In 1480 the
Knights HospitallerThe Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta is a Roman Catholic order based in Rome, Italy...
garrison of
RhodesRhodes is a Greek island approximately southwest of Turkey in eastern Aegean Sea...
withstood an attack of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
.
In 1470, the island of
TilosTílos is a small Greek island and municipality located in the Aegean Sea. It is part of the Dodecanese group of islands, and lies midway between Kos and Rhodes. It has a population of 533 inhabitants...
(located between Rhodes and another island,
KosKos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. The island has both fertile plains and mountainous highlands with a population of 30,947...
) was evacuated to Rhodes because they were susceptible to attacks from the Ottoman Empire. In 1475, the island of
ChalkiHalki is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese archipelago in the Aegean Sea, some west of Rhodes. With the area of , it is the smallest inhabited island of Dodecanese. It has permanent population of 330 , concentrated in the only village Emborio...
(6km west of Rhodes, smallest inhabited island of the
DodecaneseThe Dodecanese are a group of 12 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, off the southwest coast of Turkey, southward of the island of Samos and northeastward of the island of Crete...
) was also evacuated to Rhodes for the same reason.
In May 1480 an Ottoman fleet of 50 ships appeared before Rhodes, along with an army of 70,000 men under the command of
Gedik Ahmed PashaGedik Ahmet Pasha was a distinguished Ottoman grand vizier as well as an army and navy commander during the reigns of sultans Mehmed the Conqueror and Beyazid II....
or Mesih Pasha.
Discussion
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In 1480 the
Knights HospitallerThe Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta is a Roman Catholic order based in Rome, Italy...
garrison of
RhodesRhodes is a Greek island approximately southwest of Turkey in eastern Aegean Sea...
withstood an attack of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
.
Preparation
In 1470, the island of
TilosTílos is a small Greek island and municipality located in the Aegean Sea. It is part of the Dodecanese group of islands, and lies midway between Kos and Rhodes. It has a population of 533 inhabitants...
(located between Rhodes and another island,
KosKos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. The island has both fertile plains and mountainous highlands with a population of 30,947...
) was evacuated to Rhodes because they were susceptible to attacks from the Ottoman Empire. In 1475, the island of
ChalkiHalki is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese archipelago in the Aegean Sea, some west of Rhodes. With the area of , it is the smallest inhabited island of Dodecanese. It has permanent population of 330 , concentrated in the only village Emborio...
(6km west of Rhodes, smallest inhabited island of the
DodecaneseThe Dodecanese are a group of 12 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, off the southwest coast of Turkey, southward of the island of Samos and northeastward of the island of Crete...
) was also evacuated to Rhodes for the same reason.
Attack
In May 1480 an Ottoman fleet of 50 ships appeared before Rhodes, along with an army of 70,000 men under the command of
Gedik Ahmed PashaGedik Ahmet Pasha was a distinguished Ottoman grand vizier as well as an army and navy commander during the reigns of sultans Mehmed the Conqueror and Beyazid II....
or Mesih Pasha. The
Knights HospitallerThe Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta is a Roman Catholic order based in Rome, Italy...
garrison was led by
Grand MasterGrand Master is the typical title of the supreme head of various orders of knighthood, including various military orders, religious orders and sectarian orders such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Orange Order...
Pierre d'AubussonPierre d'Aubusson was a Grand Master of the order of St. John of Jerusalem and a zealous opponent of the Ottoman Empire.Pierre probably joined the Knights of St...
.
The Knights were reinforced from France by 500 knights and 2,000 soldiers under d'Aubusson's brother Antoine. The siege lasted until August. The Ottomans made three unsuccessful attacks.
On July 28, 1480, the Ottoman fleet gave up their attempt to capture Rhodes and sailed to try and capture Otranto. However, in 1522
Rhodes was capturedThe Siege of Rhodes of 1522 was the second and ultimately successful attempt by the Ottoman Empire to expel the Knights of Rhodes from their island stronghold and thereby secure Ottoman control of the Eastern Mediterranean. The first siege in 1480, had been unsuccessful.- The setting :The Knights...
by the Ottoman empire.
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