Sources on Knights Hospitaller in C14th-C16th?
Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 3:55 pm
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.