460 Years Since The Siege Of 1565 But How Great Was It Really?
Today marks the 460th anniversary since the start of the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. In this day and age, it’s important to scrutinise all that we were taught as school children and to question the traditional panorama. So in reality, how great was the siege of Malta of 1565?
In order to understand whether something is great or not, one must start with a definition of “great”. In the practice of history, something can be defined as great if an event’s outcome has long-standing impact. Fernand Braudel, a historian of the early modern Mediterranean, defines ‘great’ as “that which brings about lasting change, structural long-term permanent radical change in whatever area.”
“In this sense, how historically significant was the siege? The answer proves quite controversial. The episode and its outcome did not bring about major changes,” writes Historian Victor Mallia- Milanes. Before addressing the question “How great was the great siege of 1565?”, we must go back in time for some context.
On 20th May 1565, Malta was besieged by the Ottoman Empire in what turned out to be a four-month long and bloody siege during which the Ottoman Empire laid waste to Malta, the island that the Order of St John called their home since 1530. But where were the seeds sown for this confrontation?
In 1113, Pope Paschal II took the Hospitaller Order under his wing, formally recognising it as a privileged order of the Catholic Church. From 1310 to 1522, the Order was based in Rhodes and it made itself a thorn in the Ottoman Empire’s side, attacking Turkish trade ships doing business in the Levant and making a mockery of them.
The Ottomans’ fury was unleashed in two attacks which ultimately ousted the Order from the island. The Hospitallers were granted Malta in 1530 by the Holy Roman Emperor, the Habsburg Charles V, and they continued to use the islands as their base until 1798.
After Tripoli was annexed by the Ottomans in 1551, the Order made a gruesome stand in defending the western Mediterranean. The Hospitallers looted Muslim villages, disrupted their trade and commerce, dragged men, women and children into slavery and in so doing, hindered the Ottoman’s expansion westward.
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This Hospitaller activity made Malta a target. The Ottoman Sultan Süleyman I sought to besiege Malta and bring the Knightsʼ headquarters down. The only way to bring such Hospitaller hostility to an end was to try and eliminate the institution that sustained it once and for all. That, and only that, explains 1565.
Going back to the question of “How great was the great siege of 1565?”, we must dive into what the siege meant for the Ottoman Empire, for the Order of St John and for the history of Malta.
Starting from the Ottoman Empire, there was hardly any effect at all apart from humiliation. The Ottoman Empire remained as powerful and fearful and their policy remained the same as before the siege. In just a few years, it went on to fight Christian Europe at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. After their loss at this battle, the Ottomans rebuilt their navy, including more than 150 galleys, 8 galleasses and in total, 250 ships had been built in just six months. Therefore, the Ottomans’ might might have wavered temporarily but in the long-term overview of events, they remained steady.
Moving on to the Order of St John’s point of view, the outcome of the siege decided their survival. The siege was definitely great from them. However, it took them a long time to make up for what they lost through the years of fighting the Ottomans before landing on Malta. One has to also look at the fact that it took years to rebuild what was destroyed. The Ottomans had left the Maltese Islands in a complete state of ruin with the countryside ravaged and devastated. Considering that the native population was between 25,000 and 30,000 people and their economy predominantly agrarian, it was quite a significant wreckage for the islands.
With regards to the effect of the siege on the history of Malta, its outcome meant that the Order was to stay in Malta. The islands became Europeanised thanks to the Order and their diverse cultures which coloured Malta and gave it some of the traditions that we still celebrate today.
Considering these facts, can the siege of 1565 be considered as “great”?
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