Mediterranean History: The Great Siege Of Malta History Essay

MEDITERRANEAN HISTORY: THE GREAT SIEGE OF MALTA
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One of the most popular leaders of the 16th century is Suleiman the Magnificent whose expansion campaigns threatened Christianity in Europe. Known by many names such as King of Kings, Allah’s deputy on earth, Seal of Victory, and Majestic Caesar, the leader of the Ottoman Empire was instrumental to the expansion of the empire in the 16th century. After a series of expansion campaigns and capturing of Christian fleets, the next target of Suleiman the Magnificent and his army was Malta. The island was under the governorship of the military and monastic order of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John, with their grand master being Jean de La Valette. With La Valette only having a fraction of Suleiman’s army, the odds were against him but the stakes were high. This paper argues that Vallete’s leadership was integral in defeating the Turkish forces and eventually halting Suleiman’s expansion plans. 
The expansion of the Ottoman Empire during the 16th century was made possible by the many men and the fleets of ship possessed by Suleiman the Magnificent. In 1564, it was known that the empire was accumulating fleets of ships as it prepared for a major attack. Potential targets for Suleiman at the time were La Goleta, Sicily, and Malta. Throughout the Mediterranean region, commanders were concerned with the costly investment it would take to fortify their territories against a possible invasion by the Ottoman army. It became clear that the target was Malta when on the 18th of May, 1565, the Turkish armada that was made up of between 28,000 and 38,000 men sailed towards the island. The Order of the Knights that occupied Malta was an important military and religious order that played an integral role in defending the Christian kingdom. After Acre, a major stronghold for Christians, had fallen to the Muslims in 1291, the Knights had to take refuge in Cyprus before seizing the Rhodes Island twenty years later. The Knights used the island as the operations center for its activities against the Ottomans until they were forced out of it by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1522. For eight years, they remained homeless until they were given Malta by Roman Emperor Charles V. In the summer of 1964, the Knights captured the Sultana, a large ship belonging to the Ottomans that was packed with valuable goods destined for Venice. It is evident that prior to the Great Siege of Malta, the Knights and the Ottomans had some history. [Bonavita, Helen Vella. 2002. "Key to Christendom: The 1565 siege of Malta, its histories, and their use in reformation polemic." Sixteenth Century Journal 33 (4): 1021-1043.] [Ibid.,1021] [Humphrys, Julian. 2019. The Great Siege of Malta, 1565: the crusaders’ last stand. July 1. Accessed January 9, 2020. /period/tudor/great-siege-malta-1565-crusaders-last-stand-when-what/.]
Apart from the history of animosity between the Knights and the Ottomans, Malta was also a strategic point through which Suleiman the Magnificent could increase his dominance and expansion. The leader of the Ottoman Empire understood that if he was going to gain full dominance of the Western Mediterranean, he had to capture Malta first. To their dism...