Tripoli Tripolis طرابلس | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1530–1551 | |||||||||
 Map of Hospitaller Tripoli in relation toHospitaller Malta | |||||||||
 Map of Tripoli dated 1561, shortly after the end of Hospitaller rule | |||||||||
| Status | Vassal of theKingdom of Sicily | ||||||||
| Capital | Tripoli | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||
• 1530–1531 | Gaspare de Sanguessa (first) | ||||||||
• 1551 | Gaspard de Vallier (last) | ||||||||
| Historical era | Early modern period | ||||||||
| 23 March 1530 | |||||||||
• Established | 25 July 1530 | ||||||||
| 15 August 1551 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Libya | ||||||||
Tripoli, today thecapital city ofLibya, was ruled by theKnights Hospitaller between 1530 and 1551.The city had been underSpanish rule for two decades before it was granted as a fief to the Hospitallers in 1530 along with the islands ofMalta andGozo. The Hospitallers found it difficult to control both the city and the islands, and at times they proposed to either move their headquarters to Tripoli or to abandon and raze the city. Hospitaller rule over Tripoli ended in 1551 when the city was captured by theOttoman Empire following asiege.
During anOttoman siege in 1522, theKnights Hospitaller were expelled fromRhodes, which had beentheir base since the early 14th century. They subsequently entered negotiations with Spanish EmperorCharles V who offered them Tripoli and the islands ofMalta andGozo as their new base. Tripoli had beenunder Spanish rule sinceits capture in 1510. A delegation sent by the Hospitallers produced a report which stated that these locations were unfavourable, and they were reluctant to accept both Tripoli and the Maltese Islands because of the distance between them and the considerable expenses that would be necessary to maintain them.[1]
Part ofa series on the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| History ofLibya | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Libya portal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Hospitallers eventually accepted Tripoli, Malta and Gozo as a fief on 23 March 1530, and they took control of the city on 25 July.[2] The Order established its headquarters atBirgu on Malta, while aGovernor was appointed to administer Tripoli. The first Hospitaller Governor wasGaspare de Sanguessa, and although he attempted to establish friendly relations with nearby tribes, resistance to Christian rule continued from the nearby settlement ofTajura which was underOttoman influence. The Florentine military engineer Piccino was sent to Tripoli to design modifications to the city's fortifications in the early 1530s.[2]
At one point, Tajura's rulerAydın Reis built a fortress known as the el-Cadi tower about 1 mile (1.6 km) outside the walls of Tripoli, but this was captured and destroyed by Hospitaller forces led by GovernorGeorg Schilling von Cannstatt [de].[1][2] The knight Paul Simeoni was sent to Tripoli in March 1539 to draw up a report on the state of the city, and when he returned to Malta in June he reported that there were daily skirmishes between the Hospitallers of Tripoli and the forces of Tajura. The Hospitallers lacked the funds to make the necessary upgrades to the city's fortifications, and at times they proposed to abandon the city, demolish itscastle and block its harbour.[2]
By the mid-1540s, the Ottoman threat to Tripoli decreased as a truce was signed between Ottoman SultanSuleiman and Charles V.[2]Jean de Valette was appointed as Governor of Tripoli in 1546,[1] and he reformed the city's government and improved its fortifications.[2] He made a proposal that the Order should transfer its headquarters from Malta to the city, retaining the islands only as an outpost.[1] A compromise was reached in which Malta remained the Hospitallers' main base, but efforts to establish a Hospitaller presence in Tripoli increased with more knights being sent to the city. The Governor of Tripoli was given powers similar to those of the Order'sGrand Master, and he could establishauberges for the Order's eightlangues within the city. Valette hoped that the Hospitallers could eventually gain control of the entire region ofTripolitania. The Order's plans to move to Tripoli ceased after the galleyLa Catarinetta which had been carrying 7,000scudi intended to pay for the city's new fortifications was captured by the Turkish corsairDragut.[2]
In early 1551, Suleiman orderedSinan Pasha to capture Tripoli from the Hospitallers. Following a failed attempt to take Malta and a successfulattack on Gozo, the Ottomansbesieged Tripoli for two weeks. The city surrendered on 14 August, and GovernorGaspard de Vallier and the knights were allowed to leave on vessels provided by the French ambassador.[1] Part of the city's garrison was also allowed to leave, while the rest were enslaved. Muslim auxiliaries who had been in Hospitaller service were executed.[3]
The Hospitallers made several attempts to recapture Tripoli, starting with a raid on Tripolitania in 1552. Dragut became thebeylerbey of Tripoli in 1556, and he modified the city's fortifications such that it became one of the best-defended cities in Africa. De Valette, who became the Order's Grand Master in 1557, still hoped to retake the city and in 1559 an invasion force was assembled for this purpose but it was defeated in theBattle of Djerba in 1560.[2] Tripoli remained under direct or indirect Ottoman rule until it wascaptured by Italy during theItalo-Turkish War in 1911.
Hospitaller Tripoli was administered by aGovernor.[1]
After the Hospitallers took over Tripoli, the amount of trade which passed through the city declined whileTajura became a more important trading centre.[1]
The Hospitallers' main church in Tripoli was incorporated into theSidi Darghut Mosque in around 1560. Parts of the original building still survive although they have undergone major alterations.[1]
Catholicorder of chivalry andsovereign subject ofinternational law, founded in 1099 inJerusalem,  Kingdom of Jerusalem | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Organisation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Auxiliaries | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Society and culture | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History, including major sites, commanderies, premises, andbattles |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg)
