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Napoleon Plunders Malta's Churches

Napoleon is one of the villains of Maltese history. At first the Maltese welcomed liberation from the then decadent Knights, the Inquisitor, and the strong bishops, but French rule turned out to be oppressive. Maltese wealth was being stolen to finance the French army. Worse yet, one of Napoleon's ships containing most of the gold from Valetta's churches sank near Egypt, never to be found again. After three months of French ransacking, the Maltese had had enough. They rioted in Mdina, slaughtering French soldiers.

Lord Nelson, commander of the British fleet in the Mediterranean, assisted the rebels. He ordered a blockade, and after two years, the French were finally starved out of Valetta. Faced with the choice of having the arrogant Knights return or becoming a British protectorate, the Maltese chose to become a British Crown Colony.

Irene Kaufmann drew a colourful poster showing the greedy French amassing Maltese gold and silver. The General Language Course suggested that the next excursion could be to Egypt to scuba dive in the Mediterranean for the lost treasure!