The knights watched attacks on Muslim ships as sacred wars - in reality, it was a big-scale pirate ship.
Malta's knights lived by piracy and slavery
In 1530, the John Hitters knight settled down in Malta as they turned into a patterned state of piracy and slavery.
Knights lived by slavery
The Johannites came to Malta in 1530 and transformed the island into a fierce patterned state with hard fortifications and a powerful fleet. It used the knights to hijack Muslim merchant ships, steal the load and make the crew to slaves.
The piracy and slavery called the John Hittites - or the Maltese Terror, as they were later called - for "holy wars".
Malta was known for slavery
Throughout the 16th and 16th century, Malta was the focal point for slave trade in the Mediterranean, and in the capital of Valletta, one of Europe's largest slave markets. Here, the Maltese errands sold both abducted osmans, North Africans and Jews, and trade continued well into the latter half of the 18th century.
Only when Napoleon captured Valletta in 1798 - otherwise without loosening a single shot - it was over and over for the old knight's order in Malta.