theocracy · Greece and the Aegean

Hospitaller Rhodes

1310 CE – 1522 CE · capital Rhodes

Rhodes under the Knights Hospitaller, a crusading order-state that held out against Mamluks and Ottomans for two centuries before Suleiman took it in 1522.

Origins

After the fall of Acre in 1291 the Knights of the Order of Saint John moved to Cyprus. Seeking a base of their own, Grand Master Foulques de Villaret attacked Byzantine Rhodes in 1306, and the city fell in 1309-1310. The order also took nearby islands and later built the castle of Saint Peter at Bodrum.

Rule and society

The Grand Master and a council of knights, organised by national langues, governed a Greek Orthodox population and Latin settlers. The order ran a hospital, built great walls and the Palace of the Grand Master, and used its galleys against Muslim shipping. It acquired much of the Templars' wealth after 1312. Under Pierre d'Aubusson it repulsed the Ottoman siege of 1480.

Decline and legacy

In 1522 Suleiman the Magnificent besieged Rhodes with a vast army. After six months Grand Master Philippe Villiers de l'Isle-Adam surrendered on honourable terms, and the knights left in early 1523, settling in Malta in 1530. Their medieval city is a World Heritage Site.

Connections (3)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Hospitaller Rhodes. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hospitaller-rhodes
MLA
“Hospitaller Rhodes.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hospitaller-rhodes. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Hospitaller Rhodes.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hospitaller-rhodes.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Hospitaller Rhodes’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hospitaller-rhodes (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻