Rhodes was somewhat similar to the inner keep, the last and major strong point of a castle that was now strung out over many square miles of water. At a later date they would also seize and fortify Budrum (St Peter) on the mainland due north of Cos, as well as Kastellorizo, also on the mainland, about eighty miles due east. Again, like the towers on the outer perimeter of a castle wall the islands provided excellent look-out points. (The name of the island Piskopi means exactly this.) A fortified tower was built here as in several other islands and a garrison was maintained whose duty it was to keep watch on the channel between Nisyros and Piskopi and to light a beacon as a signal to Rhodes if any shipping was seen passing through the strait.

These islands, largely barren today, still had their woods and fertile soil. Of Khalkia a Greek botanist had earlier written: ‘There is a place there so exceedingly fruitful that crops mature very early. As soon as one crop has been reaped another can be sown. Two harvests are gathered every year.’ All of the islands yielded some profit to the Order, Khalkia also being famous for its shipbuilders, Piskopi producing sage and other herbs from which scented unguents were made, and nearly all of them producing in the small folds of their valleys grain, fruit and vegetables. All round the islands the sea was full of fish—mullet and garfish, octopus and squid, lobster and prawn, and innumerable varieties of rock fish. Grain was one of the only essentials that the Knights later found that they had to import. This they often did by treaties and agreements reached with local rulers on the Turkish mainland—a practice that was actively discouraged by several Popes. But the Knights, who were living ‘in the front line’, had learned long ago in Syria and the Holy Land that strictures from Rome meant comparatively little, and that it was the judgment of the man on the spot that really counted.

The form that the Order took in Rhodes, based on its earlier organisation, was to prove so efficient that it would last for many centuries. It was the backbone that held the Holy Religion together, and in essence it still survives under the unimaginably different conditions of the twentieth century. At the head was the Grand Master, now, in Rhodes, the Prince of his Sovereign State. The senior officers of each Langue or Tongue were known as Piliers. They, together with the Bishop of the Order, the Prior of the Conventual Church, the Bailiffs of the Convents, and the senior Knights, the Knights Grand Cross—formed the Council, or advisory body to the Grand Master. Not all would be present in Rhodes at the same time, some being away on their estates in Europe and others attending to duties in the hospitals that were strung along the pilgrim routes. All, in any case, if summoned to the defence of the island, were obliged on pain of disgrace to report to Rhodes as soon as possible. The Knights of Justice, the military knights from the great houses of Europe, were required, as has been seen earlier, to give proof of their noble blood. The Novices, the young knights who were just beginning their term of service in the Convent, were required to pass two years of probationary period, during which they must serve one year in the galleys of the Order. This training was essential, for the novices did not necessarily remain in Rhodes but might well return to the priories or the lesser bailywicks and commanderies in the countries of their origin. There they would have to report themselves to their superiors. The latter might second them to other duties either military or diplomatic. But there was never any doubt left that the minute the call came from their small island home in the eastern Mediterranean they must report for duty and make all haste to the defence of the Order. Some, on the other hand, might remain the whole of their lives in Rhodes, this being dependent not only upon their inclination but on the manpower situation in the fortress city.

The Piliers or senior officers of the eight Langues were each assigned a special function, thus the Pilier of Italy was the Admiral, of France the Hospitaller, of Provence the Grand Commander, and of England the Turcopilier or commander of the light cavalry. Inevitably there was some rivalry between the Langues, just as there was equally a fierce competitiveness between individuals to rise to the top and acquire one of the principal offices. The method had its advantages as well as its drawbacks for the rivalries, when kept under control by a firm Grand Master and Council, served to promote efficiency in battle. On the other hand the competitive spirit, particularly between hot-blooded young noblemen, could lead to quarrels and dissension and even to open rebellion. This indeed happened during the rule of Fulk de Villaret, and in 1317, the man who had done such great service to the Order was removed from office, and a rival Grand Master voted into his place. But all in all there can be little doubt that the system worked; if it had not it would never have survived the centuries that lay ahead.

The Grand Master, who was naturally a Knight of Justice, was primarily elected by his fellow Knights of Justice. All must have spent three years’ sea-time in the caravans, three in the Convent, and have thirteen years’ seniority in their office.