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cannot be ruled out altogether. Tripoli was one other North African
`post' which the Emperor wished to see revitalized, and this
was a golden opportunity inadvertently presenting itself in
support of Charles's policy. Roberto Valentini attributes
the idea of including Tripoli in the deal with the Order to
the Sicilian Viceroy, refering to it explicitly on two separate
occasions (`dietro consiglio del Viceré di Sicilia'
and `dietro le insistenze del Pignatelli'), but
without citing supporting evidence on either.
It was at this stage _ towards
the end of June 1524 _ that a Commission, representative of
the eight Langues, was entrusted to visit each of the three
`posts' collectively on offer and to report back to the Venerable
Council. The Order needed time to assess Charles V's magnanimity
in the form it had now assumed, to evaluate it, to reflect
and to resolve. The instructions these Hospitallers received
and the report they subsequently drew up are widely known
to those familiar with the history of the Order at this stage
in its evolution and need not be repeated here.15
Quintessentially the Order was advised to accept Malta and
Gozo but to decline the offer of Tripoli, as this was too
isolated and too dangerously exposed to the assaults of the
Barbaresques. Its walls were weak and could not withstand
any artillery attacks. To rebuild them and the fortress was
costly and would take long. History is full of ironies, and
the Commission's strong recommendation to reject Tripoli was
definitely one such. For when the Order eventually found itself
on Malta, it was to this same fortress city of Tripoli that
in 1548 the future Grandmaster Jean de la Valette, then Governor
of Tripoli, had succeeded in convincing the Chapter General
to have the Convent transferred the North African `post'.
The project failed to materialize simply because the Ottoman
armada had captured the city in August 1551.16
Delaying tactics ?
Following the submission of the Commission's
report and their recommendations, negotiations over the cession
ground rapidly to an
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almost complete halt. Was there any viable alternative to Charles
V's offer ? It would appear that it was in reaction to the
stalemate that l'Isle Adam begins to contemplate the reconquest
of Rhodes. Is there solid evidence of any serious talk about
it earlier than 1525. Hadrian VI is at times mentioned within
the context of a proposed counter-expedition. If this is correct,
what real progress had been registered by 14 September 1523
when the pope died ? l'Isle Adam proceeded personally to Charles
V's court in Spain for his support and in search for the necessary
funds to subsidize the campaign. Almost simultaneously, on
20 May 1525, the Emperor despatched Don Pietro Fernandez d'Eredia
to the Hospitaller Convent at Viterbo, where, since December
1523 (when Clement VII established them there), the Order
had had its magistral palace, a conventual church, a hospital,
and the auberges for the Langues. Charles's envoy indicated
in a sense the Emperor's eagerness to reactivate an offensive
policy for his otherwise idle and passive Mediterranean posts.
The Spanish appear to be pressed for time. On the other hand,
was the Grandmaster's idea of reconquering Rhodes _ plausible
though this might very well have been, and indeed to all appearances
politically legitimate and correct _ part of his delaying
tactics in the hope of not reaching a definite resolution
before the outcome of the war in Italy might very well mitigate
Charles's conditions? But then time was not in the Order's
favour, either. If from April 1525 through 1526, the Order
was deeply involved in a Europe-wide fund-raising campaign
for the Rhodian enterprise, it was as frantically endeavouring
to observe and maintain absolute neutrality and to be seen
doing strictly so by the warring kings and princes and their
respective allies. In February 1525, Francis I had fallen
captive to the imperial forces at Pavia, while `the better
part of the French chivalry,' says G.R.Elton,17
`lay dead.' After a year's imprisonment, he was forced to
sign the treaty of Madrid (14 January 1526), promising (among
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