Battles Involving the Knights Hospitaller - Siege of Malta, Siege of Rhodes (Paperback)

Chapters: Siege of Malta, Siege of Rhodes. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 18. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Siege of Malta (also known as the Great Siege of Malta) took place in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire invaded the island, then held by the Knights Hospitaller (also known as the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, Knights of Malta, Knights of Rhodes, and Chevaliers of Malta) The Knights won the siege, one of the bloodiest and most fiercely contested in history, and one which became one of the most celebrated events in sixteenth century Europe. Voltaire said, "Nothing is more well known than the siege of Malta," and it unquestionably put an end to the European perception of Ottoman invincibility and marked a new phase in Spanish domination of the Mediterranean. The siege was the climax of an escalating contest between a Christian alliance and the Ottoman Empire for control of the Mediterranean, a contest that included Turkish corsair Turgut Reis's attack on Malta in 1551, and the Turks' utter destruction of an allied Christian fleet at the Battle of Djerba in 1560. At the end of 1522, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent had forcibly ejected the Order of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem from their base on Rhodes after a six-month siege. Between 1523 and 1530, the Order lacked a permanent home. They became known as the Knights of Malta when, on 26 October 1530, Philippe Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Grand Master of the Knights, sailed into Malta's Grand Harbour with a number of his followers to lay claim to Malta and Gozo, which had been granted to them by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in return for one falcon sent annually to the Viceroy of Sicily and a solemn mass to be celebrated on All Saints Day. Charles also required the Kn...http: //booksllc.net/?id=1636416