n Malta, due in part to Charles of Anjou's war against the Republic of Genoa, and the island of Gozo was sacked in 1275. A large revolt on Sicily known as the Sicilian Vespers followed these attacks, that saw the Peninsula separating into the Kingdom of Naples. Malta fell under the rule of the Aragonese in 1282.
Relatives of the kings of Aragon ruled the island until 1409, when it passed to the Crown of Aragon. Early on in the Aragonese ascendancy the sons of the monarchy received the title, "Count of Malta". During this time much of the local nobility was created. However by 1397 the bearing of the title "Count of Malta" reverted to a feudal basis with two families fighting over the distinction, which caused much distress. This led the king to abolish the title. Dispute over the title returned when the title was reinstated a few years later and the Maltese, led by the local nobility, rose up against Count Gonsalvo Monroy. Although they opposed the Count, the Maltese voiced their loyalty to the Sicilian Crown, which so impressed Alfonso IV that he did not punish the people for their rebellion but promised never to grant the title to a third party, instead incorporating it back into the crown. The city of Mdina was given the title of Città Notabile as a result of this sequence of events.
Knights of Malta and Napoleon
In 1530 Emperor Charles V gave the islands to the Knights Hospitaller under the leadership of Frenchman Philippe de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, Grand Master of the Order, in perpetual lease. These knights, a military religious order now known as the Knights of Malta, had been driven out of Rhodes by the Ottoman Empire in 1522.
In 1551, Barbary corsairs enslaved the entire population of the Maltese island Gozo, about 5,000, deporting them to the Barbary coast.
The knights, led by Frenchman Jean Parisot de la Valette, Grand Master of the Order, withstood a siege by the Ottomans in 1565. The knights, with the help of
