Letter from King Henry VIII to Grand Master l'Isle Adam, 1530

Fra' Philippe de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam (1464 – 21 August 1534) was a prominent member of the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

and later

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. Having risen to the position of

Prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be low ...

of the ''Langue of Auvergne'', he was elected 44th Grand Master of the Order in 1521. He commanded the Order during Sultan Suleiman's long and bloody Siege of Rhodes in 1522, when 600 knights and 4500 soldiers resisted an invading force of about 100,000 men for six months,L. Kinross, ''The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire'', 176 but eventually negotiated the capitulation and the departure of the knights on New Year's Day 1523 to

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

. He then led the Order during several years without a permanent domicile—first Kandi on

, then successively

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in t ...

Viterbo Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history ...

and finally

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

(1527–1529). In 1530 de L'Isle-Adam obtained the islands of

and

Gozo Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After ...

and the North African port city of Tripoli as fief for the Order from Emperor

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

and established the Order, henceforth known as the ''Maltese Knights'', in their new base. The Order arrived on the island on 26 October 1530 on their flagship, the ''

Santa Anna Santa Anna may refer to: * Santa Anna, Texas, a town in Coleman County in Central Texas, United States * Santa Anna, Starr County, Texas * Santa Anna Township, DeWitt County, Illinois, one of townships in DeWitt County, Illinois, United States. ...

''. L'Isle-Adam took formal possession of the islands on 13 November, when the silver key of the capital

Mdina Mdina ( mt, L-Imdina ; phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤈, Maleṭ; grc, Μελίττη, Melíttē; ar, مدينة, Madīnah; ), also known by its Italian-language titles ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortified city in the Northern Region of Ma ...

was given to the Grand Master. Despite this, the Order settled in the coastal town of

Birgu Birgu ( mt, Il-Birgu , it, Vittoriosa), also known by its title Città Vittoriosa ("''Victorious City''"), is an old fortified city on the south side of the Grand Harbour in the South Eastern Region of Malta. The city occupies a promontory of ...

and made it their capital city. They settled in Fort Saint Angelo, which served as both a fortification and as a palace. The city was fortified and eventually Auberges for each of the Langues were built. Despite this, the Grand Master and the Order still hoped that one day they would recapture Rhodes (in fact the Order decided to make Malta their permanent home only after the Great Siege 35 years later). L'Isle-Adam died at the Our Lady of Jesus convent (''ta' Ġieżu'') in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populatio ...

, Malta on 21 August 1534. He was buried in the Chapel of St Anne within Fort Saint Angelo, but was reburied in the crypt of Saint John's Co-Cathedral in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 ...

in the late 16th century. Culverine of Philippe Villiers de l Isle Adam 1525 1530 Rhodes 140mm 339cm 2533kg iron ball 10kg Abdul Aziz to NIII 1862.jpg,

Culverin A culverin was initially an ancestor of the hand-held arquebus, but later was used to describe a type of medieval and Renaissance cannon. The term is derived from the French "''couleuvrine''" (from ''couleuvre'' "grass snake", following the ...

with the arms of L'Isle-Adam,

. Caliber: 140mm, length: 339 cm, weight: 2533 kg, ammunition: 10 kg iron ball. Remitted by Abdul-Aziz to

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...

in 1862. Stemma di villier de l'isle adam 02.JPG, Coat of arms of L'Isle Adam in Odos Ippoton, Rhodes Prise de Malte en 1530.jpg, ''Philippe de Villiers de l'Isle Adam takes possession of the island of Malta, 26 October 1530'' by

René Théodore Berthon René Théodore Berthon (1776–1859) was a French painter of religious and historical subjects, and of portraits. Life Berthon was born at Tours in 1776, and studied under David. He painted scriptural and historical subjects, and a large number ...

. Malta - Valletta - Triq il-Merkanti 10 ies.jpg, Former mural at ''

Is-Suq tal-Belt ''Is-Suq tal-Belt'' (; Maltese for "City Market" or "Valletta Market"), also known as the Covered Market, is a 19th-century market hall located in Valletta, Malta. It is notable for being the first building in Malta to be constructed mostly of ...

'' showing L'Isle-Adam's arrival in Malta Malta-Valletta-GrandMastersPalace1.jpg, Coat of arms of L'Isle Adam at the Grandmaster's Palace.

References

External links

Coins of Grandmaster Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam
{{DEFAULTSORT:L'Isle-Adam, Philippe Villiers De Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller Knights of Malta 1464 births 1534 deaths People from Beauvais 15th-century French people 16th-century French people 16th-century soldiers Rhodes under the Knights Hospitaller Burials at Saint John's Co-Cathedral

See also

References

External links