History Of Malta
Malta has been inhabited since around 5.200 BC. Around 1.000 BC Phoenicians colonized the islands using them as an outpost from where they expanded sea explorations and trade in the Mediterranean. Later, the islands came under the control of Carthage (400 BC) and then of Rome (218 BC). The islands prospered under Roman rule and many Roman antiquities still exist, testifying to the close link between the Maltese inhabitants and the people of Rome. In 60, the islands were visited by Saint Paul, who is said to have been shipwrecked on the shores of the aptly-named "Saint Paul's Bay".
In 870, the islands were conquered by the Arabs. They generally tolerated the population's Christianity, introduced the cultivation of citrus fruits and cotton, irrigation systems, and most notably, the Arabic language, which the majority of the population adopted as their mother tongue. Arabic influence can be seen most prominently in the modern Maltese language, which has also been influenced to a lesser extent by Romance languages and is written in a variety of the Latin alphabet.
The period of Arab rule lasted until 1091, when the islands were taken by the Sicilian Normans. In 1530, the islands were given by Spain to the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem in perpetual lease.
The Order was originally established in 1085 as a community of monks responsible for looking after the sick at the Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem. They later became a military order, defending crusader territory in the Holy Lands and safeguarding the perilous routes taken by medieval pilgrims. The Knights were drawn exclusively from noble families and the Order acquired vast wealth from those it recruited and later from the ill-gotten gains of their privateering.
The Order of the Hospital was not only the first military-religious order of chivalry, but indeed the first order of knighthood of any kind. Previously, knights did not serve in corporate bodies other than the armies of particular sovereigns. The Order of the Temple, the Teutonic Order and the Order of Saint Lazarus were founded soon after the Order of the Hospital. Each of these orders had its own purposes, of which military defence was but one. Until this time, most knights had been minor feudatories obliged, as part of the feudal system, to undertake military service for a prescribed number of days each year; some were full time soldiers who served in garrisons.
The Order was ruled by a Grand Master who was answerable only to the Pope. Knights were chosen from the aristocratic families of France, Italy, Spain, England and Portugal. On acceptance into the Order they were sworn to celibacy, poverty and obedience.
In 1343, the Order conquered Smyrna, which it held for six decades. The knights of Malta took part in battles in Egypt and Syria, and supported the Armenians' in their valiant defence against the Muslims.
As the Islamic movement gained momentum, the Order moved their headquarters to Cyprus, but not for long. The Order moved to Rhodes, where they enjoyed territorial sovereignty for the first time. However, on this island there were few, if any, pilgrims to protect, and from this period on the Order became more militaristic. Another transformation took place; although the Knights were trained and experienced in land battles, in Rhodes the deciding factor became sea battles. In addition, with its isolation, the island and the Grand Master of the Order gained much independent power, equal to that of a small principality.
At Rhodes, the Order was attacked by Muslim forces that it successfully repelled in 1440, 1444, 1469, and during a particularly fierce battle in 1480. In 1522 Suleiman the Magnificent launched an attack with 400 ships and, according to the best estimates, some two hundred thousand soldiers. Following a courageous defence for six months by a few thousand knights and other troops, the Order surrendered on Christmas Eve and the knights were allowed to depart on 1 January 1523. Suleiman the Magnificent (1495 – 1566) respecting their bravery, decided to spare their lives, and even made ships available to carry the remaining Knights to Europe.
Having no place to call their own, the vagrant knights were offered the fiefdom of Malta through the goodness of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, acting as King of Naples in 1530. This archipelago, composed of two main islands, Malta and Gozo, is located 50 miles off the south coast of Sicily, and commands the main Mediterranean trade channel.
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First Grandmaster Jean Parisot De La Valette
In 1557, Jean Parisot de la Valette was unanimously elected Grand Master. He was a handsome man, calm and unemotional, who demanded nothing of his knights that he himself could or would not do. Meticulous in his religious observances, he was the finest general and admiral that the Order had known in many years.
From this period, the knights wore the famous Maltese Cross. It is an eight-pointed cross, the eight points representing the eight obligations and aspirations which are:
Live In truth - Have Faith - Repent of Sin - Give proof of humility
Love Justice - Be Merciful - Be Sincere - Endure persecution
Thus, the Order became known as the "Order of Malta."
Live In truth - Have Faith - Repent of Sin - Give proof of humility
Love Justice - Be Merciful - Be Sincere - Endure persecution
Thus, the Order became known as the "Order of Malta."
Not surprisingly, hospitals were among the first projects to be undertaken on Malta, where French soon supplanted Italian as the official language. The knights also constructed fortresses, watch towers and, naturally, churches. Its acquisition of Malta signalled the beginning of the Order's renewed naval activity. Maritime trade greatly developed; indeed it became a primary means of economic support.
Because such trade was increasingly hindered by the Barbary Corsairs (The Barbarossa Brothers, Dragut Reis), the knights were to become better known for bringing the sea crusade to the western Mediterranean. Since Malta occupied a strategic position between the Christian and Muslim worlds, the Order of Malta emerged as the most important obstacle to Islam's encroachment into the heart of Christendom. It commanded the narrows between east and west, and thus formed the main barrier to the Turkish Sultan Suleyman's complete control of the Mediterranean.
Suleyman Prepares For Battle
Suleyman, now seventy years old, did not propose to lead an expedition against Malta in person, as he had done in his youth against Rhodes. He divided the command in two, his young Admiral-in-Chief, Piale Pasha commanded the naval force and his old general Mustafa Pasha, the land force. Their enemy, the Grand Master of the Knights, Jean de la Valette, was a hard, fanatical warrior for the Christian faith. Born in the same year as Suleyman (1495), he had fought against him at the siege of Rhodes, and had since devoted to his order a lifetime of service. La Valette combined in himself the skill of a hardened campaigner with the dedication of a religious leader. When the siege was clearly imminent he delivered to his knights a final exhortation: "To-day our Faith is at stake and whether the Gospel must yield to the Koran. God is asking for the lives which we pledged to Him at our profession. Happy are those who may sacrifice their lives."
La Valette presumed correctly that the Order could expect little help from the Christian princes. Francis I of France was allied to the Sultan from a treaty in 1536; and the Emperor of Germany was far too concerned about the havoc Suleiman's men were constantly causing in his lands to be able to look as far south as Malta. England's Protestant monarch Elizabeth I would obviously send no help.
It was then only from Spain, now under Philip II, that La Valette could expect any assistance. Malta had been a Spanish gift to the knights; if the island fell, it was the lands and dominions of the Spanish crown that were immediately threatened-first Sicily, and then the Kingdom of Naples. Pope Pius IV sent them 10,000 crowns which was somewhat useful but did not resolve La Valette's lack of manpower. At D-Day, La Valette could only muster 700 knights and 9,000 soldiers.
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Suleiman had come to regret his decision that gave the knights safe passage from Rhodes; he now turned his eyes to the possession of Malta as propitious to his conquest of Western Europe. By the late autumn of 1564, it was indeed true: La Valette's spies had given him information that a huge Turkish armada was being mobilized against Malta. The message reached knights of the Order who were residing at their estates or attending the Courts of their respective Sovereigns.
Thus the early months of 1565 saw the island feverishly preparing for the onset. Although at first the knights had found Malta to be unbearable, the Grand Master and his Council could now see that the whole island was a natural fortress. Its barrenness meant that any invader would have to bring almost all provisions with him. The Turkish army would find it impossible to live off the land.
No Help In Sight
La Valette presumed correctly that the Order could expect little help from the Christian princes. Francis I of France was allied to the Sultan from a treaty in 1536; and the Emperor of Germany was far too concerned about the havoc Suleiman's men were constantly causing in his lands to be able to look as far south as Malta. England's Protestant monarch Elizabeth I would obviously send no help.
It was then only from Spain, now under Philip II, that La Valette could expect any assistance. Malta had been a Spanish gift to the knights; if the island fell, it was the lands and dominions of the Spanish crown that were immediately threatened-first Sicily, and then the Kingdom of Naples. Pope Pius IV sent them 10,000 crowns, which was somewhat useful but did not resolve La Valette's lack of manpower.
By the early spring of 1565 La Valette had under his command 541 knights and sergeants, 5,000 Maltese irregulars, and 500 galley slaves. Later in the spring more knights arrived in answer to the Grand Master's appeal. When the Turks arrived he had 700 members of the Order and a total force of almost 9,000 men. With this he must withstand the full weight of the Turkish navy and army, for if Malta fell, the Order of St. John would surely perish, and the rest of Western Europe would be threatened.
Throughout the winter of 1564-65 the Sultan spared no expense in the preparation of his greatest armada. With confidence he appointed Mustapha Pasha as commander of his army. This fanatic Moslem had fought against the knights in Rhodes and carried a personal vendetta against Catholics with typical Islamic fanaticism. He aspired to seal a triumphant career by driving the Knights of St. John once and for all out of the Mediterranean.
As Mustapha's co-commander Suleiman appointed Admiral Piali. Not as savage as his commander, Piali had been baptized Catholic, but had forsaken all for a seafarer's life. At this time he was at the height of his powers. Among his numerous maritime successes had been the great raid of 1558, when he and the corsair Dragut had laid waste great stretches of the Italian coastline. Suleiman instructed the two commanders that they should await the arrival of Dragut before beginning the main assault.
March 29, 1565. Suleiman was there in person to view the power and pride of his Empire afloat on the waters of the Golden Horn as they set sail from the Bosphorus. One hundred and eighty-one ships and a number of small sailing vessels formed the armada. One hundred and thirty oared galleys and 30 galliots were accompanied by 11 large merchant ships, of which one alone held 600 armed men, 6,000 barrels of powder, and 1,300 rounds of cannon ball. Valette could not have fathomed just how many ships nor how huge an army the Sultan had raised against him.
The Turks numbered at least 40,000 trained fighting troops, not to mention the many thousands of slaves and other supernumeraries who were required to provision and supply so large an army. Six thousand three hundred Janissaries, the finest troops in Turkey, formed the spearhead of the fighting troops, all trained arquebusiers and the elite of the Ottoman army. Catholic by birth, Spartan by upbringing, and fanatical Moslems by conversion, the Janissaries formed one of the most amazing corps in military history.
Meanwhile Grand Master La Valette completed his preparations. Birgu and Mdina (the capital of Malta) were warned about the upcoming onset, and orders were given for most of the population unable to bear arms to take refuge within the walls of Mdina. Similar commands were sent to Gozo, ordering the country people to shelter in the citadel as soon as the attack started. It was probable that St. Elmo, a newly built and untried fort, might have to bear the first onslaught. The choice of garrison, therefore, was of the utmost importance. Its normal garrison was only six knights and 600 men. Valette reinforced them with a further 200 Spanish infantrymen and 46 knights. Fort St. Elmo was to be the scene of one of the most glorious episodes in the history of Christendom.
In mid-May, La Valette called together all his brethren. It was the last opportunity that he would have to speak to them in general assembly. There were many present whom he would never address again.
It is the great battle of the Cross and the Koran which is now to be fought. A formidable army of infidels are on the point of invading our island. We, for our part, are the chosen soldiers of the Cross, and if Heaven requires the sacrifice of our lives, there can be no better occasion than this. Let us hasten then, my brothers, to the sacred altar. There we will renew our vows and obtain by our faith in the sacred Sacraments, that contempt for death which alone can render us invincible.
It is the great battle of the Cross and the Koran which is now to be fought. A formidable army of infidels are on the point of invading our island. We, for our part, are the chosen soldiers of the Cross, and if Heaven requires the sacrifice of our lives, there can be no better occasion than this. Let us hasten then, my brothers, to the sacred altar. There we will renew our vows and obtain by our faith in the sacred Sacraments, that contempt for death which alone can render us invincible.
When the knights left the church, they were filled with exultation. “No sooner,” it was said, “had they partaken of the Bread of Life that every kind of weakness disappeared. All divisions between them and all private animosities ceased.”
The Arrival Of The Turkish Fleet
Upon the arrival of the Turkish armada, La Valette decided not to contest their disembarkation. Mustapha Pasha gave orders for siege guns to be dragged to Mt. Sciberras. Two 60-pound culverins, ten 80-pounders, and an enormous basilisk firing solid shot weighing 160 pounds were brought up for the attack on St. Elmo. With such heavy weapons, the battering power of Turkish fire when applied at short range would be devastating.
Less than a week later the order to commence the attack was given. Within an hour the lime and sandstone blocks that composed the fort began to crumble as the Turks relentlessly, mathematically, hammered away at the fort. Ace artillerymen were not to be deterred by this small fort on this relatively unimportant island. But the Turks did not know the extent of the defender's capabilities. Under cover of the grey pre-dawn sky, the besieged knights made a sortie, stealthily lowering the drawbridge and capturing the closest enemy trench. The tired Turkish labor corps, who had been working all night, were taken completely off guard and fled across the bare heights of Mt. Sciberras.
“Janissaries Forward!”
“Janissaries forward!” Mustapha commanded. In assault or defense, in innumerable campaigns, in many countries, there would come a time when this cry would go out. To stem a panic or turn a wavering victory into a certainty, it was for these that this corps was especially designed. They were thrown into the balance to ensure that the scales would tilt in favor of Allah.
As the disorganized labour battalions fled past them, these invincible soldiers surged ahead. Before the advance of these supreme warriors the defenders fell back, only reaching safety in time for the cannon above them to open fire on the advancing ranks of their enemies. Nonetheless the Janissaries were still able to recapture their own trenches and established themselves in a strong position right in the teeth of St. Elmo. Though driven back into the confines of St. Elmo, the fighting spirit of the knights was undiminished.
The Turkish forces were strengthened by the arrival of the 80-year-old corsair Dragut, the great scourge of the Catholics in the Mediterranean. Known among his men as “The Drawn Sword of Islam,” this fierce veteran of siege warfare knew well Malta and its terrain. For this siege he assembled 1,500 of his choicest warriors armed to the hilt. Once there, they set up on Tigne Point, facing St. Elmo from the north. The corsair at once noticed what Mustapha and his advisors had not: St. Elmo's strength lay in the reinforcement of their garrisons by boats nightly sent from Fort St. Angelo.
The orders rang out: “Cut lines of communication. Take by force the outwork of the fortress.” The troops dispersed to the scene with Dragut in the lead. He intended to see the action from the viewpoint of the men who were engaged in it. The cheers, the thunder of guns and the lights and flares seen on the slope of Mt. Sciberras by the Grand Master and his men at St. Angelo told them that Dragut had arrived upon the scene.
He took up his quarters in the trenches among the troops, and there he stayed. Within 24 hours the fire against the fort had doubled. Breaches began to appear in the walls, and fast as the defenders tried to erect counter-walls behind them, these too were shot away. They knew a mass assault had to follow shortly.
Riddled With Dysentery
There was no relief from the torrid weather of that late May. The Turks, no less than the knights, suffered from a lack of water; the Turkish army was riddled with dysentery, so much so that they were forced to erect hundreds of tents at the Marsa to accommodate their sick. Considering his position, La Valette had every reason to be pessimistic. The day after Dragut had arrived, a small vessel from Sicily managed to run the blockade and bring a message to the Grand Master with the news that there was no hope of any timely help from Don Garcia de Toledo, Viceroy of nearby Sicily. On May 31, the Feast of the Ascension, La Valette read this dispatch to his Council:
We now know that we cannot look to others for our deliverance! It is only upon God and our own swords that we must rely. Yet this is no reason to be disheartened. Rather the opposite, for it is better to know the truth of one's situation than be deceived by specious hopes. Our faith and the honour of our Order are in our own hands. We shall not fail.
It was the morning of June 3rd, the Feast of St. Elmo. The new battery erected on Tigne Point opened a steady fire on the fortress with Dragut in charge. It was just a matter of time before an opportunity presented itself for a large-scale attack on the outwork of Fort St. Elmo. Capture it he would, no matter what.
The first great night attack of the siege took place on the 10th of June. Mustapha decided as soon as it was dark that fresh troops would have every chance of catching the worn-out defenders off guard. The advancing ranks of Janissaries threw sachetti or fire-grenades, similar to those which the Catholics hurled down upon them. The Turks had perfected a type of incendiary which when it burst clung to the armor or the body, and the knights who stood in the breach were only saved from being roasted alive in their mail by leaping into great barrels of water there for that purpose. So great was the glare during this attack that a witness watching from the walls of Fort St. Michael's remembered how “the darkness of the night became bright as day.” The gunners of Fort St. Angelo were able to see their attackers quite clearly and trained their guns upon them. The Ottomans stormed across the ditch in front of the fort but were repeatedly repulsed. When dawn broke, it was estimated that 1,500 of the Sultan's troops lay dead or dying in that no man's land between the ravelin and the fort. St. Elmo's losses totaled 60.
The whole Turkish fleet had crept up during the night of the 15th of June, and by daybreak had encircled themselves like a ring around the fort. Four thousand arquebusiers spread themselves in a great curve and opened fire on the embrasures of if; the fort. North and south the batteries on Tigne Point and Gallows' Point began their cross-fire against St. Elmo.
Huddling against the walls and taking shelter behind improvised barricades, the defenders awaited the onslaught. They had fire hoops and incendiary grenades, boiling cauldrons and trumps piled high, thanks to a convoy that La Valette had managed to reinforce them with only two nights before. Along with the ammunition he had also sent further supplies of wine and bread, for St. Elmo's bakery had been destroyed and their water was running short. It seemed incredible to Turk and Catholic alike that so small a fort could have resisted for so long. One hundred and fifty of the garrison were dead, with many more wounded. Yet 1,000 from the Turkish army died that day, with a total of 4,000 lost since the beginning of the siege.
On the 18th of June, La Valette called for volunteers to reinforce. Thirty knights along with 300 soldiers came forward, offering themselves for the post of certain death. That same day while supervising the new Turkish battery Dragut was mortally wounded by cannon shot. A second shot landing killed the Aga of the Janissaries. Mustapha, however, refused to move.
“The Drawn Sword of Islam” was carried back to his tent, weakening morale among the Turks. The following day their morale was further weakened when the Master General of the Turkish Ordnance, who ranked second only to Mustapha himself in the army, was killed.
Closing In For The Kill
In the gray pre-dawn light of the 23rd of June, Piali's ships closed in for the kill. The galleys, pointing their lean bows at the ruined fort, opened up their bow chasers in unison with the first charge made by the entire Turkish army. To the astonishment of Mustapha and his council, Fort St. Elmo held for over an hour. Less than 100 men remained after that first onslaught, yet the Ottoman army was forced to draw back and re-form. The knights who were too wounded to stand placed themselves in chairs in the breach with swords in their hands.
There was something about the next attack that told the garrisons looking on from Birgu and Senglea that all was over. The white-robed troops poured down the slopes, hesitated like a curling roller above the wall, and then burst across the fort, spreading like an ocean over St. Elmo. One by one the defenders perished, some quickly and mercifully, others dying of wounds among the bodies of their friends. The Italian Knight Francisco Lanfreducci, acting on orders received before the battle began, crossed to the wall opposite Bighi Bay and lit the signal fire. As the smoke curled up and eddied in the clear blue sky, La Valette knew that the heroic garrison and the fort they had defended to the end were lost.
It was now that Mustapha Pasha impatiently strode to view his conquest. A standard-bearer carrying the banner of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent stepped through the breach into St. Elmo. In an offensive act of cruelty, he ordered the bodies of the knights to be set apart from the common soldiers. Their heads were struck from their bodies and fixed on stakes overlooking Grand Harbor. The beheaded corpses were then stripped of their mail, nailed to crossbeams of wood in mockery of the crucifixion, and launched onto the waters of Grand Harbor that night. The next morning the headless bodies of the knights washed up at the base of Fort St. Angelo.
Cruel Order
To show the Turks that they were not to be trifled with, La Valette gave orders for all Turkish prisoners to be executed and their headless bodies thrown into the sea. To the astonishment of the Turks, the thunder of cannons was heard issuing from St. Angelo. Mustapha discovered that they were firing the heads of the Turkish prisoners! This was not something to be taken as a simple retaliatory gesture; the knights knew Mustapha's anger would know no bounds and that there would definitely now exist no mercy for any Catholic who surrendered. Every knight and every soldier knew that they must fight to the death against these infuriated people.
The morale of the Knights was lifted when four galleys from Sicily managed to evade the Turkish blockade and land 42 knights and 700 militia. Under the command of the Chevalier de Robles, a distinguished member of the Order and a famous soldier, this small relief force-the Piccolo Soccorso as it came to be known—arrived at Fort St. Angelo.
The next morning when he saw the new banners above the Christian fort, Mustapha was somewhat taken aback. Since he could not know the amount of reinforcements sent, he decided that now was the time to negotiate with the Knights. Mustapha knew his losses at St. Elmo had been greatly out of proportion to the size of the fort. He offered La Valette the same terms that the Grand Master Villiers de l'Isle Adam had accepted 43 years before in Rhodes—a safe passage for himself and all his followers, conditional on surrender of the island. The offer was rejected. Mustapha fumed over the knight's retort.
For the first time in the siege the Turks were driving mines beneath the defences. This was a task of extreme difficulty for the specially trained Egyptian engineers. By the 18th of August the mine was finally under the Bastion of Castile. Although La Valette had known that the Turks were mining towards his walls he had been unable to locate their exact position. With a gigantic rumbling crash, the mine went up and a great section of the main wall caved in. Before the shock could register, Piali's troops attacked full-force. The explosion had caused the defenders to stagger back from the breach and in the general confusion it seemed as if the position was surely lost. But they fought on regardless. When dawn finally came, the Turks withdrew with the two fortresses still in Christian command.
Mustapha now placed his hopes in the siege tower, knowing the Knights could not possibly withstand it. It was protected against incendiaries by great sheets of leather which were kept constantly soaked with water, making it impregnable to anything but fire. It was now so close to the wall that from its top platform, Janissaries were beginning to pick off the defenders within Birgu. La Valette made its destruction his personal concern. He ordered a band of Maltese workmen to burrow a hole in the base of the wall just opposing the tower and wheel a large cannon to face it, while workmen knocked down the outside blocks of the tunnel. Aloft in their high tower, the Turks had no idea of what was happening directly below them.
The dark muzzle of a cannon was run out and fired chain-shot which consisted of two large cannon balls fastened together by chain. Immediately on leaving the cannon's mouth, the chain-shot whirled in a parabola, acting like a giant scythe. At point blank range, this whirling chain sliced, pulped, and pounded the wooden structure. The vast erection sagged and buckled as Janissaries leapt from its heights. Finally, emitting a groan, it collapsed with a thunderous crash, spilling men, arms, ammunition, pitchers of water and incendiary grenades in all directions. The men ran the cannon back inside the fortress and the Maltese work party immediately started to restore the outer wall. As they watched the giant tower be set on fire, the Moslem leaders were almost despondent. It was becoming more and more difficult to induce their men to attack; sickness was spreading and ammunition and provisions were beginning to run low. Their will to fight was dampened by their numerous losses.
The confidence of the knights was steadily increasing. Unknown to them, the long-delayed relief force was anxiously waiting to depart from Messina, Sicily. This force was composed of professional soldiers and adventurers from all over Europe, mainly from Spain, but with many Italians, Germans, French and other European nations as well. Viceroy Don Garcia himself was in command of the force, and in the last week of August he set sail with close to 10,000 men in 28 ships, only to run into a severe gale. They headed for Malta at last on the 5th of September”.
The plight of the Turkish forces, however, was now desperate. With the exception of St. Elmo, the fortifications were still intact. By working night and day the garrison had repaired the breaches, and the capture of Malta seemed more and more impossible. The terrible summer months had laid many of the troops low with sickness in their crowded quarters; ammunition and food were beginning to run short, and the Turkish troops were becoming more and more dispirited at the failure of their numerous attacks and the unending toll of lives.
The Turks Last Effort
The Turkish commanders took few precautions, and, though they had a huge fleet, they never used it with any effect except on one solitary occasion. They neglected their communications with the African coast and made no attempt to watch and intercept Sicilian reinforcements. On September 1 they made their last effort, but all threats and cajoleries had but little effect on dispirited Turkish troops, who refused any longer to believe in the possibility of capturing those terrible fortresses. The feebleness of the attack was a great encouragement to the besieged, who now began to see hopes of deliverance. Perplexity and indecision of Turks were cut short by the news of the arrival of Sicilian reinforcements in Melleha Bay. Don Garcia set sail from Syracuse with his men and two hundred fifty knights and on September 7th, landed at Mellieha Bay. The next day the Turks raised the siege of Malta and by September 12th, they had all left the island. September 8th, the feast of the birth of the Virgin and Our Lady of Victories holds a special place in the hearts of the Maltese people.
At the moment of departure the Order had left 600 men capable of bearing arms, but the losses of the Ottomans had been yet more fearful. The most reliable estimate puts the number of the Turkish army at its height at some 40,000 men, of which but 15,000 returned to Constantinople. It was a most inglorious ending to the reign of Solyman the Magnificent. The siege is portrayed vividly in the frescoes of Matteo Perez d'Aleccio in the Hall of St. Michael and St. George, also known as the Throne Room, in the Grandmaster's Palace, Valletta.
In 1571, the growing Ottoman fleet decided to give challenge once again, but at this time were met at sea by a huge modern Spanish-Venetian fleet under the command of Don Juan de Austria, son of Emperor Charles V. The Ottomans were outgunned, out manoeuvred and outrun, and by the end of the day almost the entirety of their fleet was destroyed or captured in what is now known as the Battle of Lepanto. In 1607 the Order's Head of State, the Grand Master, was granted the status of Reichsfürst, and in 1630 awarded ecclesiastic equality with the cardinals and the unique hybrid style His Most Eminent Highness, reflecting both qualities qualifying him as a true Prince of the church.
Following the naval victory at Lepanto the Knights continued to attack pirates, and their base became a centre for slave trading, selling captured Africans and Turks and conversely freeing Christian slaves. Malta remained a slave market until well into the eighteenth century. It required a thousand slaves to equip merely the galleys of the order.
The expansion and fortification of Valletta, named for la Valette, was begun in 1566, soon becoming the home port of one of the Mediterranean's most powerful navies. The island's hospitals were expanded as well. The main Hospital could accommodate 500 patients and was renown as one of the finest in the world. At the vanguard of medicine, the Hospital of Malta boasted Schools of Anatomy, Surgery and Pharmacy. Valletta itself was renowned as a centre of art and culture. The Church of St. John the Baptist, completed in 1577, boasted works by Caravaggio and others.
The Grand Master was created a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, styled Serene Highness, in 1607. He was confirmed as a Prince in both Austria and Italy. In 1630 he was granted ecclesiastical precedence equal to that of a Cardinal. To this day, the Grand Master of the Order of Malta is styled His Most Eminent Highness.
In Europe, most of the Order's hospitals and chapels survived the Reformation, but not in Protestant countries. In Malta, meanwhile, the Public Library was established in 1761. The University was founded seven years later, followed, in 1786, by a School of Mathematics and Nautical Sciences. Despite these developments, some of the Maltese themselves grew to resent the Order, which they viewed as a privileged caste. This even included some of the local nobility, who were not admitted to the Order.
In 1789, France erupted in revolution and anti-aristocratic furore, forcing many French knights and nobles to flee for their lives. Many of the Order's traditional sources of revenue from France were lost permanently. Adding insult to injury, the French Revolutionary Government seized the assets and properties of the Order in France in 1792.
Napoleons Takes Malta
Their Mediterranean stronghold of Malta was captured by Napoleon in 1798 when he made his expedition to Egypt. As a ruse, Napoleon asked for safe harbour to re-supply his ships, and then turned against his hosts once safely inside Valletta. Grand Master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim failed to anticipate or prepare for this threat, provided no effective leadership, and readily capitulated to Napoleon. This was a terrible affront to most of the Knights desiring to defend their stronghold and sovereignty.
Their reign ended when Malta was captured by Napoleon en route to his expedition of Egypt during the French Revolutionary Wars in 1798. As a ruse, Napoleon asked for safe harbour to re-supply his ships, and then turned his guns against his hosts once safely inside Valetta. Grand Master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim capitulated and Napoleon stayed in Malta for a few days, during which he systematically looted the movable assets of the Order, and established an administration controlled by his nominees. He then sailed for Egypt, leaving a substantial garrison in Malta. The occupying French forces were unpopular, however, due particularly to their negative attitude towards religion. The Maltese rebelled against them, and the French were forced behind the fortifications. Great Britain, along with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, sent munitions and aid to the rebels. Britain also sent her navy, which instigated a blockade of the islands. The isolated French forces, under General Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois, surrendered in 1800, and the island became a British protectorate, being presented by several Maltese leaders to Sir Alexander Ball.
In 1814, as part of the Treaty of Paris, Malta officially became a part of the British Empire, and was used as a shipping way-station and fleet headquarters. Malta's proximity to the Suez Canal proved to be its main asset during these years, and it was considered to be a most important stop on the way to India. In the 1930s, due to Malta's cultural and geographical proximity to Italy, the British Mediterranean Fleet was moved to Alexandria. Malta played an important role during World War II, owing to its vicinity to Axis shipping lanes. The bravery of the Maltese people in their long struggle against enemy attack led to them being awarded the George Cross on 15 April 1942, now included in the corner of the Flag of Malta.
After the war, and after a short period of political instability due to the Malta Labour Party's unsuccessful attempt at 'Integration with Britain', Malta was granted independence on September 21, 1964 (Independence Day). Under its 1964 constitution, Malta initially retained Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Malta, with a Governor-General exercising executive authority on her behalf. On December 13, 1974 (Republic Day), however, it became a republic within the Commonwealth, with the President as head of state. A defence agreement signed soon after independence (and re-negotiated in 1972) expired on March 31, 1979 (Freedom Day) when the British military forces were withdrawn. Malta joined the European Union on May 1, 2004.
