The Battle of Malta took place on 8 July 1283 in the entrance to the Grand Harbour, the principal harbour of Malta, as part of the War of the Sicilian Vespers. An Aragonese fleet of galleys, commanded by Roger of Lauria, attacked and defeated a fleet of Angevin galleys commanded by Guillaume Cornut and Bartholomé Bonvin.
The Angevin ships arrived in Malta first, and proceeded to relieve the Angevin garrison, which was besieged within the walls of the Castello del Mare. The galleys were followed in close pursuit by an Aragonese fleet. Lauria drew the Angevin-Provençal fleet into a battle, and destroyed almost all of Cornut and Bonvin's vessels. The defeat forced Charles I of Naples to postpone his plan to invade Sicily.
Background and planning
In the mid 13th Century, the strategically important island of Malta was ruled by the Angevin Kingdom of Naples and Sicily under Charles I of Anjou. The island had strategic and commercial importance to both the Angevin Kingdom and the competing Crown of Aragon, with both realms desiring control over the island.
In April 1282, the populace of Sicily rose in rebellion against Angevin rule in the Sicilian Vespers. After some political maneuvering, the Sicilian rebels invited Peter III of Aragon to take the Sicilian Crown. Peter landed an army on Sicily, and by October the Aragonese–Sicilian forces had expelled the remaining Angevin forces from Sicily.
With revolt flaring on Sicily and open war raging between Aragon and Angevin Naples, the Maltese populace rose in a general insurrection on the islands in the autumn of 1282. The revolt was bolstered by an Aragonese force led by Manfred de Lancia, brother-in-law of Aragon's leading admiral, Roger of Lauria. The Aragonese were also led by Corrado I Lancia, first count of Caltanissetta, and brother of Manfred.
Facing an Aragonese army and the civil population, the Angevin garrison found themselves besieged in the Castello del Mare in the Grand Harbour, an ancient citadel which occupied one of the headlands marking the harbour, and the castle's suburb of Birgu. The fleet was to sail to Naples to gather more ships, and then sail to relieve Malta. These three vessels were intended to monitor the Aragonese fleet and then rendezvous with the main Angevin force at Malta, but were intercepted and captured by the Aragonese, and so the Angevin admirals were not entirely aware of movements by the Aragonese fleet.thumb|upright=1.4|[[Peter III of Aragon lands at Trapani, manuscript in the Vatican Library. The king is depicted directing the landing, second from left in the upper boat, wearing the crown and a red tunic.]]
Basing the Aragonese fleet in Messina, Lauria waited for signs of Angevin activity; when news arrived (likely from fishing vessels) that an Angevin fleet had sailed from Naples, he took on fresh recruits and prepared to intercept it with a fleet of 20 galleys. On his first sailing day he made for Syracuse and asked for news on the Angevin fleet. A barge had arrived from Gozo with news that the enemy fleet had already landed on Malta. The day after, the Aragonese set sail southwards for Malta, leaving Syracuse and reaching Capo Passero. After resting overnight, the Aragonese fleet set sail for the south east coast of Sicily, rather than head for Malta directly. After putting in at Fonte di Scicli, Lauria landed all his men to rest in Scicli to prepare themselves for the coming battle. while sources note he also could have received intelligence from Aragonese scouts on land. Bolstered by hundreds of men from the relived garrison, the Angevins now had a manpower, if not ship, advantage.
Angevin casualties were heavy; according to the Muntaner Chronicle, 3500 Angevins had been killed, which some modern sources speculating this number was not overly exaggerated. Lauria left two hundred men to secure and garrison the city against the Angevins in the Castello del Mare. Lauria then briefly attempted to besiege the castle, but finding it impossible without catapults and siege equipment, he was forced to raise the siege.