The Great Siege of Malta: The Epic Battle between the Ottoman Empire and the Knights of St. John

354 Pages·2015·8.66 MB·English

by  Bruce Ware Allen

The GreaT
SieGe
of MalTa

Bruce Ware Allen
The epic
BaTTle
between the
oTToMan
eMpire
and the
KniGhTS
of ST. John
ForeEdge
ForeEdge
An imprint of University Press of New England
www.upne.com
© 2015 Bruce Ware Allen
All rights reserved
For permission to reproduce any of the material in this book, contact
Permissions, University Press of New England, One Court Street,
Suite 250, Lebanon NH 03766; or visit www.upne.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Allen, Bruce Ware.
The Great Siege of Malta: the epic battle between the Ottoman Empire
and the Knights of St. John / Bruce Ware Allen.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbN 978-1-61168-765-1 (cloth: alk. paper)—
isbN 978-1-61168-843-6 (ebook)
1. Malta—History—Siege, 1565. 2. Knights of Malta. I. Title.
dg992.2.a55 2015
945.8'502—dc23 20150150025
To
capTain herMann a. allen
(1919–2010)
and
capTain JohanneS Müller
(1883–1943),
who loved all things maritime,
except war

•∙•∙•∙•
Contents
•∙•∙•∙•
List of Illustrations ix
Introduction 1
parT one. Corsairs and Rulers
1. The Siege of Rhodes, 1521 9
2. The Road to Malta, 1522–1530 20
3. In Service to the Empire, 1531–1540 30
4. War at Sea, 1541–1550 42
5. Djerba, 1551–1560 57
6. An Almost-Peaceful Interim, 1561–1564 70
7. Dark Clouds in the East, 1565 85
parT Two. Objective: St. Elmo
8. First Blood 99
9. Sizing Up the Enemy 106
10. Preparations for a Siege 116
11. A Fatal Oversight 123
12. Thrust and Parry 131
13. Fresh Resolve 138
14. Bullets Wrapped in Smoke and Fire 146
15. A Plea to God 152
16. The End of the Battle 158
parT Three. Honor Bought with Blood
17. Piccolo Soccorso 169
18. Relief into Birgu 178
19. Bravi d’Algieri 185
20. Endurance 193
21. Onslaught of the Ottomans 201
22. Two Gentlemen of Perugia 209
parT four. A Line Drawn in Water
23. The Gran Soccorso at Sea 223
24. Mustapha’s Last Hazard 232
25. The Gran Soccorso at War 241
26. From the Ashes 249
27. Verdict 256
28. The Survivors 259
A Note on the Sources
and Acknowledgments 265
Notes 269
Bibliography 303
Index 317
Illustrations follow p. 166