The Knights of Rhodes
Bo Giertz
Translated by Bror Erickson
The Knights of Rhodes
Copyright © 2010 Bo Giertz. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
Special Thanks to Birgitta and Martin Giertz
for allowing this translation to go forward.
And hear us, O world, you, who would commend or condemn,
So quick to throw flowers or stones,
We have never sought what you acclaim
Nor shunned what you are accustomed to defame,
You saw us fasting,
Each prepared to make the final sacrifice—
When we, the wanderers, lay down for the rest eternal,
Give others great names, call us the faithful.
Erik Axel Karlfeldt.
Translator’s Preface
Bo Giertz, the late beloved Bishop of Gothenburg and author of The Hammer of God, wrote this novel in 1972 long before September eleventh (coincidentally a chapter title in this book). Yet the book is written with prescient genius, tackling all the hard questions and issues confronting Christians in the west since 9/11: Can a Christian be a soldier? What is Islam? How is it different than Christianity? What is the proper response to aggression, torture, etc.? In tackling these hard questions, he writes a superb novel exposing people for who they really are.
If The Hammer of God is a narrative exposition of the distinction between Law and Gospel, then The Knights of Rhodes is a narrative exposition of the theology of the cross. Almost nothing goes right for the Knights Hospitallers. As the Ottoman Turks under Suleiman’s leadership lay siege to the Hospitallers’ little island kingdom, you see two theologies of glory clash, and the Christians lose. In the process you see the Christian characters as sinful men, adulterers, connivers, ambitious, racist, and revilers. They aren’t exactly Sunday school heroes, but they are real men, real Christians, and real heroes through whom Bo Giertz exposes the human condition raw and laid bare in the midst of war, ugly for all to see. Yet for all the ugliness, the story is sublime as Christ, the Cross, and the forgiveness of sins are brought to the fore.
Today it is common for western citizens to denounce the crusades and the crusaders as barbaric. Here you see another side. There is no hagiography here, but you see these men for all their faults as lovers of their countries and western civilization, defenders of their countrymen and faithful Christians. Perhaps you may develop a fondness for these men who gave their lives to defend, if not exactly the same values we cherish today, then the environment in which these values developed. One might say they lost. For sure they lost their city, their fame, wives, children, goods, and for many even their own lives in the face of defeat. Yet, as they fell back and retreated to Malta, these men halted or at least slowed the militant advance of Islam. Had they folded easily, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the scientific and cultural advances of the West may never have happened. Religious freedom and tolerance might not be known at all in the world, as they are still unknown in many places today. Peace and life might not be valued as much as we in the West think they ought to be.
It has been my joy to translate this book little by little over the last couple of years. I thank Birgitta and Martin Giertz for their permission to publish this translation. Thanks are also due to Laura, my wife, who has had to put up with my nose in a book for days on end. My uncle Per Olaf Eker, who tracked down the meaning of so many Swedish nautical terms and their English equivalents, deserves special thanks. The translation work would not have been done without his help. I must also thank Dr. Gene Edward Vieth, Jr. for his help in editing and revising this book. His work has made the book a much more enjoyable read. What a tedious chore it is to copy edit! I am humbled that he found this work worth the time and effort. It goes without saying that any error’s that may remain, remain my own. My congregation, First Lutheran in Tooele, Utah, you might say has been a patron of this translation also. I never exactly asked for the time to translate, but they have provided it for me nonetheless. They are a wonderful congregation—patient, loving, and generous. I am indebted to them, and so are the readers of this book.
Monday the Eighteenth week after Pentecost 2009
List of Persons
The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem had grown since the twelfth century in the Holy Land where the Knights Hospitallers began as a service for pilgrims and crusaders. They were responsible for a huge hospital in Jerusalem with two thousand beds, and they maintained shelters and small hospitals along southern European pilgrim paths. Soon thereafter, the brothers of the Order were also tasked with defense, and the combatant arm—the knights—became the dominant arm. When Palestine was lost in 1291, The Religion (as the order always called themselves) created a home for themselves on Rhodes, as well as some other islands southwest of Asia Minor [Eastern Turkey] (from 1309), and made it their own little island kingdom.
The brothers of the order consisted of knights, serving brothers, and chaplains. They were organized into eight langues according to their different nationalities. Three of the langues were what we would call French: Provence, Auvergne, and France. Two were Spanish: Aragon and Castile (with Portugal). Then there were those of Italy, Germany, and England.
Each langue had its auberge on Rhodes, something between a cloister and an officers’ mess. The langue was led by a Pilier, who also possessed a high office in the order particular to his langue. The Pilier of France was the “Hospitaller” (overseer of the hospital). The Pilier of Auvergne was the “Marshal”; of Italy, was the “Admiral”; of England, was the “Turcopoler” (commander of the coast guard); while that of Castile was the “Chancellor.”
All these—always distinguished from each other—were “Knights of the Grand Cross” and were simply called Grand Crosses. They had a seat in the council that served as the government of Rhodes.
The Grand Master was the order’s chief and also the head of the state.
In the homelands, the order of St. John owned property and fields like other orders and cloisters. Property was under the “Commander,” who managed the commandery, often a pensioned brother of the order, yet an active one. The commanderies took some of the revenue and delivered the rest to the order’s purse. The commanderies were in their turn gathered to the “priory.” A priory could encompass a whole land and was led by a Prior or a Grand Prior. The Grand Priors were the order’s highest representatives in the homelands.
Grand Masters:
Fabrizio del Carretto: about seventy years old, Italian, Grand Master since 1513. He successfully defended Saint Nicolas in 1480, the prominent fort in the Mandraki, against the superior force of the Turks. He died on the tenth of January 1521.
Phillip Villiers de I’sle Adam: Fifty-seven years old, entered the order of St. John already at ten years old, held a series of commissions, and was Grand Master from 1421–1434. Died on Malta.
The earlier Grand Masters, whose