Why did the Ottomans besiege Malta in 1565?

Abstract

The January 2007 front-cover of the popular magazine History Today carried the catchy title 'Keeping Turkey out of Europe' . It was a clever editorial tactic that was meant to play upon its readers' sensibilities with regards to Turkish membership of the European Union, while creating a link with the Great Siege of 1565. This publication is one of the latest in a long chain of such narratives that are inspired by this epic tale of violence, religion and heroism. Identifying the motives that led the Ottomans to besiege Malta is analogous to the analysis of an intricate work of tapestry. It is never easy to undertake the analysis of an event through the eyes of someone else, especially if the 'Other' is essentially different from you. To look at the Siege of 1565 from the Ottomans' point of view, and to gain an understanding of their motives, is an exercise in jumping the fence. One has to try to move beyond the categories of 'Maltese', 'Christian' and 'victors' (which ideas are ingrained in practically every Maltese from the most tender age), to the state of mind of' Ottoman', 'Muslim', and 'the vanquished'. An understanding of Hospitaller Malta is intimately tied to an understanding of the Ottoman Empire, its sworn enemy, and its reason for existence, at one and the same time. Finally, this is made more difficult by the fact that Ottoman archives have not been open to researchers for quite a long time and even now there is a whole set of logistical problems, especially the archaic language of the documents, which even modem Turkish researchers find difficult.