Editing History of Malta (section)

===Great Siege===
{{main|Great Siege of Malta}}
[[File:Siege of malta 2.jpg|thumb|Capture of St.&nbsp;Elmo, 1565]]
On 18&nbsp;May 1565, [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] laid siege to Malta. By the time the Ottoman fleet arrived the Knights were as ready as they could be. First, the Ottomans attacked the newly built fort of St.&nbsp;Elmo and after a whole month of fighting the fort was in rubble and the soldiers kept fighting until they were wiped out. After this the Turks started attacking Birgu and the fortifications at Senglea but to no gain.

After a protracted siege ended on 8&nbsp;September of the same year, which became known in history as [[Great Siege of Malta]], the [[Ottoman Empire]] conceded defeat as the approaching winter storms threatened to prevent them from leaving. The Ottoman Empire had expected an easy victory within weeks. They had 40,000&nbsp;men arrayed against the Knights' 9,000, most of them Maltese soldiers and simple citizens bearing arms. Their loss of thousands of men was very demoralising. The Ottomans made no further attempts to conquer Malta and the Sultan died in the next year.