Malta

Under Roman rule the islands prospered and were distinguished as a Municipium and a Foederata Civitas. Many Roman antiquities still exist, testifying to the close link between the Maltese inhabitants and the people of Rome. In AD 60 the New Testament records that Saint Paul was shipwrecked on an island named Melite, which many Bible scholars conflate with Malta; there is a tradition that the shipwreck took place on the shores of the aptly-named "Saint Paul's Bay". The Kingdom of Sicily ruled the Maltese islands between 1194 and 1530 and a process of full latinization started in Malta. In the early 16th century the Ottoman Empire started spreading over the region, reaching South-East Europe. The Spanish king Charles V feared that if Rome fell to the Turks, it would be the end of Christian Europe. In 1522 Suleiman II drove the Knight Hospitallers of St. John out of Rhodes. They dispersed to their commanderies in Europe. Wanting to protect Rome from invasion from the South, in 1530 Charles V handed over the island to these Knights. For the next 275 years these famous "Knights of Malta" made the island their domain and made the Italian language official. They built towns, palaces, churches, gardens, and fortifications and embellished the island with numerous works of art and enhanced cultural heritage. The order of the Knights of St. John was originally established to set up outposts along the route to the Holy Land to assist pilgrims going in either direction. Owing to the many confrontations that took place, one of their main tasks was to provide medical assistance and even today the eight-pointed cross is still in wide use in ambulances and first aid organizations. In return for the many lives they saved, the Order received many newly conquered territories that had to be defended.