1283 battle between Aragonese and Angevins, part of the War of the Sicilian Vespers.
The Aragonese naval victory at Malta halted the Angevin plan to reconquer Sicily during the War of the Sicilian Vespers.
Key Facts
- Date
- 8 July 1283
- Location
- Entrance to the Grand Harbour, Malta
- Aragonese commander
- Roger of Lauria
- Angevin commanders
- Guillaume Cornut and Bartholomé Bonvin
- Outcome
- Almost all Angevin vessels destroyed
- Strategic consequence
- Charles I of Naples postponed invasion of Sicily
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The War of the Sicilian Vespers set Aragon and the Angevins in conflict over control of Sicily. Charles I of Naples sought to reassert Angevin authority, dispatching a fleet under Guillaume Cornut and Bartholomé Bonvin to Malta to relieve an Angevin garrison besieged in the Castello del Mare.
On 8 July 1283, an Aragonese fleet commanded by Roger of Lauria engaged the Angevin-Provençal fleet at the entrance to Malta's Grand Harbour. Having arrived in close pursuit of the Angevins, Lauria maneuvered the enemy into open battle and destroyed nearly all of the opposing galleys.
The decisive Aragonese victory eliminated the Angevin fleet at Malta and compelled Charles I of Naples to abandon his planned invasion of Sicily, significantly weakening Angevin efforts to recapture the island during the War of the Sicilian Vespers.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Roger of Lauria.
Side B
1 belligerent
Guillaume Cornut, Bartholomé Bonvin.