~ Mdina’s Military Role

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Mdina, Malta’s old capital, has been besieged many times in the past but it was only defeated twice – the latest being in 1798, by the Maltese!

Many of Mdina’s earlier sieges date back to prehistoric times – silo pits dug out of the side walls of Mdina’s ditch must have been used to store grain, not water, in the Bronze Age.

In around 700BC, the Phoenicians came to Malta as traders seeking Malta’s safe harbours. The Phoenicians later founded Carthage in Tunis and Malta fell to the Romans in the Punic Wars.

‘Melita’, the Roman capital in Malta, extended from today’s Mdina to St Paul’s Grotto in Rabat. With the breakdown of the Roman Empire, Malta formed part of the Byzantine world but was used mostly as a place to which political prisoners could be exiled. By the time of the Byzantines Mdina was reduced to its present dimensions. Most probably they also strengthened the bastions, creating the round tower one can still see facing Mtarfa.

In 870AD, the Muslim Arabs from North Africa, who had attacked Sicily from the north, slowly overcame Sicily and then conquered Malta. Mdina was attacked and taken and the rest of Malta followed. In 1090, the Normans attacked southern Italy and later Sicily and finally Malta. No fight ensued and Mdina’s gates were opened to the invaders.

The first recorded siege of Mdina took place in 1429 and had a much greater impact on Mdina than the Great Siege of 1565. At that time, North Africa had been taken over by the Sunni Muslims called Hafsidi who wanted to re-occupy Sicily. Being a stepping-stone to Sicily, Malta was attacked first. At that time, Malta’s population consisted of some 5,000 – 6,000 people and the invading army had some 18,000 fighters. Malta had no foreign soldiers to help defend it, but Mdina was well-prepared for such a siege.

There is a story that the invading troops placed bread at the entrance to the city to taunt the defenders that the invaders had bread while the Maltese did not. But during the night, the Maltese crept out of the city and placed ġbejniet cheeselets on top of the bread to show they had not just bread but also ġbejniet.

This siege is also renowned for the religious legends surrounding it. Originally, the legend said St Paul, sword in hand, appeared defending the city. Mattia Preti later painted the scene for Mdina Cathedral but he depicted the Hafsidi as Ottoman Turks.

Nothing else is known about the 1429 siege except that at some point the invaders must have given up and left.

The next siege of Mdina is known for the sacking of Gozo in 1551. Earlier, the knights and Genoese Admiral Andrea Doria had attacked Dragut’s well-fortified town of Mahdia, outside Tunis, and destroyed it. Predictably retaliation followed: Dragut, landed his force in Marsamxett but found Birgu and Mdina too well-fortified to be attacked, indeed, Villegaignon Street is named after the knight who strengthened the Mdina defences during the 1551 siege. After the siege, Grand Master d’Homedes strengthened the fortifications, adding the d’Homedes and St Peter bastions, the first two bastions built by the knights in Mdina.

Legends of divine help also relate to this siege when it is said that St Agatha appeared on the bastions to encourage the Maltese, remembered every year in a procession held from Mdina Cathedral to Rabat, Malta. So Dragut’s force moved to Gozo, attacked and overcame the Cittadella and murdered or took every Gozitans into slavery, leaving only the aged behind.

The 1565 Great Siege of Malta is justly remembered – not only by Malta but by the rest of Europe. Although the fighting mainly took place around Birgu and Mount Sciberras (today’s Valletta), Mdina too had its share. Had it not been for Mdina, Malta would have lost the siege.

The huge Turkish armada touched land at Għajn Tuffieħa intending to attack Mdina but then moved to Marsaxlokk Bay for better fleet security. Turkish general Mustafa Pasha insisted on wanting to attack Mdina first in order to cut off any possible communication from Sicily but he was overruled since admiral Piali wanted to attack Fort St Elmo so that the Turkish fleet could use Marsamxett Harbour for mooring. This was a miscalculation that was to cost them the siege.

When the attack on St Elmo began, the Maltese massed behind the walls of Mdina could only watch in impotent rage. St Elmo fell on 23 June. Some days later, Mustafa sent Suleiman the Magnificent a parchment map showing the Turkish flag flying on St Elmo and Mdina still flying the flag of the Order.

On 7 August, the Turks attacked Birgu and Senglea in full force. That is when the Knights’ cavalry housed there, rushed out of Mdina and destroyed the Ottoman camp at Marsa, killing injured Turks there. Hearing the mayhem, the Turks thought that the expected help from Sicily had arrived and retreated just as victory was in sight.

The first help from Sicily arrived soon after, when the Piccolo Soccorso force landed at Gnejna and marched to nearby Mdina. It was then guided in great silence to Ricasoli where it was ferried to Birgu by innumerable boats belonging to the Maltese. More knights and soldiers who wanted to come and help in the defence of Malta kept massing in Messina. This was the famous Gran Soccorso that left Syracuse for Malta on the 25 August but had to return due to bad weather. On 6 September, about 8,000 soldiers and knights arrived at Għajn Tuffieħa and Mellieħa but the Turks thought it numbered some 16,000 and ordered the end of the siege.

The Turks embarked on their ships and were leaving when Mustafa realised his mistake and ordered his troops back on land. That is where the Maltese, the knights and the Gran Soccorso came into their own. They issued forth from Mdina and, with their fresh forces, attacked the Turks around St Paul’s Bay and Salina. It is said that so many Turks were killed that Salina could not be used for months afterwards due to the number of bodies.

But the danger for Mdina did not disappear after the Great Siege. Glormu Cassar, the Maltese architect, drew up a plan for a more compact Mdina, a fortress around half the size of today’s Mdina. However the old noble families of Mdina objected and the plan was not implemented.

The last siege of Mdina took place in 1798 when the Maltese rose against the French, who retreated to Mdina. But the Maltese knew their Mdina better than the French and entered the city through a sally port at the back of the cathedral, next to Palazzo de Piro, and took over the city from the French who were then expelled.

In World War II, Mdina was not attacked, although people there had a grandstand view of the constant bombing on Ta’ Qali just beneath it.