directly to the Castle of St. Peter whether the Bayliff of the Morea was retired with his Prey The Sultan Zalabi the Grand Seignior's Son and Governour of Lycia sent an Agent to Rhodes to complain of the Attempt made by the Knights of the Castle of St. Peter The Bayliff's act was neither prudent nor just so that the Grand Master could not but with sorrow very much resent it and he had not stuck a moment to have delivered both the Children back again but that one of them testified an inclination to turn Christian But the young Turk declaring that he was resolved to continue a Mussulman and hated the very thought of Christianity the Governour of Lycia was satisfied with the restoration of the two Prisoners Thus was the Tranquility of the Province re-setled nor had the Subjects any thing more to fear but onely the Rapines of certain Pirats that infested their Coasts the most famous was Don Diego Ordonna a Spaniard by Nation a person bold and daring of a savage humour and a bestial valour more barbarous than the Infidels cruising all Coasts with an Armed Caravel and acknowledging no Right but Force nor any God but Interest He had taken a little before certain Merchants Vessels within sight of Rhodes and his power at Sea was grown so formidable that the Ships of the Order durst hardly venture out of the Port. The Grand Master could not brook the Insolencies and Robberies of this Castilian Pirate And knowing
that Ferdinand and Isabel who were then subduing the Moors did not allow a Castilian Pirate to be so vexatious to the Christians he sent against him the Knight Raymond Thivian with his Galley and another Man of War with a Crew of stout Knights who coming up with this Pirate pli'd him so warmly that he was constrained to yield after a vigorous resistance he was brought to Rhodes chain'd hand and foot and afterwards broken alive upon the Wheel his Goods that were Confiscated to the Grand Master were by his order distributed to the Merchants that he rob'd The Island of Lango was about this time afflicted with several calamities together a horrible and sudden Earthquake that lasted for several days threw down most part of the houses in the Countrey of Naranga and what was more lamentable this calamity happen'd in a time that a dreadful Contagion over-spread the Island It is not to be imagin'd how much the Grand Master was afflicted for the miseries of these poor people nor how great his cares were for their relief He sent two great Vessels laden with all necessaries for their support and caused the Lake of Naranga to be speedily cleansed and the Tyde to be let into it to carry away the noisome Vapours that might corrupt the air And so well his pains succeeded that the Contagion ceas'd so soon as the Lake was cleansed But these employments at home did not make the Grand Master forget his affairs abroad He continually sollicited the Pope to pacifie Italy and he besought him still to conclude with all the speed that might be a League between the Christian Princes But all these sollicitations and prayers took no effect Innocent died of a sudden and all those hopes that all good men had conceived died with him The advancement of Roderic Borgia by the name of Alexander the Sixth little avail'd to comfort the Grand Master for the loss which the Church had received The humour of the new Pope promised little good to Christendom for there was little good to be expected from a person who had purchased the Suffrages of the Cardinals to enjoy a place of which he knew himself unworthy He had been Protector of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem while he was Cardinal and by a Brief which he sent to the Grand Master he declar'd That the Knights of Rhodes should still be in his most favourable thoughts But the Effects were no way answerable to his words Alexander first shewed his Pontifical Authority by taking into his own possession the Person of Prince Zizim contrary to the Agreement made between Innocent and the Knights He shut up the Sultan the Castle of St. Angelo and dismissing the Knights who had always been about him put him into the possession of his Nephews of which one was a Knight of Rhodes His pretence was that a life so pretious as that of the Prince would be less exposed to the Ambuscado's of his Enemies in a strong place and that one Knight of Rhodes being near him the rest were needless in a place that did defend it self and these Excuses he sent by an Express to the Grand Master But the true motive that induc'd the Pope to this act was because that understanding the King of France was preparing for an Expedition into Italy he would have wherewithall to cross or promote his designs as he should judge most proper for his Interests For Charles the VIII did not onely intend the Conquest of Naples for Fame every where reported that he was resolved to have carried his Arms into Greece Whether this design were onely in thought or actually intended I will not dispute but certain it is that he communicated it to the Grand Prior Blanchefort whom the Affairs of the Order enforced to travel out of Italy into France and he testifi'd several times the earnest desire he had to see the Grand Master that he might consult with him about a Voyage beyond the Seas Zizim was extremely displeas'd to see himself in the hands of Alexander and under the Guard of his Nephews being always accustom'd to the Knights who had accompani'd him both in France and Italy As they had always great respect for him and in serving him had always sought to make his condition more pleasant he lov'd them tenderly and could not chuse but shed tears when he took his leave of them He did for them all that lay in the power of his Fortune he wrote to the Grand Master in their behalf representing to him the value of their services and assuring him that what ever favours he bestowed upon them he would put upon his own account as done to himself He besought him likewise not to abandon an unfortunate person who ow'd his life to him and from whom he could only hope for a change of his condition In the mean while Charles the 8th pass'd the Mountains at the head of all the Gallantry and Stoutness in his Kingdom and having cross'd like a Victor the half of Italy he march'd on and presented himself before Rome The Pope of whom he only demanded passage through his Countrey was afraid lest under that pretence he should make himself Master of the City but the presence of so great an Army would not permit him to listen to his fear he granted what he could not refuse And though the King by a publick Manifesto declar'd that he only came to Rome to accomplish a Vow that he had made and that he only went to Naples in his way to Constantinople yet he gave no credit to his words For Alexander who had no kindness at all for the French and had disoblig'd them upon several occasions easily imagin'd according to his Principles that they would not lose so fair an opportunity to revenge themselves But as he had a nimble craft he sought always to give them satisfaction and condescended to what-ever they desir'd He gave the young Conquerour the Investiture of both Sicilies and Crown'd him Emperour of Constantinople Besides that he deliver'd into his hands Sultan Zizim whom the King had chiefly requested out of a design to pursue his Conquests into the East after he had master'd Naples The Ottoman Prince was surrender'd to the French by a solemn Act and with a publick Ceremony where Alexander and Charles were present He saluted Charles after such a manner as neither bespake him a Barbarian nor a Prisoner After he had kiss'd his Shoulder and his Hand with a lofty Air he told the King That he hop'd the French would in his person consider the Ottoman Race and added that when they should cross over into Greece he should find a way to acknowledge their Civilities Charles was ravish'd with admiration of the Great Soul which he saw in the Sultan and treated him with so much Courtesie and Generosity that Zizim testifi'd his joy for being fall'n into the hands of so generous a Monarch They departed from Rome for Naples both together but the poor Prince who
and endow'd by the Grand Master should enjoy the Revenues of his Order within his Dominions He also wrote to the Pope at the same time and very earnestly represented to him That the courses he took steer'd directly to the ruine of the Order wholly devoted to the Holy See That the Zeal of the Knights was not altogether so pure and Angelical but that they had an eye upon Temporal Recompences while they fought against the common Enemy of the Faith and that both their Zeal and Courage too would cool when they beheld the Price of their Labours and their Sweat in the hands of Strangers and unknown Persons So that if his Holiness did not preserve their Priviledges it might be fear'd that the Rampart of Christendom might be expos'd to the fury of the Infidels Alexander submitted to the Reasons or at least to the Authority of the King of Castile He revoked the Collation which he had made in favour of his Nephew and the Grand Master gave the Commenderie of Wovelles with that of Baioles to Don Ferrand of Arragon of the Royal Family and very dear to the King of Castile having before that created him a Knight In the mean time intelligence came that the Turks were building great Ships and every where made great Preparations for War Thereupon the Grand Master sent an Ambassador to Constantinople in shew to Congratulate the Grand Signior upon his recovery from sickness but really to penetrate into the design of those new Preparations Bajazet kept his design very secret but the publick rumor of the Port was that those Preparations were intended against Egypt and was a report probable enough Cairbei had been dead some months before and the youngest of his Sons was advanc'd to the Throne by the subtilty of a Circassian Mamaluke who did what he pleas'd at Caire and pretended to govern during the Minority of the Infant But an absolute Authority in one particular Subject is always suspected and odious The principal Nobility of the Court would not endure the new Government so that instead of doing Homage to the new Sovereign they revolted from him and made Confederacies with the Turks to deprive him of his Crown The Grand Master was inform'd of the rumour of the Court but he believ'd it so much the less the more the Grand Signior's Ministers desir'd it should be believ'd He kept himself upon his Guard and gave order for every thing He engag'd in the Service of the Order all Strangers Ships that us'd the Levant Seas He hir'd Companies of Spanish Infantry out of Sicily from whence he also sent for Corn in abundance The Grand Prior Blanchefort after a dangerous Voyage at length arriving safe had order to go for France to make his Complements and to desire aid of the Successor to Charles the VIII who was dead of an Apoplexy a disease fatal to great men in that Age. Thereupon Lewis the XII who had a great esteem for the Grand Master kindly receiv'd the Grand Prior and order'd two and twenty great Ships to be made ready for the service of the Knights At that time the Grand Master understanding that Henry the VIII King of England laid out for the fairest Turky Carpets that were to be got presented him with some that were very rare Henry became sensible of the Civilities of the Grand Master and in acknowledgment sent him several excellent Pieces of Artillery with some Horses of an extraordinary Mettle and Colour Ladislaus King of Hungary who of all the Princes of Europe was most liable to be a Prey to the Barbarians offered the Knights of St. John two Provinces of his Dominions to engage them all together to his Interests But the Grand Master was not of that humour to despoil a Prince to protect him he refus'd the offers of Ladislaus but promis'd him all manner of assistance Blanchefort was no sooner return'd to Rhodes but the Armada of the Turks pass'd through the Straits of Gallipoly the Course they steer'd at first caus'd a great fear that the Storm threaten'd the Order of St. John but soon after it was seen to fall upon the Republick of Venice The Turks pretended that they had suffered great wrongs in Romania and the Morea Besides that the Proveditor Prioly having met a Turkish Vessel alone near Meteline and perceiving that the Ship in stead of Loring Sail fir'd at them with all her Artillery fought and sunk her Now though the Act of Prioli was regular however it incens'd the Grand Signior who lov'd the Captain of the Ship for which reason he resolv'd a War against them nevertheless he did not at all declare his resentment For Zancari whom the Senate sent to discover the inclinations of the Port received a thousand Caresses from Bajazet Nay the Barbarian desir'd to renew his Alliance with the Republick but he caus'd the Articles of the new Treaty to be written in Latine to the end he might break it when he pleas'd according to the Principles of the Mahumetan Law which suffers them not to have any regard to their words in Contracts that are not written in their own Language At the same time that the Ottoman Fleet sail'd out of the Streight the Grand Signior enter'd into Romania with a powerful Army having imprison'd before all the Venetians that were at Constantinople One part of the Turkish Cavalry was divided from the rest and sent to harass the Countreys of Zara and Dalmatia General Grimani who lay at Modon with the Fleet of the Republick had implor'd the assistance of the Grand Master upon the first noise of the War But he more urgently requested his aid when he saw the Turks double the Point of the Morea Justiniani who commanded in Candy joyned his requests with those of Grimani and both of them sent to Rhodes certain Letters from the Duke Barbarigo The Grand Master look'd on the attempt of the Turks upon the Venetians as a violation of the Treaty of Peace made with the Order by reason they were oblig'd not to molest the Christians so that he made no scruple to succour the Venetians in the present Conjuncture But because he would not make too great a noise he onely sent them the Spanish Infantry that was come from Sicily and some other Foreign Troops The Republick also at the same time sent to the King of France to obtain of his Majesty the Vessels design'd for the assistance of Rhodes Who thereupon being then in League with the Pope and the Venetians against the Duke of Milan gave order to his Admiral to sail away for Greece to observe the countenances of the Turks and in case that Rhodes were in no danger to joyn with the Venetian Fleet. The noise of War inflam'd some of the Knights and amongst others the Grand Prior Blanchefort whom the affairs of the Order detain'd in France during the Siege of Rhodes And therefore to satisfie the extreme desire he had to meet with the Infidels he desir'd leave to go
and serve the Venetians The Grand Master who before he broke with the Turk was desirous to see the success of the War with Venice hesitated at first upon the proposal of his Nephew but the bus'ness being deliberated in Council it was order'd that the Grand Prior should have his liberty but that he should not take along with him above thirty Knights at most So that Blanchefort came to Modon at the same time that the French Ships arriv'd there As for the Venetian Fleet they had not so many Vessels as the Turks But they had better men and Ships more fit for fight The Turks therefore avoided meeting with the Christians minding onely to husband themselves for some greater Enterprise But the Adventurers of Rhodes desiring nothing more then a Battel press'd Grimani not to lose the opportunity And indeed they might have sought found and vanquish'd the Infidels had not the over-prudence of the Venetians rendred the heat of the French unprofitable But the Ottoman Fleet consisted of 260 Sail a number that astonish'd Grimani so that instead of engaging he did nothing but follow them aloof off Thereupon the Grand Prior and the French Admiral who had a full resolution to have signaliz'd themselves disgusted at the conduct of the General quitted him with a generous disdain The Infidels embolden'd by the Cowardice of the Venetians and by the retreat of the French fiercely skirted along the Coasts of Morca and enter'd into the Gulph of Lepanto whether Bajazet was come with his Army The City was taken almost in sight of Grimani who had not the courage to relieve it This untoward news very much troubl'd the Grand Master but the Pestilence that increas'd in Rhodes much more afflicted him He made excellent Orders to stop the Torrent of the Contagion and to the end the Barbarians might not attempt any thing at a time so seasonable for them he kept in pay four Galleys which his Nephew brought along with him from Provence and having re-inforc'd them with Knights and Souldiers he commanded them to cruise about the Islands wherein he did two good acts at one time for he preserv'd the Islands from Pirats and empti'd the City of a great number of People which might have been swept away by the Pestilence Lewis the XII who made himself Master of the Dutchy of Milan while the Turks took Lepanto and who had a design to re-conquer the Kingdom of Naples out of which the French had been driv'n thought himself oblig'd to assist the Venetians in the low Ebb of their Affairs but he was perswaded he could not do it unless he acted by consent with the Grand Master For that reason he sent to him two Heralds at Arms who carri'd a Letter also to the Port to the end that by his means they might travel safely through Turky and have a favourable Audience So soon as the Heralds came to Rhodes the Grand Master who had made no open Breach with the Turks wrote to Constantinople for Letters of safe Conduct To which Bajazet did not onely freely consent but gave order to the Basha's of Lycia to go and meet the Heralds of France and convoy them to the Port. Esarcho Centurino a man of good judgment and one of the principal Inhabitants of Rhodes departed along with them carrying a Letter of Credence to beseech the Grand Signior not to detain the Heralds long and to make some small Complement to his Highness as to the War which he made against the Venetians Now though the Letters from Lewis were very haughty and threaten'd the Ottoman Empire with the Force of France if he did not cease to molest the Venetians and restore all that had been taken from them Bajazet nevertheless receiv'd them very well nor did he send them back without good Words and magnificent Presents As the King of France had sent two Heralds by the way of Rhodes the Grand Signior by the same way also sent to the King of France two Grandees of the Port of which the one was called Sivanbeii and the other Musibeii to excuse himself likewise to the Grand Master In some sort he endeavour'd in a large Letter to lay the blame upon the Venetians and gave the reasons that mov'd him to declare War against them He pretended that the Venetians had violated the Faith of Treaties and the Right of Nations exercising all manner of violences upon the Turks of which to the end he might be believ'd he gave a long List And the more to defame the Venetians he added that the most Illustrious King of France knew well enough what wrongs they had done the French when being onely Duke of Orleans he accompani'd Charles the 8th to the Conquest of Naples when they proffer'd him ten Duckats for every Souldier to invade Italy alledging that if they did not stop the progress of the French Arms they would at length assail the Ottoman Empire All this the Grand Seignior wrote to justifie himself but mention'd not a word how Lodowic Sforza finding the King of France in League with the Venetians against him had invited the Ottoman Arms against them aggravating to the Port that Lewis the XII would certainly put in execution what Charles the VIII design'd for the Conquest of Milan and Naples In the mean time a Ship of Rhodes being bound from thence to the Coast of Egypt was attack'd by a Turkish Gallion near ro Alexandria The Knights who were in the Ship defended themselves stoutly and had reduc'd the Turk to the last extremity but when the Ship was just upon the point of yielding another Vessel well arm'd came to her relief so that the Knights were forc'd to quit her They made for Alexandria and putting up the Soldan's Colours enter'd the Port. But the Admiral of Alexandria a perfidious Brute without any regard either to the Peace and Laws of Nations made the Knights Pris'ners and sent them to Caire with all the Christians that were in the Ship The Grand Master conjectur'd by the attempt of the Gallion that the Turks had no intentions any longer to keep fair with the Order However he complain'd to the Soldan of the Admirals behaviour and that in high terms too as of a violence insupportable The Soldan understanding that such sharp complaints were as good as threats and that he that made them would be as good as his word disown'd the Admiral and releas'd the Pris'ners But the Grand Signior's proceedings were far different For all his Civilities to the Grand Master and his Embassie to the Court of France did not hinder the Infidels from continuing the War against the Venetians nor from invading Italy Twelve thousand Spahi's entred into Friuli through uncouth and difficult passages and putting all to Fire and Sword carri'd away above 20000 Christians into Slavery The Pope who minded nothing but the advancement of his Family till then had onely been a Spectator of the War but now he began to think himself concern'd when he saw the
Enemy at his Gates And besides that his own Interest engag'd him to act he thought himself oblig'd in Honour to wipe off those reproaches which the death of Zizim had thrown upon him and to repair by some notable action what had been irregular in his Government Thereupon he undertook with all the heat imaginable to unite the Christian Princes that he might put a stop to the incursions of the Barbarians Nor was his diligence unsuccessful The Kings of Castile Portugal and Hungary declar'd themselves first of all Maximilian whom the Wars of Guelders and Switzerland had diverted from the Turkish War entred into this Holy League with Louis the 12th when their differences about Milan were ended by the Marriage of the King's Daughter with the Emperor's Son The Grand Master convinc'd more then ever of the Infidelity of the Grand Signior and not believing himself oblig'd to have any more respect for them who had no more for him Leagu'd himself with the Croisado'd Princes And now Forces are raising all over Europe Ships making ready Money gathering together in all places and the bloody Crosses that fell from Heaven in Germany which Maximilian himself saw seem'd to portend a happy success The Turks take the Alarm at these Prepartions and Prodigies though that which most affrighted them was the choice that was made of the Generalissimo of the League Alexander who among his wicked qualities had some good ones and who had a very ready wit bethought himself that to bring about so important an Expedition nothing could be more available then the choice of an Experienc'd Captain and such a one as should be acceptable to all the Princes He cast his eye upon the Grand Master D'Aubusson and propos'd him in a full Consistory after he had made him a large Encomium All the Cardinals applauded the Popes Proposition However Alexander before he made the Choice publick resolv'd to try the Inclination of the Grand Master To this end he wrote to him in a very obliging style nevertheless with a chargeable condition in his Brief that the Order during the time that the Grand Master should continue General should keep out at Sea four Galleys and four Barks well appointed for the Service of the League The Grand Master who lov'd to act at his own liberty ponder'd upon the Condition and it may be his modesty had made use of this pretence to rid himself of an Employment which he thought above him if the Council had not advis'd him to accept of the Condition at any rate whatever and that the Letters of several Cardinals his Friends had not at length brought him to an absolute determination Thereupon he wrote to his Holiness That with all acknowledgment and humble bashfulness he was willing to take upon him the Charge with which he was pleas'd to honour him And he sent a very ample Procuration as to this Affair to the Commander of Avignon then Vice-Procurator-General of the Order in the Court of Rome The Pope not doubting but that his Proposal would be as acceptable to the Princes as it was to the Cardinals gave them advice of his choice so soon as he had receiv'd the Grand Master's Answer All the Courts of Christendom applauded so wise a Choice and this one Action did Alexander so much honour that his Reputation was much repair'd thereby Thereupon before all the Ambassadors of the Confederate Princes he publickly declar'd the Grand Master D'Aubusson Captain-General of the Croisado After which his Holiness by a Solemn Brief fill'd with his Praises gave him information of it The Purport of the Brief was That the Princes had approv'd the Choice which he had made of his Person That they were very readily dispos'd to obey him and that his Experience Valour and Piety gave them confident hopes of Victory The Pope added That he was resolv'd to go to the War himself notwithstanding his Age resolv'd to partake with the Grand Master in all the Labours of a Christian Warfare and to lay down his life if occasion should be to render the Expedition successful He sent word That there were 15 Galleys which he had expressly caus'd to be made ready and that the Bishop of Tivoly had orders to send them away so soon as they were fitted out He also wrote him word that he had given notice to the Princes by their Ambassadors that his intention was that they and all their Forces should render to him the same Honour and the same Obedience as to the Head of the Church Exhorting him him at length to defend the Faith upon this occasion with the same Courage and Virtue with which alone he had defended it when he forc'd Mahomet to raise his Siege from before Rhodes Lewis the XII would not stay to acknowledge him till he was publickly proclaim'd at Rome but so soon as he understood the Pope's intentions he wrote to the Grand Master That being willing to contribute to the Successes of so noble an Expedition notwithstanding the Affairs he had in Italy he was setting forth a Navy Royal and that knowing his Prudence and long Experience in the Wars against the Turk he had order'd his Admiral Philip de Cleves Ruvesteine to follow his Counsels in all things and to Act by his Instructions The Praises and Applauses which the Pope and the King of France gave him did but re-double the zeal and diligence of the Grand Master So that being now acknowledg'd the Captain of such a famous Enterprize his whole study was how to bring it to good issue The Summer being now past and no Princes Fleet appearing or if they had appear'd the Season being now past for any considerable Action his first consideration was to settle a Bank for the paiment of such Forces as should arrive that they might not think of returning for want of Money For he knew well that onely Money could keep Souldiers together idle in the Levant To this purpose he sent to the Pope and the King of France intelligent Knights to let them understand that without that precaution there was nothing to be done against the Turk That if the Souldiers of the League came not forthwith they would not be in a condition for action the next Season and that if being once arriv'd they should return for want of subsistence the common Enemy would take advantage of their Retreat He let them further know That while the Forces of the Confederate Princes attack'd the Turk by Sea it was necessary that the King of Hungary should assail him by Land to make a diversion But in regard the safety of Christendom in some measure depended upon the safety of Rhodes he was of opinion that the Ships belonging to the Order should not distance themselves any farther then Cape Malio He also thought it necessary that the Fleet of the Confederate Princes should not come to Rhodes to spare them the labour of returning back to the Morea and Rhodes the inconvenience of being eaten out by so
He added That of Twenty Galleys promis'd by the Holy See he had receiv'd but Thirteen That he could not keep them above four months without express command from the Pope which were almost expir'd and most certainly would not be prolong'd That the French Fleet would not come at all That Captain Pré Jan de Bidoux was gone from St. Maura upon the first intelligence of the Broils between France and Spain That the Venetians being resolv'd to fortifie St. Maura could not spare their Fleet any farther so that Winter being at hand he did not believe that the Confederate Princes would undertake any thing against the Turk this year However the eager longing which the Grand Master had to see the League renew'd and his joy for the taking Santa Maura made him believe that the flames of War between the French and Spaniards might be as easily extinguish'd as they were kindled upon this consideration he resolv'd not to give off so So that without taking any notice of the Bishop of Baffo's advice he fell again to writing to the Pope After he had congratulated the Pope for the Success of his Galleys in the taking Santa Manra he besought him to keep them still in readiness and to excite the Venetians to prepare the most powerful Armado they could He besought him to endeavour the reconciliation of the two Kings and to make use of all his Art in that particular He press'd with new vehemency the Emperour and other Kings particularly the King of England who was very powerful at Sea and who was very zealous for the Interests of the Church After which committing the rest into the hands of Providence he set himself to regulate the Customs both of the People and the Knights In the first place understanding that the Jews that dwelt in Rhodes led a very scandalous life and that their bad example was the occasion of many sins committed in the City he took up a resolution to expel them Having assembl'd a Council for this effect he set forth in a long discourse all the evil that the Trade of the Jews might produce among the Faithful and that an Order particularly consecrated to the defence of Christendom ought to abhor a Nation which was so much the Enemy of Christ himself Then he came in particular to the Jews of Rhodes whom the Prodigies of the last Siege and those upon the Wall had harden'd the more The Grand Master's judgment was approv'd in Council and they all decreed with one accord that the Jews should depart the Island and all the Territories of the Order within fifty days They were also forbid to settle in the East lest they should prove spies to the Turks and all that was permitted them was to put off their Goods in fourty days But all sorts of Liberty and priviledges were offer'd on the other side to those that would turn Christians As for their little Children it was decreed that they should be Baptiz'd whether their Parents would or no. And the Decree of Council was drawn in express terms That since it was the opinion of all Divines and Canonists that the Jews were the Slaves of the Christian Princes they had not the Right nor Jurisdiction of Parents over their Children So that the Grand Master might dispose of them for the good of Christendom and the Salvation of their Souls Thereupon according to the power of the Laws the Jews Children were Baptiz'd And lest they should renounce their Christianity when they came to years of discretion the Grand Master kept them at Rhodes and brought them up at the publick Charge in some measure doing the Duty and Office of a Father to them After this the Grand Master appli'd himself to examine the Statutes of the Order which the Vice-Chancellor Caoursin had reduc'd into a Method some years before Some he cancell'd that were grow nout of use the observation whereof did more harm then good serving onely to multiply Quarrels and Suits of Law Others he made new according to the Constitution of the present Time For seeing how far the Impiety and Luxury of the Knights had extended it self who liv'd more like Seculars and Libertines then men in Holy Orders he ordain'd That whosoe'er should swear by or blaspheme the Name of God or speak a word to the dishonour of the Virgin Mary or the Saints for the first fault should undergo the punishment of Lent for the second two months imprisonment in the Castle and for the third be put in the publick Prison during the pleasure of the Grand Master and the Council and that they that were put into these Prisons should lose three years priviledge of Precedency He also forbade that the Knights should habit themselves like other people of the world or wear any thing that had the least semblance of Gallantry or Vanity He order'd particularly that their habits should be plain and of one colour and that if any Knight disobey'd this Order besides the punishment of the Quarantine his Habit should be confiscate to the Publick Treasury But though he lov'd Modesty in Habit he was Magnificent in all things that concern'd the Ornament and Beautifying of the Church as the stately Tapestries Statues of Silver Crosses of Gold Chalices and Image-Chariots of Malta engraven with his Arms for the most part testifie to this day While he employ'd himself in this manner in expectation of his Embassie Letters in reference to the League the Spaniards who had for their Captain in the Kingdom of Naples Alexander Cordova sir-nam'd the Great Captain made most cruel War against the French and both Parties grew so violent one against another that there was no likelihood of Peace The Pope instead of labouring an accommodation and reconcilement between the two Nations as the Grand Master had desir'd him openly favour'd the Spaniards and fed the fire which he ought to have extinguish'd Besides he had no other thoughts in his head but how to Aggrandize Cesar Borgia his Son Duke of Valentinois whom he passionately lov'd so far as to dare any thing and think any thing lawful for his advancement and enrichment But that which directly ruin'd the Croisade was this That the Venetians tir'd with the War made Peace with the Turks after several private Negotiations wherein the Knights of Rhodes were not taken notice of in the least By this Peace the Venetians restord the Island of Santa Maura which Pesara had fortifi'd at great Expences and the Grand Signior engag'd himself to restore what he had taken from the Venetian Merchants from the begining of the War Ladislaus King of Hungary soon follow'd the example of the Republick making an agreement though not very Honourable with Bajazet These sad tidings pierc'd the very heart of the Grand Master and to add to his affliction he understood at the same time that his Holiness had conferr'd Commanderies of the Order upon Secular Persons and that he had promis'd the Priorie of Castile to Don Henry of Toledo
to say they should dispatch quickly otherwise he would not tarry Thereupon the Turks threw a Letter ty'd to a stone into the Galley which Letter was deliver'd to the Grand Master and read in Council In this Letter Solyman demanded that Rhodes should be surrender'd up to him promising security and good usage to all in general with liberty to the Inhabitants to enjoy their own Laws and Religion permission to them that would depart freely with their families and estates and great advantages to them that would take up Armes in his service Otherwise he threaten'd utterly to ruin the City walls and Towers and to make the Inhabitants all slaves To this the Council thought it not convenient to return any answer but to stand resolutely upon their guard Thereupon the Grand Master having certain advice that the Fleet was under sail defac'd all the Gardens without the City beginning with his own and caus'd the Earth and rubbish to be carry'd into the Town where it was of great use for the repair of breaches He sent also for the Country people in poyson'd the waters and burnt the Corn and straw that remain'd upon the Ground The Vanguard of the Fleet that first appear'd consisted of 30 Gallys out of which some few of the Turks landed in Lango to burn and pillage according to their custom But the Commander of the Fort mounting all his men charg'd them so vigorously that having slain five or six and taken three prisoners he drove the rest to their Galleys though his own Horse were kill'd under him and some few of his men wounded Thereupon the Turks left Lango and made to the Jews Castle and so entring the Gulf of Essimes about fifteen miles from Rhodes they were first discover'd by the sentinels from Mount Sallac The 24th of June being St. Johns day the Turks came to an anchor on that side of Rhodes where stood the Castle Favit There they landed and burnt the Corn upon the ground the same day the body of the Fleet appear'd in the Gulf of Essimes where the 30 Galleys joyn'd with the main Body And yet the danger being so neer there happen'd almost as dangerous a Contest between the Auvergnian and German Languages while the Germans pretended that one part of the new Bastion next St. Georges Gate belong'd to them and the Auvergnians claim'd it to themselves insomuch that they had like to have come to blows But the Grand Master interposing his Authority the decision of the controversie was referr'd to the next General Chapter In the mean time it was order'd that no other ensigns should be set up there but those of the Grand Master and of the Order The 26 of June the whole Fleet was discover'd making directly from the Gulf of Essimes for Rhodes and coming to that part of the Isle which is call'd the Foss or Hole 8 miles from Rhodes they came to an Anchor which not a little consternated the women and common people of the City But the Grand Master without the least shew of Alteration in his Countenance with his accustom'd constancy and serenity went up and down from place to place providing for every thing and that very day which seem'd to be the most terrible caus'd Service to be said and Processions to be made with the same order and tranquility as if it had bin in a time of undisturb'd peace After that he caus'd the Gates to be shut and issu'd out of his palace arm'd and attended by his guards causing the Drums to beat and the trumpets to sound the Souldiers to take their appointed Posts and set up the standards and ensigns upon the several Towers and Bastions which a far off afforded a noble and magnificent sight reviv'd the courage of the Souldiery and settled the Resolution of the people In the mean time the 30 Galleys made up to Cape St. Martin there to keep Guard and to surprize such Vessels as should come to bring relief to the besieged Late in the evening the whole Fleet consisting of a hundred sail left the Foss or Hole and passing by the Port at three miles distance came and rode in another part of the Island at a place call'd Parambolin six miles from the City because it was a rode secure from the West winds that blow hard in that Channel Some dayes after the rest of the Fleet joyn'd and lay there at an Anchor all the time of the Siege There were in this Fleet a hundred Galleys besides the thirty before mentioned thirty great Galeasses fifteen Mahons twenty Flat-bottom'd Boats sixty Fusts and a great number of Brigantines ten or twelve great Ships as big as Gallions carrying provisions Some few daies after arriv'd more from Syria and other parts so that the whole Fleet consisted of 400 Sail of all sorts and the Army of two hundred thousand men of which sixty thousand were Pioneers The same day that the Fleet arriv'd at Parambolin the Grand Master dispatch'd the Chevalier Bresols to the Pope the Chevalier Andugar to the Emperour and King of Spain and the Chevalier D'Ansonville to the Kings of England and France to give them notice of the Siege and to crave succour Other Knights he dispatch'd away to buy all the Ammunition and war-like Provisions they could and to hasten back with all speed to Rhodes He also sent away summons to the absent Knights to repair forthwith to the defence of their Island The Turks were thirteen daies before they made one shot or any other attempt by reason that the Lycian Army was not come up but no sooner was that Army enter'd the Island but the Turks began to set up their Pavilions and to lodge their Camp in a place out of the reach of the Rhodian Artillery to land their Guns mount and plant them open their Trenches and make their approaches Then it was that the Grand Master left his own Palace and took up his Quarters in St. Marys of the Victorie as being the weakest part of the City and upon which the Turks in ther former Siege had made their chiefest Assaults At the same time also the Turks for a beginning rais'd a little Penthouse of Boards from whence they shot at the Posts of England and Provence But the Artillery from the Town immediately ruin'd it and kill'd the Cannoneers After that they rais'd two other Batteries upon the Hill of Saint Cosmus and St. Damian and shot against the Posts of England and Spain but the shot from the City ruin'd those in the same manner As the Turks were labouring to advance their Trenches to the place where they design'd to plant their Canon the besieg'd were very desirous to make a Salley to which the Grand Master having giv'n his consent St. Athanasius's Gate was open'd and out they fell upon those that were working in the Trenches with whom they made such work that the Turk were all cut to pieces before any relief could come to them But then the besieged observing a great Body
making toward them retir'd skirmishing under the English and Spanish Guns which then playing upon the Enemy made a dreadful havock among them in regard they came on so thick that it was impossible for a bullet to miss The Christians afterwards made some Sallies with like success but because some one or other still fell the Grand Master considering that the loss of one man was more to him then the loss of a hundred to the Enemy forbid any more Sallies to be made For it was observ'd that during the Siege the first Army was recruited with above a hundred thousand men which was an easie thing for them to do having the Land so near them to befriend them and such a number of Vessels every day ready at command The Salleys being over the Turks advanc'd their Trenches with more freedom So that they rais'd in several places above sixty Batteries chiefly against the Posts of England Provence Spain and Italy but the Artillery from the Town overthrew so many that only thirty four remain'd At that time arriv'd at Rhodes a Gentleman whose name was Gabriel Radin Martinengo a person well known for his skill in Fortifications whom Bozio had perswaded to leave Candy and come to the assistance of the Rhodians Him the Grand Master highly honour'd gave him the habit of the Order and permission to wear the Cross made him supernitendant over the Artillery with a promise of the first Vacancy that fell in the Italian Language honours which he highly deserv'd by carrying himself so nobly and vertuously all the time of the Siege Now that the Grand Master might set him at work he signifi'd his desire to know the condition of the Turkish Army and what they intended to do Whereupon a Mariner born in Trebizond then in the service of the Order took seven or eight young men of his acquaintance and having shav'd and clad themselves in Turkish Habit they took Melons Cowcumbers and other fruits and secretly embark'd themselves the next night and avoyding the Turkish Fleet made out to the Sea and so return'd by break of day in sight of Rhodes as if they had come from Turky From thence they made to the Cape which is nearest to Lycia where the Merchants met from all parts to sell Refreshments of all sorts to the Army There they put to sale their Melons and Cowcumbers and I rankly inquir'd what news of the Army The Turks who took them for natural Turks as willingly satisfy'd them and told them the whole condition of their Forces When they had sold all and understood all they made out to Sea again having receiv'd two Turks into their Vessel with much entreaty that were weary of an Army Life Those they bound hand and foot and brought along with them into Rhodes and presented to the Grand Master who order'd the Prior of St. Giles and Martinengo to examin them These two Turks being carry'd up to the steeple of St. John shew'd the Prior and Martinengo how the Quarters of the Turkish Army were dispos'd told them the Number of the Souldiers that Solyman himself was speedily expected that the Souldiers grew out of heart and mutined against their Commanders being weary of a war to which they cry'd they were lead as to a Slaughter House with many other things not believ'd at first as being thought to have bin spoken out of flattery or to procure good entertainment to themselves but which were indeed really true For Peri Basha observing a manifest and dangerous Mutiny in the Army dispatch'd away a Courrier to Solyman to give him Intelligence and to supplicate him to come in person forthwith that he might put a stop to the sedition by his presence and Authority Solyman flies through Asia the less with an incredible speed and embarking at Port Fisco arriv'd in Rhodes the 28th of July where he was receiv'd with great triumph and lodg'd himself four or five miles from the City at a place call'd Megalandra out of the reach of the Canon Solyman held a council and resolv'd upon a strict enquiry whence the Mutiny proceeded and a severe punishment of the Authors But Peri Basha by his grave remonstrances soon softned and appeas'd his wrath He laid before him that this mutiny rather proceeded from fear an apprehension of danger then from Malice or Rebellion and that therefore his Majesty might by his authority reduce them to their duty knowing that the Turks had the Ottoman name in so much Veneration that upon his appearance they would soon recollect themselves and return to their Obedience but that Rigour was now unseasonable especially against the old Souldiers without whose assistance he could never compass so great a design as the taking of Rhodes Solyman hearken'd to his advice assembled all the Army together made them lay down their Armes and prostrate themselves upon the Ground then sitting on a Royal Throne under a Rich Canopy turning his face this way and that way with a Majestick and stern Countenance He first accus'd their Infidelity hightn'd the injuries done by the Knights of Rhodes to his Subjects advanc'd his own power his Triumphs and his Victories upbraided the Old Souldiers of Ingratitude as having enrich'd themselves by his fortune in war of Cowardice to let such a handful of men make head against such a Potent and flourishing Army Lastly said he am not I here the Companion of your dangers Nor will I part from hence till I have them in my power I swear it by the holy head of divine Mahomet and if I fail may my Kingdomes and my house be ruin d and my own person perish eternally Go then and think of nothing else but what you are commanded Nor let any man distrust my clemency nor my word but build upon my Liberality For I am here the spectator and judge of your Valour your Merits Solyman had no sooner ended his Harangue but he withdrew into his Pavilion and commanded that the Souldiers should be all sworn anew to their Captaines And from that time it was that the Souldiers recover'd their courage became more obedient and deliberate and proceeded in all things with more order and conduct Now they continu'd their batteries more terribly then before They also play'd in three several places with two great brass-Cannons like Morter-Peices that carry'd marble-bullets of a prodigious weight and yet all the harm then to kill 25 men and the Chevalier Lyoncel that commanded the Bastion of Cosquin This battery they left off by the advice of the Jewish Physitian who gave them notice how little good it had done After the Turks made it their business to advance their trenches and to fill up the moats with Earth and though the Artillery of the Christians continually fir'd upon them nevertheless they gave not over their work till they had finish'd a great battery between the Spanish and Auvergnian Post and another against that of Italy and there they lodg'd their Cannon that play'd upon the besieg'd
so furiously that they durst not peep above the battlements till they had made themselves new defences of wood and plankes upon which the Besiegers having advanc'd their trenches to the side of the Moat made certain gaps in the wall on their side through which they much annoy'd the defendants with their Musket-shot and kill'd some few of them In the mean while the Captains lodg'd themselves in their Trenches Mustapha the General against the Bul-wark of England Peri against the Italian Post Achmat against that of Spain and Auvergne with the Aga of the Janisaries the Beglerbey of Natolia against that of France the Beglerbey of Romania against the Gardens of St. Antony who began a battery at the beginning of August against the German Post which was weak and without any platform Nevertheless the Grand Master caus'd it to be fortify'd within with intrenchments of Earth great pieces of Timber-planks and Bavines and play'd his Artillery so thick from several places and Posts on that side so that he dismounted the Artillery and overthrew the batteries of the Turks till they were aweary of repairing them and so remov'd them By this time it was that the Rhodians began to find the want of their powder and though the Grand Master continually employ'd fourteen of his own horses to bray saltpeter and other materials proper to make powder in a sure and well-guarded place yet the besieged were forc'd to be very sparing of their powder which gave great advantage to the enemy The Turks seeing no good to be done on that side play'd upon the steeple of St. Johns Church and beat it down upon advice giv'n them by the Jewish Physitian that from thence the Christians discover'd what was done in the Camp The ruin of this steeple being a lovely structure was much lamented by the Inhabitants This done the Besiegers under the command of the Beglerbey of Natolia remov'd their batteries against the Tower of St. Nicholas which they furiously play'd upon for the space of ten days with twelve great pieces of Canon but the Artillery from the Tower broke and ruin'd all their batteries so that the Beglerbey was constrain'd to change the form of his batteries to remove his mantlets which are made of Earth close ramm'd and clos'd with boards fasten'd together with great spars of timber to dismount his Guns and plant them in the night upon great plat forms without gabions or Mantlet with which playing securely all the night when day appear'd they cover'd them again with Earth and grave Thus they made above 500 shot which onely beat down a pane of the wall on the west-side through which appear'd another good wall and so many stout defendants that these difficulties being related to Solyman he caus'd the said Battery to be remov'd whereby the Chevalier Castellaine Captain of St. Nicholas Tower acquir'd great honour At the same time the Turks rais'd 14 Mantelets against the Posts of England and Spain upon which they planted Guns of a prodigious bigness and play'd upon them for a month together so that they ruin'd the new wall of the English Platform while the old wall stood entire beside that they brought through their trenches unto the Moat three huge peices of Canon with which they levell'd the defences of the Bastion of Spain and beat down the wall by the ruins whereof the Turks might easily mount the Bastion The same Battery they rais'd against the Bastion of Provence with three peices of Canon planted upon the side of the Moat and in a small time threw down more then the besiegers in a long time were able to repair Then the Grand Master leaving St. Maries of the Victory came to St. Athanasius Gate and lodg'd himself under the English wall and there he constituted four Captains allotting to each ten Knights besides the Ordinary Guard to succour and preserve the English wall Besides all this the Turks continually play'd with their Sacres and Falcons and other small Artillery and the besieged did the like which stood them in no small stead to ruin their Mantlets and dismount their peices Among the rest a Culverin shot pierced through a Mantlet upon one piece kill'd five men and carry'd away both legs of the Turkish Canoneer of which he dy'd Solyman was much troubl'd for his loss insomuch that he said he had rather have lost one of his Basha's Nor was the Italian Post more mercifully handl'd which was continually batter'd by seventeen pieces of Canon so that it had bin an easy thing to have mounted the wall by the ruins that fell into the Moat Yet though this long battery had made a great breach in the Italian Post yet would not the besiegers venture an assault but onely continu'd to make their approaches and to ruin the entrenchments and defences of the besieged Which the Chevalier Martinengo seeing with the Grand Masters permission made a sally with about an hundred choice men and falling upon the Enemy unawares kill'd put to flight whatever stood in their way and so with one prisoner and the head of another return'd with great applause The Turks that came in heaps to the relief of their own were miserably torn to pieces by the Artillery of the Town having no shelter and lost a greater number in their retreat then Martinengo flew This being the condition of the City the Grand Master who knew it would not be long ere they gave a General Assault dispatch'd away Bosio to the Pope and his Secretary into Provence and to the King of France beseeching them to hasten the succours which he expected from them Being also desirous to know what news was in the Turkish Camp one Carpathio a Rhodian undertook to satisfy him and getting out of the Post in a Brigantine with a crew of good Souldiers clad after the Turkish manner he coasted along the shoar as far as the Foss where he saw several Souldiers that were taking the fresh Air by the Sea-side who immediately discover'd him The Rhodiot put on a bold face and in the Turkish Language call'd to them aloud and told them the Basha had sent for them which they easily believ'd and went aboard the Brigantine One of the Turks finding he was in the wrong drew his Sword and wounded the Rhodiot in the thigh for which the Rhodian repay'd him by cutting off his head the rest being elev'n were easily master'd and brought to the Grand Master Now Martinengo seeing the great ruins which the Enemies Artillery had made rais'd barricadoes and wrought entrenchments upon the walls where he planted a good number of Guns which playing into the Enemies Trenches kill'd a great Number of the Turks he also lodg'd several Souldiers under the shelter of the houses who shot incessantly and made a great slaughter The Batteries of the Turks not succeeding to their wishes they fell to mining and had in several parts of the City made above forty so that of six parts of the City five in a few days were
the former combats Not long after Mustapha covetous to repair his honour and to regain the favour of the Grand Signiour resolv'd to give a third assault to the Bastion of England He imparted his resolution to the Achmat who agreed with him at the same time to assail the Bastions of Spain and Auvergne Upon the 3d. of September Mustapha unexpectedly fell upon the Bastion mounted the Ruins and fix'd their Ensigns neer the Rhodian Entrenchments and at the same time endeavour'd to make their way forward The fight was terrible and doubtful neither was Mustapha wanting in any part of a judicious and couragious Captain Achmat also at the same time play'd two Mines one in the Auvergnian the other in the Spanish Post The Auvergnian Mine prov'd in effectual the Spanish Mine brought down a considerable part of the wall of the Barbacan of the said Bastion And yet for these dreadful Ruins the Christians so well behav'd themselves in every place that the Turks having lost above 3000 men were forc'd to retreat with shame to their Trenches Two dayes after the Jewish Physitian often spok'n of before was discover'd shooting an Arrow into the Turkish Camp with a Letter fasten'd to the end of it Thereupon he was apprehended and upon his examination confess'd that he was a Spy for the Turks that he had sent them five Letters that he had given them several advices and had encourag'd them to continue the Siege For which He was condemn'd to be quarter'd After these Repulses and the giving fire to three other Mines soon after that did little or no harm the Basha's consulted together and resolv'd to give a general assault upon fore several places of the City all at a time Solyman approv'd their Resolution assembl'd his Captains together encourag'd and chear'd them up and assur'd them of Victory and by publick Proclamation gave the common Souldiers the whole Plunder of the City Thus the whole Army resum'd their wonted courage and full of Hopes prepar'd themselves for a general Assault As a preparation to which the Basha's order the English Bulwark the Posts of Spain and Auvergne and the Italian Platform to be batter'd for two dayes together on purpose to widen and enlarge the Breaches The Grand Master observing this universal motion of the Enemy and their continual Batteries for 2 days together with an extraordinary diligence prepar'd for his defence Day and night he visited all the Posts earnestly besought every one to be watchful and ready and having taken a little repose in his armes by break of day he rang'd the Souldiers in their several Posts and that there might remain no fear or astonishment among them he made them a short speech Declaring to them the glorious opportunity which offer'd it self for them to signalize their Zeal for the honour of God their fidelity to their Order and the welfare of Christendom and their affection to a people that had liv'd under their Dominion for above 200 years He gave them to understand how often they had prov'd their own valour and the timidity of the Enemy That though their number were great yet that there was yet a sufficient number left of brave and valiant men to defend a just cause and repel the force of Ambition and perfidious impiety That they were to consider their Enemies were a sort of ignorant people forc'd on by their Basha's for fear of encurring the displeasure of their Master to whom they had represented the enterprize so easy that they themselves were persons of honour dedicated from their Infancy to the service of God And therefore he besought and conjur'd them to do their duties The Turks by break of day discharg'd all their Artilleriy at once that they might pass the Moat under the covert of the smoak and that don they boldly fell on in all places at once The Grand Master posted himself in the English Bulwark as being the weakest place Nor was the Spanish Artillery a little favourable to the English flanking the Turks and making a great slaughter among them insomuch that they were almost ready to recoyle when Mustapha's Lieutenant throwing himself among them pray'd entreated threaten'd promis'd and heading them himself brought them on again though to his cost being the first man slain with a Canon Bullet as he was mounting the Ruins The Turks enrag'd by his fall discharg'd their small shot and arrows like hail upon the Rhodians And Mustapha observing their Metall sent them continually fresh supplies and with fair words and promises exhorted them to their Duties Yet could they not force the besieg'd to stir a foot who in the view of the Grand Master with an invincible courage sustain'd all that Impetuosity and at the same time fought with equal valour and obstinacy in all the other Quarters The very women were not unserviceable while some carry'd Bread Wine and other refreshments to the Souldiers others threw stones others pour'd down boyling Oyle and water upon the Enemy But the greatest danger of the Combat was in the Spanish Post where the Aga General of the Janissaries having pick'd out the choicest of his men march'd himself to the Assault at the head of them who follow'd him with such a Resoluton that they cover'd all the Breach gain'd the platform above and planted forty of their Ensigns upon it with the same violence rushing on to the Barricado's not minding the prodigious slaughter of their own that fell on every side Thereupon the Knights and Souldiers in the Spanish Bulwark seeing the distress of those in the Post ran to the assistance of their friends leaving only some few for a guard behind Which certain of the Turks that lay conceal'd behind the rubbish perceiving presently mounted the Bulwark and made themselves Masters of it pull'd down the Ensigns of the Christians and setting up their own cry'd out in their own Language Victory and invited their Companions to assist them Upon which Achmats Regiment advanc'd but the Auvergnian Spanish Artillery soon stopp'd their Career So that the Grand Master being advertiz'd of this new accident left the English and entring the Spanish Post charg'd the Enemy so vigorously that he put them absolutely to flight Then seeing the Spanish Bastion master'd by the Turks he sent the Commander of Bourbon with a Company of stout Souldiers with order to enter the Mine and Casemat and to mount the Bastion Which he did so effectually that in a short time he wholly regain'd it Notwithstanding all this the Aga with fresh forces return'd to the assault of the Spanish Post and the Grand Master having left a sufficient Guard in the Bastion return'd to the defence of the same and sending for two hundred fresh men from St. Nicholas Tower after a bloody fight of six hours forc'd the Turks to abandon their Colours and to retreat to their trenches after the loss of above 15000 men Solyman was so highly incens'd against Mustapha upon this defeat that he condemn'd him to be shot to
death with arrows Peri Basha upon the presumption of his Age his merits and his Authority coming to intercede for Mustapha was sentenc'd to the same death And both had suffer'd had not Achmat Basha and all the rest of the Principal Commanders prostrate at Solymans feet implor'd their pardon Solyman seeing all his attempts upon the City of Rhodes so vain and fruitless fell into such a deep melancholy that he shut himself up in his Pavilion for several dayes and would not be seen resolving to raise the siege and to be gone The great Commanders whose hopes lay all in the Mines finding their expectations frustrate resolv'd to raise the Camp Nay several had carry'd their baggage to the Sea side and several Companies had quitted the Trenches When an Albanese Souldier slipping out of the Town gave intelligence to the Turks that the greatest part of the Knights and Souldiers were either kill'd or wounded in the last General Assault Other Traytours wrought the same adviz'd them to stay assuring them that the City could not hold out two Assaults more And it was afterwards known that the Chevalier D'Amaral wrought to the same purpose and encourag'd the continuance of the siege Upon this Intelligence the Captains chang'd their Resolutions divulg'd the news through the Army and began to batter the City more furiously then before Solyman also to let the Souldiers understand his Resolution and to encourage them began to build him a pleasure-house upon Palermos Hill Mustapha also though he had orders to repair to his Government ventur'd to give three Assaults successively upon the English Bastion with the Mamalucks who were so ill entertain'd the greatest part of them being kill'd or wounded that the rest retir'd to their Quarters resolving to return no more Peri secretly undermind the Italian Bastion the Mine indeed made a terrible noise and shaking but took vent on the Camp side and kill'd a great many of the Turks Mustapha having such ill success thought it not convenient to stay any longer so that upon his departure Achmat was made General He continu'd the siege with the same violence so that there was not a day pass'd wherein he did not both batter Assault and undermine the defences of the City However the Grand Master remitted nothing of his wonted care and diligence fighting and hazarding his person every where where need requir'd beyond what was reasonable for a person of his degree and Importance And now when it was almost too late those conspiracies and treasons were discover'd which were the loss of the Island For in the first place Lucio Custrophilaca a Rhodian and a person of great wealth reputation and alliances who had the charge of the fortifications the bread and ammunition was perceiv'd at a time and in a place very much to be suspected to have shot an arrow into the Turkish Camp who was thereupon lay hold on examin'd and put upon the wrack but would confess nothing to the purpose Next to him Blas Diez Servant to the Chancellour D'Amaral was taken in the same fact and being put to the Torture confess'd his Masters Treason declaring how he had wrote to the Basha's to contiuue the Siege for that both men and provisions fail'd in the City Thereupon the Grand Master caus'd the Chancellour to be apprehended who being examin'd and tortur'd would confess nothing himself but being convicted by sufficient testimonies confirm'd to his face by his Servant his Servant was hang'd and he beheaded dying without any sign of repentance or Christian devotion In the mean time the Canons of the Enemy thunder'd against the Bastion of Italy where they ruin'd all the defences and Barricado's that Martinengo had rais'd by which means they advanc'd their Trenches to the very foot of the Breach The Bastion of England was also beaten down to the Ground and the most part of the Barricado's and entrenchments ruin'd so that some advis'd the quitting and blowing it up But because that signifi'd little in regard of the vast numbers of the Turks the Grand Master resolv'd to hold it out to the utmost and to that end gave the command of it to the Chevalier John de Bin who kept it to the last At this time arriv'd the Chevalier de Rocque Martin with twelve Knights a hundred Souldiers and some Ammunition But notwithstanding this small relief the Grand Master observing the desperate condition of the City for now in some places there were no other defences but beames and boards between the Enemy and him beside that they had set up three Pravilions within the City neer the Rhodian entrenchments sent away to Candy for Souldiers Ammunition and victuals which the Duke of Candy had provided as also to Naples to hasten the succours which the winter season hinder'd from coming In the mean while the Turks gave too desperate Assaults upon the Italian and Spanish platforms but were still repuls'd with the loss of above 3000 men Insomuch that Achmat finding it impossible to take the City by force resolv'd to give no more Assaults but rather chose to preserve his men who were grown quite weary of the Christian valour nevertheless he continu'd his batteries and advanc'd his Trenches thinking to creep by degrees into the City Solyman also thinking to make short work caus'd several Letters to be shot into the City inviting the Inhabitants to surrender offering them all the Immunities they could desire and threatning on the other side in case of obstinacy all the severity imaginable Peri also suborn'd a Genoese who having liberty to speak to the Knights adviz'd them as Christians to consider the deplorable condition of the City and told them withal that if they were so dispos'd he could put them in a way to make an honourable composition but they believing him to be some impostor sent under hand by Solyman or his Basha's gave little credit to his words Two dayes after he came to the same place pretending he had a Letter from the Grand Signiour but then they bid him retire and to force him the sooner so to do they shot at him Some while after came the Albanian Souldier before mention'd pretending Letters also from Solyman to the Grand Master But then the Grand Master forbid any farther Parlying However these offers were divulg'd abroad in the City which begat in many a desire to heark'n to propositions of peace as more regarding their wives and Children then their honour And it was carry'd so far that some of the Citizens went and declar'd their desires to the Metropolitan and some of the Grand Cross requesting them to declare their grievances to the Grand Master But he severely check'd them telling them that it was not a request to be mention'd that they should rather resolve to die for the common liberty and the Honour of the Order The next day they came and besought him again to provide for the Common safety for that they were assur'd that the Citizens would yeild to a treaty rather
then be cut in pieces themselves their wives and children Then the Grand Master finding himself press'd and importun'd of all hands submitted to necessity and call'd a general Council So soon as the Council was sat a Petition was presented to the Grand Master humbly requesting him to think of a Capitulation or at least to give them leave to secure their wives and children and at the foot of the petition was an intimation that if the Grand Master would not they would provide for them themselves In this distress the Grand Master desirous to know the condition of the City more particularly before he would resolve any farther requir'd the advice of the Prior of St. Giles and Martinengo who both declar'd in full Council that in either consciences and upon their Honour and allegeance they could not think the City any longer tenable the Enemy being lodg'd forty yards one way and 30 yards another way within the City so that it was impossible for them to retire any farther nor for the Enemy to be beaten out Upon the advice and Relation of two such judicions and great men the whole Council considering how much it concern'd them to preserve the holy Reliques and the souls and honour of so many Christian Women and Children and the evident danger of the whole Orders being dispierc'd and abolish'd if all that were there should be lost resolv'd with one accord to Capitulate The Grand Master still lay'd before them the duty that lay upon them to preserve the honour of the Order which had never yet bin defil'd with any stain of cowardice or pusillanimity having alwaies preferr'd their honour and Death before the safety of their Lives But the Council overrul'd him with so many circumstantial and solid reasons that he was constrain'd to yield to the present and inevitable necessity and their grave advice This design Heav'n was so far pleas'd to favour that Solyman began first For he first set up an Ensign upon the Church of St. Mary de Lermonitra and then the Grand Master set up another upon the Mill belonging to the Cosquin Gate Immediately two Turks came out of the Trenches desiring to parley upon which the Grand Master sent forth the Prior of St. Giles and Martinengo to whom the Turks deliver'd a Letter from Solyman This Letter was read in Council wherein Solyman demanded a surrender of the Town offer'd the Knights liberty to be gone with security for their persons and their Baggage which if they would not accept he was resolv'd to put all to the sword Thereupon in consideration onely of the people and Inhabitants of the Town the same Resolution was again taken and the Chevalier Anthony de Grolee and Robert Perucci Judge of the Castillians were commissionated to attend Solyman So soon as they were gone forth a near Kinsman of Achmats and a Trucheman much favour'd by the Grand Turk were admitted unto Rhodes as Hostages and a truce was concluded for three dayes The next day Achmat presented the Embassadours to Solyman who declar'd to him what they had in commission Solyman to maintain his Reputation firmely deny'd that he had ever wrote or sent to the Grand Master nevertheless since the Grand Master had sent to him upon the same Occasion he commanded them to let him know his mind which was the same that he had written and demanded his Resolution within three dayes and that in the mean time there should be no working toward the repair of their fortifications being firmly resolv'd though all Turky perish'd not to stir out of the Island till he had Rhodes in his possession And having so said he dismis'd them Perucci return'd to the City But Achmat kept the Chevalier Grollee with him led him into his Pavilion and caus'd him to drink with him and discoursing of several passages in the siege Achmat told him with a great oath that above forty thousand Turks had bin slain and as many were sick and wounded Peruoci having made his report to the Council it was resolv'd upon good considerations that they should not accept those conditions the first time but send other Commissioners In the mean time certain of the Citizens took upon them and were mightily offended that the Capitulation was begun without their privity Declaring also that they would never consent to any such conditions but rather die with their Swords in their hands for their liberty then surrender themselves to the power of the Turk For that whatever the Turk promis'd he would be sure to exercise nothing but rapine and slaughter as he had done at Belgrade The Grand Master observing this Grecian fickleness told them in friendly manner that the Resolutions he had taken were resolv'd upon upon mature deliberation which consultations were to be kept secret that they might not come to the Enemies knowledge and that it was more for their safety then for the good of the Order that they made any conditions at all To which purpose he was sending away other Commissioners the better to assure himself of Solymans word and fidelity With which answer the Citizens shew'd themselves very well satisfy'd Upon this two other Commissioners were dispatch'd away Raymond Marquet and Lopezde Pas both Spanish Knights who represented to Solyman that the Grand Master had to confer with several people of several Nations that the time Limited was too short and therefore desir'd that he would be pleas'd to grant them a longer time Solyman not relishing this discourse without saying any more commanded Achmat to continue his batteries which were begun again upon the 15th of December and so the Truce was broken Solyman however detain'd one of the Commissioners which shew'd that he had yet some inclinations to to Capitulate The Grand Master observing the Hostility begun again and that the Turks advanc'd with their Trenches farther and farther into the Town sent for them that hinder'd the treaty and protested to live and die with them and commanded all the Inhabitants to repair home to their Quarters there to keep guard and that no person should quit his Quarters upon pain of Death This Order was observ'd for two days but the 3d. a young man left his Quarters and went and lay at home for which the Grand Master commanded him to be hang'd Some few days after that all the rest of the Inhabitants lost both their courage and their patience and forsook the walls and breaches so that the Turks might easily have enter'd had not the Grand Master withstood them with that small handful of men which he had left him which some few dayes after was a little augmented by the coming of the Chevalier D'Andugar and the Chevalier Farfan an English man with a hundred Souldiers and some Wine This Wine was a great consolation to the City besides that the Ship made such Bravado's as it enter'd the Port that the Turks generally believ'd it had brought a Relief of above a Thousand men However the Turks continu'd their Assaults and
particularly they made a violent onset upon the Spanish Barbacan from which though they were at first repuls'd yet returning with such vast numbers the Rhodians were overwhilm'd and oppress'd by multitude and forc'd to retire into the City The Turks having gain'd the Barbacan presently came to the foot of the English wall and by the Ruins of the Barbacan got to the top of it and there planted several of their Colours The Citizens beholding the Extream danger they were in confess'd their folly and besought the Grand Master as the common Father to provide for their safety who gave them liberty to constitute Deputies of their own to attend Solyman and to procure particular security from him for themselves and order'd them to go along with the Chevalier Grollee The Grand Master however having some hopes of relief to the end he might temporize for a while sent Perucci first to shew to Solyman a Letter of Bajazet his Grandfather wherein he bequeath'd his malediction to those of his successours that should make war against Rhodes Perucci address'd himself to Achmat who desirous to see the Letter took it and having torn it to pieces threw it under his feet in great disdain Having so done he sent Perucci back to the Grand Master to tell him that if he did not suddenly return Solyman an answer he must expect to be miserable However the Grand Master had one more delay which was to offer to Solyman by the proposal of the Chevalier de Grollee otherwise call'd Passim the expences and charges of the whole siege if he would rise from before it But Achmat would not suffer any such word to be deliver'd to Solyman saying that Solyman had more regard to his honour and his Reputation then to all the Riches in the World At length the Grand Master finding no way to avoyd an agreement and that delay would be the Loss of all vanquish'd his own courage and overwhelm'd with grief and vexation gave his word to surrender the Town upon the conditions propos'd To which purpose he sent away the Chevalier Passim the Deputies of the Town who were presented to his Majesty to whom the Knights declar'd that the Grand Master was now resolv'd to surrender the City upon the conditions propos'd to him upon a full assurance in the faith and promises of his Majesty and humbly entreated him to favour the Inhabitants in the petition which they had to present to him for their peace and safety The Inhabitants besought him to remove his Army a little farther off that they might not receive any Injury either in their persons or goods and that those that would be gone might depart in safety Solyman accepted the offer of the Grand Master and promis'd to observe inviolably every article of the Capitulation That the Churches should not be profan'd that none of the Children should be carry'd away as Tribute Children to make Janissaries That the Christians should have the free exercise of their Religion That the Inhabitants should be exempt from all duties for five years That they that would might depart in three years with their Estates unmolested That Solyman should furnish the Order with Ships sufficient to carry them and their Subjects to Candy That they should carry off as many of their great Guns as they could Load That the Castles of St. Peter Lango and the other Islands and Fortresses belonging to the Order shall be surrender'd to Solyman After that Achmat sent into the City 400 Janisaries with an Aga to take possession and the Grand Master sent into the Camp for Hostages 25 Knights and as many Citizens who were by Achmat curteously entertain'd In the mean time Achmat came to visit the Grand Master in the Moat of the Spanish Post where after some discourse between them he gave the Grand Master Notice that Solyman was desirous to see him and therefore adviz'd him as his best course to go and wait upon him The Grand Master unwilling to provoke Solyman and to give him any occasion to break his word by being severe either to the Knights or the Rhodians resolv'd to follow Achmats advice The next morning therefore he went in a plain habit accompani'd with several of the Knights and after he had attended for some time before Solymans Tent he was presented with a noble Vest that Solyman gave him which so soon as he had put on he was introduc'd into the Grand Signiours Pavilion and kiss'd his hand Solyman receiv'd him curteously chear'd him up and told him by his interpreter that it was a common thing to loose or gain Cities and Signiories through the Instability of Fortune exhorted him to take his loss patiently and assur'd him of a most punctual performance of all his promises Then turning to his own people I cannot but pity said he this brave Man whom in his Old Age Necessity thus compels to abandon the Seat of his own Dominion The Grand Master return'd him thanks besought him to remember what he had promis'd and so taking his leave retir'd Solyman caus'd him to be guarded into the City and gave habits of honour to all the Knights that attended him Three days after Solyman himself rode to view the Trenches the Batteries the Breaches and the Tower of St. Nicholas Upon his return he enter'd the Palace attended only by Achmat and Ibrahim then a Page but highly belov'd by him and ask'd for the Grand Master When he saw him he made a kind of offer to raise his Turbant from his head with his hand out of respect not permitting the Grand Master to make any obeysance to him below his dignity Bidding him fear nothing and telling him withall if he had not time enough he would allow him more The Grand Master return'd him thanks but desir'd nothing more of him then to be mindful of his promise Thereupon Solyman remounted and having view'd the Church of St. John return'd to his Pavilion Upon New-years day the Grand Master having taken his leave of Solyman and embark'd as many of the choicest great Guns as the time would permit attended by all the Knights and as many of the best of the Citizens who rather chose to follow his fortunes then submit to the Tyranny of the Turks went aboard the Galleys appointed to carry the disconsolate Traine and the best of their goods and steer'd away for Candy Thus did The Order of St. John loose Rhodes after they had held and maintain'd it with so much constancy so much Expence of treasure and loss of blood against the whole power of the Barbarous Mahometans for the space of two hun-and thirty years FINIS Reynald Annal Ecclesiae An. 1495. * Fast fourty days and be whipt twice a week before the High Altar Anno 1503. Sept. 11. 1421.