Fra' Claude de la Sengle (1494 – 18 August 1557) was the 48th Grand Master of the

Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

, from 1553 to his death in 1557. His successor was Fra'

Jean Parisot de Valette Fra' Jean "Parisot" de la Valette (4 February 1495 – 21 August 1568) was a French nobleman and 49th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, from 21 August 1557 to his death in 1568. As a Knight Hospitaller, joining the order in the ''Langue de P ...

. A native Frenchman, Sengle, then

Bailli A bailiff (french: bailli, ) was the king's administrative representative during the ''ancien régime'' in northern France, where the bailiff was responsible for the application of justice and control of the administration and local finances in h ...

of the French langue of the Order, was heavily involved in the battles of the Knights in the Mediterranean and in North Africa against the Ottoman corsairs led by admiral

Turgut Reis Dragut ( tr, Turgut Reis) (1485 – 23 June 1565), known as "The Drawn Sword of Islam", was a Muslim Ottoman naval commander, governor, and noble, of Turkish or Greek descent. Under his command, the Ottoman Empire's maritime power was extended ...

, and particularly in the struggles for

Djerba Djerba (; ar, جربة, Jirba, ; it, Meninge, Girba), also transliterated as Jerba or Jarbah, is a Tunisian island and the largest island of North Africa at , in the Gulf of Gabès, off the coast of Tunisia. It had a population of 139,544 a ...

and

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

Sengle had considerable impact on the military strengthening of Malta, notably by initiating in 1554 the development of the city of

Senglea Senglea ( mt, L-Isla ), also known by its title Città Invicta (or Civitas Invicta), is a fortified city in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It is one of the Three Cities in the Grand Harbour area, the other two being Cospicua and Vittorios ...

, which was later named after him and uses his

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

. He also expanded

Fort Saint Michael Fort Saint Michael ( mt, Forti San Mikiel) was a small fort in the land front of the city of Senglea, Malta. It was originally built in the 1552 and it played a significant role in the Great Siege of Malta of 1565. Following the siege, it was r ...

into a major bastion and completed

Fort Saint Elmo Fort Saint Elmo ( mt, Forti Sant'Iermu) is a star fort in Valletta, Malta. It stands on the seaward shore of the Sciberras Peninsula that divides Marsamxett Harbour from Grand Harbour, and commands the entrances to both harbours along with Fort ...

, which had been begun by his predecessor, Grand Master

Juan de Homedes y Coscon Fra' Juan de Homedes y Coscón (c. 1477 – 6 September 1553) was a Spanish knight of Aragon who served as the 47th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, between 1536 and 1553. Early life Little is known about de Homedes' early life, except ...

. Later on,

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infan ...

wanted to grant

Mehdia Mahdia ( ar, المهدية ') is a Tunisian coastal city with 62,189 inhabitants, south of Monastir and southeast of Sousse. Mahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax. It is important for the associated fish-processing industry, as well as ...

to the Order, but the commission that was set up decided that it would be too expensive to maintain. Therefore, Charles V ordered the Viceroy of Sicily,

Juan de Vega Juan de Vega y Enríquez, 1st Count of Grajal, ''6th Lord of Grajal'', ''Viceroy of Navarre'' (1542), ''Viceroy and Captain General of Sicily'' (1547–1557), ''presidente del Consejo de Castilla'', was an ambassador of Charles V, Holy Roman Empe ...

, to destroy it to prevent Muslim occupation. Vega did burn Mehdia, but he retaliated against Malta for not accepting the city and prohibited exportation of wheat to the island. To combat this, Sengle brought the engineer Vincenzo Vogo to Malta to upgrade the mills so that the population would not starve. The Valletta tornado probably occurred during Sengle's reign in 1555 or 1556, although some sources say that it occurred in 1551. According to some sources, four galleys named ''Santa Fè'', ''San Michele'', ''San Filippo'', and ''San Claudio'' capsized in the tornado and help arrived from abroad for the Order to acquire new galleys to replace them. In 1557, Prior François de Lorena commanded five of the Order's galleys and they engaged a Muslim fleet off

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

. They were defeated, and many people died. The remaining galleys arrived at the

Grand Harbour The Grand Harbour ( mt, il-Port il-Kbir; it, Porto Grande), also known as the Port of Valletta, is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been substantially modified over the years with extensive docks (Malta Dockyard), wharves, and ...

on 17 June, and Sengle and many others wept when they heard about the loss of loved ones. After this defeat, Sengle's health deteriorated, and he retreated to Boschetto. He died on 18 August 1557 at

Mdina Mdina ( mt, L-Imdina ; phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤈, Maleṭ; grc, Μελίττη, Melite (ancient city), Melíttē; ar, مدينة, Madīnah; ), also known by its Italian-language titles ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdin ...

and was buried in the Chapel of St Anne within

Fort St. Angelo Fort St. Angelo ( mt, Forti Sant'Anġlu or ''Fortizza Sant'Anġlu'') is a bastioned fort in Birgu, Malta, located at the centre of the Grand Harbour. It was originally built in the medieval period as a castle called the ''Castrum Maris'' ( en, C ...

. His heart was buried in the Church of the Annunciation, outside Rabat. Later in the 16th century his remains were moved to the crypt of St. John's Co-Cathedral in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

References

External links

Coins of Grandmaster Claude de la Sengle
at coinsofmalta.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Sengle, Claude de la Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller 1494 births 1557 deaths Knights of Malta 16th-century French people Burials at Saint John's Co-Cathedral