In 1480 the
Knights Hospitaller garrison of
Rhodes withstood an attack of the
Ottoman Empire.
Preparation
In 1470, the island of
Tilos (located between Rhodes and another island,
Kos) was evacuated to Rhodes because they were susceptible to attacks from the Ottoman Empire. In 1475, the island of
Chalki (6km west of Rhodes, smallest inhabited island of the
Dodecanese) 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 Pasha or
Mesih Pasha.
[L. Kinross, The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire, 137] The
Knights Hospitaller garrison was led by
Grand Master Pierre d'Aubusson.
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 captured by the Ottoman empire.
Gallery
A view of Rhodes 10 years later.
Bibliography
