The corso network of the Hospitallers of the Order of Saint John of Rhodos
“The Mediterranean world knew many forms of informal naval violence, ranging from straight forward piracy to a variety of legalized or quasi-legal activities involving reprisals, privateering and corsairing;” writes Anthony Lutrell in the Mediterranean Historical Review 10 (London, 1995). The knights of Saint John were infamous corsairs when the Order was at Malta, but these corsair activities started much earlier when the Order was at Rhodos. The Order had an extensive network in the Mediterranean en Western Europe. This network didn’t give them only members, but also resources from priories all over Europe. Why did a crusading order become notorious ‘corsairs’?
With the fall of Acre the Knights were looking for a new base to organize a holy war, where the Order had some freedom away from secular politics. In 1305 Fulk de Fillaret became the new master of the Hospital. In 1306 he was approached by Vignolo dei Vignoli, a landowner at Rhodos . Vignoli wanted the Order's help to gain control of Rhodos or a part of it. Fulk and Vignoli made a pact by which the Hospital would rule Rhodos. In June 1306 was the initial attack. The besiege would take more than tree years. It is most likely that on the 15th of August 1309 the town of Rhodos surrendered.
The maritime position of the island of Rhodos forced the Order to build a naval force as the Order did not have a fleet before they came to Rhodos. With Rhodos they had a great strategic position in the Eastern Mediterranean. In September 1307 Pope Clement V granted Rhodos to the Order on the basis that it has been captured from Byzantine schismatics and Turkish infidels. The island was in possession of the Byzantine emperor Andronicus. The pope excommunicated him at the same time. The Knights enforced papal prohibitions that banned trade in slaves and war materials between Christians and infidels. Every brother of the Order was allowed to attack Latin shipping who was making these infractions. In the fourteenth century expanses of the Order were rising. The Knights of the Order had to bestow high social status, a big contrast with the twelfth century where many knights were simply mounted warriors. Not only individual expenses increased, but also the costs of warfare itself. This was because the fourteenth century saw great advances in weaponry and armour. The fourteenth century saw a decline in the climate of Europe, which caused agricultural yields to decrease. The Great Western schism of the papacy meant a significant decrease of income from the rest of Europe due to devided priorities. Thus having the Knights look for other means of revenue. The Knights had to become familiar with Prize law. Prize law was an assemblage of maritime customs used when an enemy ship and cargo (the prize) was captured.
The earliest documents surviving the corso can be found in the archive of the Order of Malta. Part of the weaponry of a corsair was official documents like these. Document Cod. 339, fol. 179v [213v] of 14 april 1413 for instance allows Richard de Pontailler from Aquitaine and Jean de Patris to sail against the infidels and their subjects –‘contra infideles inimicos religionis nostre’. If you use Social Network Analysis on these documents it displays the betweenness-centrality of the Grandmaster of the Order 's lieutenant.
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With the fall of Acre the Knights were looking for a new base to organize a holy war, where the Order had some freedom away from secular politics. In 1305 Fulk de Fillaret became the new master of the Hospital. In 1306 he was approached by Vignolo dei Vignoli, a landowner at Rhodos . Vignoli wanted the Order's help to gain control of Rhodos or a part of it. Fulk and Vignoli made a pact by which the Hospital would rule Rhodos. In June 1306 was the initial attack. The besiege would take more than tree years. It is most likely that on the 15th of August 1309 the town of Rhodos surrendered.
The maritime position of the island of Rhodos forced the Order to build a naval force as the Order did not have a fleet before they came to Rhodos. With Rhodos they had a great strategic position in the Eastern Mediterranean. In September 1307 Pope Clement V granted Rhodos to the Order on the basis that it has been captured from Byzantine schismatics and Turkish infidels. The island was in possession of the Byzantine emperor Andronicus. The pope excommunicated him at the same time. The Knights enforced papal prohibitions that banned trade in slaves and war materials between Christians and infidels. Every brother of the Order was allowed to attack Latin shipping who was making these infractions. In the fourteenth century expanses of the Order were rising. The Knights of the Order had to bestow high social status, a big contrast with the twelfth century where many knights were simply mounted warriors. Not only individual expenses increased, but also the costs of warfare itself. This was because the fourteenth century saw great advances in weaponry and armour. The fourteenth century saw a decline in the climate of Europe, which caused agricultural yields to decrease. The Great Western schism of the papacy meant a significant decrease of income from the rest of Europe due to devided priorities. Thus having the Knights look for other means of revenue. The Knights had to become familiar with Prize law. Prize law was an assemblage of maritime customs used when an enemy ship and cargo (the prize) was captured.
The earliest documents surviving the corso can be found in the archive of the Order of Malta. Part of the weaponry of a corsair was official documents like these. Document Cod. 339, fol. 179v [213v] of 14 april 1413 for instance allows Richard de Pontailler from Aquitaine and Jean de Patris to sail against the infidels and their subjects –‘contra infideles inimicos religionis nostre’. If you use Social Network Analysis on these documents it displays the betweenness-centrality of the Grandmaster of the Order 's lieutenant.
MMV