Suleiman the Magnificent

What the Quran has to say about slavery

16 August 2025 9:00 am

While it attaches high moral value to emancipation, it acknowledges the legitimacy of slavery and the sexual exploitation of woman – justifying forced concubinage by certain Islamic regimes

For all its fame, the Great Siege of Malta made no difference to the course of history

25 January 2025 9:00 am

The victorious Hospitallers soon subsided into genteel irrelevance, while the Ottomans remained a formidable Mediterranean power for centuries to come

The battle of Lepanto, October 1571

Striking Middle Sea

30 May 2015 9:00 am

The Mediterranean has always been central to European civilisation — and a source of drama and conflict, says Anthony Sattin