Fortifications in the Middle Ages

Abstract

With the advance of the Arab soldiers along the Northern coast of Africa, the Maltese Islands found themselves in the middle of two empires. The ever-expanding Islamic Empire and the ageing Byzantine. But at the beginning the Arabs had still to use galleys to attack other lands. They had not been trained on the sea and therefore their conquests followed the terrain of the land. It was in fact only in the seventh century that the Arabs started sailing in the Mediterranean, and we note their advancement in this aspect because by the year 700 they occupied Pantalleria Island and started attacking Sicily. During the same year a naval base was established in Tunis. Still the Arabs were more concerned with their successes in Algeria, Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula, than with the acquisition of the Maltese Islands.