Shortly after I published my researched findings on the correct name of the hero of the Great Siege – Jean de Valette – a young “enterprising amateur researcher” hit the front page of The Sunday Times (December 30, 2012) with a loud bang. He rubbished my conclusions. He claimed that the head of the Vatican secret archives told him that “letters sent from the Holy See were always addressed to Jean de La Valette”.

Those who reckon it is a serious criminal offence to undertake proper historical research were jubilant, “so a 24 year old amateur researcher got it right and a so-called expert funded by the government got it wrong”. You know, the only reliable history is that dictated by the hearsay of hearsay.

My reaction to this historical hand grenade was what I believe it should have been: this young researcher is relying on documents? Let’s see them. If he manages to produce even one single document contemporary to the Grand Master which referred to him as De la Valette, I will apologise to him and to all the readers of this paper.

Four whole months have passed since this extravagant claim was made. Did the researcher come up with even one of those letters from the Vatican archives? You bet he did.

Incidentally, even some descendants of the Grand Master’s family then promised to send documentary evidence to prove me wrong. Has anyone seen it? Some people seem ever so shy to put their money where their loud mouth is.

The boring fact remains that the Grand Master never referred to himself as De la Valette. The fact remains that none of his contemporaries ever addressed him as De la Valette. The fact equally remains that none of his contemporaries ever referred to him as De la Valette. Never De la Valette, never La Valette. Just plain Jean/Jehan de Valette.