Rhodes site (1480)

AI-assisted Knowledge Update: This article was automatically consolidated to provide you with the most up-to-date data instantly.

--- CONTENT ---
The Rhodes site of 1480 was a military event held on the island of Rhodes by the Ottoman army to take control of the island, located off the coast of the current Turkey by the Knights of Rhodes, one of the Military Orders born in the Crusades.

Background

After the loss of St. John of Acre in 1291, the Knights of Hospitals settled in Cyprus for a few years and conquered the island of Rhodes to the Byzantine Empire between 1307 and 1311. The Order created a powerful army, keeping with it a series of garrison on the Dodecanese islands. Meanwhile, the Ottoman Empire was expanding, and the presence of the Hospitals in Asia Minor was considered a threat by the Ottoman Sultan. The first attempts by the Ottomans to conquer (in 1440 and 1444) were unsuccessful. After the fall of Constantinople, however, the Ottomans were more able to carry out military operations in the Mediterranean.

In 1470, the island of Tilos was evacuated in anticipation of a possible Turkish attack, and in 1475 the island of Jalki was withdrawn. After signing the peace with the Lordship of Venice in 1479, its main rival in the eastern Mediterranean, the Turks took advantage to redirect their forces against other enemies of the area, such as the Knights of Rhodes, who had been strengthening their defenses since 1478.

Site development

On 23 May 1480 a fleet of 160 ships appeared in front of Rhodes, under the command of Gedik Ahmed Bajá. The defenders were under the command of Pierre d'Aubusson, in his position as Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. The Turks were engaged in a gunning of the fortress, and on 9 June they launched an infantry attack, which was rejected by the besieged, who were engaged in building a second line of internal defense in anticipation of the first being overfounded.

On July 27, the Ottomans launched a new attack, this time, on the tower of Italy, getting 2,500 Jenizaros into the city, but after three hours of combat and suffering numerous casualties, they withdrew. After this rejection, the gentlemen made an exit from the square, entering the Turkish camp and causing them to withdraw.

On 17 August, the Turkish fleet ceased the siege of Rhodes

Asedio de Otranto

As part of this campaign, the Turkish fleet - leaving a contingent of troops on the ground keeping the siege of Rhodes - went to the Kingdom of Naples where they took the city of Otranto on August 11. Otranto was released in September 1481 by pontifical and Napolitan troops, before the arrival of the fleet that the Catholic Kings sent.