as that would mean the leveling of the whole promontory, a task
of enormous expense and difficulty, and as immediate defence was
necessary, they decided to occupy the Peninsula of St. Angelo for the
present. Wedged between St. Angelo and the mainland there was a
small town, "Il Borgo": this, for the present, the Knights made their
headquarters, drawing a line of entrenchments across the neck of the
promontory to guard it from the neighboring heights.

When it became certain that Malta was to be its permanent home--for
L'Isle Adam had at first cherished hopes of recapturing Rhodes--the
Order proceeded to take further measures for its security. Both St.
Angelo and Il Borgo were strengthened with ramparts and artillery, and
the fortifications of the Città Notabile, the main town in the centre
of the island, were improved. In 1552 a commission of three Knights
with Leo Strozzi, the Prior of Capua, at its head--one of the most
daring Corsairs of the day--made a report of the fortifications of the
island. They recommended strengthening Il Borgo and St. Angelo, and
pointed out that the whole promontory was commanded by St. Julian, the
southernmost of the three projections into the Grand Harbour. Further,
as it was necessary to command the entrances both of Marsa Muscetto
and of the Grand Harbour, the tip, at least, of Mount Sceberras should
be occupied, as the finances of the Order would not allow of anything
further being done. These recommendations were carried out, and Fort
St. Michael was built on St. Julian and Fort St. Elmo on the end
of Mount Sceberras. A few years later the Grand Master de la Sangle
supplied the obvious deficiencies of St. Julian by enclosing it on the
west and the south by a bastioned rampart.

Now the commitments of the Order in Tripoli proved a constant drain on
its resources. Time after time Charles V. was appealed to for help in