CHAPTER II

1. 24. Malte. After being for several centuries a fief of Sicily, Malta was given by Charles V. in 1530 to the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, who had been expelled from Rhodes by the Turks. It remained in the possession of the Knights from that date to the time of the events recorded in this chapter. The French did not keep it long; English troops were called in by the Maltese, and drove out the invaders. During the rest of the War we held it, and it was formally recognized as an English possession by the Treaty of Paris in 181 4.