ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the complete account of their visit to Rhodes, and focuses on the distinctive aspects of Bonsignori’s account and, conversely, what features were missing from his account that were usually found in the accounts of other travellers of the period. Florentine visitors to Rhodes were, based upon surviving accounts, most uncommon during the last years of the Hospitaller occupation of the island. The town of Rhodes by 1498 had largely recovered from the siege of 1480 and the earthquake of 1481; indeed, no reference is made to the siege, unlike many other contemporary accounts. Bonsignori’s account of his visit to Rhodes is a curiosity. Bonsignori was clearly interested in what the Hospitallers wore and thus closely observed the procession, led by the Grand Master, which accompanied the taking of the sacrament on the day of Corpus Christi. Bonsignori then proceeded to give a detailed account of the ports and harbour fortifications.
