Was the Great Siege of 1565 against the Christians or against the Order of St John?
The order had been expelled from everywhere that it had occupied. Before coming to Malta, against the will of the Maltese, there had been booted out of Rhodes and then spent eight years in Viterbo.
They did not behave well in Malta, whether towards the Maltese or towards the Ottomans, who could not live in peace in the Mediterranean because the Knights lived off piracy.
This annoyed the Ottomans and many believe this is why they laid siege to Malta in 1565. What they failed to do was done by the French.
Can historians such as Lino Bugeja tell the truth about the Great Siege without fear?