Historic Commemoration Stamp Issue

On the 28th March 1998 the Office of the Postmaster General will issue a set of four stamps consisting of two se-tenant pairs, to commemorate the end of rule by the Knights of St. John and the arrival of the French.

The stamps are being issued in the following values - the first se-tenant pair with a 6c denomination, features Grand Master Hompesch and the French Blockade. The second se-tenant pair, with a 16c denomination, features the French landing and General Bonaparte.

The stamps are designed by Joseph Mizzi and are printed by Printex Ltd.

In 1798 the last Grandmaster, Ferdinand von Hompesch, was the regal head of the Islands of Malta and Gozo and directly in the way of Napoleon Bonaparte's grand dream of the conquest of Egypt. The French fleet appeared off Malta on the 9th June 1798 and forced a landing on the 10th June against minimal resistance.

Grandmaster Hompesch, powerless and alone, had no alternative but to sign the instrument of capitulation on the 12th June.

General Napoleon Bonaparte entered Grand Harbour on the flagship "L'Orient" at the head of his vast armada. During the six days he spent in Malta the administrative and legislative structure of the island was revolutionised by decrees.

Although initially welcomed by the Maltese as precursors of liberty and inalienable rights, the French presence in Malta would not last.

A long chapter in the island's chequered history had come to a close, a brief one had just begun, many others had still to be written.