Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/160



, by his recent successes, found himself in undisputed possession of the island of Rhodes. He therefore lost no time in endeavouring to secure his position by restoring the ramparts of the town. He also made such arrangements with the islands surrounding his stronghold as their close proximity seemed to render advisable.

The principal of these was Cos, afterwards called Lango, and now known by the name of Stanchio. This island was considered so much more important than its neighbours, that Vilaret determined to render it secure from a coup de main by the erection of a castle to be garrisoned by a body of knights. After the division of the Order into langues, it was confided to the charge of the knights of Provence, and so remained until at the chapter-general held in the year 1356 at Avignon, this monopoly was abolished, and its government once again thrown open to the whole fraternity. Its possessors for the time being were bound to supply a galley of twenty-six oars as their contribution to the general fleet of the Order. Of the other islands, Calamos and Leros were celebrated for their marble quarries, being otherwise very sterile; their inhabitants subsisting entirely by their trade in marble and by general commerce. Symia was esteemed valuable owing to its vineyards and the excellence of