Malta Resists: The (Great) Siege of Malta 1565

It's risk free with Nord's 30-day-money-back-guarantee!

On 24 May 1565 the Ottoman artillery opened fire on Fort St. Elmo, one of the fortresses of the Knights hospitaller. This was the beginning of the great siege of Malta. Behind the artillery, an army of 40,000 soldiers was waiting to conquer the island, sent there by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, who wanted to strengthen the position of the Ottoman Empire in the struggle for supremacy in the Mediterranean and wipe out the Order of St. John, also known as Knights Hospitaller once and for all. But the Knights together with Maltese militia and a number of mercenaries, put up a fierce fight. Europe was trembling as the siege developed into a war of attrition of epic proportions. The possibility of an Ottoman bridgehead so close to Italy had never been more real.

Bibliography
Allen, B. W., The Great Siege of Malta: The Epic Battle between the Ottoman Empire and the Knights of St. John, New England 2015
Bradford, E., The Great Siege: Malta 1565, London 19992.
Crowley, R., Empires of the Sea, New York 2008.
Desportes, Ch., Le siège de Malte : la grande défaite de Soliman le magnifique, 1565, Paris 1999.
Setton, K. M., The Papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571, vol. 4 The Sixteenth Century from Julius III to Pius V, Philadelphia 1984.
Seward, D., Les chevaliers de Dieu: Les ordres religieux militaires du Moyen Âge à nos jours, trad. Claude-Christine Farny, Paris 2008.

Reading list:
Warfare:

Fiction related to the Early modern period:

Military Si-Fi recommendations:

Historiography:
Albeit focused on ancient history, it's a brilliant book for anybody who is interested in what history actually is. Is it a story? How does it work in practise? Can writing history be objective? Is it "scientific"? What makes it a proper discipline at university?

[SandRhomanHistory]

If you'd like to support us, please visit our Patreon page. It's the best way to chime in. Even with as little as $1! The money goes into the artwork that you see in the videos.

It's risk free with Nord's 30-day-money-back-guarantee!

[grandadmiralzaarin]

I remember reading of this as a kid and it stuck with me, the heroism of the Knights too wounded to stand placing themselves in chairs at the breaches of St Elmo, the brutality of both sides against prisoners, and the larger than life figures of Valet, Dragut and the rest that made the entire siege seem like the greatest film never made.

[alder]

I remember 17 years ago when as a kid i first played Age of Empires 3 and it started with the siege of Malta. I remember this till this day as a staggering siege. You did truly an amazing job, I love your siege videos.

[SuperibyP]

Genuinely one of the most fascinating and digestible channels out there - keep up the excellent work. Hopefully your numbers become just as staggering as the content!

[Western_]

That cavalry commander who took the ottoman camp and made them back off by shouting "victory!" must have been a time travelling NCO. Such initiative.

[ewen]

I live in Malta. It just goes to show how much the Ottomans were feared: the city walls of Valetta are simply…. Mind blowing

[napoleonibonaparte]

It isn’t complete without a Scottish knight named Morgan Black.

[vectorstrike]

The siege is worthy of a miniseries on television. Even already knowing how it went, it was so close of having a totally different outcome that the relief by the end feels exhilarating!

[EmisoraRadioPatio]

It's incredible how even in the breaches of the walls, mere handfuls of defenders held back literally thousands of Ottomans.

Finally, I was waiting for this siege, one of your best videos without a doubt. This Siege is part of the great war that the Hispanic Monarchy waged against the Ottomans for control of the Mediterranean throughout the 16th century and, together with Lepanto, was the event that most contributed to stopping Turkish expansion; Malta is one of the places that every lover of great sieges must visit, just like Istanbul, Budapest, Vienna, Antwerp, Breda, Ostend, Rome, etc. I would like you to make a video of the Siege of Castelnuovo in 1539, it is very epic, despite having a rather tragic ending.

[mvlevitch]

This was not just great, this was STAGGERING!

[Kevc]

It's actually amazing how such a small island has so many magnificent forts, went there only a few weeks ago and it is just one island fortress. I had never appreciated just how important the island was throughout history until I actually saw it myself. You can see how only a few thousand troops could hold the island from tens of thousands of invaders.

[TheGrenadier]

Long live the memory of the catholic defenders of Malta. Truly an outstanding show of bravery and resistance.

[owenhammond]

I love the Grand Masters Bitterness at the end there. It's the equivalent of "Thanks for the help but WOW did you guys take your sweet time trying to organize a relief force."

[TheBlacOfficial]

There's a little footnote towards the end of the siege that is worth mentioning. The 11th of September, a traitor told the turks that the relief army was only 5 thousand men, and the turks cancelled their plans to retreat and began to regroup. A spanish captain by the name of Álvaro de Sande, without waiting for orders or even taking the time to put on his armor attacked the turk army with his company, when they were marching nearby. The turks believed this was the army's vanguard and finally retreated a day later

[MrMDjT]

One of the best defensive battles in history. Mind blowing the courage and resistance of the Knights and the Maltese people

[Spiderfisch]

More like the (Staggering) Great Siege of Malta

[ArtilleryAffictionado]

Hey i'm the Duke of Alba from the credits. I remeber that i became a patreon in the hopes that this video got made. This is a small dream come true, thank you very much!

[AeliusMagnus]

The low-lying hidden battery near the chain (which is called De Guiral's battery) is actually located at the foot of Fort Saint Angelo, which opened up on the Ottomans as they rounded the tip of Senglea and prepared to land above the chain. It is not located at the tip of Senglia as depicted in your animation.

[profxtreme]

Great video, well done.

I first read about the siege several years ago in one of Roger Crowley's books (great historian and author) and have been deeply fascinated by the siege since. I am actually going to get to visit Malta for 3 days later this year. I am incredibly excited to be able to see Fort St. Elmo, Valetta, and the tomb of Jean De La Vallet. It will be an honor.

All of western civilization owes the Maltese a debt. They endured the two greatest sieges in history.