Our friend, Dr. Maike Hickson, has penned an exclusive for LifeSite, on Mel Gibson’s series on the heroism of the Knights of Malta during the epic “Great Siege” of 1565, during which 700 knights held off an attack force of more that 40,000 Turkish invaders. The Knight’s Grand Master, Jean Parisot de Valette, should be a household name among the faithful.
Even England’s Queen Elizabeth I, a terrible persecutor of the Church, spoke in warm and grateful terms of the Knights, knowing, as she did, that they not only saved Malta, but all of Europe, from Islamic invasion. Suleiman’s humiliation by the Knights must not be underestimated.
It is wonderful that Mel Gibson is going to bring the Catholic heroism of the Knights to the screen.
(Maike Hickson/LifeSiteNews) — Hollywood actor and producer Mel Gibson, a Catholic, has told LifeSite that he is planning a TV series about the 1565 Siege of Malta. This siege led to the decisive Battle of Lepanto (1571) with which Christianity pushed back the Muslim conquest of Christian lands.
In comments to LifeSite, Mel Gibson explained that he and his team have “written 3 hours of a series called Siege” and that this series “deals in an entertaining and educational way with the Siege of Malta.” Gibson further added that the project is in “its early days yet, but we scouted locations.”
In September, the Times of Malta reported that Mel Gibson and 10 team members visited Malta for 5 days and met Prime Minister Robert Abela, with whom they discussed their project and possible production locations.
Toward the end of September, Gibson spoke to Movieweb.com and revealed some more details about this project.
Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette Monument. Image credit: Jonathan Mercieca, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
