History Year 9: The Great Siege and Harbour Defences

This set covers vocabulary and key concepts regarding the aftermath of the Great Siege of Malta, the construction of Valletta, harbour fortifications, and coastal defence systems.

Laparelli

The person sent by the Pope to Malta to make plans for the new city on Sciberras Hill.

Sciberras Hill

The location where the decision was taken to build a new town following the Great Siege.

Fort Saint Angelo

The first fortress built by the Knights after their arrival; it was the main defence of the Grand Harbour and served as the Grand Master’s residence until $1571$.

Castrum Maris

The alternative name for Fort Saint Angelo.

Fort Saint Elmo

A star-shaped fort that the Turks won after five weeks of siege.

Perez d’Aleccio

The artist who created the $16^{th}$ century affresco depicting the Great Siege found at the Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta.

St Margerita Lines

One of the defensive lines depicted in Source B used for the harbour’s defence.

Cottonera Lines

Defensive lines built to surround three cities to provide protection for the Maltese people.

Coastal Watch Towers

Towers built within visual distance of each other to form an unbroken chain for coastline surveillance and sounding alarms.

Wignacourt, Lascaris, and De Redin

The three Grand Masters responsible for building the coastal watch towers.

Secondary Source

A historical source written or created after the event, such as the Times of Malta article from March $14$, $2021$.

Watchman

The person usually found stationed in a coastal watch tower to sight enemy sea-craft.

Corsairing

An activity based on a license to attack vessels belonging to those of a different faith to plunder cargo and capture slaves.

Vittoriosa

The city (also known as Birgu) where the Order’s quarters were located before being transferred to the new city.

Central Administration

The governing body to which signals from coastal towers were relayed to inform them of enemy raids.

Bonfires and Smoke Signals

The specific signals used by watch towers to relay alarms; bonfires were used at night and smoke signals or cannon shots by day.