The Great Siege of Malta Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Knights of Malta

The island was controlled by the Knights of Malta, also known as the Knights Hospitaller. It is not known exactly when the order was founded, but it is known that it first started as a order which helped the sick, poor and wounded.

Answer: Rhodes

Rhodes was the home of the knights for more than 200 years and in this period the knights called themselves The Knights of Rhodes. In 1522 Suleiman arrived on the island with an army of around 100,000 to conquer the Kinghts' stronghold there. It was not an easy victory - the siege lasted six months, but the Ottomans defeated the Knights Hospitaller. Suleiman allowed the survivors to leave the island and take their relics and icons with them - a decision he would later regret.

Answer: Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire

He gave them Malta in exchange of an annual fee of a single Maltese falcon. The Knights also had to guard the island as well as the city of Tripoli in North Africa from pirate attacks. They lost Tripoli in 1551, but they still held Malta.

Answer: 1565

The siege took place from May to September in 1565. In 1571 the Battle of Lepanto inflicted a decisive naval defeat on the Ottoman Empire and it ceased to be a serious naval threat to the more westerly parts of the Mediterranean.

Answer: Jean Parisot de la Valette

The capital of Malta is named after him - Valetta.

Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam was the Grand Master during the siege of Rhodes in 1522. Foulques de Villaret was the Grand Master when the knights conquered Rhodes. Pierre de Monte was the Grand Master after La Vallette.

Answer: Three forts

The knights had three forts - St. Elmo, St. Michael and St. Angelo.
The defenders of St. Elmo became famous for their bravery. They fought to the last man but in the end the Ottomans took St. Elmo, though with with heavy casualties. The Ottomans also lost a lot of precious time since they didn't intend to spend the winter on the island.

Answer: He beheaded the Ottoman prisoners and and bombarded the Turkish camp with the heads

He used the heads of the Turkish prisoners as cannonballs and bombarded St. Elmo, which was by then occupied by the Ottomans.
The man notorious for blinding a whole army of prisoners and sending it back was Basil II of Byzantium. He blinded Tsar Samuil's troops leaving just one of every one hundred with one eye to lead the rest. Samuil died of a heart attack when he saw the blinded warriors. This earned Basil the nickname "The Bulgar Slayer".

Answer: Turgut Reis

He helped the Ottomans. A few years before the siege he had attacked Gozo (the smaller Maltese island) and taken its entire population in slavery. He also attacked other Christian cities in the Mediterranean. He died in the siege.

Answer: Greek Fire

Greek Fire was a Byzantine weapon and it was somewhat like a flamethrower. How the Byzantines created it isn't known even today.
The knights had ceramic grenades filled with black powder; they had fire hoops which they would throw at the enemy, and they were probably they first to use this weapon. They also had fire lances - medieval 'flamethrowers' but they had short range and could only produce flames for about five minutes, and they also had muskets and cannons.

Answer: Spain and Sicily

When the reinforcements arrived (in early September) the Turks had already decided to lift the siege and go home. It is said that when some knights of the relief force saw the Turks retreat they charged without waiting for orders from their commanders and massacred the retreating Ottomans.

The Turks fled to their ships and from the islands on 11 September. Malta had survived the Turkish assault, and throughout Europe people celebrated what would turn out to be the last epic battle involving Crusader Knights.