Jean Parisot de la Valette (Gascon Jean de la Valette Parisot)
Description
Jean is a tall caucasian male with slightly curly light brown hair.
He has handsom features but his face is unemotional. His weight is
average for his height (6'2"). Jean's body conveys a sense of endurance
rather than great strenght.
Biography
Born: 1494 into a noble Provencial family
Died: 1568 in Malta, buried in the capital city that bears his name
Education: received education common to most nobles plus education
provided by the Order of St.John
Personality
He was described as a calm and unemotional man (although
he wept at the plight of several trapped knights during
the 'Great Siege'). la Valette was driven by an almost
fanatical religious belief - his life being dedicated to
the Knights of St.John. His year as a galley-slave shaped
his strong will as well as giving him an incredible
endurance and strenght.
Life Events
At the age of 20 he joined the Knights of St.John (of Jerusalem and
Rhodes). He remained in the order until his death at the age of 74,
never once having returned to his Provencal family home. His life was
consumed by almost continous warfare with the 'infidel', the Ottoman
Turks. During his long career with the Order of St.John la Valette
occupied almost all of the important positions including Governor of
Tripoli, General of the Fleet and finaly in 1557 Grand Master. As a
captain of his own vessel la Valette excelled capturing many Turkish
ships. During the siege of Rhodes, during which la Valette fought, the
Knights were forced from their Aegean base. After a temporary stay in
Rome the Knight Hospitaliers were granted the island of Malta by Phillip
II of Spain in 1530. It was almost 30 years later when la Valette was to
become Grand Master of the demoralised order. With the prospect of the
Turks attacking their new home la Valette rebuilt the island's defenses
(employing Michelangelo's assistant as the engineer). The Turks, under
the rule of Suleyman 'the Magnificent', ruled an empire that extended
from Baghdad to Budapest to Algiers, their main opponent in the
Mediterranean were the Knights who hampered their shipping. A large
fleet of over 180 main vessels left Constantinople in 1565 carrying
35,000 troops. la Valette had less than 9,000, under half of which were
professional soldiers and only about 800 actual Knights. The 'Great
Siege' lasted four months and saw the defeat of the Turks. Under the
leadership of the 70 year old la Valette the Knights stopped the westward
expansion of the Ottoman Empire. Between the period of the great siege
and his death the new Maltese capital, Valetta, was built in honour of
Jean de la Valette.
Skills
- languages: French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Arabic
- reading & writing (probably only French, Spanish and Italian)
- sword
- arquebusiers
- seafaring
- swimming
- military strategy (both landbased and maritime)
- fortress design
- diplomacy & leadership (it was said "He was capable of converting a
Protestant or governing a
kingdom")
Personality Questions
-
Would your character prefer a game of chess or a game of football?
- he would rather play chess
-
If your character found a wallet in the street, would they return it?
- he would return the wallet (chivalrous)
-
Would your character be more likely to be the life of the party or
to quietly observe the goings-on?
- he would be the observer
- Would your character be found on the top of a pyramid of people or
on the bottom?
- he is ambitious, but only to a certain extent, leader of a small
loyal group.
-
Pretending to be your character, rank the following statements in order
of truth. Leave out statements that are false about your character.
-
F. I always tell the truth
B. I am physically above average
A. Other people listen to what I say
C. I am clever with my hands