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The Great Siege Of Malta 1565. Kyle Bonello Year 6.1 Senglea Primary School. he. Malta during the Knights 1565 .
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The Great Siege Of Malta 1565 Kyle Bonello Year 6.1 Senglea Primary School he
Although way back in 1522 Soleyman, the Turkish Sultan, had let the Order leave peacefully from Rhodes; after the Knights settled in Malta in 1530, they still continued attacking Turkish ships around the Mediterranean. Therefore, Soleyman was getting very annoyed with the losses his empire was suffering. Moreover, he was also unhappy about the fact that when one of his best generals, Dragut, attacked the Maltese Islands in 1551, he did not succeed in invading Malta and defeating the Knights of St. John based in "Birgu", in the Grand Harbour. Instead, Dragut only succeeded in taking Malta's sister small island of Gozo. So after 1551, the Knights of Malta still remained undefeated by the Turkish Empire. Therefore Soleyman started preparing a big army or Armada so that he could attack he Knights of St. John in Malta.
The Turks too were preparing for the siege. Mustapha Pasha and Piali Pasha asked other pirates and corsairs to help in the Turkish attack on Malta. The Turkish Armada that besieged Malta in 1565 is estimated to have consisted of some 200 galleys and 40,000 men, amongst whom were the Janissaries, which where the elite army of the Sultan and his personal bodyguards.
In 1557 La Valette was elected for Grandmaster of the Order of St. John. His experience was going to prove useful to the Order and the Maltese during the Great Siege. La Vallette was the first one to start urging for preparation for the coming Siege. His intuition was proved correct!Military training was immediately imposed on the Maltese population. Some old people and women were encouraged to go to Sicily to be safe. Measures were taken to ensure adequate supplies of corn from Sicily. The defence force consisted of some 9,000 men, which included some 600 Knights and 8,000 local military force.The Grandmaster tried to warn other European Kings to send weapons and soldiers to Malta so that the Knights could withstand the Turkish attack. But unfortunately not all the help arrived in time for the Great Siege.
Besides strengthening the fortifications from Fort St. Angeloto the maritime town of "Senglea", a palisade (a fortification) was built near Fort St. Michaelto prevent an attack from the sea.