Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/258

232 incensed republic, and had the gratification of seeing the fleet depart peaceably from his shores. It i8 probable that he also engaged to abandon the claims of Charlotte. Certain it is that no more serious efforts were made on her behalf, and that her brother James became undisputed king of Cyprus.

At this most inauspicious moment another trouble befell do Milly. A dispute broke out in the midst of the fraternity itself, which at one time threatened to aid materially the enemy, who was compassing its overthrow from without. From the earliest days the French element had always greatly preponderated in its ranks. Of the seven langues into which it had been divided, three belonged to that nation; the consequence was that most of the leading dignities fell to the lot of the French knights. The langues of Spain, Italy, England, and Germany complained bitterly of this preference. They asserted that in a body composed of the nobility of all Europe, the highest posts should be given, irrespective of nation, to the senior knights. On the other hand, the French argued that as the Order was originally established by them, and the other nations only admitted by adoption, they were fairly entitled to maintain within their own ranks the chief offices of state, and that as one of the most important dignities had been attached to each of the other langues, there was no just cause of complaint. The principal source of dissatisfaction arose from the post of grand- marshal, an office which was permanently attached to the knights of Auvergne. This dignity carried with it the power of captain-general over the island of Rhodes, and a direct control over all the other offices of state, and therefore invested its holder with powers second only to those of the Grand- Master himself.

De Milly, with the view of arranging the dispute which was attaining dangerous proportions, summoned a chapter-general, to assemble on the 1st October, 1459. The malcontents laid their case before this council, and a most embittered and virulent debate ensued. The bailiff of Aragon so far forgot himself as to cast down before the Grand-Master an appeal to the Pope, and thereupon to leave the chapter hall. Many knights of the four complaining langues followed his example, and the chapter broke up in confusion. De Mily was urged