The Great Siege of Malta
The History of the Battle for the Mediterranean Island Between the Ottoman Empire and Knights Hospitaller
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Narrated by:
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Bill Hare
About this listen
“The darkness of the night then became as bright as day, due to the vast quantity of artificial fires. So bright was it indeed that we could see St Elmo quite clearly. The gunners of St Angelo...were able to lay and train their pieces upon the advancing Turks, who were picked out in the light of the fires." (Francisco Balbi, a Spanish soldier at the siege)
For centuries, Christians and Muslims were embroiled in one of the most infamous territorial disputes of all time, viciously and relentlessly battling one another for the Holy Land. In the heart of Jerusalem sat one of the shining jewels of the Christian faith - the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Legend has it that this was where their Savior had been buried before his fabled resurrection. What was more, it was said to house the very cross Jesus Christ had died upon. It was for precisely these reasons that fearless pilgrims, near and far, risked their lives and made the treacherous trek to Jerusalem.
Like other secretive groups, the mystery surrounding the Catholic military orders that sprung up in the wake of the First Crusade helped their legacies endure. While some conspiracy theorists attempt to tie the groups to other alleged secret societies like the Illuminati, other groups have tried to assert connections with them to bolster their own credentials. Who they were and what they had in their possession continue to be a source of great intrigue.
After being forced out of Rhodes by the Ottomans in the early 16th century, the Knights Hospitaller spent seven years residing in Sicily without an official home or garrison, but around 1530, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V decided to gift the order the islands of Malta and Gozo, as well as the port city of Tripoli in North Africa, as a fiefdom. The emperor’s motivations varied, but most historians believe he granted the knights the territory partially out of religious devotion and mainly to protect those regions from the looming Ottoman threat. Both Malta and Gozo were between Sicily and the North African coast and were prime locations for the Ottoman Empire to try to make their next move to gain inroads into Europe.
In 1565, the Knights Hospitaller were attacked by Suleiman, who sent 40,000 soldiers to attempt to wrest control of Malta from them. This would become known as the Great Siege of Malta, lasting from May 18 to September 11. The first two months of the siege were devastating for the Hospitallers, who lost most of their cities and half of their 8,000 knights. Resources were scarce and supplies were running low, resulting in starvation and disease. By August 18, the lines were ready to crumble, especially since the series of fortifications were spread out and difficult to defend.
No help was forthcoming from the Viceroy of Sicily, who was under no obligation to assist because of the vague wording of the orders he received from King Philip II of Spain. Indeed, it could have been disastrous for Sicily, since sacrificing their own troops would have left Sicily and Naples open to Ottoman invasion. When told to withdraw to spare the rest of the order, Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette refused and held his ground, and finally, after months of ignoring the issue, the Viceroy of Sicily sent aid to the Knights Hospitaller after being badgered by his outraged officers.
On August 23, the Ottomans launched their last assault upon Malta. The fighting was intense, and even wounded knights participated. The Ottoman army was unable to break through the Order’s fortifications, as the garrison had repaired the worst of the damages and any breakages to avoid giving the Ottomans an advantage.
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A heady piece of history and a romp.
- By Meeno on 05-28-15
By: Paul M. Cobb
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Philip and Alexander
- Kings and Conquerors
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Neil Dickson
- Length: 20 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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This definitive biography of one of history's most influential father-son duos tells the story of two rulers who gripped the world - and their rise and fall from power.
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Horrible narrator
- By Anonymous User on 01-05-21
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God's Battalions
- The Case for the Crusades
- By: Rodney Stark
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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In God's Battalions, award-winning author Rodney Stark takes on the long-held view that the Crusades were the first round of European colonialism, conducted for land, loot, and converts by barbarian Christians who victimized the cultivated Muslims. To the contrary, Stark argues that the Crusades were the first military response to unwarranted Muslim terrorist aggression.
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A lively and useful introduction
- By Tad Davis on 01-06-10
By: Rodney Stark
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Crusaders
- The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 16 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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For more than 1,000 years, Christians and Muslims lived side by side, sometimes at peace and sometimes at war. When Christian armies seized Jerusalem in 1099, they began the most notorious period of conflict between the two religions. Depending on who you ask, the fall of the holy city was either an inspiring legend or the greatest of horrors. In Crusaders, Dan Jones interrogates the many sides of the larger story, charting a deeply human and avowedly pluralist path through the crusading era.
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Gripping but not tidy
- By Tad Davis on 01-06-20
By: Dan Jones
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Sparta's Second Attic War
- The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta, 446-418 BC
- By: Paul A. Rahe
- Narrated by: Paul A. Rahe
- Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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In a continuation of his multivolume series on ancient Sparta, Paul Rahe narrates the second stage in the six decades long, epic struggle between Sparta and Athens that first erupted some 17 years after their joint victory in the Persian Wars. Rahe explores how and why open warfare between these two erstwhile allies broke out a second time, after they had negotiated an extended truce.
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Thorough and intriguing.
- By Kindle Customer on 05-23-22
By: Paul A. Rahe
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Carthage Must Be Destroyed
- The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization
- By: Richard Miles
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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An epic history of a doomed civilization and a lost empire. The devastating struggle to the death between the Carthaginians and the Romans was one of the defining dramas of the ancient world. In an epic series of land and sea battles, both sides came close to victory before the Carthaginians finally succumbed and their capital city, history, and culture were almost utterly erased.
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Outstanding! This is THE book on Carthage.
- By Haakon B. Dahl on 01-21-13
By: Richard Miles
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In God's Path
- The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire
- By: Robert G. Hoyland
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In just over a hundred years - from the death of Muhammad in 632 to the beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate in 750 - the followers of the Prophet swept across the whole of the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain. Their armies threatened states as far flung as the Franks in Western Europe and the Tang Empire in China. The conquered territory was larger than the Roman Empire at its greatest expansion, and it was claimed for the Arabs in roughly half the time.
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Islamic conquest history from the outside
- By SAMA on 01-22-15
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The Crusades
- The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land
- By: Thomas Asbridge
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 25 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The Crusades is an authoritative, accessible single-volume history of the brutal struggle for the Holy Land in the Middle Ages. Thomas Asbridge - a renowned historian who writes with "maximum vividness" (Joan Acocella, The New Yorker) - covers the years 1095 to 1291 in this big, ambitious, listenable account of one of the most fascinating periods in history.
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Comprehensive
- By Tad Davis on 10-04-16
By: Thomas Asbridge
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The Greek Revolution
- 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe
- By: Mark Mazower
- Narrated by: John Lee, Mark Mazower
- Length: 20 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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As Mark Mazower shows us in his enthralling and definitive new account, myths about the Greek War of Independence outpaced the facts from the very beginning, and for good reason. This was an unlikely cause, against long odds, a disorganized collection of Greek patriots up against what was still one of the most storied empires in the world, the Ottomans. The revolutionaries needed all the help they could get.
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Excellent, had it not been for the narrator
- By Jean N on 05-15-22
By: Mark Mazower
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The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta
- The Persian Challenge
- By: Paul A. Rahe
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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More than 2,500 years ago, a confederation of small Greek city-states defeated the invading armies of Persia, the most powerful empire in the world. In this meticulously researched study, historian Paul Rahe argues that Sparta was responsible for the initial establishment of the Hellenic defensive coalition and was, in fact, the most essential player in its ultimate victory.
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Excellent Investigation Undermined by Bad Editing
- By Richard on 02-12-16
By: Paul A. Rahe
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The Accursed Tower
- The Fall of Acre and the End of the Crusades
- By: Roger Crowley
- Narrated by: Matt Kugler
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Accursed Tower, Roger Crowley delivers a lively narrative of the lead-up to the siege and a vivid, blow-by-blow account of the climactic battle. Drawing on extant Arabic sources as well as untranslated Latin documents, he argues that Acre is notable for technical advances in military planning and siege warfare, and extraordinary for its individual heroism and savage slaughter. A gripping depiction of the crusader era told through its dramatic last moments, The Accursed Tower offers an essential new view on a crucial turning point in world history.
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Another great book by Roger Crowley
- By tp on 03-13-20
By: Roger Crowley
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History's Greatest Generals
- 10 Commanders Who Conquered Empires, Revolutionized Warfare, and Changed History Forever
- By: Michael Rank
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Whether it is Hannibal of Carthage marching elephants across the Alps and attacking the heart of Rome, Khalid ibn al-Walid boasting an undefeated military career and destroying the Persian Empire while subduing the Byzantines, or Russian General Alexander Suvurov and his elevation of the bayonet to a work of art that could cut down any European army, great military leaders have exerted tremendous influence on society. This book will look at the lives of the 10 greatest military commanders in history.
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Great Book
- By MICHAEL H on 01-27-14
By: Michael Rank
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The War of the Three Gods
- Romans, Persians, and the Rise of Islam
- By: Peter Crawford
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The War of the Three Gods is a military history of the Near and Middle East in the seventh century - with its chief focus on the reign of the Eastern Roman Emperor Heraclius (AD 610-641) - a pivotal and dramatic time in world history. The Eastern Roman Empire was brought to the very brink of extinction by the Sassanid Persians before Heraclius managed to inflict a crushing defeat on the Sassanids with a desperate, final gambit.
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Filled in some blanks
- By Cory on 10-19-15
By: Peter Crawford
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By the Spear
- Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise and Fall of the Macedonian Empire
- By: Ian Worthington
- Narrated by: Phil Holland
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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For the first time, By the Spear offers an exhilarating military narrative of the reigns of these two larger-than-life figures in one volume. Ian Worthington gives full breadth to the careers of father and son, showing how Philip was the architect of the Macedonian empire, which reached its zenith under Alexander, only to disintegrate upon his death.
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Bueller..... Bueller...... Bueller...... Monotone
- By Jonathan Allen Beard on 02-15-15
By: Ian Worthington
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Conquistadores
- A New History of Spanish Discovery and Conquest
- By: Fernando Cervantes
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Over the few short decades that followed Christopher Columbus' first landing in the Caribbean in 1492, Spain conquered the two most powerful civilizations of the Americas: the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru. Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, and the other explorers and soldiers who took part in these expeditions dedicated their lives to seeking political and religious glory, helping to build an empire unlike any the world had ever seen. But centuries later, these conquistadors have become the stuff of nightmares.
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A fresh mature perspective on the Spanish conquest
- By Chencheno111 on 03-19-22
What listeners say about The Great Siege of Malta
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- History Buff
- 04-01-21
Audio Quality
Narration audio quality varied between chapters. Story good, informative, some minor mistakes about years and centuries.
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