The sword and the siege : the use of Hospitaller edged weapons in mid-sixteenth-century Malta

Abstract

The sword was a central element for the Hospitaller Order and a common sidearm in early modern Europe. Its development in both technique and design evolved in step with military technology and did not immediately dwindle with the advent of firearms. Although military changes threatened the supremacy of the noble knight, the use of edged weapons continued to be of significance. This can be confirmed by descriptions of the 1565 siege of Malta where d’Aleccio’s images and descriptions by Balbi da Correggio and Giacomo Bosio provide a window into the fighting systems of the knights. This paper will seek to understand how and why the Hospitallers used edged weapons during the gunpowder-rich sixteenth century. Through military and civilian use, it is clear that use of edged weapons was commonplace both during the 1565 siege and in periods of relative peace.