Jean Parisot de la Valette

Jean Parisot de la Valette was born in the 1490s (exact date uncertain) to a noble family in France with a storied legacy of participation in conflicts abroad. Following in his ancestors’ footsteps, he joined the Knights Hospitaller in his youth, relinquishing his family’s holdings. Over the following decades, he proved himself a stout and able soldier, enduring a chain of hardships parallel to the decline of the military order that he had joined. By the 1540s, he had seen the Knights’ former stronghold in Rhodes lost to the Ottomans, been captured and made a galley slave, and governed the Knights’ holdings in Tripoli following his ransom. Valette’s persistence, work ethic, and ardent loyalty paid off when he was placed in command of the Knights’ fleet in 1554. This honor was swiftly followed by an even greater one: three years later, he was elected the Order’s new Grand Master, a decision likely also informed by his extensive battle experience against the Ottomans, who were known to be planning a campaign to oust the Knights from Malta and their other nearby holdings, thereby opening the western Mediterranean for Ottoman expeditions. In 1565, this great reckoning finally came. The battle, known to posterity as the Siege of Malta, became one of the most storied in early modern history. Vastly outnumbered and outgunned, the Knights, under Valette’s steadfast leadership, repelled the Ottomans. The battle saw the use of innovative tactics on the part of the defense: on one occasion, the Knights hid artillery in their walls and then used it to blast apart a siege tower that Ottoman Janissaries were using to take potshots at defenders; on others, the Knights hurled incendiary wooden hoops at advancing Janissaries, starting wildfires that halted their advance. The rushing Ottoman tide, formerly deemed nigh-invincible, had been halted. This victory earned Valette a nomination as a cardinal, an offer that he politely declined in favor of his present position. Shortly thereafter, Valette spearheaded the construction of a new capital city in Malta, which came to be known as Valletta, the present capital of the Maltese nation. Although he died a few years later in 1568, his actions bore immediate fruit: the Ottomans had been weakened, and the Knights were stronger than they had ever been since the height of the Crusades. Three years later, in 1571, a coalition of European states known as the Holy League annihilated the Ottoman navy at Lepanto, ending Ottoman thrusts into the western Mediterranean for a time. In Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, Jean Parisot de la Valette is the resilient, undeterred commander that he was in reality. In his role as the shield of Europe, Valetta values a strong defense above anything else to uphold his sacred duties. As Grandmaster and knight of the Order of Malta, he prefers honorable hand to hand fighting for his well armored units. His economy stays safe behind his defenses and ready to support his army while it shatters every new wave of attackers.

From the game's History encyclopedia, AoE3: DE 100.19.18309.