Knights of St. John and Malta

 

The visitor arriving by air will probably first notice it in the livery colours of Air Malta, the national airline; He will see it again and again during his stay on the Island: carved on the facade of Baroque palaces, in the form of exquisite filigree brooches, and embossed on many a kitsch, plastic souvenir. It is the eightpointed cross, or, as it is better known, the Maltese Cross. As a military order, the Knights took part in the crusading wars, but when Acre fell in 1291, they were driven off from their last stronghold in the Holy Land.

 

After a short slay in Cyprus, the Knights, with the assistance of the Genoese, occupied Rhodes. This was to lay their home for the next two hundred years.

 

In Rhodes the Knights perfected the base for their organization that was to make them the most efficient seaborne warriors of their day.

 

After wandering for seven years the Knights, and the Rhodian refugees that had attached themselves to them, were offered the Island of Malta for a home by the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. To the relief of the Maltese Nobles, the Knights decided that Mdina, the capital city, was too far inland and they set about establishing themselves in the small village that had grown up behind the old Castel a Mare.

 

In Birgu the Knights organized themselves along the lines they had evolved during their stay in Rhodes. Their philanthropic origin was not forgotten and amongst the first buildings to beset up was a hospital.

 

The Order could be described as a multinational force divided into Langues according to the nationality of its members: these Langues, or tongues, were: Auvergne, Provence, France, Aragon, Casthe, England, Germany and Italy. Each langue had its own Auberge, or headquarters, as well as a specific duty traditionally assigned to it; each langue was also responsible for the defence of a particular post, such as a section of a bastion or tower.

 

As if to prove the inadequacy of the defences of the islands, in 1547, and again in 1551, the Turks launched two attacks against the islands, the latter being particularly calamitous. Ravaging the Maltese countryside and ignoring the fortified towns, the Turks then turned their attention to the island of Gozo and carried away the entire population into slavery.

 

That same year the’ Turks drove the Knights out of Tripoli. These attacks stung the Knights into feverish activity to improve the islands' defences in anticipation of another, and possibly bigger, attack.