Ottoman EmpireOttoman Vassals: Relief force:[2] Relief force: 2,500 (6,100, including militia, servants, and galley slaves) Mediterranean 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.

It undoubtedly contributed to the eventual erosion of the European perception of Ottoman invincibility, although the Mediterranean continued to be contested between Christian coalitions and the Muslim Turks for many years.

Charles also required the Knights to garrison Tripoli on the North African coast, which was in territory that the Barbary corsairs, allies of the Ottomans, controlled.

The Knights' governor on Gozo, Gelatian de Sessa, having decided that resistance was futile, threw open the doors to the Cittadella.

[8] By 1559 Dragut was causing the Christian powers such distress, even raiding the coasts of Spain, that Philip II organized the largest naval expedition in fifty years to evict the corsair from Tripoli.

[10] After Djerba, the Turks made a strategic error in not attacking Malta at once, while the Spanish fleet lay in ruins, as the five-year delay allowed Spain to rebuild its forces.

Romegas' exploits gave the Turks a casus belli, and by the end of 1564, Suleiman had resolved to wipe the Knights of Malta off the face of the earth.

"[15] On the other hand, in a letter to the Prior of Germany a month after the siege, de Valette writes, "This fleet consisted of two hundred and fifty ships, triremes, biremes and other vessels; the nearest estimate we could make of the enemy's force was 40,000 fighting men.

[20] Before the Turks arrived, de Valette ordered the harvesting of all the crops, including unripened grain, to deprive the enemy of any local food supplies.

[22] A day later, the Ottoman fleet sailed up the southern coast of the island, turned around and finally anchored at Marsaxlokk (Marsa Sirocco) Bay, nearly 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the Grand Harbour region.

The gunners of St Angelo... were able to lay and train their pieces upon the advancing Turks, who were picked out in the light of the fires.In the initial weeks of the siege, prior to the arrival of the small relief sent by Garcia de Toledo, two companies of veteran soldiers from the Tercio of Sicily faced the Ottoman forces, led by three Spanish captains.

However, Captain Miranda was not present at the siege's outset, as he remained in Sicily, serving as a courier and military adviser for García de Toledo.

During one such engagement, Ensign Gonzalo de Medrano notably distinguished himself in front of his arquebusiers, gaining the attention of Grand Master La Valette.

Sire, a historian who has written a history of the Order, is of the opinion that the siege represented an overextension of Ottoman forces, and argues that if the island had fallen, it would have quickly been retaken by a massive Spanish counterattack.

After several attempts, this piccolo soccorso (Italian: small relief) managed to land on Malta in early July and sneak into Birgu, raising the spirits of the besieged garrison immensely.

Don Garcia pleaded with Philip II to authorize a much larger relief force to be deployed, but the Spanish king was indecisive and fearful of risking his newly assembled fleet.

Luckily for the Maltese, a defector warned de Valette about the impending strategy and the Grand Master had time to construct a palisade along the Senglea promontory, which successfully helped to deflect the attack.

Nevertheless, the assault probably would have succeeded had the Turkish boats not come into point-blank range (less than 200 yards) of a sea-level battery of five cannons that had been constructed by Commander Chevalier de Guiral at the base of Fort St. Angelo with the sole purpose of stopping such an amphibious attack.

The land attack failed simultaneously when relief forces were able to cross to Ft. St. Michael across a floating bridge, with the result that Malta was saved for the day.

Having largely destroyed one of the town's crucial bastions, Mustafa ordered another massive double assault on 7 August, this time against Fort St. Michael and Birgu itself.

As it happened, the cavalry commander Captain Vincenzo Anastagi, on his daily sortie from Mdina, had attacked the unprotected Turkish field hospital, killing everyone and beheading more than sixty Turks.

Balbi, in his diary entry for 20 August, says only that de Valette was told the Turks were within the walls; the Grand Master ran to "the threatened post where his presence worked wonders.

[44] The situation was sufficiently dire that, at some point in August, the Council of Elders decided to abandon the town and retreat to Fort St. Angelo.

The so-called Grande Soccorso ("great relief") positioned themselves on the ridge of San Pawl tat-Tarġa on the 13th of September, waiting for the Ottoman assault.

[2] Mustafa Pasha, believing to relief to be much bigger, ordered the army to reembark, only to interrupt the evacuation and call out land troops again when he realized he still outnumered Garcia's forces.

[46] It is said that, when some hot-headed knights of the relief force saw the Ottoman retreat and the burning villages, in its wake, they charged without waiting for orders from Ascanio della Corgna.

Della Corgna, seeing the troops in such spirits, had no choice but to order a general charge which resulted in the massacre of the Ottoman force, who retired from the islands on 13 September.

Malta had survived the Ottoman assault, and throughout Europe people celebrated what would turn out to be the last epic battle involving Crusader Knights.

Jean de Valette, Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, had a key influence in the victory against the Ottomans with his example and his ability to encourage and hold people together.

Such was the gratitude of Europe for the knights' heroic defence that money soon began pouring into the island, allowing de Valette to construct a fortified city, Valletta, on Mt.