The Siege of Malta, 1565, revisited

Abstract

It was a fearsome spectacle of violent determination, of pikes and flashing scimitars, of muskets, bows and arrows, of howling men, thousands of them, in colourful turbans waving banners and invoking divine assistance in their imminent jihad, and of Janissaries,' the Ottoman Empire's elite and most disciplined standing force of infantrymen, indeed its armour of self-confidence. The formidable Ottoman armada, under the command of Piale Pasha, with Mustafa Pasha as general of the land forces, to be joined later by Dragut's corsair fleet and that of Hasan Pasha of Algiers, arrived at the shores of Hospitaller Malta on 18 May 1565. The next day, some 23-25,000 Turks disembarked. To resist them were 500 Hospitallers and some 8,000 men.