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Historical person
1477–1553
Juan de Homedes was grand master of the Knights Hospitaller from 1536 to 1553. His government on Malta strengthened fortifications and founded the towns of Senglea and Burgu’s Fort Saint Michael, but it was also marked by factional disputes and serious military reverses. Ottoman forces captured the Hospitaller stronghold of Tripoli in 1551, and critics accused Homedes of failing to reinforce it adequately. He died before the Great Siege of Malta transformed the order’s reputation.
Homedes is not the central subject of a widely known historical novel, although fiction about the Hospitallers often uses the loss of Tripoli as a prelude to the siege of 1565. Tim Willocks’s The Religion is set after his death but depicts the militarised island society and Ottoman-Hospitaller conflict shaped by his tenure. A direct fictional portrait would need to balance his building programme against hostile accounts written by rivals.
Dorothy Dunnett’s The Disorderly Knights is set in 1551, Lymond travels to Malta as the Knights Hospitaller face an Ottoman attack and internal failures of command.
Series
The Lymond Chronicles follow Francis Crawford of Lymond through Scotland, France, Malta, the Ottoman world, Russia and the wars of mid-sixteenth-century Europe. The six novels combine espionage, court intrigue, military command and a long investigation into Lymond’s family history, loyalties and identity.
All books in this series
