Mohammed II
On 18 January 1459, following the taking of Constantinople by the Turks (1453), Pope Pius II founded the knightly Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem for the defence of the island of Lemnos, which Cardinal Ludovico Trevisan, Patriarch of Aquileia, had recaptured from Mohammed II. The island was to be their headquarters, whence they were to oppose the attacks of the Moslems by way of the Aegean Sea and the Hellespont. The order was composed of brother-knights and priests governed by an elective grand-master. The white costume worn by the members was decorated with a red cross and the rule prescribed for them was very similar to that of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem.