Speaker
1: |
In
the dawn of 1565, two great armies met in the heat of battle on a small,
barren island in the middle of the Mediterranean. Victory could go either
way. Defeat would mean disaster. The war came to be known as the Great Siege
of Malta. The defenders were the Knights of the Order of St. John, the last
of the crusaders. The aggressor was the greatest military force the world had
ever known, the Ottoman Empire. |
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Two
events altered Malta's history dramatically. First, ship builders learned to build
boats capable of crossing large stretches of open water, rather than hugging
the coastline. Second, the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem
arrived in 1530. |
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The
origins of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem stretched far back into the early
stages of Christian history when pilgrims started travelling to the Holy
Lands. For years the area was stable and Muslims and Christians lived
peacefully side by side. Then Caliph al-Hakim came into power and he expelled
all non-Muslims from the Holy Lands. This led to outright hostility and the
wars that followed were called the Crusades. Adventurers and soldiers from
every part of Europe soon arrived to liberate the holy places. |
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The
First Crusade was in 1099 and one of the spoils of victory for the Christians
was Jerusalem. The local hospital was run by a group of Benedictine monks who
had nursed the wounded crusaders. |
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These
monks took St. John as their patron and were the founders of the order. By
1291, the Muslims finally expelled the crusaders and the knights were forced
from their home. For a brief but uneasy period, they were the guests of the
King of Cyprus until 1310. Then they took over the poorly defended island of
Rhodes spending the following 200 years there. |
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During
its stay in Rhodes, the order was organised along linguistic lines forming
auberge, or hostels, for each of the important langues,
or tongues. They also elected one of their member to be Grand Master. He
reigned as sovereign monarch over the order for life. |
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Their
mandate to return to Jerusalem eventually led to the loss of Rhodes. For 200
years, the order harassed the Ottomans. In 1521, the young sultan, Suleiman,
assembled a vast army and for months battered the walls of Rhodes. Finally,
the knights surrendered. |
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(singing) |
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During
this era, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, was a very powerful man. His
empire and those of his allies stretched from Europe to the Americas. If the
order wanted a new base in the Mediterranean, he was the man most likely to
help. |
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There
was no love lost between the order and the emperor, so he benignly offered
the order the barren islands of Malta and Gozo.
This offer was hardly acceptable to the order after their beloved Rhodes.
Grand Master L'Isle-Adam hesitated only slightly before
accepting. The order, by now facing disintegration, was desperate for a new
home. The Grand Master had little choice. |
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L'Isle-Adam and the main body of the order arrived in Malta
from Sicily on October the 26th, 1530. The Ottoman Empire wasn't a naval
power in its own right. It relied on a group of pirates called the Barbary
Corsairs to give them supremacy on the seas. The admiral of the corsair fleet
was Dragut, a character who was to play an
important part in the siege. His master plan to dominate the central
Mediterranean was not unsuccessful. Only Malta and Sicily were his stumbling
block. |
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Malta's
defences had to be improved. The main entrance to the Grand Harbour was
undefended on its northern side, so it was decided to build a fort on the tip
of Mount Sceberras. This fort would not only
command the entrance to Grand Harbour, it would also protect the entrance to Marsamxett Harbour on the northern side. Thus Fort St.
Elmo was built. |
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Yet
for all that planning, there was no overcoming its weakness. It stood on low
ground. From the slopes of Mount Sceberras, it
could be dominated by artillery. |
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The
second fort was built on Senglea Point to provide
cover for the east flank of Fort St. Angelo. The fort was named after St.
Michael. |
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Birgu and Senglea were effectively
converted into one massive defensive position. To complete the scene off the
area, a great chain was slung across the narrow neck of water to ward off any
sea born attacks. |
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Enter
Grand Master Jean Parisot la Valette. He was an extraordinary individual. He
joined the order when he was 20 and was typical of the driven,
single-mindedness encouraged by the order. In 1541, he had been captured and
for a year he lived and survived in the terrible world of the galley slave.
In 1564, la Valette was 70 years old. |
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In
1564, Suleiman the Magnificent was also 70 years old. His was a life of
unparalleled distinction. Known to his countrymen as the Law Giver, he was
more commonly referred to as the Magnificent by the people of Europe. Suleiman
had reformed and improved the government of Turkey and made her the greatest
military state in the world. |
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His
empire stretched from Austria to the Persian Gulf and all of the North
African coastline. But that wasn't enough for Suleiman. He still wanted to
expand. All that stood in his way was a tiny dot in the middle of the
Mediterranean. Any dream of further conquest was thwarted by Malta. If
Suleiman took it, then Malta's harbours could shatter his fleet and he would
have a base from which to take Sicily and Southern Italy. In October 1564,
Suleiman summoned his counsel and announced that preparations should begin
for a spring campaign. |
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News
of the impending campaign soon reached la Valette. The Grand Master appealed
to the viceroy of Sicily for reinforcements. The sultan split command of the
campaign. He give command of the army to Mustafa, his foremost general, and
command of the navy to Piyale, his son-in-law and
admiral of the fleet. Sensing the probability of a power struggle, the sultan
suggested they include [Dragut Dryese]
in their counsel. |
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Look
April, the Turkish fleet left Constantinople. It was an impressive sight. 190
vessels, including 138 galleys, reinforced by pirate ships from Algiers and
Tripoli. Conservative estimates of the number of Turkish troops was 30,000.
The Ottoman armada arrived on Friday, May the 18th, 1565. The fleet first
landed off Marsaxlokk, but soon moved on to [Injar]
Bay. Because of this manoeuvre, the Maltese concluded that the first
objective was Mdina. La Valette posted 2,300 men
there. |
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La
Valette's resources were much smaller than the Ottoman's. Under his direct
command, he had only 6,100 men, 4,300 Maltese, 500 knights, 500 galley
soldiers, 200 Greek and Sicilian familiars of the order, and 600 Italian and
Spanish infantry. He was taking a great risk by sending so many men of the
Maltese militia to Mdina. |
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The
scene was set for the great siege of Malta. |
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Mustafa
Pasha chose to attack St. Elmo. His reasoning was simple. The fort was an
easy target and should fall within 10 days. After that, he could move his
fleet into the safety of Marsamxett Harbour and
turn the attack to St. Angelo, Birgu and Fort St.
Michael, sealing the knight in the harbour area and preventing any
reinforcements arriving by sea. |
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A
calvary detachment that had been following the
Turkish fleet along the coast ran into advance patrols. A French knight and a
Portuguese novice were captured and interrogated about the island's defences.
Under torture, they claimed their weakest point was the post of Castille. |
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La
Valette had better sources than his counterparts. He had a good idea of the
number of men marching against him thanks to a network of Christian spies. |
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The
Turkish army made ready for its first major encounter. La Valette ordered all
his soldiers to stay inside the walls and hold their fire, but a few younger
knights were itching for their first taste of battle. |
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As
the sun set, Mustafa ordered his troops to withdraw. The attack proved to
Mustafa that the post of Castille and the langue
defences were strong and well defended. |
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His
captives had lied. The penalty was death. Mustafa thought Mdina,
Birgu and St. Michael should be his primary targets
and St. Elmo could be ignored. He envisaged half the fleet vacating Grand Harbour
and half to the north to intercept any reinforcements. But Piyale didn't agree. His main responsibility was the
safety of his fleet. His first priority was to harbour the fleet in Marsamxett. The only way he could do this was to
neutralise St. Elmo. Mustafa gave in. For the first, but not the last time, Piyale unwittingly came to the defender's aid. |
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The
Grand Master was pleased with the news. He knew that the Ottomans could not
take St. Angelo before the fall of Birgu and Fort
St. Michael. And in order to get those, they would have to take St. Elmo. |
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La
Valette strengthened St. Elmo's original garrison of 800. Colonel Mas led 200
of his men and 64 knights to the fort. On Friday, May the 25th, the Turks
began to transport their heavy artillery from the ships anchored offshore.
The next day, they began digging trenches on the Marsamxett
side of the fort. It was a laborious task. But in spite of heavy sniper fire,
they eventually reached the [inaudible]. |
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The
Turkish artillery far exceeded that of the Christians. |
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They
raised two siege batteries of the promontory of Sciberras
Hill. One opposite Fort St. Michael and another opposite St. Angelo. |
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The
bombardment began the morning of May the 27th. |
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The
garrison was also harassed by snipers who had taken up positions on the Marsamxett side. |
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On
the evening of May the 29th, the fort commander sent a Spanish knight, Juan
de la Cerda, to inform the la Valette that St. Elmo could only hold out if
there was a constant flow of reinforcements. |
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[crosstalk] |
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His
description of the garrison and its defences was grim. After de la Cerda had
left, la Valette outlined the unspoken strategy to the Grand Council. Fort
St. Elmo was doomed, but the whole campaign hinged on the length of time it
could hold out. Every day was vital. |
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At
daybreak of May the 30th, Colonel Mas and Chevalier de [Madra]
made a sortie against the Turks. |
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Mustafa
called in his Janissaries. The defenders fell back as these supreme warriors
advanced. When the dust and smoke settled, the defenders could see what had
happened. The Janissaries had recaptured their trenches and were in a
stronger position. |
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On
June the 2nd, Dragut arrived with 2,500 volunteers
from Algiers and Tripoli. He was now 80 years old and was well acquainted
with Malta having raided it six times between 1540 and 1565. His assessment
was swift. St. Elmo's strength lay in the fact that reinforcements were being
sent over every night. |
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Unwittingly,
Piyale came to the knights' aid once again when he
refused the land the guns from his ship until Marsamxett
Harbour had been secured. |
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The
long coveted ravelin fell into Dragut's
hands by accident. A group of Turkish engineers were sent out to inspect the
outbuilding. No one challenged them. It seemed deserted. One of the party
peered through and saw a few exhausted soldiers lying asleep. |
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Roused
by the cries of the Janissaries, the garrison manned their guns. The
Janissaries had taken the outbuilding and turned their attention to the fort.
They swarmed across a bridge linking the outbuilding to the fort ignoring the
gaps torn in the ranks by the musket shots from above. |
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The
defenders were also ready with an ingenious array of firepower. |
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One
was wildfire, an ancient warfare technique. |
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Trumps
were as deadly as they were ingenious. |
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Worse
than wildfire and trump was the hoop. Hoops were made out of light wood
dipped in flammable solutions. |
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The
impact on them was those with their loose flowing robes was devastating. |
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When
Mustafa finally called off his troops, he had lost nearly 2,000 men, most of
them Janissaries. The defenders lost 10 knights and 70 men. |
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On
Monday, June the 4th, Captain Miranda, a seasoned soldier sent by the Viceroy
in Sicily, reported back to the Grand Master that the fort would not hold if
the Turks started a massive assault. |
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La
Valette took Miranda's advice seriously and asked him to take command of St.
Elmo. |
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Miranda
crossed the harbour in a supply boat. On arrival, he was warmly welcomed by
the troops and he immediately issued several orders aimed at raising morale. |
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On
June the 7th, the Turks prepared for their attack with a barrage of intense
artillery fire. It seemed as if this was St. Elmo's last hour. |
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Yet,
incredibly, when the Ottoman troops attacked, they were met with a hail of
bullets and incendiary weapons. The next day, the Grand Master received
another message from the garrison sent by the Italian knight, [inaudible]. It
was devastating. 53 young knights had signed a petition describing the
situation at St. Elmo as hopeless. La Valette needed an independent opinion
of the state of the fort so he ordered three knights to cross over, assess
the situation and report back to him that night. |
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When
the trio entered St. Elmo, they were immediately surrounded by the members of
the garrison. The commissions refused to discuss a withdrawal. The garrison
was astonished. One knight, Constantino [inaudible] trusts them boldly saying
that the situation was not hopeless at all. All that was needed was fresh men
and a fresh approach. |
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The
council decided not to abandon the fort. Instead, it would be reinforced. On
Sunday, June the 10th, the first great night attack began. |
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The
assault was redoubled on June the 16th. For the besieged, it seemed like the
end of the world. |
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Many
died during this assault, including the valorous Captain [Madrad]. |
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The
Turks were puzzled. How could this mound of rubble still defy them? Dragut decided to build a wall to screen Turkish troops
from the guns on St. Angelo. Safe from the cannon fire, the Turks could thus
prevent the knights from sending daily reinforcements. It was the last bit of
advice the old pirate was to give. On June the 18th, Dragut
who was supervising the building of the screen was killed by an errant shot
from his own troops. |
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La
Valette was relieved by the news that Dragut was
dead. |
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Ships
from Piyale's fleet attacked from the sea. Turkish
guns stood between St. Elmo and Grand Harbour. Any reinforcement was lost. It
was sheer cruelty to send any more men to die. |
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The
Turks continued the bombardment the next day. 2,000 Turkish troops lost their
lives and a frustrated Mustafa realising that St. Elmo would not fall, once
again ordered the recall. |
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That
night, the remnants of the bedraggled garrison realised they were alone. They
resigned themselves to their fate but they did not surrender. |
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At
sunrise, the Turks began their final assault. The handful of defenders
resisted for four hours. Then Captain Miranda called a parlay. The siege of
St. Elmo was over. |
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(singing) |
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The
Janissaries were the first to enter the fort. Only nine knights survived the
slaughter. When the Turks counted the bodies, they were dismayed to find that
only 60 men had help up their advance. |
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Humiliated,
Mustafa ordered the bodies of the slain knights mutilated and thrown in the
harbour. La Valette was furious by the desecration of the bodies of the dead
knights. He had all the Turkish prisoners decapitated, aimed his canons and
fired the heads back to St. Elmo. |
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Mustafa
built trenches from Carradino to Bighi, which effectively circled all of Birgu/Senglea positions. |
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While
the Turkish army prepared, la Valette received news that a small relief force
of four galleys had arrived. The force, numbering 70 men, was known as the
Piccolo Soccorso. |
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Their
arrival injected new life into the defenders. |
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Not
knowing the numbers of the relief force and fearing the worst, Mustafa Pasha
decided to attempt a negotiation. |
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A
messenger carrying a white flag arrived at the gates of Birgu.
His message was, "Surrender with full honours of war." |
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La
Valette was furious. The messenger was shown the massive bastions and
fortifications. He soon realised the impossible task the Ottomans faced. La
Valette said that he would certainly surrender the ditch provided Mustafa
filled it with the bodies of the Janissaries. |
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Now
that his fleet lay safely at anchor, Mustafa brought every available cannon
for the attack on Senglea and Birgu.
In a few days, the Turks transported 80 light boats across the neck of land
that divides the Grand Harbour from Marsamxett. |
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La
Valette had another important card up his sleeve. He had been getting advice
from a deserter named Lasearis, who urged him to
strengthen the defences on the southern side of Senglea.
As soon as all 80 boats were afloat, Mustafa intended to attack by land and
sea. |
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The
Grand Master built a palisade strong enough to prevent the Turks from
breaching it with their boats and to hinder their soldiers from swimming
ashore. |
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By
the end of the first week of July, some 70 guns on Mount Sciberras,
Gallows Point, Mount Salvatore and the Carradino
Heights began heavy crossfire. |
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On
Sunday, July the 15th, the defenders noticed the Turks launching their boats
and embarking the troops. The boats rode full speed against the whole front
hoping the chain would break. It didn't. The post of the popular daredevil
knight, Francisco de [Zenguerra], lay in wait. |
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The
musketeers on the wall of Senglea began shooting.
Horrified to see Turkish banners above the breach, Zenguerra
led a counterattack. Fra Roberto of Eboli, a Capuchin friar, was at his side
with a cross in one hand and a sword in the other calling upon the defenders
to die the men and to perish for their failure. |
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A
stray shot kills Zenguerra. His death caused a near
panic among the defenders. The Turks cheered and redoubled their attack.
Meanwhile, Mustafa decided it was time for his master stroke. While the
southern border of Senglea was under siege, it sent
in 10 boats with 800 Janissaries to take the great chain that barred the
entrance to the creek. |
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But
he failed to notice a battery with guns trained along the length of the
chain. The Janissaries rode right into the mouth of the primed guns. Before
they had time to realise the danger, they were blown to pieces. The battery
saved Senglea. Hundreds of Turks drowned in the
narrow stretch of water. |
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Mustafa,
still unaware of the fate of his Janissaries, did not order a retreat. The
recently arrived Algerians continued to hurl themselves at St. Michael and
engaged in hand to hand fighting along the walls. |
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The
assault lasted five hours. By the end, the Turks had retreated with an
estimated loss of 4,000 dead. Aside from the wounded, the Christians lost
only 200 men. |
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Mustafa
put a new battery on Bighi. By late July, the
attack was renewed. |
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It
was now the 1st of August and there was still no sign of reinforcements. The
Grand Master expected a large scale assault at any time. It came at dawn of
August the 2nd. All the Turkish batteries opened fire at once. It was the
heaviest bombardment of the siege and Mustafa was convinced that no one could
live through it. |
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After
over six hours of continuous assault, the Christians still held out.
Reluctantly, Mustafa ordered his troops to withdraw. |
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On
August the 7th, the thunder of the guns ceased and the Ottomans launched an
attack on Birgu and Senglea
simultaneously. |
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Piyale's troops swept over the ditch in front of the ramparts of
Castillo. They surged forward in what appeared to be undefended space only
they come up against a further inner wall. |
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(singing) |
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These
inner walls ran around the landward side of Birgu. |
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(singing) |
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Caught
in a narrow enclave, the Turks were slaughtered by the hundreds. The Grand
Master was in the thick of it throughout this rout. |
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The
attack on St. Michael was no less severe. Mustafa's forces had stormed the
wall and managed to climb the ramparts. It looked as if they would succeed.
Then, suddenly, with no warning, the Turks were given the signal to retreat. |
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The
Janissaries could not believe their ears. Victory was within their grasp.
They were as hard to call off as a pack of wolf hounds. Only when they had
learned that their injured brethren at the base camp were being slaughtered
did they relent. |
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The
Christians were also puzzled by the withdrawal. For nine hours the Turks had
fought. Just when they had made some real gains, they left. For a moment the
Grand Master thought the long awaited relief force from Sicily had
materialised. |
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Mustafa
too had received news that a large Christian force was massacring everyone at
the Turkish base camp. |
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In
fact, it was a calvary detachment of barely 100
horse and 200 men station at Mdina who had attacked
Marsa. Convinced that Marsa
would be only lightly guarded, they decided to attack. When he returned,
Mustafa found the camp destroyed and the dead littering the ground. There lay
the dead and there the ruined camp, but there was no sign of a large
Christian relief force. |
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A
handful of men had snatched victory from Mustafa's grasp. Time was running
out for the Turks. Malta could not support a winter campaign. Over 10,000 of
Mustafa's men had already been killed or incapacitated since the first
landing and nothing to show for it but the small ruined shell of St. Elmo.
Mustafa now pinned his hopes on his infernal machine to breach Fort St.
Michael. It was shaped like a long barrel, circled and bound with iron hoops
and chains. It was filled with gunpowder, nails and grape shot. A slow match
was attached to delay its explosion. |
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(singing) |
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But
this explosion was not to be. Four brave Maltese at great personal risk
hoisted it over the top and hurled it into the ditch putting pain to
Mustafa's final hopes and causing great carnage. |
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These
were important victories, but did nothing to alleviate the Christians'
desperation. It was nearing the end of August and there was still no sign of
a relief force. The Turks were no happier. Mustafa was in favour of wintering
in Malta, but once again he was superseded by Piyale
who would not endanger his fleet. |
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However,
in Messina, Sicily, la Valette's calls for reinforcements were finally being
answered. Knights were amassing from every corner of Central Europe. On
August the 25th, Don Garcia with 10,000 men embarked in 28 vessels and
galleys, the Gran Soccorso was on its way. |
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Mustafa
weighed his options. Wintering in Malta would mean sheltering in Mdina. Was it as poorly defended as rumoured? A few well
aimed shots and the sight of thousands of soldiers on the ramparts soon convinced
Mustafa to call off the invasion. Little did he realise that the crowds he
saw were only the village folk dressed in soldiers uniforms. |
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Because
of rough seas, Don Garcia's force only reached Malta on the evening of
September the 6th. They escaped the notice of the Turkish navy and under the
command of Ascanio della Corgna, they landed at [inaudible] and marched to Mdina. |
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The
sight of Don Garcia's empty galley returning to Sicily was the last straw for
the Turks. Their campaign had failed. The rock of Malta had held. They
hastily destroyed their camps and made to board their ships. |
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The
Christians watched their departure with elation. The order's flag was once
again raised at St. Elmo. La Valette and his retinue were ecstatic. |
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The
elation was short lived, however, as the newly occupied post of St. Elmo
reported to the Grand Master that the Turkish army was disembarking once
again further up the coast. The troops were reforming on shore. Mustafa Pasha
had changed his mind. He had discovered that the relief force was not as
large as he had been led to believe. He was going to fight. |
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La
Valette knew Mustafa's forces were larger than della
Corgna's and that a Turkish victory was still
possible, but he pinned his hopes on the fact that the relief force was fresh
and in far better condition. |
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The
seasoned della Corgna
decided to wait rather than be lured into battle on the plain. But as soon as
they saw the enemy advancing, there was no holding back. The Christians
poured down the ridge. It was a one sided engagement. The Turks soon broke.
The fresh troops drove the disheartened Turks back to their ships. By the
evening of September the 8th, the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady, the
siege was over. |
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The
threat had passed. Outnumbered three to one, the defenders had accomplished
what many thought impossible. Malta had withstood the heaviest bombardment
known at the time. |
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Honours
were showered on Grand Master la Valette. He thanks God for his deliverance,
but he was already preparing for the future. He was dreaming of a series of
impregnable fortifications and of a city that would last as long as time. |
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La
Valette did not live to see his dream realised. Three years after the siege,
in July 1568, he suffered a stroke. On August the 21st, 1568, the silent
crowds in the streets heard that their hero and saviour, Grand Master Jean
Parisot de la Valette, was dead. |
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(singing) |
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La
Valette's body lies in the great crypt of the Co-Cathedral of St. John's in
his city of Valletta. Beside him rests his secretary and faithful friends,
Sir Oliver Starkey. The only man other than a grand master to be buried in
the crypt. The inscription on like Valette's tomb was composed by Sir Oliver. |
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(singing) |
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Here
lies la Valette, worthy of eternal honour. He who was once the scourge of
Africa and Asia and the shield of Europe once he expelled the barbarians by
his holy arms is the first to be buried in this beloved city whose founder he
was. |
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(singing) |