Claude de la Sengle On September 11, 1553, the Order of St John of Malta elected as its Grandmaster Claude de la Sengle who

had displayed bravery in many battles on sea and land. Before he was elected, La Sengle had been in charge of the Infirmary and Charities of the Order. At the time when he was elected. La Sengle was residing in Rome as Ambassador of the Order to the Holy See. He arrived in Malta on New Year's Day 1554 and resided at Fort St Angelo which was then the residence of the Grandmasters. La Sengle immediately turned his attention towards the building of the fortifications around the harbour and the strengthening of the ones already in existence. He built a powerful bastion within which a new city emerged. The city was called Senglea in his honour. In October 1555, a violent hurricane hit the island, damaging a large number of houses and sinking several galleys in the harbour. About 600 men perished. Help arrived from Spain in the form of a donation of two galleys from Philip II. The Grandmaster also had a new galley built in Messina at his own expense, and the Prior of St Giles, Jean Parisot de la Valette, gave a galleon with crew and munitions. The Grand Prior of France offered another two galleys. These armaments were sorely needed in view of the Turkish threat in the Mediterranean. Claude de la Sengle's reign was prosperous but short. He died on August 17, 1557. His heart was deposited in the church of the Carmelite Friars in Mdina, while his body was laid to rest in the Chapel of Fort St Angelo. Later, when St John's Co-Cathedral was built in Valletta, his remains were transferred to the Grandmasters' Crypt.