Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

Mamalik Sultans, the Crusaders were defeated. Retreating to Europe, they
swore vengeance and “perpetual crusade against the infidels” with the purpose
of eradication of Islam from all the lands where it has established its
supremacy. 12
Prominent among the Crusaders were the military and religious orders
of the Knights Templar (1120-1312) and the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem
(1098). 13 Formed in Jerusalem, the Knights of St. John were virulent crusaders
throughout the period of atrocities committed against Muslims. In 1291, after
the Muslims expelled the crusaders from their last stronghold Acre, Syria, the
Knights retreated to Cyprus and in 1310 they seized the island of Rhodes where
they settled for over two-hundred years. Once more, and because of their
continuing attacks on Muslims, the Ottoman Empire evicted them from Rhodes
in 1522. Subsequently, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain Charles V
granted them the island of Malta in 1530 where they became known as the
‘Knights Hospitallers of Malta.’ 14
From there, they continued attacking
Muslims, particularly those inhabiting Algiers, until 1798 time at which
Napoleon Bonaparte took hold of Malta and expelled them from it. 15
12 Hamilton E. Currey, Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean: The Grand Period of the Moslem Corsairs
(London/New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1931), p. 282.
13 In 1998, at the occasion of the 900 th anniversary of the foundation of the order, the government of
Malta granted them a 99-year lease on their original fort of St Angelo; for a history see Charles
Moeller, “Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem.” The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 7. (Accessed 9 June
2008). http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07477a.html
14 Victor M. Milanes, “Charles V’s Donation of Malta to the Order of St. John,” 2006. (Accessed 9
June 2008). http://www.orderofmalta.org/site/pdf/pub/Charlesv_donation.pdf
15 More about the Knight of St. John could be found in Paul Cassar, “Maltese Corsairs and the Order of
St. John of Jerusalem,” The Catholic Historical Review, 46: 2 (Jul., 1960), pp. 137-56; Sander Rang
and Ferdinand Denis, Fondation de la Régence d’Alger: Histoire des Barberousses, vol. 2 (Paris: J.
Angé, Éditeur, 1837), pp. 115-18.
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