In 1522, against overwhelming odds, the Knights Hospitaller on the Isle of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea, valiantly withstand a months-long siege by Suleiman, Sultân of the Ottoman Empire and powerful enemy of Christianity, a struggle where there are many losers but only one winner, the Walls of Rhodes.

SYNOPSIS:

SYNOPSIS, Walls of Rhodes, Full feature, 103 pages

In the genre of Kingdom of Heaven (20th Century Fox, 2005, Ridley Scott), the Walls of Rhodes divide the Knights of Saint John, the mightiest force in Christianity, from the Ottoman Empire, the strongest force in Islam.

In 1520, Suleiman comes to power as Sultân of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam. Son of a powerful Father, Suleiman vows to extend his empire past Alexander the Great. After conquering Belgrade, Suleiman’s next obstacle is the Isle of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea.

In 1521, Philippe Villiers de L’Isle-Adam becomes head of the Knights Hospitaller of Jerusalem (Knights of Saint John), following the death of the former Grand Master.

Heavily outnumbered, the Knights are confident they can withstand a siege, which other Sultâns have twice before tried but failed due to the strongest fortifications in the world.

Suleiman, however, is not a wartime sultân, preferring instead to advance Islam through its culture and reform its laws. The latter he needs to do because Islam’s laws of succession prevent Roxelana, a fiery concubine in his harem from securing her son as Sultân when Suleiman dies.

Despite a massive artillery advantage, the powerful Ottoman Army suffers heavy losses and fails to pierce the massive walls. Tunneling, a common Ottoman siege tactic, initially fails, and a plague, orchestrated by the Knights, kills a third of the army.

The Ottomans ultimately pierce the thick walls and create a breach, which opens the Knights to conquest. Nevertheless, Suleiman’s losses are so heavy, victory is not assured while the Knights cannot survive a war of attrition.

In a dramatic confrontation between the leaders, both sides fashion a solution. Out of gunpowder, the Knights surrender the Walls of Rhodes, which gives Suleiman his victory, but Philippe also achieves victory by killing a massive number of Suleiman’s army. As a result, the real winner is the Walls of Rhodes.

Suleiman overcomes personal weaknesses, but the bitterness of war weakens Philippe and the Order of Saint John. Suleiman gets the victory he needs and succeeds in winning over Roxelana but must change Ottoman customs and laws to do so.