Guillaume Caoursin, Vice-chancellor of the Order of the Hospital, wrote the Obsidionis Rhodiae urbis descriptio (Description of the Siege of Rhodes) in 1480. It was the first authorized print account of the Order's activities, and became one of the best sellers of the 15th century. With introductory chapters by Theresa Vann, this book is the first modern Latin edition with an English translation of the Descriptio. Two other eyewitness accounts: Pierre D'Aubusson's Relatio obsidionis Rhodie and Jacomo Curte's De urbis Rhodiae obsidione a. 1480 a Turcis tentata, also appear in modern Latin edition and English translation, as does John Kay's Description of the Siege of Rhodes and an English translation of Ademar Dupuis' Le siège de Rhodes.

Theresa M. Vann is a research associate at the University of Minnesota. Previously, she was the Joseph S. Micallef Curator of the Malta Study Center at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, Saint John's University, USA.

Donald J. Kagay is a professor in the Department of History, Albany State University, USA.

The Hospitallers and Rhodes. Danger from the Great Debt and the Great Turk, 1453-1480. The genesis of the Descriptio. Guillaume Caoursin, Descriptio obsidione Rhodiae. Pierre d'Aubusson, Relatio obsidionis Rhodie. John Kay, Description of the Siege of Rhodes. Ademar Dupuis, Le siege de Rhodes. Jacobo Curte, De urbis Rhodiae obsidione a. 1480 a Turcis tentata.