7 Popular “Facts” About the Great Siege of Malta That Are Simply Not True
The Great Siege of Malta (1565) is one of the most written-about events in Mediterranean history — and also one of the most misunderstood. Over time, dramatic stories, half-truths, and outright inventions have been repeated so often that they are now treated as historical fact.
Whilst I’m a proud Maltese tour guide who grew up on stories of the Great Siege, this article cuts through the myths — the kind that pop up in AI-written summaries, clickbait YouTube videos, and even some guidebook-style pages about Valletta Malta attractions and the Grand Harbour.
If you’d like to learn more about the 1565 Great Siege check out our 10 Facts about the 1565 Great Siege and our Great Siege of Malta (1565): Facts, Timeline & Why It Changed History . However on this article we will be de-bunking much of the garbage you might find online. Below are seven popular “facts” about the Great Siege of Malta that are either exaggerated, misleading, or simply wrong — based on modern historical research rather than legend or recycled internet content.
1. Heads Were Fired by Cannon from Birgu to Fort St Elmo
This is one of the most famous — and least realistic — stories of the siege.
The claim is that severed heads of Ottoman prisoners were loaded into cannons and fired across the Grand Harbour from Birgu, possibly from Fort St. Angelo’s Cavalier to Fort St Elmo, in retaliation for the headless and horrifically mutilated corpses of Knights that were tied to wooden crosses and sent floating into the harbour to reach the defenders as a warning to give up.
It sounds dramatic, but it would not have worked.
Cannons are designed to fire solid iron shot. A human head would disintegrate on firing or simply drop short. At best, a catapult or sling device may have been used to throw remains towards Ottoman lines — but not across the harbour with accuracy.
What matters here is intent, not spectacle: psychological warfare was real, but the cannon story is almost certainly later embellishment written much after the Great Siege happened by a certain Abbot.
2.The Odds Were Three Ottomans for Every Defender
You’ll often hear that the defenders were outnumbered three to one — sometimes even worse — and that it was only due to our bravery and faith that we Maltese and the Knights survived.
Again, it makes for an epic story. However, the reality is more nuanced.
Yes, the Ottomans landed between 25,000 and 40,000 men, while the defenders numbered fewer than 9,000. But numbers alone don’t decide sieges. The defenders had:
Strong fortifications
Interior supply lines
Knowledge of the terrain
Defensible choke points
The Ottomans, by contrast, had to storm, climb, and breach every position under fire at times using their comrades dead bodies as steps to breach the walls! Raw numbers did not translate into easy victory, especially when fighting through stone fortifications around the Grand Harbour (and areas visitors now explore as part of things to do in Valletta and the Three Cities).
3. Every Important Action of the Siege Is Well Known
Not really. More actions are being discovered as we speak.
Many lesser-known operations, especially small-scale skirmishes , naval actions , messages and espionage and additional boat attacks, are routinely left out of popular accounts and only found if one digs deeper into other sources and detailed Great Siege maps.
These operations didn’t make for heroic paintings or make it into the best-seller Great Siege books, but they mattered enormously.
Without these lessor-known incidents, the defenders would have been blind, isolated, and defeated far earlier.
4. All Maltese United Against the Ottomans
This is one of the most uncomfortable myths — and one of the most false. Like in every battle, history is never entirely black or white.
While many Maltese and residents fought bravely, not all were loyal. No doubt most of these have been “left out” but some have survived. Historical sources point to:
Traitors and renegades in Mdina
Informants within Ottoman-controlled areas, shouting matches between locals on opposing sides and turncoats among the foreign Mercenaries
A small Maltese community living in caves.
According to accounts, this group of cave dwellers allegedly offered their most beautiful woman as a “gift” to an Ottoman officer in exchange for protection. The arrangement ended violently when the Mdina cavalry discovered the situation and attacked the Ottoman detachment.
Legend claims the Ottoman captain — many of his men slain, himself unable to escape and surrounded — beheaded the woman he “loved” before dying in combat.
Whether fully accurate or not, the story highlights a vital truth: siege conditions fracture societies. Unity is rarely absolute — even in the most heroic moments of Maltese history.
6. If Malta Had Fallen, Sicily and Then Italy Would Have Been Next
This is a popular hypothetical — but one many historians dispute.
Taking Malta is one thing. Holding it is another.
Malta lies dangerously close to Sicily — and therefore close to Spanish power — while being far from Ottoman supply bases, which is a problem because Malta is not self-sustainable and lacks almost all kinds of natural resources.
Many historians believe that even if Malta had fallen, Spanish forces would have retaken it quickly.
The Ottomans were masters of expansion — but Malta would have been a logistical nightmare. Case in point: just as Tripoli was lost by the Knights to the Ottomans in 1551, being too far and deep in enemy territory can undo even strong positions.
5. Malta Stopped the Ottoman Empire
Malta did not stop the Ottoman Empire.
After 1565:
Ottoman fleets continued raiding the Mediterranean
In 1566, basically the year after the Malta siege, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent launched his final land campaign in Southern Hungary , leading to the Siege of Szigetvár, where he died..
Cyprus was conquered in 1571 (which contributed to the chain of events leading to Lepanto)
In 1574 the Ottomans decisively besieged and captured Tunis from the Spanish
Crete eventually fell in 1669 and was fully Ottoman by 1715
What Malta did do — especially when followed by the Battle of Lepanto (1571) — was confine Ottoman dominance largely to the eastern Mediterranean. This seems to be the most accurate and accepted between Historians are continue to debate the importance of the Great Siege,
The Ottomans had far to many resources to oil the war machine. Even the massive defeat and destruction of the Ottoman navy at Lepanto had a definite limit. The Ottomans, with their vast empire, quickly rebuilt their fleet, and later fought the Venetians again — this time over Crete as mentioned
That distinction matters.
7. The Knights’ Bravery Alone Won the Siege
Bravery mattered — enormously.
But claiming that courage alone (or 500 Knights alone) won the Great Siege of Malta is historically lazy.
Other decisive factors included:
Ottoman command rivalries
Tactical mistakes
Delays and infighting
The late arrival and early death of Turgut Reis (Dragut)
Seasonal weather constraints
Relief forces from Sicily
The Ottomans had to win by September. When they didn’t, the campaign collapsed.
The bravery of the Maltese and the Knights was crucial — but it was one factor among many, not a miracle in isolation.
Bonus: The Maltese Were Mostly Villagers and Peasants (True… but Absolutey Misleading)
As a Maltese, this is certainly one statement that hit a nerve or two, and absolute garbage
Yes — many Maltese were villagers and peasants.
But one must not forget that many Maltese were also expert corsairs and naval fighters, veterans of naval battles and land campaigns serving with the Knights and Spanish before. Being an island, without nautural resources, we ha dto take what we didn’t have, many times as the point of a sword!
Many Maltese were themselves practising corsairing well before the Knights arrived and one of our favourite fampous Medieval Maltese Corsair Captains alspo helped the Knights when they were still based at Rhodes ( and ended up attacking and stealing one of their own galloets, not an easy feat!)
They also had the Maltese militia Dejma — so they were not as helpless as one might believe.
Malta had also mostly had to fend for itself against many attacks that came before the Knights’ arrival. Whilst not all were fighting men, many were — and even those that weren’t were survivors at heart, forged by living on an island that gives little, takes so much, and was still desired by enemies on all sides.
This matters when people talk about “helpless locals.” We Maltese had courage and resilience baked into our DNA long before 1565.
Conclusion: Our 1565 Great Siege Needs No Sugar-Coating
The Great Siege is definitely an epic tale of heroism (on both sides) and desperation, with men, women, and even children risking and losing their lives bravely . Desperation was at its max, so much so that even tthe “Walking Wonded” theory was enforced at times..meaning if you can walk you can fight!
Also even wounded defenders who could not walk were strapped to chairs and armed with swords or lances to at least take a couple of Ottomans with them before they are butchered!
The Maltese bravery does come out clearly in this siege. That is a FACT! The Knights lost most of their “best” troops and many foreign mercenaries at Fort St Elmo — therefore it is often the Maltese who did much of the killing and, especially, much of the dying, thousands of men , women and children, the very old and the very young, their fate decided in the Great Siege of 1565
And that is exactly why the Great Siege of Malta is one of those tales that needs no extra sugar-coating. We don’t need outlandish statements and fake “facts” to make it powerful. The truth is darker, messier, and more impressive than the myths.
If you’re reading this while planning things to do in Valletta, exploring Valletta Malta attractions, or walking the waterfront of the Grand Harbour, remember: you’re not just sightseeing — you’re standing inside one of the most brutal, human, and misunderstood struggles in Mediterranean history.
Dive into the Great Siege with a Maltese guide who can navigate the Knights, the Ottamans, and Birgu’s Darkest day — all before lunch.
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