On May 18, 1565, an Ottoman fleet of nearly 200 ships arrived at Malta, carrying an army of 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers, including the elite Janissaries. Their mission was to wipe out the Knights of St. John, the last surviving crusading order in Europe. Standing against them were around 6,000 defenders, including some 500 Knights. If Malta fell, nothing would stop the Ottoman conquest of Sicily, Italy, and the heart of Christian Europe. Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette, a 70-year-old French nobleman, gathered his Knights before the battle. According to the historians of the Order, he told them they had entered a struggle between the Gospel and the Koran. After receiving Holy Communion, all vowed to shed their blood in defence of the Faith. The Ottomans pounded the walls with dozens of heavy siege cannons, including massive basilisks firing 160-pound stone balls. When Turkish forces breached the walls in August, Grand Master de Valette himself, pike in hand, charged into the breach and led the counter-attack from the front. After three months of siege and the loss of more than 20,000 men, the Ottoman army retreated on September 8, 1565, the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. Malta still celebrates this day as il-Vitorja, the Victory. The myth of Ottoman invincibility had been shattered. Pope Pius IV offered de Valette a cardinal’s hat. He refused. 300 European nobles rushed to offer their service to the Order. The new city of Valletta was built and named in his honor, and Malta became the capital of the Knights for the next two centuries. The siege paved the way for the Holy League’s triumph at the Battle of Lepanto six years later in 1571. ⚔️✝️ - @sacredchad