Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/212

186 preparations for an attack on Rhodes. Beranger at once took all the necessary precautions to resist such an invasion. He purchased ample stores of provisions, ammunition, etc., for the town and other fortified points in the island, and called upon the various grand-priories to supply reinforcements of men, horses, and arms. The storm, however, passed away without bursting, and Beranger was left to end his days in peace. This event took place in the year 1374, when Robert Jiilhiac, the grand-prior of France, was appointed to fill the vacancy. At the time of his election he was residing in his priory, and before making his journey to Rhodes, he proceeded to Avignon to pay his homage to the Pope. Whilst there he received instructions from his Holiness that the knights should in future take under their control the entire responsibility and direction of the defence of Smyrna. This was a post which, whilst most valuable to the interests of Christendom, was one of extreme danger and costliness to its immediate holders. Situated as it was at a considerable distance from Rhodes, its garrison was completely isolated. Any energetic attempt, therefore, upon the part of the enemy by whom it was surrounded would probably lead to its destruction before sufficient reinforcements could arrive. The cost also of the maintenance of such a force as the place imperatively demanded was a terrible drain upon the already crippled resources of the treasury at Rhodes. As a partial alleviation of this burden, the Pope assigned for the special support of the defence of Smyrna the sum of one thousand livres annually, payable out of the tithes of the kingdom of Cyprus.

Charged with these unwelcome instructions, Julliac proceeded to Rhodes, and there, before a general council, he announced to its members the mandate of the pontiff. The dismay upon receiving this intelligence was unbounded. It was felt that the post was one of almost certain destruction sooner or later, and that whoever might be selected to form one of its garrison would be proceeding to inevitable death. At the same time they saw plainly enough how difficult it would be for them to oppose the wishes of the Pope without incurring the imputation of cowardice, a charge from which they naturally shrank with chivalric horror. It was therefore decided to accept the trust,