Siege of Rhodes (1522)

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Attacking Janissaries and defending Johanniter during the siege of Rhodes in 1522

The siege of Rhodes by the Turkish Ottomans began on June 26, 1522 and ended on January 1, 1523 with the withdrawal of the Hospitallers from the island.

Historical background

During the Crusades , several religious orders of knight were created, including the Order of St. John. After the evacuation of Palestine by the crusaders, the Johanniter settled in Cyprus in 1291 , but subjugated the island of Rhodes until 1309 , which became their new base. From there the ships of the Johanniter launched attacks on Muslim fleets in the eastern Mediterranean and controlled the sea trade there.

Central Asian Turkic peoples had immigrated to Anatolia since the 11th century and against the background of the Mongol invasions since the 13th century , where they founded the Seljuq empire . After its collapse, the Ottoman Empire emerged at the beginning of the 14th century under the eponymous ruler Osman I. By the middle of the 15th century, the Turkish Ottomans succeeded in conquering the severely weakened Byzantine Empire , which was almost complete with the fall of Constantinople in 1453. In the period that followed, the Ottomans continued to expand their empire, which also affected the Aegean Islands. In the Aegean Sea, in addition to some bases held by Venice and Genoa , Rhodes was also able to assert itself against the Turks. As early as 1480 there was a siege of Rhodes by a Turkish army, which however failed. In the years that followed, the Ottoman Empire expanded even further, conquering Egypt in 1517 . The Ottomans now had an uninterrupted territorial connection between Constantinople and the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria , but the sea route to Egypt took significantly less time. The sea route was disrupted by the Johanniter on Rhodes, which is why the island was again the target of Ottoman invasion plans. In June 1522, a large Ottoman fleet set out for Rhodes.

Course of the siege

Starting position

Part of the fortifications around the city of Rhodes (2005)

On June 26, 1522, almost 300 Ottoman ships appeared off Rhodes, from which numerous soldiers went ashore. The invading army was possibly up to 160,000 strong and comprised an elite force of around 10,000 Janissaries . The Ottoman warships began the siege by blocking the port of Rhodes. Since the siege of 1480 and an earthquake in 1481, the Johanniter had the fortifications of the city of Rhodes greatly expanded and expanded. A double, sometimes even triple ring made of solid walls and several particularly large rondels protected Rhodes. The port entrance was blocked by a large chain, behind which the Johanniter fleet was posted at a safe distance. The Johanniter divided the walls of the city into several sections, for the defense of which the respective " tongues " of the order were responsible. The north-west of the city was defended by the French knights, next to whom the Germans took up positions. This was followed by the sections of the Knights of the Order from Auvergne , Spain , England and Provence . The south-eastern section was defended by the Italians . Overall, the garrison of the city with its 180 knights and their entourage, mercenaries and locals comprised a strength of a few thousand men. The order's armed forces were commanded by Grand Master Philippe de Villiers de l'Isle-Adam .

First assaults

The Ottoman artillery ( Topçu ) immediately proceeded to take the city under gunfire from three sides . On June 28, Sultan Suleyman I arrived on the island to personally take command of his troops. The heavy cannonade damaged the massive walls of the city very slowly. For weeks several assault attacks were repulsed by the besieged, whereby the besiegers suffered heavy losses. On September 24th, what was by far the largest assault attack took place, with which the Ottoman troops almost managed to penetrate the city. However, the Hospitallers repulsed the attack, killing several thousand Anatolian soldiers and janissaries. In the weeks that followed, the Ottoman army continued the bombardment and carried out further assault attacks without success.

Treason and Negotiation

On October 27, 1522, the Johanniter discovered that the Grand Chancellor of the Order, André do Amaral , had instructed one of his servants to secretly fire messages into the Ottoman camp. Both men were therefore accused of high treason and executed. The fighting over the city raged on until the situation for the defenders became more and more hopeless towards the end of the year, especially since they could not count on the arrival of a relief army . A ceasefire was agreed for December 11-13 to enable negotiations. The surrender of the city demanded by the Ottomans was refused, so that the fighting flared up again. By a new assault on December 17th, the so-called Tower of Spain between the section of the Auvergner and Spaniards was snatched from the Hospitallers. Since further defense of the city had now become almost pointless, the Knights of St. John surrendered on December 22, 1522 on condition that they were granted free retreat. On January 1, 1523 the knights of the order and with them several thousand locals left Rhodes by sea and went to Crete .

result

The siege of Rhodes ended with success for the Ottomans, but they suffered extremely heavy losses. The conquest of Rhodes was an important step for the Ottoman Empire on the way to complete rule over the eastern Mediterranean. After their expulsion from Rhodes, the Johanniter first settled in Crete until Malta became their new base in 1530 . Since then, the new name of the Order of Malta has been used for the Catholic branch of the Johanniter . From Malta, they continued their attacks on Muslim cities and ships, which is why the Ottomans besieged Malta as early as 1565 . However, this failed due to the new type of fortifications that had been built under the Johannites on Malta.

literature

  • Guillaume Caoursin : Obsidionis Rhodiae urbis descriptio. slnd ( Erhard Ratdolt , Venice around 1481).
  • Nicolas Vatin: L'Ordre de Saint-Jean-de Jérusalem, l'Empire ottoman et la Méditerranée orientale entre les deux sièges de Rhodes (1480–1522). (= Collection Turcica. 7). Paris 1994. ISBN 2-87723-161-5 .
  • Eric Brockman: The two sieges of Rhodes. 1480-1522. London 1969.
  • Leza M. Uffer (Ed.): Peter Füesslis Jerusalemfahrt 1523 and letter about the fall of Rhodes 1522 (= New Year's Gazette of the Antiquarian Society in Zurich. No. 146). Zurich 1982 ( source / eyewitness report ).
  • Anthony A.Goodman: The Walls of Rhodes. Lübbe 2004, ISBN 3-404-15108-9 .

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