Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/235

Rh cipitancy with which the Greek Emperor had invoked the aid of so dangerous an ally. After having, by rapid advances, and with the able assistance of his lieutenants, secured to himself the full results of the successes he had gained, Timour turned his eyes in the direction of those European conquests which had so often excited the ambition of l3ajazet. His keen glance instantly perceived that the strongest bulwark of Christianity lie would have to overcome was that island fortress, the heights of which were crowned with ramparts, and defended by those well-known warriors of the Cross, the fame of whose deeds had penetrated even to the remotest borders of Asia. Before he could attempt to crush the parent establishment, he saw that it would be necessary to deal with the offshoot at Smyrna, and he therefore led his forces in that direction.

It is stated that his first summons merely required the form of planting his standard upon the citadel, and that William do Mine, the knight to whom the Grand-Master had confided the defence, rejected the offered compromise with scorn. Such a proposal sounds, under the circumstances of the case, most improbable; nor was it at all in accordance with the character of Timour. The real demand, probably, was surrender. We have an account of the capture of Smyrna from the pen of the Persian historian Sefet-el-din, who was a contemporary writer. he states that Timour sent an embassy thither offering the following conditions:—That the garrison and inhabitants should all embrace the Mahomet.an faith, in which case they were promised great advantages and good treatment; or, if they refused to abjure Christianity, that they should pay a suitable ransom. In either case, of course, they were to surrender the fortress. Failing the acceptance of one of these alternatives, they were all to be put to the sword. The historian records that, as they were predestined to perish, both promises and menaces were alike useless.

De Naillac had foreseen that whatever might be the issue of the struggle between Bajazet and Tamerlane, the victor would be sure to turn his arms against Smyrna. He had therefore taken every precaution for its defence. He appointed William de Mine, the grand-hospitaller, as its governor; a knight in whose dauntless courage and intelligent zeal he felt