George was walled up by the knights between the first and second sieges. The post of France terminated at the Spanish tower, from whence the line was occupied by the langue of Spain as far as the tower of St. Mary. The English post was from the tower of St. Mary to that of St. John. In this line still appears a memorial to the English knight, Thomas Newport, with his escutcheon enclosed in a wreath, beneath which is the inscription “Hic Jacet F. Thomas Newport Podatus Aglie Miles Qi Obiit, 1502, xxii. Die Mesis, Septembris Cuius Anima Requiescat in Pace. Amen, 1502.” Below the inscription is a death’s head and crossbones. This monument is somewhat important, as it clearly shows that there were about this time two dignitaries of the English langue bearing those names. It has been always imagined that there was but one, who being Turcopoier was transferred to the bailiwick of Aquila in the year 1502, and was drowned in 1522, off the coast of Spain whilst en route for Rhodes. It is quite clear that no such transfer took place, but that the Turcopolier Thomas Newport died in 1502, whilst in the same year another Thomas Newport was appointed bailiff of Aquila, who was drowned as aforesaid.[1]
By the side of St. John’s tower is the gateway of that name, forming the principal entrance into the town from the south. It was through this gate that the emperor Solyman made his triumphal entry after the capture of the fortress in 1522. A tablet in the entrance bears a Turkish inscription recording this fact. Over the gateway is a bas-relief of St. John the Baptist above the arms of the Order, by the side of which are the arms of D’Aubusson, who appears to have delighted in affixing his escutcheon at every available point. It must be admitted that this was an act of pardonable vanity on the part of a Grand-Master who had done so much in the way of additions and restorations to the fortifications. From St. John’s gate to the tower of Italy was the post of Provence, and from the latter point the post of Italy extended, making two bends until it reached the gate of St. Catherine.
This gateway has two entrances—one into the Castello, the other into the lower town. It is flanked by two large towers
- ↑ See List of Turcopoliers and Bailiffs of Aquila, iii Appendix No. 11.
