The Foundation of Valletta

The idea of fortifying the rocky and steep-sided Mount Sciberras had occured to the Knights on their arrival in 1530, but because time was not on their side, they limited themselves to building a fort at its very tip, instead. If other Grand Masters studied the possibilities of such a project, La Valette was obsessed with the idea; as soon as he has been elected to the Grand Mastership in 1557 he invited foreign military engineers, famous in their time, to prepare the plans, but the Great Siege put a stop to all that. No sooner was the siege lifted then the plans for the fortress city were again revived, but as a first step the ill-fated Fort St.Elmo was at once rebuilt.
Pope Pius IV sent his military engineer, Francesco Laparelli, ahd the planning of the new town started in earnest.When Laparelli departed from the Island he left his Maltese assistant, Gerolamo Cassar, to continue the work he had started. La Valette died in 1568 and was buried in the Church of Our Lady of Victories, the first building to be erected.
Other Grand Masters continue to embellish the new city and, in time, all the important buildings of the Order were enclosed within its walls: the Auberges of the Langues of the Order; the Grand Master's Palace with its Armoury; the Co-Cathedral and other churches; the Hospital; the Courts of Justice and the palatial houses of individual Knights, rich Maltese citizens, and ecclesiastics.

The Fall of the Order

When the Order made Malta its home, for the first time the masters of the Maltese lived on the Island itself, rather than the other way round.
The Knights of the Order of St.John came from the noblest and richest families of Europe and a Knight was expected to pass on his property to the Order on his death, but it was not unusual for a member of the Order to make gifts and endowments during his lifetime as well.
Six years after the Great Siege the Turks were also defeated at sea, in the Battle of Lepanto, in which the galleys of the Order participated.
The finances of the Order were now in a precarious position. Unemployment was rife and poverty was widespread.

Towards the end of the 18th century matters for the Order were going from bad to worse: in France, where most of her overseas property lay, the possessions of the Order were taken over by the Republican Government and French refugees, fleeing to Malta from the Revolution, were an added drain on the treasury of the Order. In the wake of his victorious Italian campaign, Napoleon confiscated the Order's property in that country as well.
At the time the last Grand Master of Malta, Ferdinand von Hompesch, was being elected, Napoleon was making his plans to take over the Island.

The French

Napoleon's capture of Malta in June 1798 cannot be counted as one of his military triumphs.
The Grand Master capitulated without offering any resistance and Napoleon made his great entry into Valletta and within a week Von Hompesch, accompanied by a few knights, left the Island unwept, unhonoured, and unsung.
The Maltese felt that they had been let down by the Order, but before they could attempt any resistance they were talked into submission by the Bishop. Maltese that had served in the Order's army and navy were recruited into the French Republican forces, and other regiments were raised for garrison duties on the Island itself.
Nobility was, of course, abolished and all armorial bearings were to be removed.
After stripping the palaces, Auberges and other buildings of everything of values, Napoleon, conveniently forgetting his promises, next turned his attention to the churches; only such articles that were indispensable for the "exercise of the cult" were left while all other valuables were removed and priceless works of art in gold and silver melted down into ingots.
Nominally the Order had held the Island of Malta in fief from the King of Sicily (since 1735 this island had been amalgamated with the State of Naples and was then known as the Kingdom of the two Sicilies), and it was to the King of the Two Sicilies that the Maltese now turned for aid and protection. At the same time deputies were despatched to seek aid from the allies of the King, the British.
A small number of British troops were landed and the French in Gozo surrendered in October 1798, the Sicilian flag being hoisted on the ramparts.
As the siege wore on, the French penned in the fortifications were prevented from recieving aid because of the British blockade, while the Maltese, by this time, aided by Italian and British troops, did not have the means of assaultingthe formidable bastions.
The French, having arrived at the end of their tether, were ready to capitulate but the troops of Napoleon proudly refused to submit to the Maltese rebels.
The British, on the other hand, anxious to deploy their troops and warships in other theatres of war, were eager to speed up the surrender of the French in Malta.
The Maltese had borne the brunt of the fighting and other privations, but when the capitulation was beingdrafted and signed neither they, nor their representatives, were allowed to participate in the negotiations.
The National Congress was dissolved and the Maltese Battalions disbanded; a Maltese regiment formed by the British, under British officers was, however, retained.