or 1 -----"71 X TUE VAHtors WtRAMMtNTSV -- OF - LITERATURE, SCIENCE.& THE ARTS* VOLJLXHL THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA VOL.1. EDlNBURGBs PKirJTED FOR CO 1830. THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA. BY ALEXANDER SUTHERLAND, ESQ. " AUTHOR OF TALES OF A PILGRIM," &C. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. EDINBURGH : PRINTED FOR CONSTABLE AND CO.; AND HURST, CHANCE AND CO., LONDON. 1830. CR 4*7 SS7 TO HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY NICHOLAS, EMPEROR AND AUTOCRAT OF ALL THE RUSSIAS, UNDER WHOSE IMMEDIATE PREDECESSORS THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA FOUND REFUGE, WHEN ALL THE OTHER MONARCHS OF CHRISTENDOM DENIED THEM AN ASYLUM, AND UNDER WHOSE IMPERIAL PROTECTION THE BANNER OF THAT ANCIENT AND ILLUSTRIOUS ORDER IS STILL UNFURLED, THIS WORK S IS HUMBLY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. Ui-*- CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER I. Decline of the Roman Power Mohammed and his Suc- cessors Foundation of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem The Turkomans Peter the Hermit The First Crusade Conquest of Nice and Antioch Con- quest of Jerusalem Ferocity of the Conquerors God- frey of Bouillon elected King . 13 CHAPTER II. The Hospitallers constituted a Military Body Raymond Du Puis, Grandmaster Wars in Antioch and Edessa The Second Crusade Siege of Ascalon Battle of Sueta Death of Raymond Du Puis ... 43 CHAPTER III. Invasion of Egypt Conquest of Belbeis Unsuccessful issue of the War Saladin Apostasy of Melier the Templar The Assassins Battle of Jacob's Ford Em- bassy to Europe Guy de Lusignan Death of Roger de Moulins Battle of Tiberias Death of Reginald de Chatillon Surrender of Jerusalem . 78 VI CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER IV. Siege of Tyre Death of the Count of Tripoli The Third Crusade Siege of Acre Expedition of the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa Institution of the Teutonic Knights Arrival of Philip Augustus and Richard Cceur-de-Lion before Acre Rivalry of the Kings- Crusaders Conquest of Acre March of Richard from Acre to Ascalon Termination of the Third Crusade Death of Saladin 117 CHAPTER V. The Fourth Crusade Rigorous Administration of the Grandmaster Alphonso of Portugal Hostilities be- tween the Hospitallers and Templars The Fifth Cru- sadeConquest of Zara Expedition against Constan- tinople Siege and Surrender of that City Revolt and Usurpation of Mourzoufle Reconquest of the Capital- r Election of a Latin King . > l *jib 137 CHAPTER VI. John de Brienne nominated King of Jerusalem The Sixth Crusade Unstable Conduct of Andrew, King of Hun- gary Expedition to Egypt Conquest of Damietta Capitulation of the Christian Army Expedition of the Emperor Frederic the Second John de Brienne called to the Throne of Constantinople . 157 CHAPTER VII. Viceroyalty of Fitz-Auger Puissance of the Hospitallers Crimes laid to their charge Canonized Knights The Seventh Crusade Restoration of Jerusalem CONTENTS. Vll PAGE Death of Bertrand de Comps Invasion of the Koras- mians Loss ofJerusalem Battle of Gaza The Eighth Crusade Exploits of Saint Louis in Egypt Battle of Massoura Defeat of the Crusaders Captivity of Saint Louis Termination of his Crusade . 181 CHAPTER VIII. Sanguinary Feuds between the Hospitallers and Templars Vigorous Administration of Hugh de Revel Loss of the Castles ofAssur and Saphoury Conquests ofBendoc- dar The Ninth and Last Crusade Exploits of Prince Edward of England Fatal Expedition of Saint Louis to Africa Council of Lyons Loss of Margat Siege of Acre Expulsion of the Latins from the Holy Land 212 CHAPTER IX. Retreat of the Knights- Hospitallers to Cyprus Discom- fort of their situation there Their unsuccessful expedi- tion to Jerusalem Conspiracy of the King of France and the Pope against the Templars Conquest of Rhodes by the Knights of Saint John Persecution of the Templars Martyrdom of Jacques de Molai Sup- pression of the Order of the Temple . 234 CHAPTER X. Division of the Revenues of the Templars Insurrection of the Knights against the Grandmaster Fulk de Vil- laret Election of Maurice De Pagnac 'jrandmaster- ship of Helion de Villeneuve Legend of the Serpent Conquest of the Castle of Smyrna Deodato De Gozon elected Grandmaster Expedition to Armenia Dis- honourable policy of the Pope Attack on Alexandria Robert de Julliac Grandmaster Election of Heredia His Expedition against Patras, and Capture . 266 Vlll CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER XL Contumacy of the Cis-marine Commanders Death and Character of Heredia Succession of Philibert de JJaillac Expedition to Hungary Battle of Nicopolis Wars of Tamerlane Expulsion of the Knights from Smyrna Acquisition of the Castle of Saint Peter Predatory Expedition to the coasts of Syria and Pales- tineDeath of Philibert de Naillac War in Cyprus Repulse of the Egyptians from Rhodes Fall of Ne- gropont D'Aubusson elected Grandmaster . 301 PREFACE. THOUGH the days of chivalry are gone, the author of the following work trusts that the admiration of martial renown is still suffi- ciently general to secure some degree of fa- vour for a history of the achievements of one of the most illustrious institutions that originated in knightly daring and pious zeal. Scarcely thirty years have elapsed, since fo- reign violence and political craft, combined with their own degeneracy, deprived the Knights of Malta of their independence, and ejected them from the insular fastness which remains to this day, and will remain, to the latest posterity, a monument of their military skill; yet, in that short space oftime, so completely has their name been blotted from the records of the day, that their very place of retreat has become, generally speak- ing, a matter of uncertainty. When it is considered, that, for seven centuries, these military friars were regarded as one of the X PREFACE. chief bulwarks of Christendom against the progress of the Mohammedan arms, and that their annals embrace a series of chi- valrous exploits, unparalleled in the history of any other sovereignty, there is surely room for hope, that an attempt to revive the memory of their institution will not prove altogether unacceptable. As the Order of the Knights- Hospital- lers of Saint John of Jerusalem for such was the original title of the Institution, though better known, in modern times, as the Order of Rhodes and Malta was cradled and fos- tered by the crusades, it was indispensable that the following narrative should embrace a regular detail of these memorable expe- ditions. But as several able and compre- hensive works on the Crusades have lately been offered to the public, particularly those of Mills and Stebbing, the author conceived it incumbent on him to treat that part of his subject very briefly, and to devote the greater portion of his book to the subse- quent vicissitudes of the Order. In offering to the Public an historical sketch of the achievements of the soldier* monks of Saint John, it is almost needless to say, that the voluminous annals of the Order, PREFACE. Xl compiled by the Abbe Vertot, and the mate- rials furnished, in later times, by the Che- valier Boisgelin, are the standard authori- ties upon which it is framed. The former having fallen into occasional inaccuracies in point of dates, and being at the same time more fervent in his style than historical com- is re- position strictly warrants, generally as than correct and garded more amusing ; such is the character which Gibbon, who has, notwithstanding, drawn largely on him, gives his history. It is, moreover, on record against him, that, after he had sent his book to press, he was offered some additional information the of Malta de- regarding great siege ; but with a clined it, churlish remark, that fifs siege was finished. But Boisgelin, who had access to the archives of the Order, while he corrects Vertot on many points, bears testimony to the general veracity of his work, and attributes his refusal of the proffered information to the knowledge, that it com- prised nothing more than unauthenticated anecdotes of particular knights whom their fa- milies were anxious to immortalize. Vertot brings down the history of the Order only to the of last while Bois- beginning century ; gelin, passing over the Crusades, and the Xll PRFFACE. residence of the Knights in Rhodes, con- fines himself solely to their sojourn in Mal- ta. Thus, neither of these, the only popu- lar histories of the Order extant, are com- and the is the first plete ; present attempt to arrange in a regular narration the ex- ploits of the Knights, from their institution, jn 1099, to their political extinction in 1800.. In addition to the two authors above named, many other works of high authority, and, among them, those of Knolles, Fuller, Hakluyt, Gibbon, Savary, Pococke, Frois- sart, Brydone, Mills, Hallam, and Sonnini, have been carefully consulted. The author has only to add, that he did not take up the pen till after much laborious and that he was stimulated to his study ; task by a sincere admiration of the many noble and heroic actions which it was his duty to record an admiration which has perhaps occasionally given his language too ambitious a tone. All that he desires is, that his attempt to unite the broken links of a very brilliant and extraordinary chain of historical facts may be tolerated, until some abler hand shall effect their perfect and in- destructible union. EDINBURGH, December 1830. THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA. CHAPTER I. Decline of the Roman Power Mohammed and his Succes- sors Foundation of the Hospital of Saint John of Jeru- salem The Turkomans Peter the Hermit The First Crusade Conquest of Nice and Antioch Conquest of Jerusalem Ferocity of the Conquerors Godfrey of Bou- illon elected King. THE viscissitudes which prognosticated the fall of the Byzantine Caesars, rank among the most impres- sive and affecting lessons which the annals of man- kind embrace.