In the summer of 1565, the Ottoman Empire, then the greatest military power in the world, sent a vast fleet and army to take the small island of Malta. Defending it were the Knights of St John and a few thousand Maltese and Spanish soldiers. For almost four months they held out under relentless bombardment and assault. The Great Siege of Malta became one of the most famous sieges in history.
The Knights of Malta: Who They Were
The Order of St John, also called the Knights Hospitaller, was founded in Jerusalem around the time of the First Crusade to care for sick pilgrims, and soon became a military order of warrior monks. After the Crusader states fell, the Knights moved to Rhodes, where they fought the Ottomans for two centuries. In 1522 Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent besieged Rhodes and forced them out after a six-month siege, but allowed them to leave with honour.
In 1530 the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V gave the Order the island of Malta. From there, the Knights' galleys raided Ottoman shipping across the Mediterranean, and Suleiman came to regret his generosity at Rhodes.
In 1565 the Order was led by Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette, a French knight around 70 years old who had fought at Rhodes and had once been captured and served as a galley slave. He had spent years preparing Malta's defences for exactly this moment.
The Ottoman Empire: Who They Were
Under Suleiman, the Ottoman Empire stretched from Hungary to Iraq and North Africa. Its army included the famous Janissaries, elite professional infantry armed with muskets, as well as sipahi cavalry, skilled engineers and the most powerful siege artillery of the age.
The expedition to Malta was commanded jointly by Mustafa Pasha, a veteran general, and Piali Pasha, the admiral of the fleet. They were to be joined by the legendary corsair Turgut Reis (known in Europe as Dragut), governor of Tripoli. Estimates of the Ottoman force vary, but most historians put it at around 30,000 to 40,000 men carried by some 200 ships. The defenders numbered roughly 6,000 to 8,500, including around 500 knights, Spanish and Italian soldiers, and several thousand Maltese militia.
Weapons and Fortifications
- Defenders: the Knights held three key positions around the Grand Harbour: Fort St Elmo at the tip of the Sciberras peninsula, and the fortified towns of Birgu (with Fort St Angelo) and Senglea (with Fort St Michael). The knights wore plate armour and fought with swords, pikes and arquebuses, and they used incendiary weapons such as fire hoops and Greek fire.
- Ottomans: massive siege guns, some firing stone balls weighing dozens of kilograms, mining teams who dug tunnels to blow up walls, and wave after wave of Janissary and other infantry assaults.
The Siege, Step by Step
May–June: The Fall of Fort St Elmo
The Ottoman fleet arrived on 18 May 1565. The commanders decided to first take Fort St Elmo to secure an anchorage for the fleet. They expected it to fall in days. Instead, its small garrison, reinforced by boat from Birgu each night, held out for over a month under constant bombardment. Turgut Reis was mortally wounded by a cannon shot during the siege. When St Elmo finally fell on 23 June, almost every defender had been killed, but the Ottomans had lost thousands of men and precious weeks of summer.
The war then turned savage. Mustafa Pasha had the bodies of dead knights nailed to crosses and floated across the harbour. In reply, Valette ordered Turkish prisoners executed and their heads fired back at the Ottoman lines from cannon.
July–August: The Assaults on Birgu and Senglea
The Ottomans turned their full force on Birgu and Senglea. On 15 July they launched a combined land and sea assault on Senglea. A concealed battery at the waterline of Fort St Angelo fired into the attacking boats at close range, sinking most of them and killing hundreds of men.
On 7 August, a huge assault broke into Senglea and seemed close to success. Then, suddenly, the Ottomans withdrew. Cavalry from the old inland capital of Mdina had attacked the undefended Ottoman camp and field hospital at Marsa, and Mustafa, thinking a relief army had landed, called off the attack. Throughout August the Ottomans kept up the pressure with mines and assaults. At one point Valette, sword in hand, personally led a counterattack at a breach.
September: Relief
By early September the defenders were exhausted, but the Ottomans were suffering too, from casualties, disease and dwindling supplies. On 7 September a relief force of around 8,000 men, known as the Gran Soccorso, sent by the Viceroy of Sicily, García de Toledo, landed in the north of the island. The Ottoman army made a last attempt to fight it, was routed, and re-embarked. By 11 September the fleet had sailed away.
Aftermath
The victory was celebrated all over Christian Europe. Ottoman losses are uncertain, but may have reached a third or more of the army. The defenders had also lost heavily, including a large share of the knights. In 1566 Valette laid the first stone of a new fortified capital on the Sciberras peninsula, named Valletta in his honour. It is Malta's capital to this day. Suleiman died the following year during a campaign in Hungary, and no Ottoman army ever attacked Malta again.
Why Malta Held
- Preparation: Valette had strengthened the forts, stockpiled supplies and brought in water and food before the siege began.
- The stand at St Elmo: holding the small fort for over a month cost the Ottomans time, men and one of their best commanders.
- Divided command: Mustafa and Piali disagreed about strategy, and Turgut's death removed the most experienced leader.
- Maltese resistance: the island's population fought alongside the knights and made up most of the defending force.
- Relief: the arrival of the Sicilian army finally broke Ottoman resolve.
Verdict: Who Deserved to Win?
The Knights of Malta won, one of the greatest defensive victories in history against odds of about five to one. The Ottomans' courage was never in doubt: their troops made assault after assault in terrible conditions. But the defenders' preparation, determination and the stubborn stand at St Elmo made the difference.
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Sources and Further Reading
- Francisco Balbi di Correggio, The Siege of Malta, 1565 (eyewitness diary)
- Ernle Bradford, The Great Siege: Malta 1565
- Roger Crowley, Empires of the Sea
- Heritage Malta: Fort St Elmo and the National War Museum