Hello!
Welcome back to the next period of the Maltese historical journey. It is such a blessing to have Angele on the team to take us through this adventure via the newsletter. The Knights of St. John as you will learn had a significant influence and left a big footprint on the island. This has been my favorite part of the history. The Order of St. John, formally known as the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, is a medieval Catholic military order that was founded in the 11th century. The order has a long and complex history, and it played a significant role in the Crusades and the defense of Christian territories in the Mediterranean.
Fun fact: My grandmother and Angele's step-grandfather grew up one block away from Fort St. Elmo. I can only try to imagine what it was like in the period of 1920s-1930's and wow, what a view they had growing up!
Enjoy the next part of your journey.
Note from Angele
Welcome back to our Maltese Historical Journal. I hope you are enjoying it so far. In the next 2 newsletters we will be discovering the most important historical period for the Maltese Islands.
The Knights of St John ruled Malta for 250 years and their legacy remains strong to this day. This Historical era will be divided in two newsletters because of the numerous important milestones to cover. For this newsletter, I will go through the Knights of St John’s journey in Malta and I will identify their major works on the Rock in the next newsletter.
I certainly hope you had fun learning some Maltese words in the previous two newsletters as I will be teaching you some more vocabulary today- Let’s have some fun!
1530- Knights of St John
In 1530, the Spanish gave Malta to the Order of St John for an annual fee of 1 Maltese Falcon. When the Order moved to Malta, they chose Birgu as their capital city. It seemed as though the Knights moved to Malta half heartedly as they had no other choice since they were evicted from Rhodes by their defeat from the Ottoman Turks. It wasn't until 1565 when the strength of the Maltese people increased that they began to care about the Island.
The Great Siege of Malta
The Great Siege of Malta was a turning point in history not only for Malta, but also for the Order. The invasion of 40,000 of Suleimen, the tenth longest ruler of the Ottoman Turks, lasted 3 months. With only 700 men, the Order of St. John knew they needed support. They requested help from from the Emperor Charles V, the Pope and the Viceroy of Sicily to no avail. When the Order was ready to give up, the Maltese people united and showed their courage, forming a troop of only 8,000. In September, the Turkish gave up and the Knights had a very decisive victory!
After noticing the courage of the Maltesers during the Great Siege, the Order of St John’s completely changed their mind and decided to make Malta their permanent home. They then starteded to invest in projects such as Valletta and the Aqueduct which we will be looking into more details in the next newsletter.
Fort St. Elmo is the Knights major Legacy! St Elmo is the location where during the Siege, the Knights and the Maltese people fought and protected the Island. St Elmo’s Place is found in Valletta and it was vital for many periods after the Great Siege, especially during World War II.
If you are interested in the Great Siege as well as World War II, I suggest you visit the National War Museum when you visit the Rock. Please do ask the team of Meet The Rock for more information.
