Editing Turcopole (section)

== Turcopoliers and attendants ==
[[File:Thomas Docwra by William Rogers.jpg|thumb|Sir [[Thomas Docwra]] (c.1458-1527), Turcopolier of the [[Knights Hospitaler|Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem]] 1499-1501]]
The Turcopoles had their own leaders called Turcopoliers who outranked ordinary sergeants, at least in battle. The senior office-holders of the [[Knights Templar]] included a Turcopolier who commanded both the mercenary cavalry recruited by the Order in the east and the sergeant-brothers.<ref>[[Helen Nicholson (historian)|Helen Nicholson]]: ''The Knights Templar - a New History'', p. 118, {{ISBN|0-7509-3839-0}}</ref> The personal attendants of the Grand Master of the Temple included a Turcopole<ref>[[Piers Paul Read]]: ''The Templars'', p. 133, {{ISBN|1-84212-142-1}}</ref> - possibly as an interpreter or orderly. The Hospitallers included in their rank-structure a Turcopolier, who originally was probably a sergeant-brother but who in 1303 was accorded the senior status of ''conventual bailli'' (official in the Central Convent).<ref>{{cite book |first=David|last=Nicolle|title=Knights Hospitaller (1) 1100-1306|date=25 July 2001|page=16|publisher=Bloomsbury USA |isbn=978-1-84176-214-2 }}</ref> Since the establishment of the ''[[Langues]]'' of the Knights of St John in 1319, the ''Pilier'' (head) of the Langue of [[England]] (with [[Wales]], [[Scotland]] and [[Ireland]]) was the order's Turcopolier;<ref>Francesco Balbi (1568): The Siege of Malta</ref> and in charge of the coastal defences of Rhodes and Malta.<ref>Whitworth Porter, ''History of the Knights of Malta, or The Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem'', p.287[https://books.google.com/books?id=bR9aAQAAQBAJ&dq=John+Pavely+Turcopolier&pg=PA287]</ref>