Thirty-five years after the Order settled in Malta, it was
again besieged by the Ottoman Turks, under Suleiman
the Magnificent. It was long considered to be the most
important siege in military history and is still studied. After
112 days of terrifically violent warfare, the Turks withdrew.
In 1798 the Order was forced by General Napol��on
Bonaparte to abandon Malta and finally, in 1834, the
Order settled on extraterritorial holdings in Rome where
it remains today. No longer involved in physical combat,
the Order is devoted to assisting the sick, poor, hungry
and homeless, and the victims of war, civil strife and
natural disasters, of all races and religions throughout
the world.
HYLAND
