The Knights Hospitaller of St. John had established their base in Malta after being driven from Rhodes by the Ottoman Turks. From Malta, the knights raided Ottoman ships, posing a threat. In 1565, the Ottomans launched a large siege of Malta with around 48,000 troops to defeat the knights, who had only around 500 knights and 7,000 other soldiers defending the island. After months of fighting and numerous failed attacks, the Ottomans were unable to take the key forts of Malta and eventually decided to retreat, having lost between 25,000-35,000 men, while the knights lost around a third of the island's inhabitants. Though inconclusive

1. Siege of Malta May 18 - September 11, 1565 By Martin La Pierre

2. Knights Hospitaller of St. John Malta became home for the knights after being pushed out of their base in Rhodes by the Ottoman Turks and it became a officially theirs once they made an agreement with Charles the 5th Being a launching point for Christina raid against transport ships, a previous siege by Barbary pirates (allies of Ottomans),and being a great launching point for a muslim attack on all Christian land, the knights knew that a siege would come. Spies from Istanbul eventually informed the knights that a large force was coming.

3. Siege The Ottomans number close to forty eight thousand while the defenders were only around five hundred knights and seven thousand various other soldiers. In order to stop the Turks from using resources on the island the knights gathered all the crops and poisoned some of the wells. The siege began with the Turks attacking Fort Elmo so the could anchor their ships in a safe location. The fort cost the Turks six thousand men and most of their janissaries. The Turks soon turned their attention to two other forts against Fort Michael and Angelo. The attacked failed as the knights were able to destroy the amphibious transports at Angelo and a cavalry charge at Michael caused to retreat.

4. Siege pt.2 After numerous attempts of taking Fort Michael failed the Turks had finally decided to stop the invasion and retreat with the men and supplies that they still had left. Reinforcements of eight thousand men came a day before Turks decided to leave probably helping their decision.

5. Aftermath Reports of the amount lost on the Turks side can range from twenty five thousand to thirty five thousand depending on where the source is coming from while the knights lost about a third of their inhabitants from the island. The siege did little to change the power balance in the eastern Mediterranean but it proved that Turks could be beaten.

6. Biblography 1559, By. "Siege of Malta (1565)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_(1565)>. "EBSCOhost: THE GREAT SIEGE OF MALTA." EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=104&sid=c3ea4721-060c-4331-a996-1238764fc098@sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=aph&AN=23631954>. Crowley, Roger. Empires of the Sea: the Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World. New York: Random House, 2008. Print.