The hall of the Maritime Museum echoes with the clanging of swords as two men duel, sporting period gambesons, thick padded gloves and fencing masks.
If this is indeed de Valette’s sword, it means that he was right-handed
As one swings his blade forward in a diagonal cut, the other blocks, moves his opponents’ sword aside and thrusts into him. Despite the blow, the man remains unscathed for the duellers are merely demonstrating how Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette would have used his side sword in battle.
In a lecture organised by the Malta Historical Society, the Malta Historical Fencing Association (MHFA) demonstrated the use of de Valette’s 16th century battle sword.
The blades used for the demonstration are replicas of the one housed at the Vittoriosa parish museum at St Joseph’s Oratory. According to a centuries-old tradition, the blade at the parish museum belonged to de Valette himself. He laid it down at the altar of the chapel of Our Lady of Damascus as a votive offering at the end of the Great Siege.
Most of the arguments revolving around the Grand Master’s weapons seem to have been overshadowed by the richly-decorated ceremonial sword that was taken away by Napoleon Bonaparte during the brief stint of the French in Malta and which now sits in the Louvre, in Paris.
However, that sword, with the accompanying dagger, was only used for ceremonial purposes; de Valette never carried it and only likely saw it a handful of times in his life.
This weapon had been commissioned by King Philip II of Spain and given to the Order of St John in recognition of their victory in the siege of 1565.
Giacomo Bosio, the Order’s historian, records that de Valette decreed that the sword and the accompanying dagger would be stored in a strongbox with the Order’s treasures and only taken out to be carried before the Grand Master during an annual grand procession commemorating the end of the siege.
The sword that lay in Vittoriosa would have been by de Valette’s side during the siege. Unlike the one gifted by the King of Spain, this weapon is unembellished and is a practical, agile, military weapon weighing little over a kilo.
MHFA president and instructor Andrei Xuereb drew attention to the hilt of the sword. Upon closer examination, one of the protective rings at the back of the sword is placed further down than the others to allow the thumb to be comfortably placed on the blade.
“If this is indeed de Valette’s sword, it means that he was right-handed,” Mr Xuereb explained.
Historians believe that the tradition behind the story strongly suggests that the weapon is the genuine article.
When examined, the sword was found to date from the correct period and scholars, such as Order of St John expert Emanuel Buttigieg, say the tradition is usually accepted as authentic.
Speaking after the MHFA lecture, historian Giovanni Bonello, who found reference in literature to the sword dating back 200 years, argued that the weapon, along with an accompanying hat, which also belonged to the Grand Master, were unique artefacts.
“There are very few relics of the Grand Master. In literature you find a lot, but actual belongings of the Grand Master are virtually unknown, so if the two objects that lay in the Vittoriosa chapel – the hat and the sword – really belonged to the Grand Master, then they are very important relics.”