Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/570058
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER 2015 12 News THE Great Siege of Malta is one of, if not the most, marketable episode from Maltese history. The 1565 clash between the Hospitaller Knights and the Ottoman fleet has all the right ingredients of national pride and historical romance to res- onate over the ages; the David and Goliath narrative, and perhaps un- fortunately a Christians vs Muslims 'culture war' too. But as we celebrated its 'Victory Day' last Tuesday, not all historians found themselves on board with the unanimous and unambiguous nar- rative that places the Knights and the Maltese people as some kind of 'small but formidable' entity that took on a brutal military regime. In fact, some – such as Aleks Far- rugia, former presenter of histori- cal TV programme Mixja tal-Poplu and visiting lecturer in critical theory at the University of Malta – believe that the over-romanticised adulation of Jean de la Valette and his force can have unflattering after effects, as Farrugia witnessed on social media on the eve of Victory Day this year. "Given the international situation, which is currently fomenting wide- spread prejudice – and resulting hatred – towards Islam, some peo- ple took the opportunity of Victory Day to portray the Siege as some sort of 'Christian ass-kicking' of Islam. But this couldn't be further from what the historical evidence suggests." Farrugia believes this perception to be largely drawn from bad his- tory… or at least, a misconception about what the Siege was actually about in the long run. Positing that the Siege was in fact more a matter of "economics over religion", Farru- gia points out that not even the rivalry between the Order and the Otto- mans was as clear cut as it seems, explain- ing how during the 1600s, "the Maltese were trading with the Islamic North African countries and they did that on a regular basis". Farrugia explains how in the 18th century, Grand Master Pinto, in a stand-off against the King of Na- ples, "ditched Sicily in favour of Tunis, as the regular sup- plier of grain to Malta. So, the relationship was not as straightforward as one would imagine". Farrugia also ques- tions any alleged intrinsic 'greatness' attributed to the Siege, and con- cedes that while the attack on the island in 1565 saw a "massive" deploy- ment of the Ottoman fleet on the Maltese islands, "it wasn't so mas- sive that they sent out their full force, as they did against Vienna". Furthermore, he draws on re- search by historian Andrew Hess to point out that the biggest 'take away' of the siege for the Ottoman side was a push to improve their lines of communication with Con- stantinople. "In fact, the siege wasn't won because of 'courage' or 'heroism'; certainly, those elements played an important part for the siege not to be lost. But eventually, what proved to be the Ottomans' main undoing was the impossibility of effective com- m u n i c a t i o n with Constan- tinople. In 1565, the world was still big enough to make the distance be- tween Malta and Turkey a mile too far," Farrugia observes. On the other hand, historian Prof. Vic- tor Mallia-Milanes – whose research interests include the history of the Order of St John – says that we shouldn't di- minish valour, heroism, and extraordinary courage during the siege, "on both sides". However, he adds that "to attribute the final outcome of the siege to the Knights and their subjects would be absolutely historically inaccurate", and that while Hospi- tallers and indigenous Maltese had āċŏ0.101.(ŏ!,%./ŏ* ŏ!"1.%/$)!*0ŏ+.'/ŏ+"ŏ(+'ŏĂČŏ(0/ŏăĂŏĒŏăăČŏ0ċŏ1(Ě/ŏ $1.$ŏ.!Čŏ+/,%1ŏ%*ŏ*ŏ*2%.+*)!*0((5ŏ.%!* (5ŏ**!.ŏĨ!"ċŏŏĂćĥĂĀāąĩċŏŏ Ăċŏ+*/0.10%+*Čŏ!.2%!/ŏĒŏ%*%/$%*#ŏ+.'/ŏ0ŏĂĊČŏ.%-ŏ +$**5ŏ0*%Čŏ/% ŏ%*ŏ*ŏ *2%.+*)!*0((5ŏ.%!* (5ŏ**!.ŏĨ!"ċŏŏĂăĥĂĀāąĩċŏ û!./ŏ(+/!ŏ+*ŏĂĊ0$ŏ!,0!)!.ŏĂĀāĆČŏ0ŏĀĊċăĀ$./ċ (!/!ŏ!//ŏ0$!ŏ!ġ0!* !./ŏ".+)ŏ333ċ!0!* !./ċ#+2ċ)0ċ ŏ ŏŏĂŏŏ Curb your enthusiasm (for the Now that we've celebrated Victory Day, is it perhaps time to take stock of what really went on during the Great Siege? TEODOR RELJIC speaks to local historians about whether the 'greatness' of one of the most marketable events in Maltese history is truly justified The Siege of Malta – 'Arrival of the Turkish fleet' by Matteo Perez d'Aleccio Aleks Farrugia Victor Mallia-Milanes Teodor Reljic