The year 2023 marks the anniversaries of two 16-17th century French grand masters of the Order of St John who bestowed their name on the two Maltese cities they founded.

Portrait of Grand Master Claude de la Sengle in the basilica of Our Lady of Victories, Senglea. Photo: Wikipedia

Grand Master Claude de la Sengle, who ruled Malta between 1553 and 1557, was to be historically remembered by the name of the suburb he raised to the status of a city after building Fort St Michael on the small peninsula called L’Isola di San Giuliano (L-Isla in Maltese), which at the time was just a hunting ground. The fort gave the Cottonera harbour islet between French Creek to the west and Dockyard Creek to the east its strongest resistance asset in the 1550s that predictively was to face the first besieging brunt of the Ottoman siege attack in 1565 while defending the Borgo, under the succeeding grand master, Jean Parisot de Valette.

A pre-1921 photo of Fort St Michael in Senglea before it was demolished. Grand Master de la Sengle expanded the fort early in the 1550s, apprehensive of imminent Ottoman attacks. His fear was well-placed, as it played a major role in the 1565 Great Siege.

Meanwhile, Antoine de Paule, who was elected grand master this month 400 years ago on March 10, 1623, besides being closely associated with the splendid San Anton Palace in Attard, also founded a new town called Casal Paola, still popularly called Raħal Ġdid in Maltese. The new suburb was envisioned to ease the dense population inhabiting the older three cities across the harbour, south of Valletta in the 17th century.

De Paule Band Club in Paola, recently in the news due to its successful bid to remain in its present premises in the town’s major square, also called Pjazza Antoine de Paule, perpetuates its founder’s memory.

De la Sengle elected 470 years ago

Emvin Cremona was commissioned in 1957 to paint the titular painting for the altar of the Senglea Confraternity of the Holy Rosary to replace the one destroyed in 1941. It shows the Virgin Mary in a dialogue with St Dominic and St Catherine of Siena.

Hailing from the Langue of France, de la Sengle was born in 1494 in the French province of Beauvais, today known for connecting Paris to Malta via a low-cost air link. His gallantry and devoutness led to his appointment as Grand Hospitaller of the Order and later General of the Galleys. Bailli de la Sengle was intensely involved in the battles of the Knights in the Mediterranean and North Africa. He was frequently and bravely engaged in fighting against the Ottoman corsairs led by Dragut, particularly in the struggles for Djerba and Tripoli.

De la Sengle was elected grand master 470 years ago while serving as ambassador of the Order in Rome since 1551, after a brilliant seafaring career that endeared him with his brethren. He set out to carry out the military strengthening of the harbour defences, notably by initiating in 1554 the residential development of Senglea, which still bears his coat of arms. He also expanded Fort Saint Michael into a strategic bastion, strengthened Fort Saint Angelo and completed Fort Saint Elmo, which was started by his predecessor, Grand Master Juan de Homedes y Coscón.

A coin depicting the coat of arms of Grand Master Claude de la Sengle, which Senglea (L-Isla/Città Invicta) still displays as the city blazon. Photo: Wikipedia

To combat the prohibition of the importation of wheat by the Viceroy of Sicily, Juan de Vega, following disagreements over Mehdia, de la Sengle upgraded the mills on the peninsula so that the population would not starve.

According to certain sources, when a hurricane hit the harbour area in 1555, four galleys capsised under the force of the strong winds, causing the death of 600 in spite of the residents’ efforts to save as many mariners as possible. Under his leadership, the Order sought the assistance of Spain, the Holy See, France and the Prior of St Giles to substitute the lost ships. The grand master further commissioned the building of a galley in Messina at his own expense.

Restoring the Order in England

During Catholic Queen Mary’s reign (1553-58) in England – she was the daughter of Henry VIII and first wife Catherine of Aragon – de la Sengle eagerly sought the restoration of the Knights’ Order in England, reaching an important encouraging stage in 1557. All plans, however, were abandoned as soon as the Protestant Elizabeth I, Mary’s younger half-sister, ascended the throne.

He was often distressed and concerned at the wars between Christian kings of Europe: he realised that since they were continuously fighting each other, should the Ottomans attack Malta, he could not expect any assistance.

In 1557, Prior François de Lorraine, commanding five of the Order’s galleys, engaged a Muslim fleet off Rhodes. Suffering defeat, knights and sailors lost their lives. The remaining galleys returned to the island conveying the depressing news.

After this defeat, de la Sengle’s health deteriorated. Suffering from a persistent catarrh, he suddenly died of suffocation on August 18, 1557, aged 63, at Mdina, and was interred in the Chapel of St Anne within Fort St Angelo. His heart was buried in the Church of the Annunciation, outside Rabat. Later on, his remains were transported to the crypt of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta. His legacy also included the reformation of the Statutes of the Order and his personal handsome contribution to the Treasury through his own inheritance at his death.

De Paule laid Paola’s foundation in 1626

Portrait of Grand Master Antoine de Paule. Photo: Histoire des Chevaliers Hospitaliers de S. Jean de Jerusalem

Born in 1570 into a family of chivalric and political tradition, Grand Master Antoine de Paule was received into the Order in the Langue of Provence in 1590, becoming Prior of St Gilles and Grand Commander.

After being elected in 1623, a year later de Paule ceremoniously took possession of Vittoriosa in a ritual known as a possesso, in so doing adding a novel tradition to the previous grand masters’ entrance to Mdina upon assuming the magisterial office. Upon landing, he entered maritime Vittoriosa to the din of artillery, with the residents taking to the streets to jubilantly greet him. Revelry ruled the day, with the setting up of a remarkable triumphal arch, the reciting of poems to the sound of live music and the firing of muskets and cannonry by all the galleys at port. De Paule’s possesso of Vittoriosa became a fixture at the inauguration of successive grand masters.

A postage stamp commemorating Grand Master Antoine de Paule issued by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in Rome demonstrating his coat of arms. Photo: Sovereign Military Order of Malta

One of de Paule’s lasting memorials remains San Anton Palace, named after his patron saint. Upon taking his authoritative command, he enlarged and embellished the palace, which he had already built as a personal residence six kilometres outside Valletta while still a knight. He elaborated its grounds with beautiful gardens and orange groves. Today it serves as the official residence of the President of the Republic.

Grand master de Paule was a bon vivant, as his personal blazon seems to depict featuring a proud colourful peacock standing on a garb below an azure ribbon with three golden stars.

Grand master de Paule was a bon vivant, as his personal blazon seems to depict

Commissioning the Floriana bastions

The guard lookout (Il-gardjola) in Senglea at the tip of the bastion gardens. Various symbols sculpted on the walls of the watchtower, including an eye, an ear and a crane bird, represent the protection of the shores of Malta. Photo: Wikimedia

Grand masters regularly had trouble with the inquisitor; de Paule was no exception. Nevertheless, it was frequent skirmishes at sea against the Turks that emboldened de Paule to upgrade the Order’s fleet and repel at least five Ottoman attacks on the island.

In 1634, conscious of the continuous threats of the Crescent, grand master de Paule asked Pope Urban VIII for assistance in improving the island’s fortifications. The pope sent Pietro Paolo Floriani to examine the defences. A year later, the military architect proposed to construct a second line of fortifications around Valletta’s land approach.

De Paule is also credited with the building of the chapel of Santa Tereża ta’ Ġesù in Cospicua, which he endorsed in 1626. He carried out the first physical study of the Maltese territory and a census of the population. A year before he died, he founded a monastery for nuns of the Order of St John in his French hometown, Toulouse.

Grand Master Antoine de Paule’s funerary mausoleum in the Chapel of Provence dedicated to St Michael in St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta. Photo Courtesy of St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation

De Paule died on June 9, 1636, after a long illness at the age of 85. His epitaph extols him as a leader who was popular mostly due to his love for his subjects. His mausoleum, in late mannerist style, adorned with various marble inlays and motifs, is in the Chapel of Provence dedicated to St Michael in the Conventual Church of St John in Valletta.