This magnificent crystal cross was made in the sixteenth century at a time when clear glass was only just being developed and therefore crystal was all the more valuable. It is in the shape of an eight-pointed cross, the symbol of the Order of St John. The cross was given to Jean de la Valette, Grand Master of the Order, by Pope Pius V, as a reward for leading the Knights Hospitaller in repelling the Ottoman forces during the famous Siege of Malta, hence the inscription unus decem millia vicit, which means ‘one conquers 10,000’.
The cross dates from around 1565, the year after Shakespeare was born, although it would not have been made in England, but rather in Renaissance Italy. Rock crystal, from which it is made, is the purest form of quartz. At the time, such gem stones were considered valuable because it was thought that they might contain designs composed by Nature herself. Something perfectly transparent may now seem unremarkable, but in the sixteenth century clear glass was only just being developed and so it would have been extremely rare. In such a world engravers of rock crystal were considered engravers of light itself.
There are in fact four separate pieces of crystal here, held together by a central boss. You might notice from the photo above that it is in fact slightly wonky. The boss is gilt-bronze – bronze that has been covered with gold leaf. The craftsperson or people who made the cross would have been skilled technicians, not designers, and they would probably have worked faithfully to the design of an artist. Art objects such as this crystal cross were doubly valued because they were the result of the expertise of both an artist and a craftsman.
On one side of the central boss is inscribed the name of Jean de la Valette, a knight from Provence, as this crystal cross was made for him. At the age of twenty, he joined the Order of St John when it was still based on the Island of Rhodes. The knights at this time were very much crusaders and saw themselves as heroic defenders of Christian Europe. As a young man, he was among the knights who took part in the lengthy defence of Rhodes against the Ottoman Empire. In the end, the Order surrendered to the young Suleiman the Magnificent, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who permitted them to depart Rhodes peacefully in December 1522. Eight years later they found their new home on Malta. Valette served in the Order’s galleys, or ships, engaged in near-constant combat against the Ottoman Empire. In 1541, his galley was captured, and he spent a year as a slave. Valette filled several important positions in the Order before his election as Grand Master, the head of the Order, in 1557. By this time, the role of Grand Master was almost ruler of a small independent state and his induction would have been like a coronation. Although he would have had lots of power, it was not absolute, and he did have to consult the convent, and the general chapter and the pope could overrule him.
If we look on the other side of the crystal cross, we find the inscription PIVS:V:Pont.Max (Pontifex Maximus, or ‘High Priest’, generally used to refer to Catholic Popes), surrounding his coat of arms, showing that this crystal cross was given to Valette by Pope Pius V.
If we flip back over to the other side, we see that the inscriptions around Valette’s name say Unus decem millia vicit, meaning ‘one conquers 10,000’. The Pope had this crystal cross made for Valette as a reward for leading the Knights Hospitaller in repelling the Ottoman forces during the famous Siege of Malta, which had begun on 18 May 1565 with the arrival of fleets of Ottoman troops. They were led by Suleiman the Magnificent, the same sultan who had allowed the Order to depart peacefully from Rhodes. By this time both Jean de la Valette and Suleiman the Magnificent were in their 70s. The Order of St John had 540 Knights, 400 Spanish and 4,000 Maltese militia, while the Ottomans had 22-24,000 troops plus 8,000 non-combatants. The Order was then hugely outnumbered. Valette, however, was reportedly a ruthless and emotionally detached man. At one point during the siege, when Fort Elmo was finally taken by the Ottomans, many knights were savagely killed. Valette refused to allow any public mourning. He had all the Turkish prisoners taken out of the dungeons and slaughtered and blasted their human heads back across the water to the Ottoman camp. On 29 June the Turks offered the Knights free passage away from Malta, as they had on Rhodes. This was firmly and aggressively turned down by Valette.
The siege continued over the summer, reaching a stalemate until, on 25 August, it started to rain. By the beginning of September the Turks were short of food and water and the rains were hampering their use of their guns. Valette continued to show his ruthlessness and had the drawbridge to Fort St Angelo blown up so that none of his troops could retreat to the Castle and had no option but to keep fighting. On 7 September part of a Spanish relief fleet arrived to help defend Malta. The Ottomans tried to attack but the Spanish were much fresher and able to withstand them. The Ottomans eventually had to admit defeat and retreat. The siege was over. Valette and the knights were victorious. Probably half of the Ottoman army had died – 10,000 men, and so we have unus decem millia vicit, one conquers 10,000.
When writing to the Pope after their victory, Valette gave chief credit to God and the Spanish relief force. As well as this crystal cross he received many other gifts from the courts of Europe. The gold bust of Valette, also on display in the Museum, may well have been one of these. Following the siege, a new fortified city was built on Malta, with the foundation stone laid in March 1566. It was named Valletta in honour of the Grand Master and is now the capital city.
To return to the cross, you can see that there is a loop at the top by which it can be suspended. This is a pectoral cross, designed to be worn on the chest like a very large pendant. We will surely never know whether Valette would ever have worn it and if so on what occasions. It is a beautiful thing, especially to think that it was handcrafted so long ago, but it is perhaps also quite uncomfortable that this very beautiful object was commissioned and given to reward such great violence and ruthlessness.
As well as the Museum’s own records, this collection highlight has been informed by the following sources:
Syson, L. and D. Thornton. 2004. Objects of Virtue: Art in Renaissance Italy. London: British Museum Press.
Warren, J. 2018. A Grand Master in miniature: Giovanni Bandini’s bust of Jean de Valette. In: Burlington Magazine, March 2018. Pp. 196-205.
