Siege of Rhodes (1480)
The Siege of Rhodes, the capital and most important fortress of the Knights, began on 23 May 1480 ended - after a last unsuccessful attempt to storm on 28 July - in August 1480 with the re-embarkation of the Turkish Sultan Mehmed besieging army II (r. 1451 - 1481 ).
Expiration
In early December 1479 was a Turkish landing attempt, in which it had probably been a kind of " armed reconnaissance ", has been rejected by the Knights. Then had Pierre d' Aubusson (1423-1503), the reigning Order of Grand Master, sent a request for assistance to the monks in the rest of Europe, due to its already before the beginning of the siege an army with the 450 best knights of the Order from France and Italy, and 2,000 soldiers had come under his brother Antoine from France to help. The expected major attack of the Ottomans came in May 1480 when she landed with about 170 ships gradually up to 100,000 infantry, cavalry and artillery on Rhodes. This cut the city completely from the outside world and put their fortifications during the following weeks and months with the heaviest guns systematically in ruins.
After two large-scale experiments storm in June, the Turks took effect on July 28, 1480 for a general attack on the already heavily damaged fortifications of the city. They managed to occupy the ramparts and the fall of the city seemed already assured as a herald of the Turkish commander in chief Mesih Pasha ( a Palaiologues ) let it be known a Plünderungsverbot and complaining that the treasures of the city for the Sultan. This announcement affected the morale of Turkish soldiers devastating: Angry and disappointed left some of them have just conquered positions; others are likely to have held this disengagement for a flight of their comrades and now also started to flow back, so there was soon the entire Turkish army in retreat. The commanded by d' Aubusson defender took advantage of the resulting confusion among their enemies now for a spirited counter-attack, which made possible to fully escape the Turkish retreat and many Turks lost their lives.
Follow
After this new failure, the Turkish commander Mesih Pasha saw no way to move his ailing army to a renewed assault trial. He remained only the inglorious withdrawal from the island. The wrath of the Sultan about this failure did not cost Mesih Pasha indeed life, but he went all his high offices forfeited and was treated as a simple Sandschakbey in the province. Left Behind, the Turks had a completely devastated island whose reconstruction was made even more difficult by a severe earthquake in the following year.