From what I've read, the Siege of Rhodes was a close call for the Turks. The Knights had actively fortified it, and by 1522 it had a state of the art trace italienne fort which made it more formidable against artillery. The main walls wee also thickened, gates reduced, and parapets revolutionized to withstand artillery. Essentially, Rhodes became a bastion against modern warfare that was rapidly sweeping Italy at the time and changing the armies of Europe.
Despite this, Suleiman's army for Rhodes included some 100,000 men. The Knights were ignored by Europe and their only help was some aid from Venetian troops in Crete, The harbor was blockaded and the Ottomans bombarded the city on a daily basis. Two assaults on the city failed though, and by the end both sides were exhausted: the Turks lost a great amount of men and the Knights had no hope of any relief forces.
Now, is there any chance that Rhodes might be retaken by the Knights at a later date? In my timeline, Prince of Peace, a succession crisis causes grave issues in the Ottoman Empire, and Venice and Genoa benefit through the reannexation of some of the old Aegean islands they had held up until the 1560s. Might the Knights be able to take advantage of this situation as well in regards to Rhodes? The main issue is a lack of manpower, being on Rhodes, as well as naval capacity. But just as a Holy League was formed for Lepanto, is it possible some alternate league might be formed to retake Rhodes for the Knights? Would they even want it? The castle, at least in 1522, was pretty formidable, but Rhodes was not exactly defendable like Malta. It's too far away from possible allies, although Rhodes is quite possibly much more wealthy. Taking it might be purely for prestige purposes, and might give the Knights a temporary infusion of manpower of zealous soldiers and the like. Would the Rhodesians even want the Knights back?
If they do take Rhodes, would Malta be returned to the Sicilians? Keep both? What if they returned Malta and later lost Rhodes, again? I imagine the King of Naples and Sicily might be a little less forgiving. I was also musing regarding the Knights of St. Stephen, an order based in Tuscany that was naval oriented and had supplied arms for Lepanto. Might they perhaps see a base in the Aegean, too?
I apologize on all the musings on "Neo-Latin" statelets in the Eastern Mediterranean clogging up the forums. The Ottomans have some severe issues in POP that let the Crimean Girays ultimately take the throne, although not without some compromises to Venice and to a lesser extent Genoa. Venice still has Cyprus and is in a strong position, and Genoa to a lesser extent can meddle in the Aegean too. In the end, the Aegean is rather unimportant compared to the rest of the Ottoman Empire, but the Knights were notorious for piracy and I'm not exactly sure if even the Crimean Girays would want to invite that back. Plus, even by the 1580s and 1590s the Knighthood is looking increasingly redundant. But perhaps they could use the reconquest of Rhodes to reinvent themselves? From Malta they were forced into piracy to supplement their income as that from the Tongues dried up; this may be the case on Rhodes too. A small island is a small island. Put perhaps they could become a convoy force for Christian trade, charging a fee to protect merchant fleets enroute to Levantine and Middle Eastern Ports? Hell, maybe even Muslim fleets too! But somehow I doubt the money wouldn't be as good as piracy.
Thoughts? Could the Knights reclaim Rhodes with help? Would they even want too?
Despite this, Suleiman's army for Rhodes included some 100,000 men. The Knights were ignored by Europe and their only help was some aid from Venetian troops in Crete, The harbor was blockaded and the Ottomans bombarded the city on a daily basis. Two assaults on the city failed though, and by the end both sides were exhausted: the Turks lost a great amount of men and the Knights had no hope of any relief forces.
Now, is there any chance that Rhodes might be retaken by the Knights at a later date? In my timeline, Prince of Peace, a succession crisis causes grave issues in the Ottoman Empire, and Venice and Genoa benefit through the reannexation of some of the old Aegean islands they had held up until the 1560s. Might the Knights be able to take advantage of this situation as well in regards to Rhodes? The main issue is a lack of manpower, being on Rhodes, as well as naval capacity. But just as a Holy League was formed for Lepanto, is it possible some alternate league might be formed to retake Rhodes for the Knights? Would they even want it? The castle, at least in 1522, was pretty formidable, but Rhodes was not exactly defendable like Malta. It's too far away from possible allies, although Rhodes is quite possibly much more wealthy. Taking it might be purely for prestige purposes, and might give the Knights a temporary infusion of manpower of zealous soldiers and the like. Would the Rhodesians even want the Knights back?
If they do take Rhodes, would Malta be returned to the Sicilians? Keep both? What if they returned Malta and later lost Rhodes, again? I imagine the King of Naples and Sicily might be a little less forgiving. I was also musing regarding the Knights of St. Stephen, an order based in Tuscany that was naval oriented and had supplied arms for Lepanto. Might they perhaps see a base in the Aegean, too?
I apologize on all the musings on "Neo-Latin" statelets in the Eastern Mediterranean clogging up the forums. The Ottomans have some severe issues in POP that let the Crimean Girays ultimately take the throne, although not without some compromises to Venice and to a lesser extent Genoa. Venice still has Cyprus and is in a strong position, and Genoa to a lesser extent can meddle in the Aegean too. In the end, the Aegean is rather unimportant compared to the rest of the Ottoman Empire, but the Knights were notorious for piracy and I'm not exactly sure if even the Crimean Girays would want to invite that back. Plus, even by the 1580s and 1590s the Knighthood is looking increasingly redundant. But perhaps they could use the reconquest of Rhodes to reinvent themselves? From Malta they were forced into piracy to supplement their income as that from the Tongues dried up; this may be the case on Rhodes too. A small island is a small island. Put perhaps they could become a convoy force for Christian trade, charging a fee to protect merchant fleets enroute to Levantine and Middle Eastern Ports? Hell, maybe even Muslim fleets too! But somehow I doubt the money wouldn't be as good as piracy.
Thoughts? Could the Knights reclaim Rhodes with help? Would they even want too?