The Great Siege of Malta Read online

  9. CODOIN, vol. 29, 199.

  10. Don Garcia de Toledo to Philip II, June 12, 1565, in CODOIN, vol. 29, 204.

  11. Philip II to Don Garcia de Toledo, March 31, 1565, in CODOIN, vol. 29, 79.

  12. Don Garcia de Toledo to Philip II, April 11, 1565, in CODOIN, vol. 29, 88.

  13. Don Garcia to Philip, June 7, 1565, in CODOIN, vol. 29, 180.

  14. CODOIN, vol. 29, 247–54.

  15. Cosimo de’ Medici to Philip, June 2, 1565, Florence, in CODOIN, vol. 29, 235. See also Roger Vella Bonavita, “From Conception to Birth: The ‘Valletta’ Project, 1524–1566,” in Valletta: Città, architettura e costruzione sotto il segno della fede e della guerra, ed. Nicoletta Marconi (Rome: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, 2011), 17–33

  16. Viperano, De Bello, 18. The number of those in the Small Relief is variously reported. Don Garcia, closest to the action and presumably more punctilious than later writers, says six hundred (De Toledo to Philip, July 5, 1565, in CODOIN, vol. 29, 253) “not enough to defend the Burgo and St. Michael.” The breakdown of those on board is some forty-two knights of St. John, who had arrived at Messina only after the Turkish invasion at Malta. (Also on board were twenty Italian volunteers, three German, two English, fifty-six gunners, and six hundred imperial foot under the command of Chevalier de Robles.) Balbi (Verdadera, 62r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 101) says seven hundred, among them forty knights and twenty artillerymen. Don Garcia’s condition for landing appears in Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 560.

  17. Diego de la Mota, Principio de la orden de la cavalleria de Sant Tiago del Espada (Valencia: Álvaro Franco, 1599), 293.

  18. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 585.

  19. Ibid.

  20. Ibid., 586.

  21. CODOIN, vol. 29, 253.

  22. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 578.

  23. Balbi, Verdadera, 58v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 94.

  24. Cassolla, Great Siege of Malta, 29.

  25. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 582.

  26. Balbi, Verdadera, 60v.–61r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 98.

  27. Viperano, De Bello, 17. The following year, when a second invasion threatened, Valette decreed that the useless mouths of Mdina could leave before the anticipated return of the Ottomans, but that only one hale male family member could accompany them. All others were to remain to help in the fight against invasion. The specific nature of the ukase suggests that this had been a problem in 1565. For more, see Bonello, “Great Siege, Small Morsels,” 24.

  18. RELIEF INTO BIRGU

  Epigraph: Alberti, De Re Aedificatoria, bk. 5, chap. 4, 143.

  1. Balbi, Verdadera, 62r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 101.

  2. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 587. An account said to be by Melchior Robles (H. R. Balbi, “Unpublished Records on the Siege of Malta, 1565,” 26) refers to Lascaris as Mustapha’s amanuensis (it also says he was transported at night). Ottoman records, however, note only that a certain Mehmed ben Davud crossed over to the Christians on this date and suggest that his timar should be given to another, but otherwise attach no particular importance to the man. Casolla, Great Siege of Malta, 70–72.

  3. Balbi, Verdadera, 62r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 101.

  4. CODOIN, vol. 29, 276.

  5. Balbi, Verdadera, 62v.–63r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 101.

  6. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 590. Bosio does not explain the discrepancy in numbers.

  7. Bosio refers to him in an earlier citation as serving under Coppier, commander of cavalry at Mdina. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 498, 589.

  8. Balbi, Verdadera, 66r. (not in the Bradford translation).

  9. Ibid., 66v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 105.

  10. CODOIN, vol. 29, 277.

  11. Adriani, Istoria, 734.

  12. Cassola, Malta Campaign Register, 337. He sent even stronger messages to Tripoli twelve days later.

  13. Cassola, Great Siege of Malta, 62.

  19. BRAVI D’ALGIERI

  Epigraph: Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 606.

  1. Ibid., 600. Cf. Vendôme, Della Historia di Malta, 71, who says they wished to prove there just what kind of spirit they had (qual fosse l’animo de’ suoi). Candelissa is yet another corsair whose identity gets confused from source to source. He is variously identified as Ali Fartax, Kara Khodja, Kara Hodja, Caracossa, etc., and is credited as being a native of Chioggia, Fano, or Calabria, possibly a failed Dominican friar. He is also confirmed as being present at Prevesa, being killed on Malta, and being present with Uludj Ali (and being killed) at Lepanto. At times he is also confused with Uludj Ali. Bosio claims that he was killed on Malta (Bosio, Dell’Istoria, 629). Absent other evidence, it seems likely that Bosio is in this instance mistaken.

  2. Vendôme, Della Historia di Malta, 71.

  3. Balbi, Verdadera, 69r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 109.

  4. Balbi, Verdadera, 69r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 109.

  5. Balbi, Verdadera, 70r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 111. Bosio dismisses them as being “dressed as women.” Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 597.

  6. Ibid., 603.

  7. Balbi, Verdadera, 71v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 111.

  8. Balbi, Verdadera, 71v; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 112.

  9. Balbi, Verdadera, 71v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 112.

  10. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 601.

  11. Ibid., Balbi, Verdadera, 73r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 116.

  12. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 605.

  13. Balbi, Verdadera, 72v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 115.

  14. Balbi, Verdadera, p. 73v.–73r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 115–16.

  15. Balbi, Verdadera, 72v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 115. Viperano, De Bello, 22, writes, “Around seven boats were sunk, and many damaged.” Septem circiter cymbae depressae, labefactatae plures. Cymbae are skiffs.

  16. Balbi, Verdadera, 73r. Bradford’s translation (116) makes no mention of Uludj Ali. Giovanni Bonello, “An Overlooked Eyewitness Account of the Great Siege,” in Histories of Malta, vol. 3, Versions and Diversions (Malta: Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, 2002), 129.

  17. CODOIN, vol. 29, pp. 380–82. D’Eguaras to Gil de Andrada, May 26.

  18. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 600; Balbi, Verdadera, 73r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 116.

  19. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 605.

  20. Ibid.

  21. Ibid.

  22. Ibid, 597.

  23. Pedro de Salazar, Hispania victrix (Madrid: Vincente de Millis, 1570), 214r.

  24. Balbi, Verdadera, 73r.–73v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 116.

  20. ENDURANCE

  Epigraph: Phayre to Cecil, August 6, 1565, in CSPFS, Elizabeth, vol. 7, 1564–1565, 422.

  1. Cassola, 1565 Ottoman Malta Campaign Register, 337.

  2. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 612.

  3. Vendôme, Siège de Malte, 42.

  4. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 610.

  5. Biblioteca Angelica, Rome, Ms 1837 139v.

  6. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 613.

  7. Balbi, Verdadera, 127v. Bradford, Siege of Malta, 189 (pagination in Balbi is missing p. 128).

  8. Thomas Freller, Spies and Renegades in Hospitaller Malta (Malta: Pietà, 2004), 61ff.

  9. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 612.

  10. Ibid., 613.

  11. Viperano, De Bello, 24.

  12. Sebastiano Pauli, Codice Diplomatico (Lucca: Marescandoli, 1737), 217.

  13. Cirni, Commentarii, 85r. What sort of gun a morlacca might be is obscure, but it cannot have been insignificant. The word turns up in Bosio as well.

  14. Balbi, Verdadera, 79v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 127.

  15. Balbi, Verdadera, 84r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 134.

  16. Balbi, Verdadera, 85r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 135.

  17. Balbi, Verdadera, 86r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 136.

  18. Ibid.

  19. Balbi, Verdadera, 88v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 140.


  20. Balbi, Verdadera, 88v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 141.

  21. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 626.

  22. Balbi, Verdadera, 89r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 140.

  21. ONSLAUGHT OF THE OTTOMANS

  Epigraph: Balbi, Verdadera, 90r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 143.

  1. BA, Ms 1837, 141v.

  2. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 629.

  3. Ibid., 628.

  4. Balbi, Verdadera, 90v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 143.

  5. Balbi, Verdadera, 90v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 144.

  6. Balbi, Verdadera, 90v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 144.

  7. Cirni, Commentarii, 97r.

  8. Salazar, Hispania, 232.

  9. Cirni, Commentarii, 97r.

  10. AOM 91 f 58v., cited in Giovanni Bonello, “The Murder of El Greco’s Knight,” in Histories of Malta, vol. 3, Versions and Diversions (Malta: Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, 2002), 120; cf. Pellini, Della historia di Perugia, 1059. Reprint (Perugia: Fonti per la storia dell’Umbria, 1970).

  11. Balbi states that this cry was a deliberate subterfuge ordered by Lugny. Balbi, Verdadera, 91v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 145.

  12. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 629.

  13. Balbi, Verdadera, 92v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 146–73.

  14. Here, as in too many other places, details vary according to our sources. The most significant breakdown is between those who give Anastagi sole credit (Viperano, De Bello, 26; Pompeo Pellini, Della historia di Perugia, 1060) and those who say that Lugny (with possibly Boisbreton) was involved either from the outset or as a latecomer to the fight (Balbi, Verdadera, 92v; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 145; Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 629; Cirni, Commentarii, 97v.).

  15. Balbi, Verdadera, 95v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 151. By the end of the siege only forty-five horses would remain alive.

  22. TWO GENTLEMEN OF PERUGIA

  Epigraph: Busbecq, Legationis Turcicae, 237–38; Forster, Turkish Letters, 112.

  1. For a full discussion of the Capuchin’s vision and how it was recorded, see Azzopado, “The Activities of the First Known Capuchin in Malta, Robert of Eboli.”

  2. Viperano, De Bello, 29.

  3. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 635. Cf. Cirni, Commentarii, 114.

  4. Biblioteca Angelica, Rome, Ms 1837, 143r.

  5. Balbi, Verdadera, 96v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 154.

  6. Cirni, Commentarii, 101r.

  7. Setton, Papacy and the Levant, 838

  8. Viperano, De bello, 24.

  9. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 616.

  10. Ettore Calzolare, “Ascanio della Corgna, i combattenti umbri e il “gran soccorso” di Malta nella canzone di un anonimo coevo,” Bollettino della Deputazione di Storia, Patria per l’Umbria, vol. 94 (Perugia, 1997), 173.

  11. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 616. Samuel Steinherz, Nuntiaturberichte aus Deutschland, 1560–1572, pt. 2, vol. 4, no. 74 (Vienna, 1914), 277. Murder (homocidii), not rape, by this account. Pope Pius IV had named him Marquis of Castiglione e del Chiugi in 1563. Not content, Della Corgna attempted to extend the boundary markings into papal area, a move that did not boost his stock in the papacy. Giving back the land was a partial condition of his release.

  12. Phayre to Cecil, “Ascanio De la Cornea has been released, but has given to the Pope 25,000 ducats and two towns in the Romagna,” August 6, 1565, in CSPFS, Elizabeth, vol. 7, 1564–1565, 419. See, however, Ludovicus Bondonus de Branchis, Regis Catholici Diarium, cited in Ludwig von Pastor, History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages, vol. 16 (London: Routledge and Keegan Paul, 1951), 367. Die 3 iulii ill.mus dominus Ascanius de Cornea fuit a carceribus liberatus et de arce S. Angeli. Et die 12 dicti mensis discessit ab Urbe Melitam versus ad instantiam.

  13. CODOIN, vol. 29, 454.

  14. The Bibliothèque Nationale de France has a small collection of these, most available online.

  15. Guzman to King Philip, London, July 13, 1565, “Simancas: July 1565,” Calendar of State Papers, Spain (henceforth CSP, Spain) (Simancas), vol. 1: 1558–1567 (1892), 442–58.

  16. Guzman to King Philip, London, July 23, 1565, “Simancas: July 1565,” CSP, Spain (Simancas), vol. 1: 1558–1567 (1892), 442–58. For more on English perspectives on the siege, see Helen Vella-Bonavita, “Key to Christendom: The 1565 Siege of Malta, Its Histories, and Their Use in Reformation Polemic,” Sixteenth Century Journal 33, no. 4 (2002): 1021–43.

  17. Cassola, Great Siege of Malta, 25–26.

  18. For Venice and Fort St. Elmo, see Garci Hernandez to Philip II, July 26, 1565, Simancas Eo 1325, in Braudel, Mediterranean, 1022.

  19. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 651. This was on top of the pressure Toledo was getting from Malta itself, both firsthand from letters from Valette, and secondhand from letters from the likes of Mesquita to knights still at Messina, asking them to nudge the viceroy along. Ulloa cites a letter from Mesquita to Baigli, a knight at Messina, telling of the fall of St. Elmo and urging that Baigli press the need for more help with Don Garcia (Pauli, Codice Diplomatico, 219).

  20. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 657.

  21. Ibid., 658.

  22. F. X. Cassar, “Documents of the Ottoman Maghreb during the Siege of Malta, 1565,” Malta Independent, June 12, 1994.

  23. Viperano, De Bello, 30. Quoted is too strong a word. Historians at the time believed in poetic license when reporting speeches. Cf. Viperano, De Scribenda Historia, in Viperanus, Operum pars prima, continens res oratorias, historicas, et poeticas (Naples: Carlini, 1606), 177.

  24. Cirni refers to a letter written from Anastagi to Della Corgna (Cirni, Commentarii, 101r.); Bosio (634, 654) refers to this report, but does not name the addressee. The text can be found in Pompeo Pellini’s 1664 volume Della Historia di Perugia. See Giovanni Bonello, Histories of Malta, vol. 3, Versions and Diversions (Malta: Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, 2003). A Vatican document claims that Della Corgna had himself gone to Malta for reconnaissance, which accords nicely with Anastagi’s document: Ascanio della Cornia, qual era stato a riconoscer Malta et l’armata nemica et ritornato (Vatican Apostolic Library, Cod. Urb. Lat. 10450 fol. 70–71r., 73, 78ff in Setton, Papacy and the Levant, vol. 4). It is possible that Don Garcia, seeking to boost his friend’s standing in the wider world, either implicitly or explicitly gave this impression to others and let the rumor fly.

  25. Pellini, Della Historia di Perugia, 1068. Cf. Bonello, 129. Anastagi also makes a slight swipe at Don Garcia on the subject of a naval battle: “Had battle been fought at sea the result would have been certain, considering the weakness of the Turkish armada, which in my roles as your servant, I tell you truly, is only an collection of unarmed vessels, and this is the case, although I have heard from the said Captain (Salazar) that the Viceroy will not even consider fighting the enemy at sea.” Bonello, 128; Pellini, Della Historia, 1066. It is easier to criticize a viceroy than a king . . .

  26. CODOIN, vol. 29, 174.

  27. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 636.

  28. Balbi, Verdadera, 98v.–98r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 154.

  29. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 638.

  30. Cirni, Commentarii, 102v.

  31. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 638.

  32. Ibid.

  33. Ibid., 646.

  34. Balbi, Verdadera, 99v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 158. Most serious battles, according to Balbi, lasted five hours.

  35. Balbi, Verdadera, 99v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 157.

  23. THE GRAN SOCCORSO AT SEA

  Epigraphs: Cassola, Great Siege of Malta, 32. “A copie of the last aduertisement that came from Malta of the miraculous deliuerie of the isle from the longe sieg[e] of the Turke, both by sea and land . . . Translated out of ye Italian tongue, into English Date: 1565.”

  1. August 5, 1565, AGS Estado, legado 1054, fol. 173.

  2. Viperano, De Bello, 31.

  3. Balbi, Verdadera, 101r.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 160.

  4. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3
, 673.

  5. Cirni, Commentarii, 93v. Cf. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 647. “In person against the post of Castile, Mustapha now shared his lessening expectations with a small number of his chosen confidants.” He got over it. “For the next assault he was challenged to lead from the front, and laughing, the Pasha showed that he felt great contentment, which shamed the remaining sphahis and Janissaries to follow him.”

  6. Bosio, Dell’Istoria, vol. 3, 674. Given the effort that the little people were putting into the fight at this last desperate time, his loyalty is absolutely correct. Moreover, staying with them was a good way to make sure they didn’t take any calls for surrender, as had happened in Rhodes.

  7. Ibid., 681.

  8. Ibid., 658.

  9. Balbi, Verdadera, 106v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 170.

  10. In a letter to the pope (1567?), the volunteer Rangone claims that Don Garcia seized the ship and its cargo for his personal use “to general annoyance” (gran mala soddisfattione). It’s an unsubstantiated story, but one that shows in what direction Don Garcia’s reputation was going. Scicluna, “L’Assedio di Malta,” 39. See also Bonello, “Pallavicino Rangone,” in Histories of Malta, vol. 9, 68.

  11. Balbi, Verdadera, 112v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 172.

  12. Balbi, Verdadera, 113v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 174.

  13. Balbi, Verdadera, 112v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 172. CODOIN, vol. 29, 500, makes no mention of any Doria wounding, but that could be modesty. CODOIN, vol. 29, 503, also says one vessel. See also Doria’s accounts in CODOIN, vol. 29, 479, dated September 1, and CODOIN, vol. 29, 495.

  14. Salazar, Hispania, 249.

  15. Don Garcia to Francisco de Eraso, September 7: desembarco en Malta de 9600 soldadoes; CODOIN, vol. 29, 482. Animals noted in Cirni, Commentarii, 120v.

  16. Balbi, Verdadera, 114v.–115r., Bradford, Siege of Malta, 177.

  17. Balbi, Verdadera, 112v.; Bradford, Siege of Malta, 173.

  18. CODOIN, vol. 29, 444–45. Though he seems unable to bring a whole lot of enthusiasm to the choice: “ . . . no puedo quitarle el cargo que el rey le ha dado”; CODOIN, vol. 29, 444–45.

  19. Busbecq, Legationis Turcicae, 226 (Foster, Turkish Letters, 171).

  20. August 16, 1565, CODOIN, vol. 29, 444–45. Cirni confirms that Don Garcia wanted to keep Sande from total control (Cirni, Commentarii, 105r.).