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In March 1565, the largest armada assembled since antiquity set sail from Constantinople and headed for Malta. Despatched by Suleiman the Magnificent, Emperor of the Ottomans, the vast fleet came to wipe the Knights Hospitaller, the Christian Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, off the face of the earth.
The Knights Hospitaller originated in the 11th Century from a group dedicated to St John the Baptist which tended sick and injured pilgrims in Jerusalem. They expanded into a military and religious order during the First Crusade and began providing armed escorts for the pilgrims. These Hospitallers, together with the Knights Templar, became a dominant military force in the Holy Land. The rising power of Islam and the fall of Jerusalem saw the Knights seeking refuge in Tripoli and then Cyprus.
Looking to establish a new home they captured Rhodes from the Byzantine Empire in 1309, where they established a stronghold, fighting Barbary pirates and repelling invasion attempts by Ottoman Sultans. The Knights Hospitaller were driven from their base after the Siege of Rhodes in 1522 by an army of Suleiman the Magnificent and roamed around Europe until 1530 when Charles V of Spain gave them Malta, little more than a baked and barren rock, for annual payment of one Maltese falcon, essentially to get the Knights out of his hair. They fortified Malta and continued assaults against Muslim forces and Barbary pirates, running battles and raids took place regularly between the Christian Knights and the Ottoman Muslims, who had since taken Tripoli.
Suleiman launched his forces from Constantinople to rid his Mediterranean territories of this threat, and to gain a new base from where he could drive up through Italy and into the heart of Christian Europe. The Ottoman Empire was at its peak during the reign of Suleiman, ruling vast territories from Hungary and Romania, through Greece and Turkey, to Iran and Georgia, and the north African coast, from Egypt to Algeria. He amassed a force of some 40,000 invaders, which disembarked on Malta at dawn on May 18th 1565.
The Christian defenders consisted of 500 Knights, 2000 soldiers mostly from Spain and Italy, and 3000 Maltese civilians. They gathered inside the Great Harbour to the north of Malta, defended by the Forts of St Elmo, St Michael and St Angelo. The Grand Master of the Knights, Jean de Valette ordered all crops on the island to be harvested, wells to be poisoned and any animal that could be eaten to be brought within the walls, they scorched their own land.
The Turkish forces were divided between Mustafa Pasha, General of the land armies, Piyale Pasha the Admiral of the Turkish fleet, and the corsair Turgut Reis.
Mustafa had wanted to first take the weakly defended Mdina to the north, cutting off communication with Sicily, and then head east, avoiding Fort St Elmo
altogether. Piyale, concerned about the anchorage of his fleet, favoured disembarking in Marsamxatt Bay to the south. Turgut Reis had yet to arrive from Tripoli. Mustafa deferred to Piyale's tactic, chiefly because of the Admiral's family connections with the Sultan, so the Turkish forces would concentrate their efforts on the capture of Fort St Elmo. They assumed the Fort could be taken within a few days, the whole of Malta within two weeks, but correctly guessing the Turkish strategy, Jean de Valette had placed half his heavy artillery within.
The Knights Hospitaller originated in the 11th Century from a group dedicated to St John the Baptist which tended sick and injured pilgrims in Jerusalem. They expanded into a military and religious order during the First Crusade and began providing armed escorts for the pilgrims. These Hospitallers, together with the Knights Templar, became a dominant military force in the Holy Land. The rising power of Islam and the fall of Jerusalem saw the Knights seeking refuge in Tripoli and then Cyprus.
Looking to establish a new home they captured Rhodes from the Byzantine Empire in 1309, where they established a stronghold, fighting Barbary pirates and repelling invasion attempts by Ottoman Sultans. The Knights Hospitaller were driven from their base after the Siege of Rhodes in 1522 by an army of Suleiman the Magnificent and roamed around Europe until 1530 when Charles V of Spain gave them Malta, little more than a baked and barren rock, for annual payment of one Maltese falcon, essentially to get the Knights out of his hair. They fortified Malta and continued assaults against Muslim forces and Barbary pirates, running battles and raids took place regularly between the Christian Knights and the Ottoman Muslims, who had since taken Tripoli.
Suleiman launched his forces from Constantinople to rid his Mediterranean territories of this threat, and to gain a new base from where he could drive up through Italy and into the heart of Christian Europe. The Ottoman Empire was at its peak during the reign of Suleiman, ruling vast territories from Hungary and Romania, through Greece and Turkey, to Iran and Georgia, and the north African coast, from Egypt to Algeria. He amassed a force of some 40,000 invaders, which disembarked on Malta at dawn on May 18th 1565.
The Christian defenders consisted of 500 Knights, 2000 soldiers mostly from Spain and Italy, and 3000 Maltese civilians. They gathered inside the Great Harbour to the north of Malta, defended by the Forts of St Elmo, St Michael and St Angelo. The Grand Master of the Knights, Jean de Valette ordered all crops on the island to be harvested, wells to be poisoned and any animal that could be eaten to be brought within the walls, they scorched their own land.
The Turkish forces were divided between Mustafa Pasha, General of the land armies, Piyale Pasha the Admiral of the Turkish fleet, and the corsair Turgut Reis.
Mustafa had wanted to first take the weakly defended Mdina to the north, cutting off communication with Sicily, and then head east, avoiding Fort St Elmo
altogether. Piyale, concerned about the anchorage of his fleet, favoured disembarking in Marsamxatt Bay to the south. Turgut Reis had yet to arrive from Tripoli. Mustafa deferred to Piyale's tactic, chiefly because of the Admiral's family connections with the Sultan, so the Turkish forces would concentrate their efforts on the capture of Fort St Elmo. They assumed the Fort could be taken within a few days, the whole of Malta within two weeks, but correctly guessing the Turkish strategy, Jean de Valette had placed half his heavy artillery within.