It remains an extraordinary story. On 18 May 1565, a vast Ottoman armada appeared off the shores of Malta. It comprised some 130 galleys, with at least sixty other vessels in tow. On board were perhaps 25,000 soldiers. Another five thousand or so corsairs would join forces with them later. 

The Maltese archipelago was held by the Order of St John, also known as the Hospitallers, founded in the Holy Land in the 11th century. The Hospitallers established hospitals wherever they went – on board ship, on a beach in the Bay of Naples – but were primarily a military order. They were also far from numerous: there were around 580 of them on Malta, of whom 470 were knights. They were supported by several thousand professional soldiers as well as the local population. 

It was an unequal fight, but the knights and the islanders held on. A key fort, St Elmo, fell in June after three weeks of bombardment and slaughter. Other defences held. A relief force of some seven hundred men arrived in early July. A larger one, comprising 9,600, came