Siege of Rhodes, 1480



In the 1470es, the state of the Knights Hospitallers (Knights of St. John) became exposed to Ottoman raids; in 1470 the population of the island of Telos, in 1475 the population of the island of Halki were evacuated to Rhodes.
Rhodes, commanded by Grand Master Pierre d'Aubusson, was besieged by an Ottoman force from May to July 28th 1480; the Ottoman fleet, having failed to accomplish her goal, then moved on to Otranto (Kingdom of Naples). The death of Sultan Mehmed I. in 1481 caused a distraction within the Ottoman Empire.

The Knights of St. John held on to Rhodes and the neighbouring Dodecanese islands until it fell to the Ottomans in 1522.




EXTERNAL
FILES 		Article Rhodes, from Wikipedia
The Hospitallers in Rhodes, by Stephen C. Spiteri
Reyes Catolicos, from Museo Naval Madrid, in Spanish
Article Rhodes, from Catholic Encyclopedia
DOCUMENTS Image : Knights of St. John prepare for defense against Ottoman Siege, 1480, posted by AKG
Image : Assedio di Rodi (Siege of Rhodes) 1480, from Mappe di Citta ed altre Mappe Antiche Diverse, Italian-language website
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on March 7th 2004, last revised on November 16th 2004

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