1st Edition

Islands and Military Orders, c.1291-c.1798

By Emanuel Buttigieg, Simon Phillips Copyright 2013

    At the heart of this volume is a concern with exploring levels of interaction between two particular objects of study, islands on the one hand, and military orders on the other. According to Fernand Braudel, islands are, ’often brutally’, caught ’between the two opposite poles of archaism and innovation.’ What happened when these particular environments interacted with the Military Orders? The various contributions in this volume address this question from a variety of angles. 1291 was a significant year for the main military orders: uprooted from their foundations in the Holy Land, they took refuge on Cyprus and in the following years found themselves vulnerable to those who questioned the validity of their continued existence. The Teutonic Order negated this by successfully transferring their headquarters to Prussia; the Knights Templar, however, faced suppression. Meanwhile, the Knights Hospitaller conquest of Rhodes assured both their survival and independence. Islands are often, by definition, seen to be embodiments of 'insularity', of an effort to be separate, distinct, cut-off. Military Orders are, conversely, international in scope, nature and personnel, the 'first international orders of the Church', as they have often been described. Therein lies the crux of the matter: how did insular outposts and international institutions come together to forge distinct and often successful experiments? Hospitaller Rhodes and Malta still impress with their magnificent architectural heritage, but their success went beyond stone and mortar and the story of islands and military orders, as will be clearly shown in this volume, also goes beyond these two small islands. The interaction between the two levels - insulation and internationalisation - and the interstices therein, created spaces conducive to both dynamism and stability as military orders and islands adapted to each other's demands, limitations and opportunities.

    Introduction; I: Ideas and Ideals about Island Existence; 1: The Hospitallers and Concepts of Island Existence; 2: The Island Order State on Rhodes 1; 3: Islands as Strongholds for the Defence of Christendom: The Hospital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem on Limnos (1459); 4: The Maltese Islands and the Religious Culture of the Hospitallers: Isolation and Connectivity c.1540s–c.1690s; II: Relocation and Adaptation; 5: Propagating the Hospitallers' Passagium: Crusade Preaching and Liturgy in 1308–1309 1; 6: Island Ports and Hospitallers, 1421–1631; 7: Malta and the Order of St John: Life on an Island Home; III: Life on an Island: Interaction and Innovation; 8: Zones and Nodes of Interaction: The Development of the Hospitaller Town of Rhodes; 9: A Fifteenth-Century Innovation: Humanistic Script on Hospitaller Rhodes; 10: The Vision of the Island of Malta and its Role in the Transformation of the Order's Mission as Seen by the Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Traveller; 11: The Knights of the Portuguese Order of Christ on the Island of Madeira (1640–1755): A Socio-historical Approach 1; IV: Regional Political Dynamics and the Military Orders; 12: The Hospitallers of Rhodes and Attempts to Recover the Duchy of Athens by the Counts of Brienne after 1311; 13: Aspects of the Relations Between the Hospitaller Knights of Rhodes and the Republic of Venice: Contacts and Collaboration During the Second Venetian–Ottoman War (1499–1502/03); 14: Between Sicily and Jerusalem: The Teutonic Knights in the Mediterranean (Twelfth to Fifteenth Centuries); V: Fortifications, War and Defence; 15: The Hospitallers of Rhodes and their Alliances Against the Turks, 1306–1348 1; 16: The Knights Templar in the Defence of the Lazio Coast: The Quasi-Islands of Santa Maria della Sorresca on Lake Paola and the Tower of San Felice Circeo (1173–1259); 17: The Development of Gunpowder Defences at the Knights Hospitallers' Fortifications on the Dodecanese Islands (1307–1522) 1; VI: Economic Aspects of an Island Existence; 18: Hospitaller Small Change: An Archaeological Perspective; 19: Hospitaller Estates and Agricultural Production on Fourteenth- and FifteenthCentury Cyprus; 20: Some Aspects of the Use and Exploitation of Mills by the Order of St John in Rhodes and Cyprus 1; 21: Society and the Economy on the Hospitaller Island of Malta: An Overview; 22: The Order of St John and its Caribbean Islands, 1653–1665: A Cartographic Record

    Biography

    Emanuel Buttigieg is a Senior Lecturer in early modern history at the University of Malta.

    Simon Phillips is a Research Fellow in late medieval history at the University of Cyprus

    ’...a coherent collection [with] a very useful index, enabling readers to cross reference between papers. A wide range of historical and archaeological source material is used in these essays, which will be of particular interest to scholars of the Hospitallers and the Crusades, but also to those interested in maritime history and internationalization.’ International Journal of Maritime History '... this book of essays is not only a valuable contribution to the history of the military orders but, due to the diversity and scope of its well-researched articles, provides valuable information and adds important insights to the discussion concerning relationships and interconnections within the Mediterranean.' Speculum 'This collection of twenty-two essays ... is impressive in its breadth and analytical detail. The book will be an important resource for scholars ...' Medieval Review