The Order of the Knights of Rhodes and the Legend of the Dragon of Rhodes

In “The Curse of the Lambton Worm”, a possible connection between the legend of the Lambton Worm to a 14th century legend about the Dragon of Rhodes is mentioned. Sir John Lambton, as a Knight of Rhodes himself, would have been fully aware of the legend and would no doubt have recounted the story on his return to England. The legend of the Dragon of Rhodes, and details of the Order of the Knights of Rhodes is expanded below:

The Order of the Knights of Rhodes was founded from the Order of St. John, or the Hospitallers, which was an order of sworn brethren which had arisen at the time of the first Crusades. The Order of St John was begun in Jerusalem by monks who assisted penniless pilgrims who arrived at the city by not only feeding and housing them, but also doing their best to cure the many diseases that they caught on the journey. The Hospitallers obtained permission from the Pope to become warriors as well as monks so that they could further the Christian cause in Jerusalem. They were thus all in one – knights, priests, and nurses; and their monasteries became both castles and hospitals; where the sick pilgrim or wounded Crusader was sure of medical care, and, if he recovered, an escort to safety.

Around 1309 the island of Rhodes became home to this Order, and they became known as the Knights of Rhodes, in existence until 1522.

A few years after the Order of the Knights of Rhodes was founded on the island, Rhodes was ravaged by an enormous creature living in a swamp at the foot of Mount St. Stephen, about two miles from the city of Rhodes. It devoured sheep and cattle when they came to the water to drink, and even young shepherd boys went missing. Known locally as a dragon, it has been suggested that a crocodile or serpent might have been brought over by storms or currents from Africa, which could have grown to a formidable size unnoticed among the marshes, or grown with the re-telling of the story! Pilgrims visiting the Chapel of St. Stephen, on the hill above its lair, put their lives at risk as it was rumoured that they may be devoured by the dragon before they could climb the hill.

Several brave knights had tried to kill the creature, but the dragon was said to have been covered with impenetrable scales and all had perished in the attempt. At last the Grand Master, Helion de Villeneuve, forbade any further attempts to kill the creature.

A young French knight, however, named Dieudonné de Goza (also known as de Gozo or de Gozon), who had seen the creature but had never managed to attack it, was unwilling to give up. He requested leave of absence, returned to his father’s castle in Languedoc, and had a model made of the monster. He had noticed that the creature’s belly was unprotected by scales, but was impossible to reach due to its huge teeth and lashing tail. He made the stomach of his model hollow and filled it with food, then trained two fierce young mastiffs to attack the underside of the monster, while he earfuld attacking the monster from above, mounted on his warhorse.

When he was satisfied that the horse and dogs were trained, he returned to Rhodes, landing in a remote part of the island for fear of being prevented from carrying out his plan. Having prayed at the chapel of St. Stephen, he left his two French squires, instructing them to return home if he were slain, but to watch and come to him if he killed the dragon, or was injured by it. He then rode down the hill towards the haunt of the dragon. It roused itself as he came, and at first he charged it with his lance, which was useless against the scales. His horse was quick to notice the difference between the true and the false monster, and reared up, so that Dieudonne was forced to leap to the ground and was knocked down by the monster’s lashing tail; but the two dogs attacked the creature as they had been trained, and the knight, regaining his feet, plunged his sword into the creature. When the servants finally arrived, they found the knight lying apparently dead under the carcass of the dragon, but they managed to revive him and brought him into the city amid the ecstatic shouts of the whole populace, who conducted him in triumph to the palace of the Grand Master.

There was, however, a great moral to be learnt from this tale – which was probably recounted to all the succeeding probationary Knights of Rhodes, including Sir John Lambton – for despite praising the knight for his brave actions, the Grand Master, Villeneuve, was angry with his disobedience and dismissed him from the Order. As he pointed out, the discipline of the Order of Rhodes was humility and implicit obedience to the Grand Master, and Dieudonné had broken this vow and followed his own self-will. Dieudonné was, however, eventually reinstated, and the dragon’s head was set up over the gate of the city, where historians allegedly saw it even in the seventeenth century, describing it as larger than that of a horse, with a huge mouth and teeth and very large eyes. Dieudonné de Goza was elected to the Grand Mastership after the death of Villeneuve in 1346, and was reputed to be a great soldier, much loved by all the poor peasants of the island, to whom he was exceedingly kind. He died in 1353, and his tomb is said to have been inscribed with these words:
“Here lies the Dragon Slayer.”