File:Jean de la Valette (49. GM) 1.jpg

The best known grandmaster that ever ruled the island is surely – Grandmaster Jean Parisot de La Vallette, he led the knights and the Maltese in the Great Siege of 1565. The Great Siege of 1565 heralded an era of greater interest by the Order of St John in the Maltese archipelago; up to 1565 it was considered as just a temporary base. The Order of St John embarked on a building spree commencing with Valetta and over the passing of time fortifications and other buildings which are still considered as gems of Baroque art and an invincible system of fortifications. According to Napoleon Bonaparte it would have been difficult for his forces to dislodge the Order if the fortifications were well manned. For the man in the street it meant work, security and betterment in all spheres of life such as sanitation, water supply and life in general.

La Vallette had decided to build a formidable city fit for a military order. All over Europe there was a sense of euphoria over the unbelievable success over the erstwhile undefeated Suleiman the Magnificent and his thousands of Janissaries.

{Janissaries were the standing army of the Ottoman Empire, organized by Sultan Murad I. Ottoman armies had previously been composed of Turkmen tribal levies, who were loyal to their clan leaders, but as the Ottoman polity acquired the characteristics of a state, it became necessary to have paid troops loyal only to the sultan. Next, the system of impressing Christian youths (devshirme) was instituted; converted to Islam and given the finest training; they became the elite of the army. Special laws regulated their daily life, cutting them off from civil society; they were even forbidden to marry. Devotion to such discipline made the Janissaries the scourge of Europe. These standards, however, changed with time; recruitment became lax (Muslims were admitted, too), and because of the privileges Janissaries enjoyed, their numbers swelled from about 20,000 in 1574 to some 135,000 in 1826. In time they became kingmakers and the allies of conservative forces, opposing all reform and refusing to allow the army to be modernized. Sultan Mahmud II planned their elimination. When they revolted in 1826, he dissolved the corps by proclamation, putting all opposition down by force. Thousands were killed and others banished, but most were simply absorbed into the general population.}