On November 5th 1300, tbc Chapter General established the first rules regarding the tasks and functions of this position. This same Admiral was elected Grand Master five years later and had a determining role in the new organisation of the Order and in its move.

The Muslims were displeased with the settlement of the Hospitallers in Rhodes and they attacked their ancient enemy without delay presenting themselves with a fleet in the waters around the island in the spring of 1310. The defence of the island was not strong enough to allow the Order to ward off the assault but the intervention of Amadeus V, Count of Savoy, allowed them to confront their enemies who then retreated. Rhodes was safe and work to make a stronghold of the island began.

In the West, meanwhile, the ideal of the crusades seemed to be slowly reawakening and young people wishing to wear the habit of the Order of St. John began to arrive from countries all over Europe. The nobility of France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and England sent their younger sons to serve under the flag of the "Sacra Milizia" and in 1319, during a Chapter General convened at Montpellier by Grand Master Fra' Helione de Villeneuve, it was decided to gather the Hospitallers into groups according to their countries of origin. These groups were named "Langues" and were led by a "Pilier who, by right became a member of the Chapter.

Originally, the Langues were seven, namely Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Aragon, England (with Scotland and Ireland) and Germany. Later, in 1462, Castille and Portugal split from Aragon to form the eighth Langue. Each Langue consisted of Priories or Grand Priories, Bailiwicks and Commanderies.

As the Order was becoming stronger and stronger day by day, the Ottomans attacked repeatedly in order to drive their enemy out of the Mediterranean. In 1312, an entire fleet conquered Amorgo, an island from where the Muslims could easily threaten the Knights. The Grand Master, Fulk de Villaret led the attack and drove away the enemy.

In 1318, quite by surprise, they assaulted Kos, which had been fortified a short time before. They were very near to Rhodes but the commander of the galleys, Fra' Alfred III of Schwarburg, in a rapid move compelled the adversaries to abandon their occupied position.

The Turkish ships attacked Chio in 1319 and Rhodes in 1320. In both cases the forces of St. John were inferior, but the enemy was rejected and most of their ships were captured.

In spite of their numerous failures the Muslims did not give up and their presence in the Mediterranean became more and more

The Siege of Rhodes: Fra' Pierre d'Aubusson pays homage to Our Lady of Philermo, Protector of the Order.

menacing. During the XIV century, the general situation became more complex. The small Christian states of Syria were eliminated by the attacks of the Mamaluke Kings of Egypt and only Cyprus and Rhodes remained in the hands of the western people while the Turks turned their attention to Europe.

On the island the Knights worked incessantly in order to build bastions and towers, churches and splendid houses. Rhodes became a fortified but elegant and comfortable city. In the meantime, the speedy galleys carried out continuous raids. They laid traps for the ships of the Crescent on their commercial routes and often made rapid incursions on the villages of the Turkish coasts.

These were years of great fervour, during which the Hospital strengthened its organizing structures. From 1396 to 1437 the Grand Masters, Philibert de Naillac and Antoine Fluvian de la Riviere dedicated their means and energies towards increasing the defensive capacity of their stronghold, believing that very soon Rhodes would face even more aggressive attacks than it had already. Grand Master Antoine Fluvian de la Riviere offered his own personal wealth towards this programme. It was to be thanks to his inheritance that churches were erected and a new hospital was built.

The enemy, however, did not wait. In 1440 the Egyptians launched a violent attack but, led on by Grand Master Jean de Lastic who had arrived just in time from Europe, the Knights succeeded in warding off the attackers in a bloody battle after which they chased the enemy ships as far as the coast of Anatolia. In 1444, the Turks also risked a similar undertaking but their attempt failed too.

It was, indeed, a period of uninterrupted military activity. We must bear in mind that the vessels of the Order also took part in all the expeditions that the Catholic Countries, urged by the various Popes, organised now and then against Islam. In 1453, Mohammed II conquered Constantinople and the terrified Christians looked East where, in a few years, the Turkish Sultan occupied the Peloponnese, Trebizond, Mytilene, Euboea, part of Albania, the Genoese colonies in the Crimea, defeated Serbia and imposed levies upon many countries

There was only one island to stop the Muslims from advancing upon Europe. A small obstacle that could easily be overcome and Mohammed II therefore declared that he would teach a lesson to the enemy who had dared to challenge the power of the Crescent, a solemn lesson that would be a warning to all the West. He carried out his threat without delay.

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