Page 9 - Italian-American Herald - February 2025

ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD
FEBRUARY 2025 | ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM 9
HISTORY
The Knights of St. John leave significant
changes to the island and its population
By Jeanne Outlaw-Cannavo
In 1530, the King of Spain ceded the
island of Malta to the Knights of St. John. The
Knights were not formed by the Republic
of Malta nor the Armed Forces of Malta
but began as a group of men attached to a
hospital in Jerusalem founded by Blessed
Gerard around 1023. The group then evolved
into a military and hospitaller organization.
Following the conquest of the Holy Land
by Islamic forces the Order operated from
Rhodes, and later from Malta where it
administered a vassal state under the Spanish
viceroy of Sicily.
In 1551, Barbary corsairs from the
Ottoman Empires captured and enslaved the
entire population, about 5,000 inhabitants,
of the Maltese island of Gozo. They were
deported to the Barbary Coast. In 1565,
*30,000 Ottoman troops attempted to
reclaim the islands again. The knights, led by
Frenchman Jean Parisot de la Valette, Grand
Master of the Order, withstood a siege by
the Ottomans and emerged victorious with
the help of the Maltese people. Voltaire, a
noted French writer, philosopher, satirist,
and historian penned his views on the battle
stating, “Nothing is better known than the
siege of Malta.”
The siege had great significance because
Spain could not afford to lose the strategic
Mediterranean Sea route to the Ottoman’s.
The victory of the Knights gave the island
international respect and opened up
representation of cultural exchange with
other ruling countries.
After the siege the Knights decided to
increase Malta’s fortifications, particularly in
the inner-harbor area, where the new city
of Valletta, named in honor of Valette, was
built. They also established watchtowers
along the coasts – the Wignacourt,
Lascaris and de Redin towers – named
after the Grand Masters who ordered the
work. The Knights also completed many
architectural and cultural projects, including
the embellishment of Città Vittoriosa,
the construction of new cities including
Città Rohan and Città Hompesch and the
Valletta, the capital of Malta, was built by the Knights of St. John in the 16th century as a
fortified city between two important harbors. | ADOBE
introduction of new academic and social
resources.
Unlike other rulers of the island, the
Order of St. John did not have a “home
country” outside the island. The island
became their home, so they invested in
it more heavily than any other power. In
addition, its members came from noble
families, and the Order had amassed
considerable fortunes due to its services
to those en route to the Holy Land. The
architectural and artistic remains of this
period remain among the greatest of Malta’s
history, especially in their “prize jewel” the
city of Valletta.
However, as their main purpose of
providing care for the sick, poor, and injured
pilgrims had ceased to exist, their glory days
were over. In the last three decades of the
eighteenth century, the Order sustained a
steady decline. This was a result of numerous
factors, including the bankruptcy prompted
by the lavish spending of the last Grand
Masters which drained their finances.
Because of this, they also became unpopular
with the Maltese.
The Order was weakened by Napoleon’s
capture of Malta in 1798 and dispersed
throughout Europe. It regained strength
during the early 19th century as it found
new purpose in humanitarian and religious
causes. In 1834 it was renamed the Sovereign
Military Order of Malta, with its headquarters
in Rome. IAH
Next month: French influence and the
Maltese Declaration of Rights.
*These numbers are approximate as
written documents of that time varied to
different degrees.
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