The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Knight of the White Cross, by G.A. Henty

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: A Knight of the White Cross

Author: G.A. Henty

Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4932]
Posting Date: April 13, 2009

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A KNIGHT OF THE WHITE CROSS ***

Produced by Martin Robb

A KNIGHT OF THE WHITE CROSS

By G.A. Henty

PREFACE.

MY DEAR LADS,

The order of the Knights of St. John, which for some centuries played
a very important part in the great struggle between Christianity and
Mahomedanism, was, at its origin, a semi-religious body, its members
being, like other monks, bound by vows of obedience, chastity, and
poverty, and pledged to minister to the wants of the pilgrims who
flocked to the Holy Places, to receive them at their great Hospital--or
guest house--at Jerusalem, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and to
defend them on their passage to and from the sea, against attack by
Moslems. In a comparatively short time the constitution of the order was
changed, and the Knights Hospitallers became, like the Templars, a
great military Order pledged to defend the Holy Sepulchre, and to war
everywhere against the Moslems. The Hospitallers bore a leading share
in the struggle which terminated in the triumph of the Moslems, and the
capture by them of Jerusalem. The Knights of St. John then established
themselves at Acre, but after a valiant defence of that fortress,
removed to Crete, and shortly afterwards to Rhodes. There they fortified
the town, and withstood two terrible sieges by the Turks. At the end
of the second they obtained honourable terms from Sultan Solyman, and
retiring to Malta established themselves there in an even stronger
fortress than that of Rhodes, and repulsed all the efforts of the Turks
to dispossess them. The Order was the great bulwark of Christendom
against the invasion of the Turks, and the tale of their long struggle
is one of absorbing interest, and of the many eventful episodes none
is more full of incident and excitement than the first siege of Rhodes,
which I have chosen for the subject of my story.

Yours truly, G. A. Hen