Remembering the Great Siege of Malta through Paintings, Arms and Armour: Part II

An account by Cirni from the Siege, speaks of the diversity in the types of protection worn by the knights. These included corsaletti and corazze (metal armour), giacchi (brigandines)2 and maniche di maglia (mail shirts)3. The tabard uniform has been repeatedly represented in the wall painting scenes of the Great Siege by d’Aleccio at the Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta.

Personalised armour owned by a knight would have differed from those issued by the Order to its soldiers. This personalisation was achieved by a high degree of surface decoration to the metal plate. The amount and quality of decoration depended on the individual and his financial status in society. Most of the time, such armour was engraved, etched and gilt. At times, the beauty itself in these armours served more of a disadvantage to its bearer, since its bejewelled shine attracted attention to the knight above the rest of the soldiers, becoming an easy target, apart from announcing to the enemy his important and high ranking position witin the Order. This was the case of the nephew of Grand Master de Valette, Henri de Valette, who wore a highly decorated gilt armour which made him an immediate target and was killed as he stood out facing the enemy.

On the other hand, the half armour normally issued to the conscripted soldier was similar to the ones owned by the knights, although bare of any decorations except for some embossed scrolls in some particular cases. However, this was still as resistant and strong as those belonging to the knights. This type of armour issued still exists within the Palace Armoury collection in a large amount and such numbers give an indication of the even larger amounts that originally existed in the Order’s armouries. These date to the Great Siege period and had been specifically ordered to supply the troops of the Order of St John. The soldiers who wore these armours were normally around their mid-teens. Such can be immediately understood by looking at the size of these metal suits which show that their bearers were very small in stature, both in height and around the waist.

These soldiers, also referred to as the ‘foot infantry’, were armed with polearms such as the pike and the halberd. Some also carried a shield at times made of wood. These examples made of two layers of wood bent and carved were covered in textile and painted with the cross of religion or other heraldry. Apart from being lightweight and resistant to fired projectiles, such shields could be used as a weapon during one-to-one combats. Various examples still exist in the Palace Armoury collection and also feature in several scenes from the d’Aleccio wall paintings. Cavalry was also very important during the Siege, particularly during attacks outside fortifications on the Ottoman infantry parties. An example in Heritage Malta’s Armour Collection represents a typical cavalry soldier wearing armour that covered up to his thighs and knees, whilst being armed with a long polearm referred to as the ‘lance’.

The Ottomans’ superior artillery

A major element that presided throughout the 1565 Siege was the use of artillery from both sides. However, while the Ottomans made use of copper-alloy bronze guns that had been brought over to the island by means of their naval power, the Knights of St John mostly made use of wrought iron hoop and stave construction guns, an archaic form for their time. Some must have been imported on the eve of the Siege itself, while most lay in fortresses, some of which could have even been brought over from Rhodes earlier on in the century. Such artillery would not have been as effective as that of their foe. Ottoman artillery consisted of various sizes with regards to the calibres of shot being fired. These varied from as large as half a metre in diameter, to a shot as small as a tennis ball, and were made of stone. They were brought over as ballast at sea, ready cut from Anatolian hard stone. On the other hand, the Order made use of much smaller calibres and their guns were found in strategic points on forts and bastions. Apart from wrought iron guns, the Order also had a small number of bronze guns.4

The Ottomans carried their cannon to the ramparts of Fort St Elmo and Dragut’s point, now known as Tigné Point,5 set up for the attack against the fort. One scene from the wall paintings shows the death of Ottoman commander Turgut Reis better known as ‘Dragut’, who was accidently killed by friendly fire shelling towards Fort St Elmo. Two Ottoman Basilisk cannon used throughout the Siege, two of which are documented to have been brought to Malta, were extremely huge and heavy. These were locally referred to as ‘il Gran Basilisco Turco’. A similar example survives at Fort Nelson Portsmouth Artillery

Part of an Order’s hoop and stave cannon surviving from the Great Siege era found at the Palace Armoury Collection illustrated as it had originally appeared

Museum. On the other hand, the Knights made use of the smaller wrought iron hoop and stave cannon, while the bastions would have been equipped with heavier bronze guns supported on wooden carriages.

Conclusion

Such knowledge of the Knight’s disadvantages concludes this two-part article with a feeling of pride and love for our country. For the Order of St John and the Maltese, the feast of the lifting of the Great Siege was extremely significant, not

Notes & References

1 Stephen. C. Spiteri, Armoury of the Knights, Malta, 2003, p. 57; “. . . armati di petti forti, di corsaletti, di morrioni, d’archibusi, di picche, d’alabarde e d’altre armi”.

2 A ‘brigandine’ is a form of body armour dating from the Middle Ages. It is a cloth garment, generally canvas or leather, lined with small oblong steel plates riveted to the fabric.

3 Stephen C. Spiteri, The Great Siege, Knights vs Turks MDLXV , Malta, 2005, p. 335.

The fatal wounding of Dragut, immortalised in a detail of D’Aleccio’s wall paintings at the Grand Master’s Palace only owing to the Virgin’s Nativity falling on the 8th of September in the religious calendar, but also because the victory was considered a clear sign of Divine intervention, which was translated into an intense sense of national pride. The Maltese and the Order of the Knights of St John, from this point onwards, adopted their true legendary hero and mentor as seen in the figure of Grand Master Jean de Valette, whose strong character, resolution, leadership and Faith remained marked for posterity in the Maltese identity.

4 One extant example is a gun carrying the coat of arms of Grand Master L’Isle Adam that is on display at St John’s Gate Museum, Clarkenwell in London.

5 Tigné Point takes its name from an 18th-century fort built later (1793-1795??) by the Order of St John at the tip of the peninsula. It was commissioned by Grand Master Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc and named after the Knight François René Jacob de Tigné, nephew of the equally distinguished military engineer René Jacob de Tigné who also served the Order with his military expertise.

Janica Buhagiar