A History of the Knights of Malta/Chapter 6

CHAPTER VI.

1311—1365.

• Villaret establishes his Order at Rhodes
• His arrogance
• Plots against him
• His flight to Lindos
• Appeals to the Pope
• His resignation
• Appointment of Elyon de Vilanova
• Division of the Order into langues
• Deodato de Gozon and the Dragon of Rhodes
• War against the Turks
• Capture of Smyrna
• Election of Deodato de Gozon
• His resignation
• Intrigues of Heredia the Castellan of Emposta
• Election of Cornillan and Roger de Pins.

Villaret, by his recent successes, found himself in undisputed possession of the island of Rhodes. He therefore lost no time in endeavouring to secure his position by restoring the ramparts of the town. He also made such arrangements with the islands surrounding his stronghold as their close proximity seemed to render advisable.

The principal of these was Cos, afterwards called Lango, and now known by the name of Stanchio. This island was considered so much more important than its neighbours, that Vilaret determined to render it secure from a coup de main by the erection of a castle to be garrisoned by a body of knights. After the division of the Order into langues, it was confided to the charge of the knights of Provence, and so remained until at the chapter-general held in the year 1356 at Avignon, this monopoly was abolished, and its government once again thrown open to the whole fraternity. Its possessors for the time being were bound to supply a galley of twenty-six oars as their contribution to the general fleet of the Order. Of the other islands, Calamos and Leros were celebrated for their marble quarries, being otherwise very sterile; their inhabitants subsisting entirely by their trade in marble and by general commerce. Symia was esteemed valuable owing to its vineyards and the excellence of the wine which it produced. It also carried on an extensive trade in sponges, which were raised by divers. So much was this calling recognized as peculiar to the island, that by one of its municipal laws no youth was permitted to marry until he was able to penetrate to a certain depth of water, and to remain there during a specified length of time. Its shipwrighta had also achieved a wide reputation, and their light craft were celebrated throughout the Mediterranean for excellence both under oar and sail. On the summit of its most considerable height in the island, the Grand-Master erected a post of observation, whence intelligence of any approaching danger might be conveyed to Rhodes, either by signal fires or by one of its swift boats. The smallest of the islands was assigned as the private domain of the Grand-Master, and although there is some doubt in the matter, the general opinion appears to be that it was the island of Patmos. Within a few miles of Cos was another island named Nisyrus, in which was a hot spring of medicinal water, and also an excellent harbour. It abounded in delicious fruit of every description, and its advantages as a residence were so apparent that it soon grew into a place of importance. A considerable town sprang up, ornamented with columns and statues made of the porphyry with which it abounded. Eventually it rose to be a bishop’s see, subordinate to the archbishop of Rhodes.

Having, in consequence of this personal inspection, taken such steps as he deemed necessary for the security of his government, Villaret returned to Rhodes, trusting to enjoy a period of repose after the lengthened struggle in which he had been for so many years engaged. His hopes were not, however, as yet destined to be realized. The Saracens whom he had expelled from Rhodes had fled to the court of Osman, or Othman, a Turkish prince at that time the ruler of Bithynia in Cappadocia, as also of much adjacent territory. This prince beheld with extreme jealousy the establishment of a foe so redoubtable as the Hospitallers had always proved themselves to his nation and religion, in such close proximity to his own dominions. It was not difficult, therefore, for the Rhodian fugitives to persuade him to attempt the task of expelling the white cross knights from their new home.

Collecting a considerable force, he made a descent on the island before Villaret had had time to restore the fortifications of his stronghold to anything like a state of security. The determined valour of his knights proved sufficient to supply all deficiencies in the strength of his ramparts, and after several unsuccessful assaults, Othman found himself compelled to abandon the attack, and to retire crestfallen to his galleys. Amadeus V., count of Savoy, rendered loyal assistance to the besieged Hospitallers during this incursion, which took place in the year 1315. In commemoration of the fact, his descendants have since that time always borne the white cross with the word “Fert” as a device, that word being composed of the initial letters of the sentence, “Fortitudo ejus Rhodum tenuit.”^[1]

The failure of Othman’s enterprise left Villaret a period of leisure in which to complete the establishment of his government. Under his able superintendence, and expedited by his energy and promptitude, the ramparts of Rhodes were rapidly placed in a state of security. The Saracen inhabitants of the town having either fled of their own accord or been expelled by the victors, Villaret found that it was necessary to create a new population by attracting to his capital a number of Christian immigrants. Trade was encouraged in all possible ways, and merchants from every country in Europe were tempted to take up their abode in the island, by the freedom from restrictions and taxation which commerce enjoyed under the rule of this politic chief. He made it, in fact, a free port, the result of which was that within a very few years its harbours were filled with rich argosies laden with all the moat precious commodities of European traffic, from whence they bore back, on their return voyage, the no less valuable merchandise of the East. To protect this vast and annually increasing trade, the galleys of the Order, now developing into a considerable fleet, traversed the Levant in all directions, at one time conveying the homeward-bound merchautmen to their destination, and at another falling upon the Turkish corsair wherever he dared to show his flag. Rarely indeed did they return to port without some substantial tokens wherewith to remunerate themselves for the hardships and perils of their voyage.

The wealth of the fraternity was now increasing with amasing rapidity, and although the lately-acquired estates of the Templars as yet produced but little to their new lords, the prospect of their shortly developing into a source of revenue was such as to warrant a somewhat free expansion in their expenditure. The usual consequences of such a state of things soon manifested themselves. Luxury in every form gradually usurped the place of that simple mode of life which had satisfied their predecessors. The renown which the capture of Rhodes reflected upon the knights had attracted into their ranks a large number of the younger members of the noblest houses in Europe—youths whose minds were filled with all the martial ardour incident to their age and station, but in whose hearts there was but little of that religious enthusiasm which, two centuries before, had recruited the ranks of the institution with a body of men as austere in their private life as they were chivalric in their warlike zeal. The age had indeed changed, and with it the thoughts and feelings of the world at large. The sentiment of piety which, though rude in its development, had formed the main incentive to the deeds of daring hitherto recorded, was now giving way to the more material and worldly aspiration for glory. It was thought by these young candidates for knightly fame that, provided the Hospitaller were ever prepared to meet his foe either on the deck of the galley or behind the ramparts of his stronghold—provided he were at all times ready to shed the last drop of his blood in the defence of his Order and of his faith, it mattered but little what his private conduct might be. Whilst he could point to the deeds of daring which had rendered his name famous among his brethren, he deemed it quite unnecessary to practise those austerities which the rules of his profession had enjoined.

Many, indeed, of the older knights beheld with dismay this rapid and complete demoralization which was undermining the first principles of their institution. They were loud and urgent in their remonstrances to the offenders, endeavouring to restrain some of the most notorious excesses, which they feared would bring them into public disrepute. They pointed to the fearful tragedy which had been so recently enacted against their brothers in arms, showing how the same weapons that had been employed in the destruction of one Order, might at any moment be made available against the other, should they by their conduct draw down upon themselves the odium of the powers that be. The revenues, moreover, of the Templars were as they remarked, more apparent than real, whilst, on the other hand, the public treasury was encumbered with enormous liabilities on account of the loans raised by Vilaret from the bankers of Genoa and Florence for the purpose of achieving the conquest of Rhodes.

What rendered all their exhortations utterly futile, was the fact that the Grand-Master himself, the man to whom every one naturally looked for example and support, was, in his own person, outvying his youthful confreres in the extravagance of his luxury and the dissipation of his life. Surrounded by favourites, on whom he bestowed all the patronage of his office, he gradually assumed an overbearing arrogance of manner towards all who were not disposed to render him the most absolute homage. He seemed to consider that the acquisition of Rhodes through the force of his genius and the dauntless perseverance of his will had invested him with a sovereignty in the island far more absolute than that appertaining to his magisterial position. That supremacy, which others looked on as vested in the Order, and of which he was merely the chief administrator, was by him considered a personal matter, peculiar to himself alone. The murmurs which the arrogance of his conduct gradually engendered were at first low and suppressed. Men were loth to think hardly of the hero under whose guidance they had added so greatly to their renown. They were prepared to tolerate much in him which they would never have borne in another. Still, patience and forbearance have their limits, and Villaret gradually found that the lustre even of his reputation was becoming insufficient to stifle the murmurs excited by his haughty bearing.

Secret disaffection eventually developed into open complaint, which rose to such a pitch that Villaret was summoned before the council to give an account of his government, and to answer the numerous charges preferred against him. These consisted not merely of allegations as to his intolerable pride and hauteur towards those with whom he was brought into contact, but, at the same time, of mis-appropriation of the public revenues, which he was accused of having squandered, partly to support his own ostentatious display and luxurious mode of living, and partly by bestowing them with a lavish hand on the crowd of sycophantic favourites by whom he was surrounded. To this summons Villaret paid not the slightest heed, asserting that his position placed him completely above the jurisdiction of the council. As it would have been impossible to adjudicate upon his alleged delinquencies in his absence, the mal-contents were sorely puzzled to decide what should be their next step. At length a knight, named Maurice de Pagnac, possibly not without an eye to future contingencies, proposed that Villaret should be boldly seized within the precincts of his pa) ace, and brought vi et armis before the council.

The execution of such a measure was, it was felt, no easy matter, owing to the difficulty of approaching the person of the Grand-Master, who was invariably surrounded, not only by his own favourites among the fraternity, but also by a compact body-guard of mercenaries which he retained in his pay. The attempt was therefore deemed impossible by day, since the certain result of such a step must have been a sanguinary and probably a fruitless contest. The only feasible project was to make the seizure secretly by night, when the attendance on his person was naturally much reduced. One of his valets was bribed to undertake the conduct of the affair, and he guaranteed to admit a body of the conspirators into the sleeping apartment of the Grand-Master, where the capture might easily be effected. All being now satisfactorily arranged, nothing remained but to fix the moment for carrying the plot into execution. The conspirators, however, found that a traitor is a double-edged tool cutting both ways, and not more to be trusted by his new employers than by his original master. Whether the valet was over-bribed to reveal the conspiracy, or whether he was in reality, as has been alleged, so far attached to his lord as to have shrunk from carrying out the views of his enemies, it is very certain that he betrayed the plot to Villaret, who was thus put on his guard.

The promptitude and boldness of his character stood him in good stead at this critical moment. He was, therefore, not long in forming a decision as to the line of conduct it would be advisable to pursue. Under the pretence of a hunting party in the country he, with a chosen body of his adherents, left his palace on the morning of the day selected for his capture. He betook himself in all haste to the castle of Lindos, a fortified post about seven miles from Rhodes, protecting a small but convenient and well-sheltered harbour. Once safely lodged within the ramparts of this asylum, Villaret bid defiance to the wiles of his antagonists, and protested against any acts to which the council might resort during his absence. Enraged at the failure of their enterprise, and realizing that by this act of open defiance Villaret had completely compromised himself, the mal-contents once more assembled in solemn conclave at the council board. They now found themselves joined by many of the more moderate members, who had hitherto remained neutral, but who now threw the weight of their influence into the adverse balance. They were naturally indignant that their chief should have so far outstepped the limits of his authority, as to seize upon and retain, in defiance of rules, a stronghold of which they were the lords, and which he was, moreover, garrisoning with foreign mercenaries unconnected with the Order.

Loud, long, and stormy was the debate, for even then Villaret was not without friends whose allegiance he had secured either by the brilliancy of his former reputation or by the munificence of his later days. Their voices, however, were not sufficient to stay the progress of the decision. His last offence had been too open and barefaced to admit of explanation, and a decree was therefore passed deposing him from his office. The next step to be taken was to provide a successor, and here the politic wiles of Maurice de Pagnac reaped their expected fruit. He had from the very first been the leader and the mainstay of the insurrectionary movement. To him every one had looked for guidance and support in the desperate crisis which was clearly drawing on. Now when a chief was required of sufficient energy to establish and retain a usurped authority, all eyes were natually turned on him as the most fitting candidate for such a difficult post.. He was in consequence unanimously elected the new Grand-Master. A report of the whole proceedings, together with the announcement of the new nomination, were at once forwarded to the see of Rome for the decision and approval of the Pope.

Villaret at the same time, from his stronghold at Lindos, also forwarded his version of the affair in an appeal to his ecclesiastical superior. Here then was a tempting opportunity presented to the pontiff for interfering in the affairs of the Order, and for gauging his influence and authority. Three several bulls were issued by him dated in the year 1317. In the first of these his Holiness thus addresses Villaret:—“ We are sorry to learn that you have been assaulted and compelled by your own knights to fly from the city of Rhodes into a fortress in another part of that island. Although their conduct appears to have been highly incorrect, still you are accused of having excited it. We therefore cite both them and you to our presence in order that we may investigate the affair, and base our decision on correct information.” The second bull was addressed to de Pagnac, citing him to appear likewise at Aviguon. The third nominated a vicar-general who should act as a locum tenens. for the Grand-Master during the absence of the two claimants to that dignity. The knight who was selected by the Pope for this office was Gerard de Pins, a personage of considerable note and of great influence amongst his brethren. During the disputes which had led to the deposition of Villaret and the election of a rival he had maintained a strict neutrality, supporting neither side, but lending the powerful influence of his example to those who were endeavouring to heal the schism thus unfortunately generated in their midst.^[2]

The nomination of the Pope was acquiesced in by all parties without dispute, and during a period of fifteen years which elapsed before a Grand.Master once more ruled in person at Rhodes, Gerard maintained the dignity and interests of the Order with the most exemplary firmness.

The two claimants whose rival pretensions were about to become the object of papal decision, departed on their journey to Avignon. It was to this city that Clement had, on his election to the chair of St. Peter, transferred his seat of government, and his successor, John XXII., still resided there. During the course of his voyage, Pagnac had ample opportunities for discovering that the sympathies of Europe were strongly manifested in favour of his rival. Wherever they passed he saw that Villaret was received with all the honours due to the head of a powerful Order, who had in his own person achieved European renown by the conquest of Rhodes. He himself was, on the other hand, looked on simply as an insurrectionary firebrand, who from motives of ambition had stirred up a revolt amongst the knights against their legitimate lord. When they arrived at Avignon he did not find matters in any way improved. Whatever might be the feeling of John as regarded the conduct of Villaret, he was certainly by no means disposed to favour de Pagnac. That knight soon perceived that all chance of establishing his claim to the dignity of Grand-Master, for which he had so long toiled and plotted, and to which he so ardently aspired, was for ever at an end. In the bitterness of his feelings he withdrew from the papal court to indulge in solitude the chagrin with which he was overwhelmed. The blow was, however, too great to be withstood, and before long he sank under his disappointment, and died of a broken heart.

His death removed one great obstacle from the path of the Pope. That astute politician now saw his way clear to a solution of the difficulty in a manner which would enable him to place a creature of his own at the head of the Order. With this object in view he reinstated Villaret in his office, having, however, previously exacted from him a pledge that he would resign it again immediately. In return for this step he was promised the appointment to a grand-priory, to which he might retire, and where he might enjoy the dignity of an exalted station and the extensive revenues of his new office, free from all interference on the part of the fraternity. Villaret carried out his engagement, and resigned his post. John thereupon summoned to Avignon all the members of the Order who were within reach of his influence. There, under his own surveillance and the pressure of his own immediate presence, he caused a successor to be nominated, in whose allegiance and ready obedience he felt sure that he could confide. Elyon de Villanova was the knight thus selected, and irregular as was the mode of his election the fraternity felt themselves unable to resist it. He was therefore recognized by them as their new chief without cavil, and took his place on the rolls as the twenty-fifth Grand-Master in the year 1319. Villaret received his appointment to the grand-priory which had been promised to him, and retired thither in bitterness of spirit, to end in disgrace and comparative solitude that life, the earlier portion of which had been so brilliant and prosperous. Sad fate for a man who had undoubtedly done great things, not only for his own Order, but for Christianity at large. The student of history cannot fail to sympathize with the noble and ambitious spirit thus untimely doomed to a life of inglorious inactivity, even though he had by his own faults of character been chiefly responsible for the evils which befel him. No records bearing upon the remainder of his life are now in existence. All that is known is that he died at Montpelier on the 1st September, 1327, where, in the church of St. John, his monument still exists.^[3]

By this arrangement on the part of the Pope the interests of the Order suffered a double injury. In the first place they were compelled to receive as their chief a knight, not of their own selection, but a nominee of his, and one who soon gave evidence of the influences under which he was acting, by bestowing some of the most valuable appointments at his disposal upon the needy relatives of his patron.^[4] The other injury infficted on the Order was the alienation from its jurisdiction, during the lifetime of Villaret, of the priory to which he had been nominated. They thus learnt the lesson that by disagreement amongst themselves they were paving the way for the admission of a power which they would not easily be able to shake off, and which would be exercised without in any way consulting their interests or advantage.

Villanova was in no hurry to exchange the luxury of the papal court for the comparative banishment entailed by a residence at Rhodes, so, for a period of thirteen years, he, under one pretence or another, postponed his departure. During this interval a chapter-general was held by his mandate at Montpelier. It was on this occasion that the Order was, for the first time, divided into languages, or ”langues,” as they were termed. Many writers, in dealing with this subject, have dated back this division of the fraternity almost to its first establishment. There is certainly no trace whatever in any of the records now existing to warrant such a supposition. It is at this council that such a division appears for the first time. The Order, although originally established on its charitable basis by Italian merchants, had rapidly become principally French in its composition, and this nationality had always preponderated. The fact that the chapter-general had assembled at Montpelier added still more to the influence of the French element. We find, therefore, that whilst the number of langues was fixed at seven, no less than three of those seven were French, viz., the langues of France, Provence, and Auvergne. The other four were Italy, Germany, England, and Aragon. The dignities in the gift of the Order were at the same time attached in proper proportion to these new divisions, the leading posts, owing to the weight of French influence, being given to their three langues. The name of Sir John Builbruix appears at this chapter as the Turcopolier, or commander of the light cavalry. This dignity was from that time permanently allotted to the English langue. In addition to this grand-cross, three others were at the same time appropriated to England, viz., the bailiwick of the Eagle (an honorary distinction formerly belonging to the Templars) and the grand-priories of England and Ireland.

Many needful reforms were introduced into the regulations at this chapter. These were not made before they were urgently required; the discipline which had prevailed during the later years of Villaret’s rule having been most lax. The number of those who preferred an easy and luxurious residence in a European commandery to the secluded life and constant warfare entailed by the necessities of the case at Rhodes was very great. The difficulty of overcoming this feeling, and of compelling the absentees to make their appearance at the convent had increased so rapidly that the subject was one of the first brought under the consideration of the chapter. It was there decreed that a certain term of actual residence at Rhodes, and the performance of a definite number of caravans (as the voyages on board the galleys were called) should be an absolute requirement to qualify a knight for holding any official post or dignity whatsoever. Several other stringent reforms were at the same time proposed and agreed to, through not without considerable discussion, and many loud expressions of dissatisfaction. In fact, it soon became apparent that, owing to the chapter having been held in Prance, where the European dignitaries of the Order preponderated, they seemed more interested in the preservation of their local privileges than in strengthening the hands of the Grand-Master and the power of the central government.

Notwithstanding the warning which they had received in the destruction of their brethren of the Temple, there were many members blind enough to raise their voices at the council board, urging the abandonment of Rhodes, and the retirement of the Order within its European commanderies. They attributed all the financial difficulties of the treasury to the lengthened struggle for the acquisition of that island, and the outlay necessary for its subsequent fortification and maintenance—difficulties which in spite of the recent acquisition of Templar property, were in some countries threatening to overwhelm them with insolvency.^[5] They urged also that the new system of naval warfare in which they were engaging was at variance with the leading principles of the institution, and not befitting its knightly character. Having been compelled to abandon the Holy Land, they conceived that they were rendering little or no service to the cause of Christianity by the maintenance of a desultory and predatory warfare amidst the piratical islands of the Levant. As a cure for these evils they proposed the abandonment of their new stronghold. This was a remedy which would probably have proved most agreeable to themselves, but, at the same time, it must inevitably, if carried into effect, have soon brought about the complete annihilation of the Order. Fortunately, the views of these fainéant knights did not find favour with the majority of the chapter. Instead of abandoning the island of Rhodes, measures for its more complete protection received the sanction of the assembly.

This chapter-general was held in the year 1331, and in 1332, Villanova, after a delay of thirteen years from the date of his election, proceeded to Rhodes. Here he found that under the lieutenancy of Gerard de Pins the fortifications of the town had been considerably augmented and developed, and a spirit of discipline had been introduced into the convent, to which for many years it had been a stranger.

Whilst strengthening his position at home, Gerard de Pins had, at the same time, been called on to resist the aggressions of a foreign foe. Orcan, the son and successor of Othman, deeming that the dissensions caused by the deposition of Villaret had created a favourable opportunity for attack, decided on renewing the attempt on the island in which his father had so miserably failed. He assembled a large fleet upon the shores of the province of Caria, where he was joined by many of the former inhabitants of Rhodes, who had been expelled from the island by Villaret. Thus reinforced he set sail for his destination. Gerard, who had received timely notice of the contemplated descent, determined not to await the shock of the onset behind the walls of his fortress, but to meet the enemy boldly on that element where his knights had lately been so victorious. Manning such of his galleys as were then lying in the harbour, and being joined by six Genoese vessels which had assembled there, he put to sea, and encountered the enemy near the little island of Episcopia.

The infidel fleet was vastly superior in point of numbers, but laboured under the disadvantage of being inconveniently crowded with the troops intended for the attack on Rhodes. The seamanship of the Hospitallers, and the skill with which they availed themselves of their greater powers of manœuvring more than counterbalanced their numerical inferiority. The day ended in the complete destruction of Orcan’s fleet, many of his galleys being sunk and others captured, so that but few escaped from the scene of strife. This disaster proved such a check on the Turkish power that Gerard was left during the remainder of his government to pursue unmolested the reforms he had commenced. When, therefore, on the landing of Elyon de Villanova, he resigned the reins of office, he had the proud satisfaction of knowing that his lieutenancy had reflected glory on himself, and had been most beneficial to the interests of the fraternity.

It was during the earlier years of Villanova’s residence in Rhodes that the legend is recorded qf the encounter of a Hospitaller with the famous dragon. The tale is so well known, and has been the subject of so much illustration (notably in the series of sketches by the German artist Retach), that it appears almost needless to repeat it in these pages; still, as it was one of the incidents held in the highest estimation amongst the Order in subsequent ages, occupying a prominent place in all their histories, it would be wrong to pass it over in silence. The story runs that a large monster had made its appearance in the island, where it committed the most fearful devastation, carrying off many of the inhabitants, especially women and children, and establishing itself as the terror and scourge of the locality. Numerous attempts had been made to accomplish its destruction, but in vain, many of the bravest knights having lost their lives in their gallant endeavours to rid the island of the pest. The Grand-Master, dismayed at the losses he had sustained in this novel warfare, forbade, under pain of the severest penalties, any further attempts at the destruction of the monster.

One knight alone had the hardihood to dare disobedience to this mandate. Deodato de Gozon, a youth whose dauntless courage scorned to quail beneath this strange foe, and whose heart was touched with the deepest emotion at the wail of grief extorted from the miserable inhabitants by the ever-recurring ravages of the dragon, felt that he could not refrain from one further attempt in behalf of these suffering peasants. Without confiding his design to any one, he retired, by permission, to France. There in his paternal castle he caused a facsimile of the monster to be constructed in wood, covered with scales, and exhibiting as nearly as possible the terrifying aspect of its living counterpart. Having procured two English bull dogs,^[6] whose breed was even then famous throughout Europe, he trained them, as also his horse, to the attack of the fictitious monster, teaching them to fix their grip upon the belly, where the animal was unprotected with scales. Having thoroughly accustomed his four- footed assistants to the aspect of the foe, he returned to Rhodes, and at once proceeded to carry his project into execution. It is needless to enter into the details of the contest, though these are fondly dwelt on with the most elaborate minuteness by the recorders of the legend. Gozon, by the aid of his canine allies, achieved the destruction of his enemy, though not before he had well-nigh paid with his life the penalty of his temerity at the first onset of the brute. He was borne back in triumph to Rhodes, where the whole town received its deliverer with the loudest acclamations. This triumph was, however, at first, very short lived. The Grand-Master promptly summoned him before the council to answer for his wilful disobedience to the magisterial mandate. On his appearance before the board he was stripped of his habit as an unworthy and rebeffious knight. Having by this display of severity duly marked his determination to enforce obedience, Villanova, at the unanimous request of the members of his council, was induced to relent. In consideration of the noble gallantry displayed in the action, he not only restored his habit to Deodato, but nominated him to one of the richest commanderies in his gift.

How far this legend can be borne out by facts is a very disputed point, some writers throwing discredit over the entire story, whilst others are prepared to admit the probability of its having, at all events, some foundation. The opponents of the legend argue upon the gross improbability of the existence of any such monster, with the voracious propensities and extraordinary powers attributed to it. They further assert, that in the middle of the fourteenth century there could have been no difficulty in achieving its destruction, without having recourse to the chivalric but somewhat antiquated expedient of a combat on horseback. The use of Greek fire had long been known, and gunpowder itself was gradually being adopted. With the assistance of these agents it could not have been necessary for the attacking party to have run any great danger in securing the extermination of the reptile. On the other hand, it seems strange that the story should have obtained such very general credence, and have been so universally upheld by succeeding generations. It is an indisputable fact, that the tomb of Gown bore the following inscription:—“ Ingenium superat vires. Deodatus de Gozon eques imanem serpentem interfecit. Ordinario perpetuo militisc tribunatu et extra ordinem pro magisterio functus pmo. chissor pfectus hex a suffragatorib: m. e. raro explo. designatus eat comrnuni care Eq gallorum provincialim posit An MCCCLXVI.”

Which may be thus rendered—
“Skill, the conqueror of force.
“Deodato de Gozon, knight, slew an enormous serpent. Appointed perpetual commander of the forces, and extraordinary lieutenant to the Master. First president of the council of election, he was by a rare example chosen Grand-Master by the electors. The French Knights of Provence erected this, An MCCCLXVI.”

This monument being dated only thirteen years after Gozon’s death, there does not seem to have been time for a legend to spring up, had it not contained an element of truth.

It may be remarked that, at Coventry, there is still preserved a statue in carved oak of a knight of St. John killing a dragon, which evidently dates back to the fifteenth, or at latest, the sixteenth century. Moreover, it must not be forgotten, that the island had, when under the Greeks, been called Orphieuse, or the isle of serpents, from the number of venomous reptiles swarming therein. That there was some truth underlying the legend seems, on the whole, certain. Deodato de Gozon did undeniably destroy some noxious beast or reptile which had infested the island, after others had failed in the attempt. He thus gained for himself a reputation that gradually swelled until it attained the monstrous proportions of the above recorded fable. In reference to this subject, Newton states:—“Over the Amboise gate” (he is speaking of Rhodes) “a head was formerly fixed, which has been thus described to me. It was fiat on the top and pointed like the head of a serpent, and as large as the head of a lamb. This head was certainly on the gate as late as the year 1829, and seems to have been taken down some time previous to 1837. This is, perhaps, the same head which Thevenot saw in 1657, and which he thus describes:—‘Elle était beaucoup plus grosse et plus large que celle d’un cheval, la gueule fendue jusqu’aux oreilles, de grosses dents, lea yeux gros, le trou des narines rond et la peau tirant sur le gris blanc.’ According to the tradition in Thevenot’s time, and which has been preserved in Rhodes ever since, this was the head of the great serpent slain by Dieudonn de Gozon in the fourteenth century."^[7]

Madame Honorine Biliotti thus describes the head which she saw in 1829:—

“This skull, which was fastened over the inside of the Amboise Gate, the point of the jaw downwards, broad towards the top, and contracted near the point like the head of a serpent, seemed somewhat smaller than the skull of a horse; the lower jaw and the front cartilages were missing, so that I was obliged in imagination to replace the portions destroyed by time. The sockets of the eyes were large and round, there was no trace of skin upon the bones, which were completely blanched. In short, this skull, such as I saw it, without lower jaw or the point of the muzzle, had more the appearance of a serpent’s head than that of a crocodile.”^[8]

Villanova had not long assumed the personal government of Rhodes, before he was called upon by the Pope to join in a league for checking the aggressive designs of the Turks. The other members of the alliance were to be the king of Cyprus, the republic of Venice, and the Pope himself. In his letter demanding their aid, the pontiff supports his request by bringing forward the most vehement accusations against the members of the Order for their luxurious mode of life, general effeminacy, and gross laxity of discipline. It is more than probable that these complaints were not devoid of truth, still, the tone of the letter, concluding as it did with a proposal, or more properly speaking, a demand, that they should contribute six galleys to the allied fleet, clearly marks his object in making such reproaches. The assistance of the fraternity was most urgently required to forward the political views of his Holiness. He consequently strove to make a refusal impossible, by coupling his request with an accusation of want of zeal for the cause of Christianity. His letter had the desired effect. The knights embraced the opportunity thus afforded of disproving the charges preferred against them; they contributed their full quota to the allied armament, and throughout the war which took place, became the life and soul of the enterprise. The only result of any importance achieved by the league was the capture of the fortress of Smyrna, where the horde of pirates which infested the eastern shores of the Mediterranean had been accustomed to find a ready shelter.

The league lasted with fluctuating success for several years, until its members, having dropped out one by one, the Hospitallers found themselves without assistance to continue the further prosecution of the warfare.

A war had broken out between the Genoese and Venetians, which compelled the former republic to retire from the alliance. The Pope, before long, became eager to withdraw from a contest which was draining his treasury without much tangible result. The league, therefore, gradually died of inanition; and without any positive treaty of peace having been ever made, active hostilities ceased, and matters settled down very much on their former footing.

During the interval the Order had experienced a change of rulers, for in the year 1346 Villanova died, and Deodato de Gown, the hero of the dragon, was nominated as his successor. Vertot relates that on the occasion of this election Gozon rose in his place at the council board, and taking his audience oompletely by surprise, nominated himself, as the person best qualified to succeed to the vacant office. This tale is a vile fabrication, for amongst the documents recently discovered in the archives of the Vatican is a letter addressed to Gozon by Clement VI., dated in July, 1346, in which after congratulating him on his election to the magisterial dignity, the Pope goes on to allude to the fact of his having been prevailed upon with great reluctance to accept the post. This letter, coupled with the fact that he twice, during his rule, tendered his resignation, most completely exonerates his memory from the stigma of arrogance, which this anecdote of Vertot’s is calculated to cast upon it.

During his continuance in office, Gozon was much troubled by the difficulty he experienced in obtaining payment of responsions from the more remote commanderies. A circular is extant, addressed by him to the priors of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, reproaching them for not having remitted any responsions since the fall of Acre. The war between the Genoese and Venetians created a new difficulty, against which Gozon had to contend. The fraternity contained within its ranks knights belonging to both those nations, and these naturally sympathised with their countrymen in the struggle they were respectively carrying on. When residing in their European commanderies they could not refrain from enrolling themselves amongst the belligerents on either side. By their rules no knight was permitted to draw his sword in support of any quarrel subsisting between Christian nations. The Pope, therefore, called upon Gozon to put a stop to this infraction of the statutes, a mandate far easier given than obeyed. Deodato, in reply, pointed out to his Holiness that the Order in its corporate capacity had never sided with any European power when at war with a neighbour. It was, however, he said, impossible for him to prevent individual knights from giving such practical proofs of their sympathy, especially when their own native country chanced to be one of the belligerents. This response appears to have given but little satisfaction at the papal court; nor, it must be owned, was the argument by any means a sound one, or in accordance with the spirit of the regulations as originally framed.

This was not the only incident which occurred to disturb the serenity of Gown’s administration. The due governance of the dignitaries and principal officers of the institution, residing, as so many of them did, far away from his own immediate supervision, became a matter of ever-increasing difficulty. Possessed as they were of considerable patronage and with control over large sources of wealth, they were enabled to ingratiate themselves with the higher powers in the various countries where they were residing. Finding themselves, for this reason, protected and supported by the monarch, they were able to bid defiance to the authority of the Grand-Master. Gown became so discouraged and so deeply hurt at the position in which he found himself, that he twice petitioned the Pope to allow him to resign his office. On the first occasion he was induced by the pontiff, after much persuasion, to retain his dignity, but on the second application his request was complied with. Meanwhile, however, he had died of apoplexy in the latter part of the year 1353, and was succeeded by Peter de Cornillan, the grand-prior of St. Gilles.

At this time there resided at the papal court of Avignon, as ambassador from Rhodes, a knight of the name of Heredia. This envoy had found means to ingratiate himself with the pontiff to such an extent that he became his principal confidant and councillor in all affairs of state. By the influence, if not by the direct nomination of the Pope, he had been appointed prior, both of Castile and St. Gilles, as well as castellan of Emposta, dignities which elevated him far above any of his confrères then resident in Europe. To be the recipient of such unblushing favouritism naturally rendered him very unpopular with the members of his Order, who felt that he was monopolizing patronage to which they were justly entitled. He was a man of a naturally ambitious turn of mind, and was much chagrined at feeling that the dislike of the fraternity was such as to prevent his ever reaching the object of his aspirations—the Grand-Mastership at Rhodes. Under these circumstances the idea suggested itself to his scheming brain, that if he could procure the removal of the convent from that island he might himself be nominated, by his friend the Pope, to supreme rule therein under the title of Bailiff. He felt that were he once invested with this authority he would be able to exercise it with but little submission to the control of his nominal chief. Under his advice, and acting in accordance with the suggestions put forward by him, the Pope despatehed him, in company with Raymond de Beranger and Peter de Cornillan (who was a relative and namesake of the new Grand-Master), to Rhodes, to submit his views to a general council of the Order.

He was instructed to inform the Grand-Master and council, on the part of the Pope, that it was thought desirable the convent should be at once removed from Rhodes to the adjacent continent. There, in immediate contiguity to the Saracen, it would, by the terror of its name and the prowess of its members, check all further aggressions on the part of the infidel, and form an advanced post of Christianity in the very midst of its foes. It was with feelings of dismay that the new chief de Cornilan listened to the treacherous and cunningly devised suggestions thus laid before him. On the one hand, he felt that natural reluctance, which became a faithful and obedient son of the church, to oppose himself to the desires of its supreme head. On the other, he could not but foresee that the probable result of any such movement would be to plunge the Order, defeneeless and far from aid, into the hands of its relentless enemies, by whom its speedy and utter extermination would inevitably be accomplished.

Under these conificting circumstances he decided upon throwing as many obstacles as possible in the way of the project, without attempting any open opposition. With this view he explained to the envoys that although he was himself at all times ready to obey whatever mandates he might receive from his Holiness, yet this was a subject on which he personally could have no authority to decide. The proposed change of residence was a matter of so great importance to the future welfare of the fraternity that it would be absolutely necessary to assemble a chapter-general wherein the question might be debated and determined. It by no means accorded with the views of the Pope and his adviser Heredia that such a council should be held at Rhodes. Its distance from Avignon was so great as to prevent his being able to use that influence and pressure upon its members which would be necessary to secure their acquiescence in his new scheme. A council held in Rhodes would be attended so largely by those whose attachments and interests would naturally dispose them to vote in favour of remaining in the island, that there would be but a slender prospect of carrying his point. He, on the other hand, trusted to find amongst the dignitaries of the Order resident in France a sufficient number more desirous of securing his favour than careful for the welfare of their own institution. He therefore summoned the chapter to assemble at Montpelier. Before the time of its meeting, however, had arrived, he determined to bring it still closer within the sphere of his influence, and altered its venue to Avignon.

The Pope had also changed his views as to the locality to which he contemplated transferring the convent. Instead of the shores of Asia Minor he now looked to the Morea as a more suitable and advantageous point of occupation. To this suggestion Heredia made no opposition. Provided the convent were removed from Rhodes, so that he might assume the government of the island, it mattered little to him where they established it. He therefore supported the new proposition with the same eagerness as he had shown towards the former one. The title to the Morea was at this time in dispute between James of Savoy and the emperor of Constantinople, but the greater part of it was in the actual possession of the Turks, who were advancing step by step towards its complete acquisition. In compliance with the desires of the Pope, negotiations were entered into with James of Savoy on the part of the chapter to treat for the allocation of a suitable residence for the convent. These negotiations were intentionally prolonged by every possible device, the project. of a residence in the Morea being as little to the taste of the fraternity as that in Asia Minor. The knot was eventually cut by the death of James of Savoy, which took place before anything definite was decided on; the design consequently fell to the ground, and became virtually abandoned.

It has already been mentioned that Peter de Cornillan, or Corneillan, a knight of Provence, and formerly grand-prior of St. Gilles, had been elected Grand-Master in place of Deodato de Gozon. This change had taken place in the year 1353, but Cornillan did not long enjoy his dignity, having died in 1355, before the chapter had had time to assemble at Avignon. He was in his turn succeeded by Roger de Pins, also a knight of Provence, whose rule lasted during a period of ten years. The only event of importance which occurred to mark this interval was an attempt made on the part of the Order to impeach Heredia before a grand council for having detained and misappropriated revenues intended for the general treasury. They soon perceived that he had established himself too firmly in the good graces of the pontiff to permit them to effect his overthrow, and the only result of the appeal was to confirm him in all his dignities, without affording any redress for the spoliations of which he had been undoubtedly guilty. At the same council it was decreed that in future no serving brother should be raised into the class of knights of justice. General receivers were also appointed, to whom all responsions should be paid, and by whom they should be remitted direct to Rhodes. This step was taken to guard against any further misappropriation of revenue, such as that recently effected by Heredia.

Roger de Pins died in the year 1365, and was succeeded by Raymond Beranger, who, like his two immediate predecessors, was also a knight of Provence. A period of 250 years had now elapsed since first the Order was established as a military body by Raymond du Pay. Since that time many changes had taken place, and the institution had developed into a very complex organization. It will be well, therefore, at this point, to make a pause in the historical narrative, and to furnish some details of the power into which the fraternity had expanded, and of the mode in which their affairs were conducted.

1. This explanation of the word Fort has been disputed by many writers.
2. The bulls here referred to are all in existence amongst the papal archives in Rome.
3. The inscription on his monument runs thus:—”Anno Domini MCCCXXVII. die aalioet ler Semptembris obiit nobiissimus Dominus Frater Foiquetus de Villareto Magister niagni Hospitalio Sacræ Domus Sancti Joannis Baptiste Hyerosolimitani Oujus anima requiescat in pace Amen. Dic pro me pater et ave.”
4. It is stated in many histories that Pope John XXII. was the son of a cobbler. Whether this be true or not it would be difficult now to determine. Certain it is that he sprang from a very low origin. An amusing story is told of his election. lt seems that he had earned a very high reputation for sanctity and humility, two virtues which were so pre-eminent in him that he received a cardinal’s hat amid universal approbation. This dignity did not appear in the least to exalt the lowly churchman in his own eyes, and when the election of a new Pope in place of Clement gave rise to much dispute he took no part therein. It was therefore proposed and unanimously agreed to between the rival candidates that the nomination should be left in his hands. To their amazement and consternation this humble priest in his mildest voice pronounced the words, “Ego sum Papa,” and thus appointed himself to tho vacant dignity.
5. This was especially the case in England, where in the early part of the fourteenth century the revenues of the Hospital had fallen into such an encumbered and embarrassed condition under the superintendence of Thomas Larcher, the grand-prior of England, that utter insolvency seemed looming in the near distance. Fortunately, however, for the interests of the Order, the unthrifty Larcher either resigned or was deposed, and Leonard de Tybertis, the prior of Venice, nominated his successor. This knight, by his superior financial administration, succeeded in restoring the credit of his priory. We find it under the governance of his successor, Philip de Thame, in the year 1338 (as will be referred to in the next chapter), returning a comparatively satisfactory revenue to the general treasury.
6. Retsch’s notion of English bull dogs, as shown in the sketches referred to, certainly proves that there is much ignorance on the subject of that breed, even amongst educated artists abroad.
7. “Newton’s Travels and Discoveries in the Levant,” vol. i., page 151.
8. “Biliotti L’ile de Rhodes,” page 151.