Emmanuele Piloti and criticism of the Knights Hospitallers of Rhodes : 1306-1444

Abstract

This article talks about Emmanuele Piloti, a Cretan merchant who was for many years engaged in the Levantine trade. Piloti maintained that the Christian world was dependent on that trade and he believed that its aim should be to exploit Christian sea-power to capture Alexandria, and Cairo, to destroy the Muslim regime, to acquire control of the rich commerce of Egypt, and thus to regain possession of the holy places in Syria. He also proposed that the Christian army should sail to Alexandria by way of Crete and Cyprus, and that its leader should be a Venetian. However, his beliefs were not in par with that of the Knights Hospitallers of Rhodes, which led to a lot of judgement and criticisms.