Rhodes and Malta

After the loss of the Holy Land the Knights shifted their crusading operations from land to sea and turned first Rhodes then Malta into fortified bases. 

The Knights seized Rhodes in 1306, established their headquarters and hospital, fortified the island and acquired a fleet. Their galleys prowled the shipping lanes and raided surrounding Muslim territory. Understandably, Hospitaller Rhodes became a target for Muslim forces and it finally fell to the young Turkish Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, in 1522.

The loss of Rhodes was a blow to the Christian powers in their struggle with the Turks for control of the Mediterranean but the Knights were soon installed on Malta.

The climax of the struggle came when the less young, but still magnificent, Sultan Suleiman led a massive attack on the island in 1565. Against all the odds, and when he was well into his 70s, Grand Master Jean de la Valette led the knights and Maltese people to a famous victory. Valletta, built and fortified by the Knights after the Great Siege and named after the Grand Master, is still the capital of Malta. 

Throughout their years on Rhodes and Malta the Knights' medical work continued. In Rhodes the hospital had separate wards for infectious diseases and obstetrics. In Malta the Order ran a kind of health service for the population and set up a famous school of anatomy and surgery. For statistic collectors, the great ward in Malta's hospital was the longest room in 18th century Europe.

The Knights of Malta, as they became known, continued to rule the island until they were driven out by Napoleon in 1798. Today their direct descendant, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, is based in Rome and has returned completely to its first role of caring for the sick.