CHAPTER III

TIRANT SUCCORS THE KNIGHTS OF RHODES

In the analysis we have told that the Genoese made a treacherous attempt to capture Rhodes on account of its commercial importance as a seaport. Having failed in their effort, they induced the sultan to undertake the conquest of the island, and within a short time the port of Rhodes was blockaded, the city besieged, and the island overrun by a multitude of Moors. The city, however, offered heroic resistance. The Grand Master appealed to the Christian powers for help. Tirant’s aid finally led to the raising of the siege. Now upon what historical facts is this part of the work based?

Let us first consider the attempt of the Genoese to capture the city of Rhodes. The plan agreed upon was to have a considerable number of their ships in the port, and other vessels carrying many men were to be near by, but far enough away so as not to be seen by the people of Rhodes. Two Genoese members of the Order rendered the instruments of defense of the castle useless. The plan was to be carried out on Good Friday. While the ceremonies of the day were being celebrated, the Genoese were to enter the church two by two. All were to carry arms, but they were to be concealed under long black cloaks. After a large number of them had entered, they, with the assistance of the two traitors, were to seize the towers and finally the whole city. But their plan was fortunately discovered and frustrated.

Knowing the author’s inclination for taking ideas from certain sources and applying them under circumstances that are altogether different from those under which they originally occurred, we shall quote the following passage from Vertot’s history of this military order, which describes an event that may have furnished some details to the story of the unsuccessful venture of the Genoese. The passage refers to a banquet given by Jacques de Lusignan, when the regency of the government of Cyprus was committed to him.

Il se trouva à ce repas royal un grand nombre de Seigneurs Vénitiens et Génois. Ces étrangers se disputèrent la préséance; elle fut décidée ce jour-là en faveur des Vénitiens. Les Génois pour s’en venger, résolurent de l’emporter la force à la main et ils convinrent entr’eux de se trouver le lendemain au palais avec des armes cachées sous leurs manteaux. Le Régent ayant été averti de leur complot, fit jeter par les fenêtres du Palais huit nobles Génois qui se promenoient....[72]

[72] Abbé de Vertot, _Histoire des Chevaliers Hospitaliers de S. Jean de Jérusalem_, Paris, 1726; Livre VI, p. 155.

Martorell began his work in 1460, seven years after the fall of Constantinople. We are told that Mahomet the Second had said: “Constantinople first and then Rhodes.” The sultan notified the Grand Master of the Knights of Saint John that he would not respect the treaty entered into by Amurates and the Order. The defiant answer to this challenge, in the words of a Spanish historian of the Order, was as follows:

Respondió dignamente la Orden que reconocida como Estado por todas las naciones cristianas y por los soldanes turcos, sólo dependía de la Santa Sede; que el Gran Maestre jamás la haría tributaria ni súbdita de nadie, y que la religión de Rodas estaba no por mujeres, sino por hombres que temían á Dios y sabían llevar la espada.[73]

[73] _La Soberana Orden militar de San Juan de Jerusalem ó de Malta, por un Caballero de la Orden_, Madrid, 1899; p. 31.

This peril that was ever threatening Rhodes may have suggested to Martorell that it would offer a favorable field for the exploits of Tirant. And we are inclined to believe that the siege of Rhodes conducted by the Sultan of Egypt in 1444, is the real historical event upon which Tirant’s relief expedition is based. Some time prior to that date the Grand Master de Lastic, being aware of the fact that the sultan was planning to make a supreme effort to capture Rhodes, sent ambassadors to most of the rulers in Europe to implore help, but, like the King of France in _Tirant lo Blanch_, they did not respond. The attack on Rhodes was made in the month of August, 1444. Let us quote Vertot’s version of the event.

Une flotte considérable du Sultan parut de nouveau à la hauteur de l’Isle de Rhodes, et y débarqua dix-huit mille hommes d’infanterie, sans compter un gros corps de cavalerie et de Mamelus, qui faisoient la principale force des Egyptiens. Ces Barbares sans s’arrêter à aucune des Places de l’Isle, marchèrent droit à la Capitale, et l’assiegèrent, pendant que leur flotte tenoit la mer pour le port et empêcha qu’on n’y jettât du secours.[74]

[74] _Op. cit._, pp. 214 and 215.

There are no details of this siege on record. Vertot deplores this fact, but he consoles himself by saying: “Ces Chevaliers sçavoient mieux se servir de leur épée que d’une plume.” However, the records give the general information that the siege lasted forty days; that the fortifications were bombarded by many pieces of heavy artillery; that many assaults were made which were always repulsed; and that, after having lost the greater part of his men, the Saracen commander gave orders to raise the siege.

In the discussion of the relation between Muntaner’s _Chronica_ and _Tirant lo Blanch_, we have intimated that Tirant’s landing at the castle of Rhodes was copied in a general way from Roger de Flor’s successful attempt to bring relief to the besieged city of Messina. In the analysis we have remarked that Tirant waited at the castle of Saint Peter for favorable weather conditions to run the blockade. This castle was built on the shores of Asia Minor, in or about the year 1402, under the direction of the Grand Master de Naillac; consequently the date of the siege of Rhodes in _Tirant lo Blanch_ cannot be assigned to a period before that year.