The Great Ottoman Siege And The Birth Of Valetta
Posted under: If you are looking for a place to go to for a holiday, you should pick the Republic of Malta? The island’s capital is Valletta, which contains a collection of 16th century architecture that dated from the days of the Knights Hospitallers, a military organisation that had been around together with the ill-fated Knights Templar as a military brotherhood that operated in the Holy Land. If you are one who likes to learn about history, Malta and the capital should capture your fancy since it has a big part in modern history when it became the base of the Order of St. John or the Knights Hospitallers.
When the Kingdom of Jerusalem fell to Muslim hands in 1291, the Knights Hospitallers had found themselves with no home. First, they stayed in Tripoli, a part of the Kingdom of Acre but were once again forced to move to the Kingdom of Cyprus. Realizing that the Knights needed a home, Grandmaster Guillaurme de Villaret searched for a territory, with his son Fulkes moving to capture Rhodes from the Byzantines in 1309. In just a couple of centuries, however, Suleiman the Magnificient of the Ottoman Turks arrived and wrested control of Rhodes from the Knights Hospitallers. Retreating into Sicily, the Knights wandered about in Europe until they were awarded Malta in 1530 by Charles V of Spain. Once reinstated in Malta, the Knights’ first actions were to resume action against the Muslim Turks as well as Barbary pirates, which did not bear well with the Turks. Suleiman saw that the Knights Hospitallers controlled a strategic position in Malta and decided to take them off from the island by force, like he did in Rhodes.
In an immense show of strength, Suleiman landed 40,000 soldiers in Malta, while the Knights Hospitaller numbered only at around 8,000 soldiers commanded by 700 knights. In a single blow, half of the Hospitaller military in Malta was wiped out, and the Hospitallers had to withdraw to their most powerful fortification, which is the present-day city of Valletta. That did not seem to make a difference for the Knights Hospitaller, who struggled valiantly to hold the fortification from being overrun despite overwhelming odds. In one case, even the wounded Knights and soldiers were forced to take part in the defense because reinforcements were not sent by Spain or from Sicily. After the protracted siege, however, morale was low in the besiegers causing the quick departure once word of the arrival of reinforcements from Sicily reached Suleiman’s forces. After the siege, the Knights Hospitallers rebuilt the city and named it Valletta after Grandmaster Jean Parisot de la Valette who led them during the siege. The grandmaster deserved the honor after he refused to give ground to the besieging forces, choosing instead to remain and fight the Turks.
Once they established the city of Valletta, the Knights Hospitallers began building plenty of buildings that survive until today. For instance, they built many churches in the city including the Our Lady of Victories Church that took five years to build and which housed the body of la Valette until it was transferred to the St. John’s Co-Cathedral, which is also another example of Hospitaller architecture that survives up to this day. Aside from churches, one can also find extravagant Renaissance palaces that house government bodies like the Auberge de Castille, which used to be the house of the most powerful Langue of the Order of St. John as the Hospitallers were also known.
Valetta is home to more attractions outside the places that have been mentioned earlier. To make sure that you get the best from your holidays to Malta, make sure that you solicit the help of a dependable travel agent that give you sound travel advice in regards to destinations and activities. However, you can only ensure that you get the best out of your family holidays in spain reviews by tapping a travel agent to help you with your accommodation and reservations. As an alternative to Malta, why not go to nearby Spain as well? You should try and think about heading to holidays in spain with children, the home of Charles V who gave Malta to the Knights Hospitallers.
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