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 Citta 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 holding Tripoli, which was very difficult to fortify because of the sandy nature of the soil, and difficult to succour because of its distance from Malta.  But Charles V. was at once reluctant to let go his grip of any parts of the African coast, and too much absorbed by his own troubles to be able to render much help, however much he might have desired to do so.  It was obvious that the first determined attack of the Turks would mean the fall of Tripoli.  In 1551, after putting in an appearance off Malta, Dragut, the successor of Barbarossa, sailed to Tripoli and easily captured the place owing to the disaffection of the mercenary troops in the garrison.

During this period, 1523-1565, the Order lost for ever one of the eight national divisions or “langues.”  Henry VIII., soon after the fall of Rhodes, had shown himself unfriendly to the interests of the Order, but had been appeased by a visit of L’Isle Adam in February, 1528.[4] But Henry’s proceedings against the Pope and the monasteries inevitably involved the Order of St. John, which had large possessions both in England and in Ireland.  The Grand Priory of England was situated at Clerkenwell, and the Grand Prior held the position in the House of Lords of the connecting link between the Lords Spiritual and the Barons, coming after the former in rank and before the latter.  There is extant a letter written by Henry VIII. in 1538 to the Grand Master, Juan d’Omedes, wherein conditions are laid down for the maintenance of the Order in England.  The two main stipulations