This peril that was ever threatening Rhodes may have suggested to Martorell that it would offer a favorable field for the exploits of Tirant. And we are inclined to believe that the siege of Rhodes conducted by the Sultan of Egypt in 1444, is the real historical event upon which Tirant's relief expedition is based. Some time prior to that date the Grand Master de Lastic, being aware of the fact that the sultan was planning to make a supreme effort to capture Rhodes, sent ambassadors to most of the rulers in Europe to implore help, but, like the King of France in Tirant lo Blanch, they did not respond. The attack on Rhodes was made in the month of August, 1444. Let us quote Vertot's version of the event.
Une flotte considérable du Sultan parut de
nouveau à la hauteur de l'Isle de Rhodes, et y
débarqua dix-huit mille hommes d'infanterie, sans
compter un gros corps de cavalerie et de Mamelus,
qui faisoient la principale force des Egyptiens.
Ces Barbares sans s'arrêter à aucune des Places de
l'Isle, marchèrent droit à la Capitale, et l'assiegèrent,
pendant que leur flotte tenoit la mer pour
le port et empêcha qu'on n'y jettât du secours.[1]
There are no details of this siege on record. Vertot
deplores this fact, but he consoles himself by saying:
"Ces Chevaliers sçavoient mieux se servir de leur épée
que d'une plume." However, the records give the
general information that the siege lasted forty days;
that the fortifications were bombarded by many pieces
of heavy artillery; that many assaults were made which
were always repulsed; and that, after having lost the
greater part of his men, the Saracen commander gave
orders to raise the siege.
In the discussion of the relation between Muntaner's Chronica and Tirant lo Blanch, we have intimated that
- ↑ Op. cit., pp. 214 and 215.
