The end of the Siege, with the Ottoman camp on the distance, and
the Grand Master's army having recaptured the Tower of Italy.
On this day in the year 1480, the Turks were defeated by Grand Master Pierre d'Aubusson at the lifting of the Siege of Rhodes.
D'Aubusson, who was 57 at the time of the siege, was one of the most accomplished Grand Masters ever to lead the Order. A man of fine presence, a polished diplomat, a Cardinal, and as the siege was to show, a courageous leader in war.
The besieging Ottoman army was made up of 170 ships and 100,000 men, under the command of Gedik Ahmed Pasha. Grand Master d'Aubusson's small garrison was reinforced by 500 knights from France, and 2,000 soldiers under the command of the Grand Master's brother Antoine.
On this last decisive day of the battle, on which the Turks managed to capture the tower of the Langue of Italy, the battle rose to a frenzy during which 4,000 Turks were slain. The Hospitallers finally reached the tent of the Grand Vizier and captured the holy standard of Islam.
Defeated, the Ottoman fleet finally left on 27th August. Safety for Christian sea traffic in the Mediterranean was thus assured, until the fall of Rhodes in 1522.
Arms of Grand Master d'Aubusson with the Cardinal's hat,
from a wall facing the port in Rhodes.
The Victory is commemorated within the Order this day in a Mass contained in a Missal of 1659 of the Domus SS Joannis et Cordulae in Cologne.
Feast of the 1st Class
ORATIO
Deus in te sperântium fortitudo, adesto precibus nostris : quas tibi cum gratiarum offerimus actione : pro Victoria Magistro nostro, ac ejus exercitui, contra hostes Fidei Christianæ Turcos, per te mirabiliter Rhodi concessa : suppliciter deprecantes: ut solitâ tuæ pietatis clementiâ muniti, dextrâque tuæ potentiæ defensi : ab hostium infidiis, omníque adversitate protegâmur. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum. Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.
SECRETA
Hostias tibi Domine placationis et laudis offerimus, suppliciter exorantes : ut qui nos de Fidei tuæhostibus triumphare fecisti : clementer ab inimicorum infidiis, et omni periculo salves et munias. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum. Qui vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.
POSTCOMMUNIO
Sumptis redemptionis nostræ muneribus, quæsumus Omnipotens Deus : eorum celebratione tuæ protectionis auxilium : et famulum tuum N. Hospitalis Hierosolomitani Magistrum, cum suo Exercitu, gratias de Triumphis Turcarum hostium fidei, nomini tuo sancto referentem : ab omni inimicorum incursu, cunctisque adversitatibus liberes semper et protegas. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum. Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.
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