News of the violent four-month battle spread across Europe, with the great Voltaire saying: “Nothing is better known than the Siege of Malta”
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IN A NUTSHELL
The four-month Siege of Malta was one of the bitterest conflicts of the 16th century. In 1565, forces from Suleiman the Magnificent’s expanding Ottoman Empire launched an invasion to capture the island from the Knights Hospitaller, an order of military monks originally formed for service in the Holy Land. The Hospitallers and the local population successfully held out until a relief force arrived, halting the Ottoman advance into the Western Mediterranean.