Page 41 - A Knight of the White Cross

checked by the council, which was composed of the bailiffs and knights of
the highest order, known as Grand Crosses. Each langue had its bailiff

elected by itself: these resided constantly at Rhodes. Each of these bailiffs
held a high office; thus the Bailiff of Provence was always the grand

commander of the Order. He controlled the expenditure, superintended the
stores, and was governor of the arsenal. The Bailiff of Auvergne was the
commander-in-chief of all the forces, army and navy. The Bailiff of France

was the grand hospitaller, with the supreme direction of the hospitals and
infirmaries of the Order, a hospital in those days signifying a guest house.

The Bailiff of Italy was the grand admiral, and the Bailiff of England was
chief of the light cavalry. Thus the difficulties and jealousies that would
have arisen at every vacancy were avoided.

In the early days of the Order, when Jerusalem was in the hands of the

Christians, the care of the hospitals was its chief and most important
function. Innumerable pilgrims visited Jerusalem, and these were
entertained at the immense guest house of the Order. But with the loss of

Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Christians from Palestine, that function
had become of very secondary importance although there was still a guest

house and infirmary at Rhodes, where strangers and the sick were carefully
attended by the knights. No longer did these ride out to battle on their war
horses. It was on the sea that the foe was to be met, and the knights were

now sailors rather than soldiers. They dwelt at the houses of their respective
langues; here they ate at a common table, which was supplied by the bailiff,

who drew rations for each knight, and received, in addition, a yearly sum
for the supply of such luxuries as were not included in the rations. The
average number of knights residing in each of these langues averaged from

a hundred to a hundred and fifty.

It was not until some hours after his arrival that Sir Guy could find time to
take Gervaise across to the house of the langue of Auvergne, to which
D'Aubusson belonged. It was a larger and more stately pile than that of the

English langue, but the arrangements were similar in all these buildings. In
the English house Gervaise had not felt strange, as he had the

companionship of his fellow voyagers; but as he followed Sir Guy through
the spacious halls of the langue of Auvergne, where no familiar face met