Desmond Zammit Marmará wrote well about the 450th anniversary of the Great Siege (April 28).

Many think the Great Siege did not involve the Maltese or the Christians but the Order of St John because the Ottomans could not live in peace.

The Order of St John benefited from piracy. No one could have one’s mind at rest in the Mediterranean. Therefore, the knights of St John were unwanted everywhere: in Acre, Rhodes and Malta. They did not practise the axiom live and let live.

Unfortunately, only the Great Siege events are mentioned prominently in the history books and the siege of 1429, when the Maltese fought alone against the Ottomans, and what happened during the French occupation are not highlighted. In these instances, the Maltese fought alone, without any help.

As to Jean de Valetta, well, he was a great warrior but a very rude man. He was imprisoned and kept in solitary confinement. He deprived the Maltese from their rights.

As a religious person he lived a shameful life. He was a célibataire, having professed the holy vows, yet he was not chaste. He had at least two mistresses from whom he had a boy and a girl. The girl was married to Stefano Buonaccorsi who subsequently killed her to have her wealth.