258 THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF [book it.

and that Rhodes, which had once been Genoese,and was now Greek nominally, belonged in realityto Saracen pirates—a bold, fierce, and most lawlessrace, resembling the Malays of this day, their re-sistance was sure to be desperate; keeping hissecret, and pretending it was a crusade, which,however small, would suffice for his views. Buthe died previous to his voyage, towards the end of1306; and early in the next year the order choseanother, Villaret, 1 who (his brother or not) 2 wasat all events his near relation, and known to be

1307 ac( l uainted k' ls se<ire ^‘ Sir Fulk deVillaret, the moment he was elected, sailedfor France. 3 One year is of little importance, yetit is inexact. That letter of Clement was directedto Sir William; though it was Sir Fulk came toanswer it in person, as required. Another brief toSir Fulk himself, after his return from France, atRhodes (against which he had advanced, but not asyet conquered, except in some little part), is datedAugust, 1307 ; 4 and from expressions in it, we can-not but perceive the Pope had recently spoken withthe unconscious Fulk; who, however, heard nothing

1 Seb. Paoli: Serie, ii. 462.

2 Seb. Paoli doubts—Vertot affirms it, iv.

3 Bosio.—Yertot: iv. 64.

4 Cod. Dipl. Geros., ii., Yum. xviii.—Seb. Paoli (Cod. Dipl.Geros.): Serie, ii. 463.