The icon was kept at Phileremos Monastery, Rhodes, presumably since the 12th century, although it was often said to have been brought to Rhodes from the Holy Land. It was captured by the Knights Hospitaller in their conquest of Rhodes in 1306/1310. Her fame is due to miracles attributed to her intercession, primarily in the Siege of Rhodes (1480). After the loss of Rhodes in 1522, the icon was rescued, and attached to the mainmast of the "Santa Maria", a carrack captured from the Sultan of Egypt in 1507, during the Order's years of exile.