New+Fortunes

While on Cyprus, the Order rebuilt their numbers and re-created themselves as a naval power. After capturing Rhodes and its island neighbours, St John became a sovereign state, operating as pirate-hunters //and// as pirates against Moslem shipping. But the Eastern Mediterranean Sea was surrounded by Moslem nations: the Ottoman Empire, the Karamanid Emirate and the Mamluk Sultinate. Can you see why the Ottoman Empire wanted to get rid of St John? The Order was split into seven Langues, or Tongues, based on the cultural and linguistic origins of its knights. Later Castille and Aragon split, resulting in an eighth Tongue. The most notable Grand Masters were Foulques [Fulk] de Villaret who was a diplomatic sovereign before becoming a despotic tyrant, Helion de Villeneuve who had to deal with a dragon problem, Dieudonné de Gozon the dragon-slayer, Pierre d'Aubusson who won the First Siege of Rhodes in 1480, and Villiers de L'Isle Adam who led St John through the Second Siege of Rhodes in 1522.