Philibert of Naillac served as Grand Master during one of the Order's most precarious stretches — his tenure began just months after the catastrophic defeat at Nicopolis in 1396, where a Crusader coalition was routed by Ottoman forces under Bayezid I. Rhodes, the Hospitaller base since 1309, suddenly felt far less secure. The gigliato type itself was a Neapolitan inheritance, adopted by the Order in the 14th century and maintained with remarkable consistency across successive Grand Masters as a trusted trade coin in Levantine commerce.
Naillac's issues are distinguished within the series primarily by die variation documented by Metcalf and Schlumberger.
Philibert of Naillac served as Grand Master during one of the Order's most precarious stretches — his tenure began just months after the catastrophic defeat at Nicopolis in 1396, where a Crusader coalition was routed by Ottoman forces under Bayezid I. Rhodes, the Hospitaller base since 1309, suddenly felt far less secure. The gigliato type itself was a Neapolitan inheritance, adopted by the Order in the 14th century and maintained with remarkable consistency across successive Grand Masters as a trusted trade coin in Levantine commerce.
Naillac's issues are distinguished within the series primarily by die variation documented by Metcalf and Schlumberger.