01 March 2013

The "Dragon Slayer" Knight of St. John

“The Dragon-Slayer” Knight of Rhodes

From wikipedia,
Dieudonné de Gozon slaying the dragon.Dieudonné de Gozon was the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes (1346-1353). He was born to a noble family in Languedoc, France. He carried the nickname Extinctor Draconis which means "The Dragon Slayer" in Latin.

The Dragon of Rhodes, it is so told that there was a dragon in the island of Rhodes, Greece, hiding in the local swamp, and killing the cattle of the local farmers. Despite the orders of the previous Grand Master to not disturb the beast, Gozon slew the dragon, and hung the head on one of the seven gates of the medieval town of Rhodes. The head was on display until a hundred years ago, when a biologist pointed out it was the skull of a large crocodile.

In 1347 and 1348 the Grand Master proved his gallantry when the Order marched to the help of King Constantine IV of Armenia, threatened by the army of the Sultan of Egypt.




1 comment:

Mel Rivera said...

Looved reading this thanks

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