Great Siege of Malta

thumb|Rien n’est plus connu que ce siége, où la fortune de Soliman échoua.   Nothing is more known than this siege, where the fortune of Suleiman failed. — Voltaire thumb|Levee du Siege de Malte by Charles Philippe Lariviere 1798 1876 (cropped).jpg The Great Siege of Malta (Maltese: L-Assedju l-Kbir) occurred in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire attempted to conquer the island of Malta, then held by the Knights Hospitaller. The siege lasted nearly four months, from 18 May to 8 September 1565. The Knights Hospitaller had been headquartered in Malta since 1530, after being driven out of Rhodes, also by the Ottomans, in 1522, following the Siege of Rhodes. The Ottomans first attempted to take Malta in 1551 but failed. In 1565, Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Sultan, made a second attempt to take Malta. The Knights, who numbered around 500 together with approximately 6,000 foot soldiers, withstood the siege and repelled the invaders. Quotes De dehors on lui cria; des remparts on répondit. "Malte d'or, Malte d'argent, Malte de métal précieux, Malte, nous ne te prendrons pas, même si tu n'étais que courge, même si tu n'étais protégée que de peau d'oignon." "Je suis celle qui a décimé les galères du Turc, tous les braves de Constantinople et de Galata." From a 16th-century Cypriot ballad, translated into French by Hubert Pernot; quoted as epigraph to The Great Siege by Ernle Bradford (New York, 1962) And even if this siege, contrary to my expectation, should end in a victory for the enemy, I declare to you all, that I have resolved that no one in Constantinople shall ever see a Grand Master of our Holy Order led there in chains. If, indeed, the very worst should happen and all be lost, then I intend to put on the uniform of a common soldier and throw myself, sword in hand, into the thick of the enemy-and perish there with my children and my brothers. Jean Parisot de Valette, to the members of his council (15 August 1565); reported in The Great Siege (1962), p. 167 Rien n’est plus connu que ce siége, où la fortune de Soliman échoua. Nothing is more known than this siege, where the fortune of Suleiman failed. Voltaire, Œuvres complètes de Voltaire, vol. 13 (Paris: Garnier, 1838), p. 356 External links Category:Sieges