# The Siege of Rhodes 1522: Suleiman vs the Knights of St. John

An episode of [The Story of Turkey: From Byzantium to the Ottoman Empire to Today — Fexingo History](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1895450461), 30 Jul 2026, 6:06.

Audio: https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-story-of-turkey/episode-0190.mp3

In 1522, the young Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent turned his gaze to the island of Rhodes, the last crusader bastion in the Aegean. For over two centuries, the Knights Hospitaller had raided Ottoman shipping from their fortress there. Suleiman assembled a massive fleet and army to crush them. The siege lasted five months, with ferocious fighting, mining tunnels, and artillery duels. Grand Master Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam led the defense, holding out against overwhelming odds. Ultimately, the Knights surrendered on honorable terms and were allowed to leave—they would later resettle in Malta, where they became a key naval power. This episode dives into the strategy, the personalities, and the dramatic end of one of the great sieges of early modern history. #SiegeOfRhodes1522 #SuleimanTheMagnificent #KnightsHospitaller #OttomanEmpire #PhilippeVilliersDeLIsleAdam #PiriMehmedPasha #OttomanMilitary #FortressRhodes #CrusaderHistory #16thCentury #MediterraneanHistory #AegeanSea #Janissaries #NavalWarfare #OttomanArtillery #History #FexingoHistory #MiningWarfare Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

## Transcript

Lucas: So we've covered a lot of early Ottoman expansion—Constantinople, Selim's lightning campaigns against the Mamluks. But one of the most dramatic sieges of the 16th century actually came early in Suleiman's reign, and it pitted the Ottomans against one of the last crusader strongholds in the Eastern Mediterranean: the island of Rhodes.
Luna: The Knights of St. John, right?
Lucas: Exactly—the Knights Hospitaller. After they were driven out of the Holy Land, they settled on Rhodes in 1309. Over the next two centuries, they turned the island into a formidable fortress and a base for raiding Ottoman shipping. By the time Suleiman took the throne in 1520, they were a major irritant.
Lucas: Suleiman was young—about twenty-six—but he had a grand vision. He'd already conquered Belgrade in 1521, and Rhodes was next on his list. The Knights had actually fortified the city of Rhodes with massive walls, towers, and a deep ditch. It was considered one of the strongest fortresses in Christendom.
Luna: How did the Ottomans approach it? They must have known it would be tough.
Lucas: They prepared meticulously. Suleiman assembled a fleet of over 400 ships and an army of perhaps 100,000 men, including elite Janissaries and engineers. He even brought his grand vizier, Piri Mehmed Pasha, who was an experienced commander. The siege began in July 1522—and it was going to take much longer than expected.
Lucas: The Knights, under Grand Master Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, had about 7,000 fighting men—including the knights themselves, mercenaries, and local Greek militia. They were outnumbered but determined. The Grand Master was a skilled leader, and he knew the fortress's weaknesses.
Luna: So what was the Ottoman strategy?
Lucas: They started with a heavy bombardment. Suleiman had brought huge cannons, some firing stone balls weighing over 200 kilograms. The walls were pounded day and night. But the Knights had reinforced the weakest sections with earth and rubble. Then the Ottomans turned to mining—digging tunnels under the walls to collapse them.
Lucas: The Knights had their own counter-mining teams. They'd dig listening tunnels and set off charges to destroy the Ottoman mines. There were fierce underground battles in the dark, hand-to-hand fighting with picks and swords. It was brutal, and it dragged on for months.
Luna: That sounds terrifying.
Lucas: Absolutely. Meanwhile, the Ottoman fleet blockaded the harbor, preventing supplies from coming in. Inside the city, food and ammunition were running low. The Knights were worn down, but they kept resisting. Suleiman even offered terms—if they surrendered, he would let them leave safely with their possessions. But the Grand Master refused, hoping for help from Europe.
Lucas: Help never came. The European powers were divided—Charles V and Francis I were at war, and no one could spare a fleet. By December, after nearly five months, the walls were breached in several places. The Ottomans launched a massive assault, but the Knights beat them back with heavy losses.
Luna: So how did it end?
Lucas: Eventually, the Grand Master realized it was hopeless. He reopened negotiations. Suleiman, surprisingly, was generous: he allowed the Knights to leave with their arms, their treasures, and even their religious icons. On January 1, 1523, the survivors sailed away—about 5,000 people, including knights and civilians.
Luna: That's remarkable. He didn't massacre them.
Lucas: No. sultan wanted to show magnanimity—and he also knew that a bloody conquest would make other cities resist to the death. By letting them go, he projected power and mercy. The Knights eventually settled in Malta, where they would become a major naval force again. But for Suleiman, Rhodes was a huge victory.
Lucas: It's stories like these—where a determined group changes the course of history—that make digging into these archives so rewarding. Speaking of which, a quick honest thing: this podcast is completely ad-free, and that's possible because a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small group that keeps us doing these deep dives.
Luna: Yeah, it really helps. And it keeps the show independent.
Lucas: Anyway, after leaving Rhodes, those knights eventually rebuilt their order in Malta, and they would later fight the Ottomans again at the Great Siege of Malta in 1565—but that's another story. For now, the capture of Rhodes secured Ottoman control over the Eastern Mediterranean and opened the way for Suleiman to focus on his European campaigns.
Luna: So what did it mean for the Ottoman Empire in the long run?
Lucas: It marked Suleiman as a serious military leader—he'd taken a fortress that had defied earlier Ottoman attempts. It also removed a threat to Ottoman shipping and gave the Ottomans a base for further expansion. And it showed that the Knights, though defeated, were still a force to be reckoned with—they would go on to become the defenders of the central Mediterranean.
Lucas: But there was also a cost: the five-month siege depleted the Ottoman treasury and killed thousands of soldiers. Suleiman never again attempted a siege of such scale personally—he learned that even with overwhelming force, stubborn defenders could exact a heavy price.
Luna: So it was a victory, but it also taught him a lesson.
Lucas: Exactly. And it's a reminder that even the most powerful empires face limits. The glory of Rhodes was real, but so was the human cost. That tension between ambition and reality would define much of Suleiman's later reign.

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