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Sources on Knights Hospitaller in C14th-C16th?

Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 3:55 pm
by Tibbie Croser
I've recently been reading about the 1565 Siege of Malta and have been deeply impressed by the Knights of St. John (Hospitallers) in this period. Does anyone have good books to recommend? I'm especially interested in how they adapted their philosophies of chivalry and their training when they moved to Rhodes in the early 1300s and became experts in naval galley warfare and fortifications. I'm curious as to their approach to archery and gunpowder weapons. Certainly by 1565 the Knights seem to have been using pikes and arquebuses as well as swords. I'm wondering if, due to their circumstances, they adapted to the Renaissance military revolution earlier than secular knights.

Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 7:37 pm
by Gregoire de Lyon
Here are two great books on the Hospitallers:

The Knights of the Order - St. John - Jerusalem - Rhodes - Malta Ernle Bradford, 1972, Dorset Press

The Two Sieges of Rhodes: The Knights of St. John at War 1480-1522 Eric Brockman, 1969, Laurence Pollinger Limited

Both have been republished at least once, since my copies are not original imprints from the above publishers. The second deals with a later period than you are interested in, but is VERY readable.