Fra'
Jean Parisot de Valette, (4 February 1495[?],
Parisot,
Rouergue – 21 August 1568,
Malta) was a
French nobleman and 49th
Grand Master of the
Order of Malta, from 21 August 1557 to his death in 1568. As a
Knight Hospitaller, joining the order in the
Langue de Provence, he fought with distinction against the
Turks at
Rhodes. As Grand Master, Valette became the Order's hero and most illustrious leader, commanding the resistance against the Ottomans at the
Great Siege of
Malta in 1565, sometimes regarded as one of the greatest sieges of all time.