The Knights of the Order of the Hospital 

 of St. John of Jerusalem, afterward known as 

 the Knights of Rhodes and the Sovereign Or- 

 der of the Knights of Malta, came into exist- 

 ence in Jerusalem during the First Crusade. 

 After its expulsion from the Holy Land at the 

 fall of the Latin Kingdom, the order was estab- 

 lished in Rhodes in 1309, where it was holding 

 sway at the time of the friar's visit and where 

 it remained until 1522. 



"I left the island of Rhodes and went to the 

 island of Candia (Crete), and thence to an- 

 other island they call Negropont (Eubcea), 

 which the Venetians conquered. I left the en- 

 trance to the greater sea and Constantinople, 

 which I will describe further on, to my left, 

 and went to the city they call Satalia (Adalia), 

 of Greek Christians. This Satalia is part of 

 the province of Naturi (Anatolia). The King 

 of this Satalia has for his device a flag with 

 bars wavy argent and purpure and over all the 

 sign of Solomon's seal" (1059). 



Adalia, known in ancient times as Attalia, 

 played a conspicuous part in the history of the 

 eastern Mediterranean during the Middle Ages. 

 It was from this port that Louis VII sailed 

 for Syria in 1148, and it was the assembling 

 point for Richard Cceur de Lion's descent upon 

 Cyprus during the Third Crusade. 



THE RICH LAND OF TURKEY 



"The city of Satalia and others as far as the 

 lesser Armenia are all in the province of 

 Turquia (Turkey), which was called, in an- 

 cient times, Asia Minor. In it there are many 

 lordships and provinces which it would be hard 

 to enumerate, for this Turquia extends to the 

 greater sea, and be it known that it is a very 

 rich land, well supplied with all goods. The 

 king of this province has this flag for his de- 

 vice (1060). 



"I went along the coast of this Turquia to a 

 chy called Corincho (Kongos). The king of 

 this land has a black flag with five white 

 crosses (1061). 



"I departed from Corincho and went to the 

 city they call Feradelfia, or Feradelfin (Phila- 

 delphia), which marches on that of Troy, 

 which in ancient times King Menelaus of 

 Greece destroyed. Troy was the head of all 

 that Asia Minor which they now call Turquia, 

 and its device is a flag half white, with a red 

 cross, the other half yellow, with a red square 

 (1063). 



"In this Turquia there is another province 

 they call Cunio (Iconium, modern Konia), in 

 which there is a rich city called Cunyo, with 

 much territory, and the king has a flag with 

 bars wavy argent and gules" (1064) (silver 

 and red). 



Following its conquest by the Seljuk Turks 

 in the eleventh century, Konia became one 

 of the most brilliant cities of the medieval 

 world. Many splendid mosques, palaces, and 

 tombs adorned the place, which was sur- 

 rounded by a wall two miles in circumference. 

 Beyond the city proper spread the gardens and 

 villas of a numerous suburban population. 

 From the splendor of the city sprang the 

 Turkish proverb, "See all the world, but see 

 Konia." 



"There is also another province called Sau- 

 asto (Sebastia, or Siwas), anciently Sausco, 

 from a city of that name which was the head 

 of all the cities. This city of Sauasco was the 

 ancient Samaria, though now it is Sauasco, 

 head of the kingdom, with a white flag having 

 five red crosses (1064). 



In the time of the Franciscan Siwas, known 

 in ancient times as Megalopolis-Sebastia, was 

 enjoying its second period of prosperity, hav- 

 ing been rebuilt by the great Sultan Ala-ed- 

 din Kaikobad I. Fifty years after the friar 

 wrote his "Knowledge of the World," Siwas' 

 flag was trampled in the dust by the impla- 

 cably cruel Tamerlane, who buried alive 4,000 

 of its inhabitants. 



"I entered Armenia the Less, which is all 

 surrounded by very high mountains, and.within 

 the mountains there is a plain country in which 

 there are 360 towns and villages and castles." 



This reference should not be confused with 

 the Armenia of today. The Franciscan is re- 

 ferring to a small principality founded in 1080, 

 which gradually grew until it became the in- 

 dependent kingdom of Lesser Armenia. It 

 was a Christian State set in the midst of Mos- 

 lem principalities and gave valuable assistance 

 to the Crusaders, although it was hostile to 

 the Byzantine rulers. It had a tempestuous 

 existence extending over a period of about 

 three centuries. 



"On the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in 

 the place where it ends, you must know that 

 anciently this Armenia was called the island of 

 Colcos; for in this Armenia an arm of the sea 

 enters in which there is a small island called 

 Porto Bonel (in the Gulf of Alexandretta, or 

 Iskanderun), and here was the temple to the 

 enchanted golden sheep which bewitched Jason 

 the Greek. 



"After this Armenia is the island of Chipre 

 (Cyprus), and in this Chipre there are four 

 great cities. The King of Chipre has for his 

 design a flag parted per pale argent five crosses 

 gules and purpure (purple), two fleurs de lys 

 palewise, because he is of the House of France" 

 (Armenia the Less, 1065, and Cyprus, 1066). 



At the close of the twelfth century the 

 reigning prince of Cyprus provoked the wrath 

 of Richard Cceur de Lion by ill-treating the. 

 Crusaders. The English monarch thereupon 

 captured the island and sold it to the Knights 

 Templar, who in turn sold it to the French 

 crusader, Guy de Lusignan, titular King of 

 Jerusalem. It was Hugh IV, one of the ablest 

 of the Lusignan d3-nasty, who was governing 

 Cyprus at the time of the friar's visit. This 

 was the sovereign to whom Boccaccio dedi- 

 cated one of his works and who brought about 

 an alliance with the Pope, with Venice, and 

 the Hospitallers, which resulted in the capture 

 of Smyrna, in 1344. 



After visiting many of the cities of Syria 

 and Palestine, including Jaffa, Acre, Cassarea, 

 and Ascalon, the friar says of Jerusalem : 



"Know that in this Suria (Syria) is the city 

 of Iherusalem, which was sanctified by the holy 

 temple of Salamon (Solomon), built there, and 

 was consecrated by the blood of Ihesu Christo. 

 This land was anciently called Cananea after 

 Canaan, son of Noe (Noah). Afterward it had 

 the name of Judea after Juda, son of Jaco 



392 



