Had the Knights wished, their unending warfare against the Mohammedan would have found a suitable enemy in the Barbary Corsairs, who were a plague to Europe right to the year 1816; but though we find many a struggle between Knight and Corsair in the seventeenth century, the sloth and decadence that were mastering the Order made it gradually neglect its duty in that direction.  Whatever energies they had were more profitably spent in the Levant; for the Knights, in their seafaring expeditions, became little more than Corsairs themselves.  When it was necessary, as at the twenty-five years’ siege of Candia (1644-1669), the Knights displayed once more that magnificent heroism that had made their name ring throughout the world.  We find through the seventeenth century many a display of bravery, but they became more and more infrequent, till, in the eighteenth century, the Order’s squadron was used for little else but show voyages to different Mediterranean ports.  It was becoming too great a task even to raid Turkish merchantmen.

After the siege it was determined to move the chef-lieu of the Order from Il Borgo to Mount Sceberras, and on March 28, 1566, the building of Valetta was commenced.  It was originally intended to bring the hill down to a certain level and on the plateau thus constructed to build the city.  The fear of another Turkish invasion, however, did not allow of the completion of this plan, with the result that Valetta consists of a long, narrow plateau with slopes descending to Marso Muscetto on one side and the Grand Harbour on the other.  The difficulty of moving about in this hilly town is commemorated in Byron’s lines: 

  Adieu, ye joys of La Valette,
  Adieu, sirocco, sun, and sweat,
  Adieu, ye cursed streets of stairs,
  How surely he who mounts you swears.

Each Grand Master strove to enlarge and strengthen the town’s fortifications, with the result that, in the eighteenth century, Valetta was recognised as one of the greatest fortresses in the world.  The building and upkeep of these fortifications proved a great drain upon the resources of the Order, and served but little purpose, except that of ministering to the vanity of successive Grand Masters, who desired to leave behind them memorials of themselves by bestowing their name upon a new fort or outwork.  The continual increase of security and strength did not serve to improve the daring of the Knights, but rather helped to engender a condition of sloth that was destined to prove fatal.

This period is marked by constant tumults among the members of the Order and by acts of defiance against the Grand Masters.  Even in the days of its glory there had been much jealousy and friction between the different nationalities composing the Order.  The three French langues of Provence, Auvergne, and France, by acting together, exercised a preponderant influence; they contributed half the revenues of the Order, and were generally able to secure their object