Editing History of Malta (section)

==French occupation (1798–1800)==
{{main|French occupation of Malta|Siege of Malta (1798–1800)}}
[[File:Napoleon Malta.png|thumb|left|Capitulation of Malta to [[Napoleon]], 1798]]

Over the years, the power of the knights declined; their reign ended in 1798 when [[Napoleon Bonaparte]]'s expeditionary fleet stopped off there en route to his [[French Campaign in Egypt and Syria|Egyptian expedition]]. Napoleon asked for safe harbour to resupply his ships, and when they refused to supply him with water, [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] sent a division to scale the hills of Valletta. Grand Master [[Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim|Hompesch]] capitulated on 11&nbsp;June. The following day a treaty was signed by which the order handed over sovereignty of the island of Malta to the [[First French Republic|French Republic]]. In return the French Republic agreed to "employ all its credit at the [[Second Congress of Rastatt|congress of Rastatt]] to procure a principality for the Grand Master, equivalent to the one he gives up".<ref>[[Whitworth Porter]], ''A History of the Knights of Malta'' (London: Longman, Brown, Green, 1858), v.2, 451.</ref>

During his very short stay (six days), Napoleon accomplished quite a number of reforms, notably the creation of a new administration with a Government Commission, the creation of twelve municipalities, the setting up of a public finance administration, the abolition of all feudal rights and privileges, the abolition of slavery and the granting of freedom to all Turkish slaves (2000 in all). On the judicial level, a family code was framed and twelve judges were nominated. Public education was organised along principles laid down by Bonaparte himself, providing for primary and secondary education. Fifteen primary schools were founded and the university was replaced by an ’Ecole centrale’ in which there were eight chairs, all very scientific in outlook: notably, arithmetic and stereometry, algebra and stereotomy, geometry and astronomy, mechanics and physics, navigation, chemistry, etc.<ref>{{cite web |last=Weider |first=Ben |author-link=Ben Weider |title=Chapter&nbsp;12 – The Egyptian Campaign of 1798 |website=International Napoleonic Society |url=http://www.napoleonicsociety.com/english/Life_Nap_Chap12.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926095958/http://www.napoleonicsociety.com/english/Life_Nap_Chap12.htm |archive-date=26 September 2015}}</ref>

He then sailed for Egypt leaving a substantial garrison in Malta. Since the Order had also been growing unpopular with the local Maltese, the latter initially viewed the French with optimism. This illusion did not last long. Within months the French were closing convents and seizing church treasures, most notably the sword of Jean de Valette which has since been returned to Malta in 2017, after a century in Paris, and for many years exhibited at the [[Louvre]], in [[Paris]]. The Maltese people rebelled, and the French garrison of General [[Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois]] retreated into Valletta. After several failed attempts by the locals to retake Valletta, the British were asked for their assistance. Rear Admiral Lord [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Horatio Nelson]] decided on a total blockade in 1799. The French garrison surrendered in 1800.