A Knight of the White Cross: A Tale of the Siege of Rhodes by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER III THE GRAND MASTER'S PAGE
The grand prior had, in accordance with Dame Tresham's request, sent thesteward of the house to one of the principal jewellers of the city who,as the Order were excellent customers, paid a good price for her jewels.After the payment for the numerous dresses required for the service asa page to the grand master, the grand prior handed the balance of themoney Dame Tresham had brought with her, and that obtained by the saleof her jewels, to one of the knights under whose charge Gervaise was totravel, to be given by him to D'Aubusson for the necessities ofGervaise as a page. During their term of service the pages receivedno remuneration, all their expenses being paid by their families.Nevertheless, the post was considered so honourable, and of such greatadvantage to those entering the Order, that the appointments wereeagerly sought after.
The head of the party was Sir Guy Redcar, who had been a commander inEngland, but who was now relinquishing that post in order to take a highoffice in the convent at the Island. With him were four lads betweenseventeen and twenty who were going out as professed knights, havingserved their year of probation as novices at the grand priory. Withthese Gervaise was already acquainted, as they had lived, studied, andperformed their military exercises together. The three eldest of theseGervaise liked much, but the youngest of the party, Robert Rivers, arelation of the queen, had always shown a very different spirit fromthe others. He was jealous that a member of one of the defeated anddisinherited Lancastrian families should obtain a post of such honourand advantage as that of page to the grand master, and that thus,although five years younger, Gervaise should enter the Order on anequality with him.
In point of strength and stature he was, of course, greatly superiorto Gervaise; but he had been spoilt from his childhood, was averseto exercise, and dull at learning, and while Gervaise was frequentlycommended by his instructors, he himself was constantly reproved, andit had been more than once a question whether he should be received asa professed knight at the termination of his year of novitiate. Thus,while the other lads treated Gervaise kindly, and indeed made rathera pet of him, Robert Rivers ignored him as much as possible, and ifobliged to speak to him did so with a pointed rudeness that more thanonce brought upon him a sharp reproof from his companions. Gervaisehimself was but little affected by Robert's manner. He was of anexceptionally good tempered nature, and, indeed, was so occupied withhis work and so anxious to satisfy his teachers, that Robert's illhumour passed almost unnoticed.
The journey was performed without incident. During their passage acrossthe south of France, Gervaise's perfect knowledge of the language gainedfor him a great advantage over his companions, and enabled him to be ofmuch use to Sir Guy. They had fine weather during their passage up theMediterranean, and in the day their leader gave them their first lessonsin the management and discipline of a ship.
"You will be nearly as much at sea as you are on land for the five yearsyou must stay at the convent," he said; "and it is essential to theeducation of a knight of our Order to know all things connected with themanagement of a ship, even to its building. We construct our own galleysat Rhodes, using, of course, the labour of slaves, but under our ownsuperintendence; and it is even more essential to us to know how tofight on sea than on land. There is, too, you see, a rivalry amongourselves, for each langue has its duties, and each strives to performmore gallant deeds and to bring in more rich prizes than the others. Weof England are among the smallest of the langues, and yet methinks we doa fair portion of the work, and gain fully our share of honour. There isno fear of your having much time on your hands, for it is quite certainthat there will soon be open war between Mahomet and the Order. In spiteof the nominal truce, constant skirmishes are taking place, so that, inaddition to our fights with pirates, we have sometimes encounters withthe sultan's galleys.
"Seven years ago, a number of our Order took part in the defenceof Lesbos, and lost their lives at its capture, and we have sureinformation that Mahomet is preparing for an attack on the Island. Nodoubt he thinks it will be an easy conquest, for in '57 he succeededin landing eighteen thousand men on the Island, and in ravaging a largedistrict, carrying off much booty. Since then, however, the defences ofRhodes have been greatly strengthened. Zacosta, our last grand master,laboured diligently to increase the fortifications, and, specially,built on one side of the entrance to the harbour a strong tower, calledFort St. Nicholas. Orsini has carried on the works, which have beendirected by D'Aubusson, who is captain general of the forces of theIsland, and who has deepened the ditches and built a wall on the seafront of the town six hundred feet in length and twenty feet in height,money being found by the grand master from his private purse.
"At present we are not sure whether the great armament that Mahomet ispreparing is intended for the capture of Negropont, which belongs toVenice, or of Rhodes. Unfortunately Venice and Rhodes are not goodfriends. In the course of our war with Egypt in '58 we captured fromsome Venetian vessels, in which they were travelling, several Egyptianmerchants with a great store of goods. The Venetians protested that asthe ships were theirs we had no right to interfere with our enemies whowere travelling in them, and, without giving time for the question tobe discussed, at once attacked our galleys, and sent a fleet againstRhodes. They landed on the Island, and not only pillaged the districtof Halki, but, a number of natives having sought shelter in a cave, theVenetians blocked up the entrance with brushwood, set it on fire, andsuffocated them all.
"Shortly afterwards, another and larger fleet appeared off Rhodes, anddemanded the restitution of the Egyptians and their merchandise. Therewas a great division of opinion in the council; but, seeing the greatdanger that threatened us both from the Turks at Constantinople and theVenetians, and that it was madness at such a time to engage in war witha Christian power, the grand master persuaded the council to accede totheir request. There has never been any friendly feeling between Veniceand ourselves since that time. Still, I trust that our common dangerwill reunite us, and that whether Negropont or Rhodes is attacked by theMoslems, we shall render loyal aid to each other."
There was great excitement among Gervaise and his companions when it wasannounced that Rhodes was in sight, and as they approached the townthey gazed with admiration at the castle with its stately buildings, thepalace of the grand master and the Hospital of St. John, rising abovethe lower town, the massive walls strengthened by projecting bastions,and the fortifications of the ports. Of these there were two, withseparate entrances, divided from each other by a narrow tongue of land.At its extremity stood Fort St. Nicholas, which was connected by astrong wall running along the promontory to the town. The inner port,as it was called, was of greater importance, as it adjoined the townitself. It was defended in the first place by Fort St. Nicholas, and atthe inner entrance stood the towers of St. John and St. Michael, oneon either side. Into this the vessel was steered. There were many craftlying there, among them eight or ten of the galleys of the Order.
"We will go first to the house of our langue," Sir Guy said, "and tellthem to send down slaves to fetch up our baggage; then I will take you,Gervaise, to Sir Peter D'Aubusson, and hand you over to his care."
On landing, Gervaise was surprised at the number of slaves who werelabouring at the public works, and who formed no small proportion of thepopulation in the streets. Their condition was pitiable. They were, ofcourse, enemies of Christianity, and numbers of them had been pirates;but he could not help pitying their condition as they worked in the fullheat of the sun under the vigilant eyes of numbers of overseers, whocarried heavy whips, in addition to their arms. Their progress to theupper city was slow, for on their way they met many knights, of whomseveral were acquainted with Sir Guy; and each, after greetinghim, demanded the latest news from England, and in return gave himparticulars of the state of things at Rhodes.
At last they arrived at the house of the English langue. The Orderwas divided into langues or nationalities. Of these there wereeight--Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Germany, England, A
In the early days of the Order, when Jerusalem was in the hands of theChristians, the care of the hospitals was its chief and most importantfunction. Innumerable pilgrims visited Jerusalem, and these wereentertained at the immense guest house of the Order. But with the lossof Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Christians from Palestine, thatfunction had become of very secondary importance although there wasstill a guest house and infirmary at Rhodes, where strangers and thesick were carefully attended by the knights. No longer did these rideout to battle on their war horses. It was on the sea that the foe wasto be met, and the knights were now sailors rather than soldiers. Theydwelt at the houses of their respective langues; here they ate at acommon table, which was supplied by the bailiff, who drew rations foreach knight, and received, in addition, a yearly sum for the supply ofsuch luxuries as were not included in the rations. The average number ofknights residing in each of these langues averaged from a hundred to ahundred and fifty.
It was not until some hours after his arrival that Sir Guy could findtime to take Gervaise across to the house of the langue of Auvergne, towhich D'Aubusson belonged. It was a larger and more stately pile thanthat of the English langue, but the arrangements were similar in allthese buildings. In the English house Gervaise had not felt strange, ashe had the companionship of his fellow voyagers; but as he followedSir Guy through the spacious halls of the langue of Auvergne, where nofamiliar face met his, he felt more lonely than he had done since heentered the house at Clerkenwell.
On sending in his name Sir Guy was at once conducted to the chamberoccupied by D'Aubusson. The knight was seated at his table, examiningsome plans. The room was furnished with monastic simplicity, save thatthe walls were hung with rich silks and curtains captured from Turkishgalleys.
"Welcome back to us, Sir Guy," D'Aubusson said, rising, and warmlyshaking his visitor's hand. "I have been looking for your coming, for weneed men with clear heads. Of strong arms and valiant spirits we have nolack; but men of judgment and discretion, who can be trusted to look atmatters calmly and not to be carried away by passion, are welcome indeedto us. I was expecting you about this time, and when I heard that a shiphad arrived from Marseilles I made inquiries, and was glad to find thatyou were on board."
"I am heartily glad to be back, D'Aubusson; I am sick of the dull lifeof a commandery, and rejoice at the prospect of stirring times again.This lad is young Tresham, who has come out in my charge, and forwhom you have been good enough to obtain the post of page to the grandmaster."
"And no slight business was it to do so," D'Aubusson said with a smile."It happened there was a vacancy when the letter concerning him arrived,and had it been one of the highest offices in the Order there could nothave been a keener contention for it. Every bailiff had his candidateready; but I seldom ask for anything for members of my langue, and whenI told the other bailiffs that it was to me a matter of honour to carryout the last request of my dead friend, they all gave way. You see, I amplaced in a position of some little difficulty. The grand master isso enfeebled and crippled that he leaves matters almost entirely inmy hands, and it would be an abuse of my position, and would excite nolittle jealousy, were I to use the power I possess to nominate friendsof my own to appointments. It is only by the most rigid impartiality,and by dividing as fairly as possible all offices between the eightlangues, that all continue to give me their support. As you know, wehave had great difficulties and heartburnings here; but happily theyhave to a great extent been set at rest by forming a new langue ofCastile and Portugal out of that of Aragon. This has given one more voteto the smaller langues, and has so balanced the power that of late thejealousies between us have greatly subsided, and all are working welltogether in face of the common danger. Well, young sir, and how like youthe prospect of your pageship?"
"I like it greatly, sir, but shall like still more the time when I canbuckle on armour and take a share of the fighting with the infidels. Iwould fain, sir, offer to you my deep and humble thanks for the greatkindness you have shown me in procuring me the appointment of page tothe grand master."
The knight smiled kindly. "There are the less thanks due, lad, inasmuchas I did it not for you, but for the dear friend who wrote to me on yourbehalf. However, I trust that you will do credit to my nomination byyour conduct here."
"There is a letter from our grand prior which I have brought to you,"Sir Guy said. "He commended the lad to me warmly, and seems to begreatly pleased with his conduct."
D'Aubusson cut the silken string that bound the missive together, andread the letter.
"He does indeed speak warmly," he said, as he laid it down on the table.
"He tells me that the lad, young as he was, had been well trained whenhe came, and that he worked with great diligence during the five monthshe was in the House, and displayed such skill and strength for his age,as to surprise his preceptors, who prophesied that he would turn out astout swordsman, and would be a credit to the Order."
"He is well furnished with garments both for ordinary and stateoccasions," Sir Guy said; "and in this packet are some sixty goldcrowns, which are the last remains of his patrimony, and which I was tohand to you in order to pay the necessary expenses during his pageship."
"He could have done without that," D'Aubusson said. "Recommended to meas he is, I would have seen that he lacked nothing, but was providedwith all necessaries for his position. I will in the future take carethat in all things he is on a par with his companions." He touched abell on the table, and a servitor entered.
"Tell Richard de Deauville to come here," he said.
A minute later the hangings at the door were pushed aside, and a ladabout a year older than Gervaise appeared, and, bowing deeply to theknight, stood in a respectful attitude, awaiting his orders.
"Deauville, take this youth, Gervaise Tresham to your room. He isappointed one of the pages of the grand master. He is English, but hespeaks French as well as you do, having lived in France for some years.Take him to your apartment and treat him kindly and well, seeing that heis a stranger and new to all here. Tomorrow he will go to the palace."
Gervaise bowed deeply to the two knights, and then followed the page.
"I suppose you arrived in that ship which came in today," the lattersaid, as soon as they had left the room. "You are in luck indeed to haveobtained a pageship at the grand master's. You begin to count your timeat once, while we do not begin to count ours until we are seventeen.Still, good luck may befall us yet, for if the grand master dies, SirPeter is sure to be chosen to succeed him. Then, you see, we too shallbe pages of the grand master."
"How many are there of you?"
"Only De Lille and myself. Of course D'Aubusson will take on the grandmaster's present pages; but as there are five vacancies on an averageevery year, he will be able to find room for us among the number."
"Why, how many pages has the grand master?" Gervaise asked
"Sixteen of them, so you may guess the duties are easy enough, as onlytwo are generally employed, except, of course on solemn occasions."
"Are there any other English besides myself?"
The boy shook his head. "There are eight belonging to the Frenchlangues; the others are Spaniards, Italians, or Germans. There, this isour room and this is De Lille. De Lille, this is the grand master's newpage, Master Gervaise Tresham, and our lord says we are to treat himkindly and entertain him well until tomorrow, when he will go to thepalace. He speaks our language, and has been some years in France."
"How came you to be there?" De Lille asked Gervaise.
"My father was a Lancastrian, and my mother a great friend of ourQueen Margaret of Anjou, and they were with her all the time she was inexile."
"How quarrelsome you English are!" De Lille said. "You seem to be alwaysfighting among yourselves."
"I don't think," Gervaise said, with a smile, "there is any love lostbetween Louis of France and the Duke of Burgundy, to say nothing ofother great lords."
"No; you are right there. But though we talk a great deal aboutfighting, it is only occasionally that we engage in it."
The pages' room was a small one. It contained two pallets, whichserved as seats by day, and two wooden chests, in which they kept theirclothes.
Their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of a bell.
"That is supper," De Lille said, jumping up. "We will leave you herewhile we go down to stand behind our lord's chair. When the meal is overwe will bring a pasty or something else good, and a measure of wine,and have our supper together up here; and we will tell the servitors tobring up another pallet for you. Of course, you can go down with us ifyou like."
"Thank you, I would much rather stay here. Every one would be strange tome, and having nothing to do I should feel in the way."
The boys nodded, and taking their caps ran off, while Gervaise, tired bythe excitement of the day, lay down on the bed which a servant broughtup a few minutes after they had left him, and slept soundly until theirreturn.
"I think I have been asleep," he said, starting up when they entered theroom again.
"You look as if you had, anyhow," De Lille laughed. "It was the bestthing you could do. We have brought up supper. We generally sit downand eat after the knights have done, but this is much better, as you arehere." They sat down on the beds, carved the pasty with their daggers,and after they had finished Gervaise gladly accepted the proposal of theothers to take a walk round the walls.
They started from the corner of the castle looking down upon the spit ofland dividing the two ports.
"You see," De Lille said, "there is a row of small islands across themouth of the outer port, and the guns of St. Nicholas, and those on thiswall, would prevent any hostile fleet from entering."
"I hardly see what use that port is, for it lies altogether outside thetown, and vessels could not unload there."
"No. Still, it forms a useful place of refuge. In case a great fleetcame to attack us, our galleys would lay up in the inner port, whichwould be cleared of all the merchant craft, as these would hamper thedefence; they would, therefore, be sent round into the outer port, wherethey would be safe from any attack by sea, although they would doubtlessbe burnt did an army besiege the town."
Passing along the walls of the grand master's palace, which was astrongly fortified building, and formed a citadel that could be defendedafter the lower town and the rest of the castle had been taken, theycame to the western angle of the fortifications.
"You must know that each langue has charge of a separate part of thewall. From the foot of the mole of St. Nicholas to the grand master'spalace it is in charge of France. On the line where we now are, betweenthe palace and the gate of St. George, it is held by Germany. From thatgate to the Spanish tower Auvergne is posted. England takes the wallbetween the Spanish tower and that of St. Mary. You defend only thelower storey of that tower, the upper part being held by Aragon, whosecharge extends up to the gate of St. John. Thence to the tower ofItaly--behind which lies the Jews' quarter--Provence is in charge, whilethe sea front thence to the mole of St. Nicholas, is held by Italyand Castile, each taking half. Not only have the langues the charge ofdefending each its portion of the wall, but of keeping it in order atall times; and I may say that nowhere is the wall better kept or morefairly decorated with carvings than where England holds."
"You have not told me who defends the palace itself."
"That is in charge of a force composed of equal numbers of pickedknights from each langue."
Gervaise leant on the battlement and looked with admiration at the scenebeyond. The land side was surrounded by hills, the ground risingvery gradually from the foot of the walls. Every yard of ground wascultivated, and was covered with brilliant vegetation. Groves andorchards occurred thickly, while the slopes were dotted with chapels,summer houses--in which the natives of the city spent most of their timein the hot season--and other rustic buildings.
"What a rich and beautiful country!" he said.
"It is very pleasant to look at," De Lille agreed. "But all this wouldbe a sore disadvantage to us if the Turks were besieging us, for thegroves and orchards would conceal their approaches, the walls andbuildings would give them shelter, and our cannon would be of little useuntil they reached the farther side of the ditch. If the Turks come,I hear it is decided to level all the buildings and walls, and to chopdown every tree."
"If they were to plant their cannon on the hills they would do us muchharm," Gervaise remarked.
"The Turks are clumsy gunners they say," Deauville replied, "and theywould but waste their powder and ball at that distance, without making abreach in our walls."
"Even if they did, they could surely scarce pass that deep fosse,"Gervaise said, looking down into the tremendous cutting in the solidrock that ran round the whole circuit of the walls; it was from fortyto sixty feet deep, and from ninety to a hundred and forty feet wide. Itwas from this great cutting that the stones for the construction of thewalls, towers, and buildings of the town had been taken, the work havingbeen going on ever since the knights established themselves at Rhodes,and being performed by a host of captives taken in war, together withlabour hired from neighboring islands. Upon this immense work the Orderhad expended no small proportion of their revenue since their captureof the island in 1310, and the result was a fortress that, under theconditions of warfare of that age, seemed almost impregnable; and thiswithout any natural advantage of position.
In addition to the five great towers or bastions, the wall wasstrengthened by square towers at short intervals. On looking down fromthe wall upon which the three pages were standing, on to the lower town,the view was a singular one. The houses were all built of stone, withflat roofs, after the manner of most Eastern cities. The streets werevery narrow, and were crossed at frequent intervals by broad stonearches. These had the effect, not only of giving shelter from an enemy'sfire, but of affording means by which troops could march rapidly acrossthe town upon the roofs of the houses to reinforce the defenders of thewall, wherever pressed by the enemy. Thus the town from above presentedthe appearance of a great pavement, broken only by dark and frequentlyinterrupted lines.
"How different to the towns at home!" Gervaise exclaimed, as, aftergazing long upon the beautiful country outside the walls, he turned andlooked inward. "One would hardly know that it was a town at all."
"Yes, it is rather different to the view from the top of the tower ofNotre Dame, which I ascended while I was staying in Paris. But this sortof building is best here; the thickness of the stone roofs keeps outthe heat of the sun, and it is only when it is almost overhead that itshines down into the narrow streets. As you can see by the number ofthe people on the roofs, they use them as a resort in the evening. Thencarpets are spread, and they receive visitors, and can talk to theirneighbours over the low walls that separate the roofs. You can trace thedivisions. Some of the house roofs are larger than others
By the time they had made the circuit of the walls darkness had fallen,and concealed the martial features of the scene. Lights twinkledeverywhere upon the stone terraces; the sound of lutes and other musicalinstruments came up softly on the still air, with the hum of talk andlaughter. The sea lay as smooth as a mirror, and reflected the light ofthe stars, and the black hulls of the galleys and ships in the harbourlay still and motionless.
Greatly pleased with his first experience of the city that was to be hisfuture home, Gervaise returned, with his companions, to the auberge ofAuvergne.
The next morning the bailiff D'Aubusson bade Gervaise accompany him tothe palace of the grand master. Here he introduced him to Orsini, anold and feeble man, who, after a few kind words, handed him over to thechamberlain, who, in turn, led him to the official who was in charge ofthe pages. That officer took him down to the courtyard, where four youngknights were engaged in superintending the military exercises of thepages. The scene was exactly the same as that to which Gervaise had beenaccustomed at the House in London. Some of the lads were fighting withblunted swords, others were swinging heavy bars of iron, climbing ropes,or vaulting on to the back of a wooden horse. All paused as the officialentered with his charge.
"This is your new comrade, boys," he said--"Master Gervaise Tresham, amember of the English langue. Be good comrades to him. By the reports Ihear I am sure that you will find him a worthy companion."
The pages had been prepared to like the newcomer, for it was well knownthat he owed his appointment to the bailiff of Auvergne, who was themost popular of the officials of the Order, and who was already regardedas the grand master. His appearance confirmed their anticipation. Hisfair complexion and nut brown hair tinged with gold, cut somewhat short,but with a natural wave, contrasted with their darker locks and facesbronzed by the sun. There was an honest and frank look in his grey eyes,and an expression of good temper on his face, though the square chin andfirm lips spoke of earnestness and resolution of purpose. The officialtook him round the circle and presented him first to the knights andthen to each of his comrades.
"You may as well join them in their exercises. In that way you willsooner become at home with them."
Gervaise at once laid down his mantle, removed his doublet, and thenjoined the others. There was but one half hour remaining before theybroke off to go to dinner, which was at half past ten, but the timesufficed to show the young pages that this English lad was the equalof all--except two or three of the oldest--both in strength and inknowledge of arms. He could climb the rope with any of them, could vaulton to the wooden horse with a heavy cuirass and backpiece on him, andheld his own in a bout with swords against Conrad von Berghoff, who wasconsidered the best swordplayer among them. As soon as the exerciseswere over all proceeded to the bath, and then to dinner. The meal was asimple one, but Gervaise enjoyed it thoroughly, for the table was loadedwith an abundance of fruits of kinds altogether novel to him, and whichhe found delicious.
The official in charge of them sat at the head of the table, and themeal was eaten in silence. After it was over and they had retired totheir own rooms discipline was at an end, and they were free to amusethemselves as they liked. There were many questions to be asked andanswered, but his display of strength and skill in the courtyard savedGervaise from a good deal of the teasing to which a newcomer among aparty of boys is always exposed.
He, on his part, learnt that the duties of the pages were very light.Two only were on duty each day, being in constant attendance on thegrand master, and accompanying him wherever he went. When he dined inpublic four of them waited on him at table, and one of them performedthe duties of taster. If he returned to the palace after dark, sixothers lined the staircase with torches. On occasions of state ceremony,and at the numerous religious festivals, all were in attendance. By thistime Gervaise's trunks had been brought over from the English auberge,where they had been conveyed from the ship, and his garments were takenout and inspected by his comrades, who all admitted that they were, inpoint of beauty of colour and material, and in fashion, equal to theirown.
"You will have to get one more suit, Gervaise," one of the lads said."At one or two of the grand ceremonies every year we are all dressedalike; that is the rule. On other occasions we wear what we choose, sothat our garments are handsome, and I think it looks a good deal betterthan when we are dressed alike; though no doubt in religious processionsthat is more appropriate. De Ribaumont, our governor, will give ordersfor the supply of your state costume. He is a good fellow. Of course,he has to be rather strict with us; but so long as there is nothing donethat he considers discreditable to our position, he lets us do prettynearly as we like.
"We have four hours a day at our military exercises, and two hours withthe sub-chaplain, who teaches us our books and religious duties. Therest of our time we can use as we like, except that every day eight ofus ride for two hours and practise with the lance; for although it is atsea we fight the Moslems, we are expected to become finished knights inall matters. These eight horses are kept for our service, and such aschoose may at other times ride them. On Saturdays we are free fromall our exercises; then some of us generally go on horseback for longexcursions on the island, while others take boats and go out on the sea;one afternoon in the week we all make a trip in a galley, to learn ourduties on board."